As yesterday was ANZAC Day, today became an extra public holiday in Australia, and we've had a five day very long weekend. Unless, of course, you have a job in retail, in which case there is a good chance you worked at least part of it.
Today started with a late brunch of boiled eggs and toast soldiers, before Nanna turned up and we decided that tonight the children would go and stay with her for the first time. It didn't take them long to pack pyjamas and toothbrushes and clothes for tomorrow and a book each, and off they went happily. We haven't had any calls to go and get them, so we're assuming everyone is still happy.
The husband and I went to do grown-up sensible fruit and vegetable shopping, but the markets were closed, so we diverted to Max Brenner's for a restorative Italian thick hot chocolate instead.Chinese food and a Catherine Tate Show DVD rounded out a quiet evening.
Life is very difficult sans enfants!
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
School holidays: ANZAC Day
Easter is late this year, and it and ANZAC Day have run together to make an extra-long weekend. One day we'll make it to the dawn service, but for this year, I went in to the War Memorial early in the afternoon for some quiet reflection.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
School holidays: Easter Sunday
I would have liked a little sleep in this morning, but of course the short people in the household were up and excited by 6.30am. So the hunt was on! Our Easter egg hunt is confined to indoors, and I was quite glad of that when I heard on the radio that it was only 5 degrees C outside!
We managed to keep a reasonable limit on the amount of chocolate consumed before breakfast and before getting ready to drive to Nanna's for morning tea with the cousins. We took our own Easter Bunny with us:
Morning tea morphed into lunch, as these family events seem to do, and by the time we headed home again mid-afternoon the chocolate stash has multiplied exponentially:
That's just one child's chocolate supply, and I suspect we will make it last quite some time!
But today wasn't just about chocolate. Oh no - we did science too! Miss Tizz and the X-man saw something on television yesterday about Gummi Bears, and insisted we replicate the experiment in our very own fully-equipped laboratory (otherwise known as the kitchen). The experiment involved dropping a Gummi Bear into a glass of water, and leaving it overnight. This was the result (with a control Gummi Bear for comparison):
We have all the fun around here!
We managed to keep a reasonable limit on the amount of chocolate consumed before breakfast and before getting ready to drive to Nanna's for morning tea with the cousins. We took our own Easter Bunny with us:
Morning tea morphed into lunch, as these family events seem to do, and by the time we headed home again mid-afternoon the chocolate stash has multiplied exponentially:
That's just one child's chocolate supply, and I suspect we will make it last quite some time!
But today wasn't just about chocolate. Oh no - we did science too! Miss Tizz and the X-man saw something on television yesterday about Gummi Bears, and insisted we replicate the experiment in our very own fully-equipped laboratory (otherwise known as the kitchen). The experiment involved dropping a Gummi Bear into a glass of water, and leaving it overnight. This was the result (with a control Gummi Bear for comparison):
We have all the fun around here!
Saturday, 23 April 2011
School holidays: Easter Saturday
Two out of three isn't bad. Bunnings DIY workshops for kids, that is. Today's was a bit of a fizzer: advertised as an "Eggcellent Creations Easter workshop", it involved colouring in and ... that was it. It held their attention for all of about ten minutes.
At least there was an Easter Bunny wandering the store:
But what really interested both kids was the Easter Egg hunt. Armed with a sheet of hints, they went searching through the aisles for nine Easter egg pictures, wrote down the colours of each as they found them, presented the completed sheet to the bloke at the front door, and collected their Easter egg prize.
Other than that, the day involved a lot of Ben 10, reading, keeping an eye on a second batch of hot cross buns as they rose in the bathroom, and Club Penguin. And noise. A lot of noise. Never mind - the chocolate high should wear off in time to go back to school in just over a week!
At least there was an Easter Bunny wandering the store:
But what really interested both kids was the Easter Egg hunt. Armed with a sheet of hints, they went searching through the aisles for nine Easter egg pictures, wrote down the colours of each as they found them, presented the completed sheet to the bloke at the front door, and collected their Easter egg prize.
Other than that, the day involved a lot of Ben 10, reading, keeping an eye on a second batch of hot cross buns as they rose in the bathroom, and Club Penguin. And noise. A lot of noise. Never mind - the chocolate high should wear off in time to go back to school in just over a week!
School holidays: Good Friday
Hot-cross buns!
Hot-cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons;
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
It's Good Friday, and so we made hot cross buns. No photos of them, but let me assure you they were very nice. Buns with sultanas, and buns with chocolate, and the secret is ... putting them under the bathroom heatlamps to rise! I wasn't organised enough to have them ready for breakfast - we're really not morning people - but they were delicious for lunch. And after that, we headed out to the National Gallery of Australia for the afternoon with friends.
A slight detour into Reconciliation Place:
... then back up through the High Court forecourt and across the footbridge to the old Gallery entrance. A wander through Pop Art, Modern Art, Surrealism, and some colonial art, then out to the Sculpture Garden and down to the lakeside to contemplate:
A short stop at the outside cafe near the new entrance:
... an opportunity to hide among giant pears:
... and back to the car via the National Portrait Gallery - featuring the orange blob near the front doors:
More than enough art for one day for the kids, so while the adults had a quick look round the National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition, the under-10s hung out on the beanbags in the adjacent area until it was time to go.
Hot-cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons;
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
It's Good Friday, and so we made hot cross buns. No photos of them, but let me assure you they were very nice. Buns with sultanas, and buns with chocolate, and the secret is ... putting them under the bathroom heatlamps to rise! I wasn't organised enough to have them ready for breakfast - we're really not morning people - but they were delicious for lunch. And after that, we headed out to the National Gallery of Australia for the afternoon with friends.
A slight detour into Reconciliation Place:
... then back up through the High Court forecourt and across the footbridge to the old Gallery entrance. A wander through Pop Art, Modern Art, Surrealism, and some colonial art, then out to the Sculpture Garden and down to the lakeside to contemplate:
A short stop at the outside cafe near the new entrance:
... an opportunity to hide among giant pears:
... and back to the car via the National Portrait Gallery - featuring the orange blob near the front doors:
More than enough art for one day for the kids, so while the adults had a quick look round the National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition, the under-10s hung out on the beanbags in the adjacent area until it was time to go.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
School holidays: Day 4
Day 4 of the school holidays brought another Bunnings children's DIY workshop (why have we never done these before? The kids have great fun, the mess is not at home - YAY! - and it's FREE!). This time they drew pictures and then transferred their designs to a calico bag with fabric markers:
Apparently I need to iron the bags to seal the colours. I know there's an iron around here somewhere ...
Time for a little wander around the aisles, looking like they worked there:
We can never escape without a detour down to the playground at the other end of the building, and once we'd prised them out again we headed off for a short visit to Nanna's house. Home for a late lunch and then we were out again, this time to Kippax to borrow books from the library (and somehow a Ben 10 DVD made it into the pile too), go to the bank, do a little bit of shopping, and (of course) run amok in the playground:
Love the colourful autumn background - this is the best time of year in Canberra, as far as I'm concerned :)
Apparently I need to iron the bags to seal the colours. I know there's an iron around here somewhere ...
Time for a little wander around the aisles, looking like they worked there:
We can never escape without a detour down to the playground at the other end of the building, and once we'd prised them out again we headed off for a short visit to Nanna's house. Home for a late lunch and then we were out again, this time to Kippax to borrow books from the library (and somehow a Ben 10 DVD made it into the pile too), go to the bank, do a little bit of shopping, and (of course) run amok in the playground:
Love the colourful autumn background - this is the best time of year in Canberra, as far as I'm concerned :)
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
School holidays: Day 3
Nothing to see here: move along.
No photos of bunyips, or even rocks today. Today was cool and on-and-off spitting rain, so we stayed in. Which wasn't such a bad thing, as it gave me a chance to finish off some work for clients that's been on the list a little longer than it should have.
It also gave Miss Tizz and I time to attack the tip she calls a bedroom. We sifted through books and clothes and toys and general detritus that's accumulated on her floor, and managed to eliminate a bag full of rubbish, a decent stack of surplus-to-requirements books, and a few items of clothing. Still plenty to do in there, but at least now it looks tidy from the hallway (just don't stick your head round the corner yet!).
And tonight we all sat together and watched Zathura: A Space Adventure, which is pretty much Jumanji in outer space, with some sibling rivalry thrown in for tension.
No photos of bunyips, or even rocks today. Today was cool and on-and-off spitting rain, so we stayed in. Which wasn't such a bad thing, as it gave me a chance to finish off some work for clients that's been on the list a little longer than it should have.
It also gave Miss Tizz and I time to attack the tip she calls a bedroom. We sifted through books and clothes and toys and general detritus that's accumulated on her floor, and managed to eliminate a bag full of rubbish, a decent stack of surplus-to-requirements books, and a few items of clothing. Still plenty to do in there, but at least now it looks tidy from the hallway (just don't stick your head round the corner yet!).
And tonight we all sat together and watched Zathura: A Space Adventure, which is pretty much Jumanji in outer space, with some sibling rivalry thrown in for tension.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
School holidays: Day 2
Today started off with a trip to Bunnings with Dad. And they just happened to be there at the right time for a children's DIY workshop.
Each child came home with a decorated terracotta pot planted up with parsley, and apparently there's a bulb hiding in the soil too!
It was my turn in the afternoon, and today we headed off to Gungahlin to meet Alexander Bunyip.
He's a brand new sculpture (unveiled just last week) of a children's character created by author and illustrator Michael Salmon, and he now lives out the front of the new Gungahlin Library.
The library looked to be almost ready (apart from the fact that there aren't any books yet!).
... checked out the new Gungahlin Town Centre Park:
... and the Gungahlin College (college here is Year 11 and 12):
Then it was time for a stroll down the main street. Halfway down the shopping strip, we found a sculpture we hadn't seen before:
It's called The Goongarline. Created by Michael Utley, the plaque says it draws inspiration from Gungahlin's rocky hills (the Goongarline, in the local Indigenous language).
I was particularly taken by the tall steel posts:
... but the kids preferred the rocks, which became a flying carpet:
... and a crocodile:
When they spotted the spiderweb playground a little further down, they were off again.
And there was still time for ice cream, from the Cold Rock Ice Creamery:
Each child came home with a decorated terracotta pot planted up with parsley, and apparently there's a bulb hiding in the soil too!
It was my turn in the afternoon, and today we headed off to Gungahlin to meet Alexander Bunyip.
He's a brand new sculpture (unveiled just last week) of a children's character created by author and illustrator Michael Salmon, and he now lives out the front of the new Gungahlin Library.
The library looked to be almost ready (apart from the fact that there aren't any books yet!).
We tried out the new bubblers:
... checked out the new Gungahlin Town Centre Park:
... and the Gungahlin College (college here is Year 11 and 12):
Then it was time for a stroll down the main street. Halfway down the shopping strip, we found a sculpture we hadn't seen before:
It's called The Goongarline. Created by Michael Utley, the plaque says it draws inspiration from Gungahlin's rocky hills (the Goongarline, in the local Indigenous language).
I was particularly taken by the tall steel posts:
... but the kids preferred the rocks, which became a flying carpet:
... and a crocodile:
When they spotted the spiderweb playground a little further down, they were off again.
And there was still time for ice cream, from the Cold Rock Ice Creamery:
School holidays! Hooray!
We're quite keen on school holidays around here - no need to be anywhere on time, no homework, time to get out and about and have some fun. And today we headed up to Mount Stromlo.
I haven't been there since before the 2003 bushfires, when most of the complex was destroyed. It's clearly back in action again, if not the same as it was. And appearances can deceive: the big reflector telescope building was looking pretty good on the outside:
... but if you peer through the locked glass doors, you can clearly see the burned remains of the massive telescope:
The Director's Residence is in bad shape, and secured behind a high chainlink fence:
... but the cafe is back in action (although not open on Mondays):
The Yale-Columbia telescope building - or at least what's left of it - has been cleaned up, and visitors are free to walk in and around it:
... and peer through doorways:
... and out through windows:
... or, children being children, play 'tips':
... and hide from each other:
On the way home, we pulled off the road into the ACT Bushfire Memorial. It's been open since 2006, but I'd never been there. Today was the day.
The plaque near the entrance reads, in part:
The entrance memorial walls are made from the community's salvaged and inscribed bricks which contain messages of grief and gratitude. Beyond the walls a site framed by a grove of casuarinas contains red glass and metal forms that refer to the force of the firestorm and the lightning strikes that sparked the main fires.
An avenue leads to an amphitheatre enclosing a pond and bubbling spring. The glass columns bordering the pond contain details from photos provided by the community which speak of memory and human resilience.
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