Tenting

 Levi has decided that he wants to sleep in a tent for the rest of his life!  He and I put up the tent outside the back door and under the protection of the deck.  It has the fly on because the deck isn't fully waterproof and during rain, water pours through.  We rigged the tent in a howling gale and I ended up having to tie the tent to the house posts to stop it flying away!  Anyway, Levi then spent the best part of the afternoon stocking it with things that he was going to need: clothes, numerous flashlights, books, a diving mask (Yep, No idea, so don't ask me), blankets, multiple sleeping bags and his rock collection.  We dragged out one of the mattresses from the single bed, so we didn't have to muck with blowing up the air beds.  He was happy with that too. 

One of the stipulations was that he keep all the zippers done up at night!  It is a requirement for both the flying and hopping pests!  I left the door open and only the screen door closed, so if he needed to he could get back into the house really easily and I fully expected that he would be back and inside the house by about 2am.  He didn't!  He slept the whole night out there and although he woke earlier because he was out there in the sunshine, he had things to entertain himself for a while, he didn't wake me up until the late time of 5.10am!

Now all we need is to have this continue for the rest of the year!  Oh that's right! It has already!

Making

We have spent the last couple of days 'making'.  We have been making some of the things that Santa put into his stocking.  We finished off the recycled paper project.  (Which by the way was a complete flop!)  Here is the plane (which wasn't a flop!).  We had to glue it together in stages which wasn't ideal for the six year old but waiting and learning to wait isn't a bad thing so I was happy to go there!

After the glue had dried enough, Levi painted it.  I love these kits that just have everything in them.  I don't have to find things or run around.  It is all just there.  Down to the paint brush for the glue that is the correct size.  I found it (Sorry, Santa did) in a shop here called Riot which does all things arts and crafts.  It is a little like Michaels in USA but think way way smaller!  I love having the time to sit down with him to complete something.  I love holidays!  I am just getting into the swing, of course, about four days before going back! 

So you might have noticed Levi's attire while painting.  Yes after ruining a shirt and pair of shorts painting last week, we have gone more, shall we say minimalist with what he is allowed to wear while painting!  This way anything we ruin, won't be on the outside!  He is loving having me home.  I wish there was some way that it was possible to do that more but I guess he is just a child of his time.  A time when parents mostly have to work; many of them full time.  A time when After School Care and Daycare may be the norms.  He is a happy, empathetic, well adjusted little mancub and I guess that is all I could ask for!

Underwater

 We went to Underwater World with another family.  They brought their two youngest.  One is a little girl Levi's age and the other is a boy about 12.  They had so much fun!  It is a pretty cheap day anyway and with the reduced prices because the big aquarium closure, it becomes really affordable.  The kids loved the seal show and laughed at all the jokes and got caught up in all the tricks.  They actually took you through teaching the seals the tricks esp the ones that aren't natural behaviour.  I then found it fascinating to watch the instructor.  Suddenly every movement and nuance of behaviour was important.  Every time that she moved her feet, she was giving instruction.  Simple hand movements became portentous.  It was fun!  Fun to watch the interplay that I hadn't noticed before.  By the end Zoe wanted to be a seal trainer when she grew up!

It was a lovely day too, for me.  I had like minded adults to talk to.  I was talking to adults!!  Not that I am complaining about talking to Levi all the time, but talking to adults, now that was great.  Talking to adults with Levi entertained by other kids?  Heaven!!

Yawning Otter!

After Underwater World, we went to the beach.  It was incredibly busy but the kids all swam in the ocean and climbed trees.  They played on the play structure and chased each other around.  We drank coffee and watched them.  They are pretty good swimmers but not close to strong enough yet to be out there without specific 'watching'.  There were lifeguards and I am sure they had their eyes on them as well but they were watching the other thousands of people.  I am happy to watch our three just to make sure that they were all fine!



Quiet Time

The last few days after Christmas have been pretty quiet for us.  Levi and I have worked our way through he is gifts that have required making.  We have also gone to the park and played at the water slide.  Levi has actually needed the time off the rat race and I have too.  He has loved the time that we just spend inside and work on projects.  Much of today, Levi has been in very few clothes because he has been painting.  Painting involves getting paint every where and a little bit on the paper in front of you.  Levi made a set of armour from some of the boxes his gifts came in.  and he painted it and set 'gems' onto it.  Then he decided that he needed to have several swords and daggers to go with it.  So more boxes were sacrificed to create those.  I put aluminium foil on the blades and he has been happily making more gems for the hilts of those.

Levi is allowed to have one play event that I am required to pay money for.   He understands all of that and is very good about the planning of it all.  He loves Pine Rivers Park because it is a free event and he can pretty much go on everything.  He found a friend there who was about nine years old.  The nine year old (Levi never got his name) had been given a remote control car that Levi loves to watch.  Now Levi does this all the time, finds friends, mostly kids much older.  This one made me a little nervous but not enough to do anything.  Interestingly though it meant that I kept a much much closer eye on him than I normally do, although I do actually watch him fairly closely.  Mostly under the guise of photographing him!

Anyway he was a little odd this kid but I figured he just wasn't getting enough attention at home or something.  He wanted Levi to sit in his lap and Levi refused.  Then when I was on the opposite side of the bike riding structure, he said something to Levi who shook his head 'No' and then tried to take his arm and Levi said No and then next time he reached for Levi, he lashed out with his leg, kicking him.  It wasn't vicious but it was definite.  I left them there watching and then the boy went off by himself. 

Later as we were driving away, I asked what he had said.  Levi said he wanted him to go with him off into the trees.  I told Levi I was proud of him for saying No.  He said he knew that I wouldn't let him and he said that the boy was a 'bit strange'.  I was very proud I will say; of him for saying No and of me for stepping back and letting him be strong enough by himself. 

Levi's front teeth are loose, so many of the photos have his tongue playing with his front teeth.  It is fun to have the photos.  A moment frozen in time, of wobbly teeth! 

The other thing we have been doing is putting together all the toys that needed large amounts of adult supervision.  The Ant Farm was given to Levi by Robert and Ken for Christmas.  We put it all together and then Jo and Levi caught some ants and they are now happily wandering around the maze!



Christmas

Things that tell you your child sees you as being really old:

"Mum, were you alive when Jesus was born?"  (Um .... No)

"When I grow up, I am going to make a movie about the rocket boys with lots of versions.  If you are still alive then, Mum, you can watch it too"

Right now I am feeling really, really old.  I think some of that comes from getting up at the crack of dawn to open presents. 

So Levi got up fairly early but not as punishingly early as I thought!  He was excited and opened his presents.  I talked to my American family who are vacationing in Ohio with family.  Then after a breakfast of sugar and carbs, we went to lunch to eat more sugar and carbs.  I mean if you can't eat poorly at Christmas, when  can you?  Oh that's right; Easter! 

 

We went to my brother's house for lunch with somewhere between seventy and eighty people.  It happens every year and my sister in law is the most incredible organizer of the day.  They set up a water slide, not quite as complicated as Luke's but still very satisfactory if you are six!

 

 

I find myself hoping that things in the world settle down over the next year.  I wonder where my mancub and I will be by Christmas next. 

Christmas Eve

OK, I know I am running a day behind but at least it is just one day at the moment.  We have been busy!  You know with real life!  Anyway, the weather has been appalling and it has been cold and rainy most days.  At least it hasn't dampened the spirits of all the small children around here!  They are all high and act like they have no attention span at all.  Christmas is perfect for six year olds.  Younger than four they are scared of Santa and don't really get the whole thing but then suddenly, it is magic.  Suddenly, they can anticipate the event weeks in advance and that all builds up until they are really impossible by Christmas Eve.

We went to Bear and Di's house for a Christmas party on Christmas Eve.  We have a great system.  I buy something for Levi for Christmas and she buys something for her boys.  Then on the day, she gives Levi the present 'from them' and I give their boys the gifts 'from me'.  It is great.  The kids get something that works really well for them and we all have less stress about the whole event.  Anyway, 'I' bought Alex a water slide for his present and regardless of the pouring rain, they went out and slipped their way down and ran their way up over and over!  We had cups of tea, chatted and watched them.  All around perfect day!

I love this photo.  It looks like Levi is posing for a modelling shot and behind him: carnage.

Even though he was completely exhausted from all the sliding and running, Levi struggled to get to sleep.  He actually went to bed early but struggled.  He got up several times to go to the bathroom.  He called out for different drinks.  Pretty much he rolled around until I went in and cuddled him until he went to sleep.  It was about 9.15pm and it all boded poorly for the next morning.  We put out milk for Santa, an ANZAC biscuit and some carrots for the kangaroos who pull Santa's sleigh through out Australia.  I went to bed hoping that we would both at least sleep through dawn!

Face Paint

 Today was another really busy day.  We got up and I had to get a bunch of jobs done.  I needed to get passport photos for Levi and a few groceries to see us through until after Christmas.  I also needed to get some more sunglasses.  All the chores were little but it was added to just because the traffic is heavier around Christmas.  The best part though is that the shopping centers are all very geared toward children at this time of year.  There was a face painter and Levi got his fireworks painted on.  The lady was really talented.  She hadn't done fireworks before but loved the challenge!  She thought it was funny that all the other little boys she did that morning wanted superheros!  She doesn't know Levi.  All about outside of the box!

After we had done our chores, we went back to Sandgate.  This time with Zoe and her two oldest brothers.  Jac (their mother) and I walked along the foreshore while the kids all biked, scootered or skateboarded, depending on their predilection for the said form of communication.  The kids played on the huge play structure and climbed trees.  These are the good days of childhood. 

Levi and Zoe also saved jellyfish.  They decided that the jellyfish that had washed up on the tide were dying and that they needed to be put back in the water.  They diligently (and very gingerly) picked them up and put them back.  It is an activity that is fraught with risk.  The jellyfish can sting but only the bottom half.  These are pretty mild critters though.  These are not Irukandji.  They don't really hurt too much but you have to treat them with respect as you can see Levi holding only the bell. 

GOMA and Southbank

Today we went to the Gallery of Modern Art.  It tends to be hit and miss with the kids.  We went with Di and Zac and Alex.  Last time we went, we went with Ty and there was a room full of purple balloons and  a hallway of white Legos!  Major Hit!! This time it was more of a miss than a hit.  There was an 'Obliteration Room', that had started out fully white.  The kids were handed a sheet of colorful dot stickers and could place them anywhere they wanted.  They could put them on the walls, floor or roof.  They could put them on the books and the furniture.  They had a blast!  For about 10 seconds.  Then they ran out of stickers and got bored.  There was just not enough action in it all.  I got some fun photos but really, it was a bit fast.  The other kid activity was a real miss.  You had to wait in line for 10  minutes, before being allowed into a display of sugar and recycled things all made into a pink fairy world. 

Now first off, we had three boys and had we know, wouldn't have bothered to wait in line.  Second, they couldn't touch anything.  All they could do was look at it.  No touching.  That display took us about five seconds!  After a lightning trip around the rest of GOMA, we gave it all up and walked back to the car and to get our swimsuits so we could start the rest of the day.  We will be back to GOMA for sure, but we won't be back for that display!

We went to South Bank Parklands, to play at the beach.  It is fascinating to me to have such a beautiful beach in the center of town.  South Bank Parklands were created after World Expo 1988 finished.  It has parkland along the river with walking tracks and biking tracks, but best, it has playground after playground, water park after water park.  They are all modelled after the river itself.  Like this bubbling play structure, there is the map of the river showing it's path through Brisbane.  This is the river that was just starting it's rampage this time last year.  This is the Southbank Parklands from above during the floods last year.  It took them a few months to get it all back to pristine beauty but it is definitely back!

The boys in particular, loved playing with the shooting darts of water, catching them and dodging them in particular!  They played and played.  Then we had Fish and Chips for lunch and took the very tired boys home!

Sandgate

Today we went to Sandgate.  The beach is about thirty minutes from home and is really a littler kid beach.  It is protected by the islands and has a long flat beach at low tide.  In fact, so long and flat that we were about 200m out from shore at one time and still in less than ankle deep bath water warm water.  I had Levi and two much bigger kids.  They played in the water and ran around chasing each other.  They climbed trees and played on play structures.  Basically they blew off a bit of steam and used up a bit of energy.

Levi went to bed exhausted tonight but of course won't go to bed at any time other than eight pm.  The eight pm bedtime is only for holidays so he isn't giving it up come hell or high water!  He can be falling over exhausted but still stay up until eight!  Today he was falling asleep in the car but do you think that he would go to bed early?  No, of course not!

New shelf

The last few days have been busy and full of lots of different things.  It has involved a lot of yard work and trying to clean up the house.  I am going through the bookshelf.  Levi has grown out of many of the books that are in the shelf.  he no longer reads the big board books.  He is very interested in books that he can read himself and more meaty books that I can read to him at night!  I want to clean off the bookshelf because lots of other books have now come up from the island.  I am also planning to get a minute to go through his clothes as well, hoping to move him from a full drawer of clothes that he barely fits to a drawer half full of well fitting clothes!

My heart is sad at the moment.  For lots of reasons but some of them are more at the forefront.  My friends are selling their house.  Now that is not such a sad or devastating event, except for the fact that this is their dream home.  This is the land they dreamed of, the house they designed,  and the gardens they have put in.  They are selling.  When the economy started to crash and jobs started to fail they bore some of that but it has got too much and they have made the decision to downsize.  It is breaking their hearts and I am sad for them.  I wish that I could do something other than just listen and sympathize.  I wish that suddenly, miraculously, I had a lot of money and could solve some of their problem.  It is said that money doesn't buy happiness but I think that I would be happy to give it a shot.  I think money could buy a lot of close friends a lot more peace of mind.

More Weekend Waterslide Action

Gold Coast

I have been off the air for a bit because we went down the coast with friends for a few days.  It was a deal that let us stay in a two bedroom apartment for less than staying at the caravan park.  When we got there the place was about the same size as my house, so there was plenty of room for the kids to play Hide and Seek and generally run around!  There was multiple pools to play in and one was heated (barely).  The kids would play in the heated pool, jumping in, swimming across and diving for toys.  When it got too cold in there they would move to the spa and warm up, before repeating the whole cycle.  They would go until they were dropping with exhaustion and then we would go upstairs again and stick them all in the bubble bath. 

The most interesting thing for an observer in all this swimming was the behaviour of other parents.  I must be a very intense parent, I decided.  I went in and swam with the boys a couple of times and otherwise sat on the side and watched them play.  While watching, several other unaccompanied kids would wander in and out without parents.  The youngest would have been about three.  At no point did a parental unit even poke their head in to check.  None of these random kids could swim well.  They could keep their heads above water but that was about the extent of it.  I couldn't leave while they were there, mostly because they terrified me and I couldn't leave and then find out later they had drowned, alone, with no one caring or watching.

One of the days (Tuesday), we all had tickets on an excursion to Stradbroke Island.  It involved a boat trip and a BBQ and then free access to multiple watercraft on the bay side of the island.  Levi loves kayaking (and calls it hayaking), I think mostly because we do it together and it is a novelty.  I went out in the bay with the kids several times.  We built a sand castle, that became a sand mountain, that became Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings.  Of course, none of the kids are old enough to have a clue what Mt Doom is but it kept me amused!

Most nights we all just fell into bed and as the curtains didn't block the light very well, we all got up at about five am to do it all again.  It was a great holiday and already I feel more relaxed than I have for some time.

Waterslides and Parties

Today was Luke's birthday party.  It was also the opening ceremony for their waterslide.  Pete made the waterslide, the way that I built the cubby.  It started small as a good idea and then just took on a life of it's own, getting bigger with every 'good' idea.  It started with us standing there and saying; "We could put plastic down and the kids could use this as a waterslide."  Then about four months, a backhoe, turf (yes really - turf!), a sprinkler system, a rubble drain, a dedicated water tank, a load of sand and about $500 worth of plastic inflatable sliding toys and the slide is finally finished.  The kids had so much fun on the slide.  Actually no one had as much fun as Pete did but the kids had a blast!  It was a horrible wet, cold, rainy day but the kids didn't care and they stayed warm running up and down the slope.  I had a blast watching (and trying to photograph) their happy faces as they came down the slide and hit the water pooling at the bottom!

 So here are the photos of the kids coming down the slope and hitting the bottom.  They were so happy!  The other part of the party was pool diving for treasure.  It was a fabulous idea, They lined the kids up and gave them goggles and threw a fortune in silver money.  Then we all said Go, and they all dived for coins.  The kids are all about the same level of swimming ability so they went for it until they were exhausted!  Levi came out about $3.80 ahead, which for him is more than six weeks of allowance!