Waterparks and Ambulances

Today we went to the water park.  Well yesterday anyway but I am blogging in the early morning so it is close enough!  We went to the water park and the water was freezing!  OK the water wasn't freezing, it was heated but it wasn't heated much!  The water was 27 C/80 F.  That is way too cold for me.  The boys all had a blast because they had turned on the water slide.  We put them all into wetsuits so they would last longer and the frantic sliding, running around and climbing stairs helped to keep them warm as well!

 There are a bunch of other water play things as well.  Most of them are 'too young' for the boys now that they are confident swimmers, but Levi and Luke played a really fun game of hide and seek.  Well fun for them!  It is a little hard to be the one who was watching them and they kept disappearing! 

The mood of the day changed in a heartbeat though.  Natey had a big allergic reaction to something.  Who knows what and he went red and welty and then progressed fairly quickly to lethargy and disorientation.  This was followed fairly quickly by unrelenting vomiting.  It was well above our level of comfort, so we called an ambulance.  I took Luke for the rest of the day and Cheryl took Nate to hospital.  It is at moments like that I recall what is really beautiful about a Public Health system!  No one ever asked if he had insurance and he went straight to a hospital! 

Nate did fine in hospital and they kept him long enough to make sure he didn't have a second response.  He was very tired when I saw him in the afternoon but I think that a good long sleep will restore him.  Now all we have to worry about is the random allergy.  The most likely suspect at the moment though is an allergy to the Cold.  He was freezing but nothing else was really new.  We shall see.  That is in the allergist's hands now anyway!

Today Levi and I are going with Zac and Alex to play on the bike track.  I am hoping to get some great 'jumping' photos but regularly, my mind thinks that I am a better photographer than my shutter finger does!

Thursday already

This week has crawled by and flown by.  The days seem to drrrraaaggg along at a snail's pace but now suddenly it is Thursday.  Today I left work early because I was tired.  Well, tired of working more than anything.  It is school holidays and Levi was in vacation care for the "Take your bike to school " day.  I had some time by myself at home.  It is a novel event for me to be at home but not have Levi.  The original plan had been to do some yard work, but right as I left work, it poured with rain, making it impossible.  Yeah!!

Spring is certainly on it's way.  There are animals everywhere.  The last few days as I drive to work, I frighten a mob of wallabies off the driveway near the causeway.  Today there were Cockatoos in the Jacaranda trees.  Now there is a very different response to these poor birds depending on where you are from.  the Australians reading this are all thinking;

"Oh poor Sue, Let's hope they don't stick around!"

And if you are from anywhere else, you are thinking;

"Wow how lucky, they are so beautiful!'

Now they are very striking birds but I am afraid that they are a destructive force as well.  Cockatoos chew like puppies.  They chew off linings on windows, destroy Windshield wipers.  They strip trees quickly and they chase other native birds.  Other than that, they are beautiful!

I went and got Levi early today from Vacation care as well.  He can have some quiet time.  The kids all wear down during term and because I have had to work so much this holiday, he has been full on at friend's houses.  So today and for the next few days until he goes back to school, we are going to try to do earlier to bed, because I can assure you, he has the early to rise thing down pat!



Monday

It has been a busy week already.  I spent the 'extra' day on the weekend doing those home things that needed to be done.  I mowed and mowed.  At least the yard is looking presentable at the moment.  I tend to lose the battle as the summer gets closer, as my ability to tend to the yard gets overtaken by the yard's ability to grow.  At the moment though I have some satisfaction before the grass starts to look ratty again. 

I entered a competition the other day; a photo contest.  It is about finding a photo that shows off what Australia has to offer for travel.  This might get you straight to my photo.  I am not expecting anything but it is fun to enter these things and have a little fun in my mind, dreaming of travelling in style.  I love to just have a few things on the burner.  I love to be able to dream a little dream, be it travel, or winning the lottery or any other whimsy that keeps me happy!

Levi has a great few days.  He has friends places to go to while I work.  I will have to take him to work at some point because I need a random 6 year old to photograph for a school and he, at least is compliant to photographs and loves going to my work.  They all dote on him there and who wouldn't love that!  Today Levi went to Zoe's house and we stayed there for dinner.  I found myself trying to remember the last time that I had dinner with a few adults without feeling like Levi was being shafted.  We ate, drank a few wines and then went home.  It was lovely.  It was lovely to laugh and joke with adults.  It was lovely to have someone else make dinner just because they thought I might be tired coming home.  It was lovely to watch Levi playing happily while I chatted.  But one thing, I am full!!

Camping

Levi Lakeside

Boys playing 'Mud Fight'



Boys playing on the roof of the car



We are back from camping.  Yes, it is a day early.  Levi had a sore tummy so we came home early.  I am completely wiped out so here are some photos and I will (if I remember) write more about it next time

Packing

Tonight I am busy packing for camping tomorrow.  I am dropping Levi at his friend's house and they are all driving to Elanda Point to set up camp.  I am working all day and then I am driving home to hitch their catamaran to my car and then towing it north.  We are camping Thursday night through to Sunday morning.  I am not totally looking forward to it, although Levi is beside himself with excitement.  I think that it will be fun for a couple of days but I hate being sort of stuck in one place with no exit strategy.  I am not sure why I always like to have an 'out' but there you have it.  I am sure I will have fun but four days of camping, when there is so much to do at home is likely not my priority.  It is what you do for your kids though., isn't it.

It will be great for Levi to have some down time.  It will be great, to have some time for me to chill out and not actually be able to do all the chores that need to be done, no matter how much I stress about them still being there when I get back.  I have the tent and the airbed but my neck doesn't really enjoy the airbed.  Now I am done complaining now.  Really it will be fun!  If I say it enough I will start to actually believe it!!

Swimming

Today I had some of Levi's friends over for the day.  They played beautifully and had a picnic on the floor of the living room.  They rode bikes and jumped on the trampoline.  They played 'surf school' (Don't ask!).  They all played without needing parental intervention most of the day while I helped one of their parents with things that she needed done.  The kids all just acted as if they were on holidays.  They were and they deserve this time of freedom.  

The weather is still suddenly summer.  It remains hot and muggy.  Queensland continues to burn.  The 340 fires that were burning across the state a couple of days ago have been reduced to a mere 40 but the air is still ashy and cloudy.  I hope they get them under control soon.  It is hot enough that the kids wanted a swim so this afternoon, we went to Ty's house and they took turns jumping in and climbing back out again.  They swam in the pool until dinner and consequently Levi is sound asleep again.  Oh do I love holidays! 

There were other spectators at the pool this afternoon.  This kookaburra watched the kids for a long time until a flock of little birds drove him away!



First Day of Holidays

Levi spent all day at a friend's house and they have a pool!  He played in the pool until they were shivering and blue and then got out, had lunch and went back into it.  Consequently, this happened early tonight.