Disney on Ice

A week after Ethan's birthday Grandma, Mummy and Ethan went to Disney on Ice at the Perth Arena. 

We traveled there by train which excited Ethan no end!

 Then we walked from the train station to the arena (past the sinking of the busport project)... which was again a very interesting thing for Ethan!

 We were amongst thousands of 3 - 14 year old kids and their parents walking to the stadium and it was a little worrying that our "runner" Ethan would dart away and be swallowed up by the crowds! 

So it was a relief to make it to our seats! Here is Ethan with his cheesy "cheese" smile. He hasn't yet learned the difference between a grimace and a smile on demand yet!

 As you can imagine it is reasonably difficult to get photos on the iPhone of an ice skating show.... but here are a couple.... the Toy Story opening scene.

 Minney and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy as well as the pirate disney show (the name of which escapes me now - blaming baby brain!).

 As soon as the show ended it was straight in the car to the airport to drop Grandma and Grandad off for their trip back to NZ. As you can see the excitement of the whole day caught up with Ethan and he was out for it within minutes of leaving the airport!

Ahoy me hearties...walk the plank... it's a very special boy's third birthday!

 Ethan recently turned three and we put on a pirate party for him. We weren't going to have a party this year but he asked for one, and being a soft touch I said yes!!

Jason and I took the Friday off work to get ready for the party and we made this cake for him!

 Here is some of the party food for the day! The jelly in oranges was a big hit and I am pleased that I made the effort to do it for the kids!

 It had been raining all week and a big storm was scheduled for Ethan's party day. But we borrowed a gazebo style tent and put it up in the patio to extend our under cover area for the kids to play.... as it happened, the two hours of Ethan's party provided the best weather of the whole day. We even got sunshine!

We had a few activities set up for the kids... a plank to walk, with treasure near the end as a prize and colouring in stations. The trampoline provided the most fun though!

 It was good to see people getting into the spirit of the party!!!

 Ethan had a ball... most of all he loved playing with his best friend Tommy on the trampoline!! (Thanks Grandma for the photos).

 Here is Tommy and Ethan enjoying the jelly!

All in all we had a wonderful party and Ethan and his friends had a ball!

A special thanks to Grandma, Grandad, Sandy and Nathan for help on the day and a very special thanks to everyone who made the day so special for Ethan.

A new addition to the family is on the way!

Jason and I are really excited to announce that sometime in November we will be welcoming another little baby into our home!

Like last time pregnancy for me means extreme tiredness and significant nausea. Which is made all the more difficult with a toddler... no more 4 hour nana naps each weekend day and sometimes I feel that I am barely functioning. But this eased at 16 weeks with Ethan so I am hoping it will this pregnancy as well!

It's been a tough road this pregnancy, at my dating scan they found a cyst on my ovary. As you can see from the dimensions in the scan below it is quite big (nearly 9cm by 7cm by 8cm). There was discussion of having this removed at 16 weeks pregnant but we are going to try and hold on and get it removed at 6 weeks post partum.

Then at around 9 - 10 weeks pregnant I was knocked off my bike, luckily the baby was ok and it was the cyst that took the brunt of the impact... there was a concern about rupture but all was ok.

However last week we had our choromosomal testing scan and while my risk factors are slightly higher than last time, mostly due to maternal age, we are still classified as low risk.

Here are some shots from the ultrasound!

 The next three shots are 3D and look pretty cool I think!

We haven't told Ethan yet as 9 months is a long time for us to wait, it would be an eternity for a toddler to wait. We will probably tell him after the 20 week scan (or even later if we can).

What do you do when unable to go to daycare - visit a reptile farm of course!

 Last Friday Ethan was unable to go to daycare due to a suspected case of conjunctivitis. Jason stayed home with him in the morning and I took the afternoon shift. When I got home I asked Ethan what he wanted to do and he said that he wanted to visit a farm with Snakes and Rhinos....which is essentially the zoo. However I had been meaning to take him to a reptile farm here for a while so I thought it was an opportune time to go so we headed out for an "adventure" (Ethan likes adventures).

We were the only ones at the park so we spent a good half hour exploring the snake and lizard enclosure.

The snake keeper then bought out some lizards and snakes for Ethan to hold, while doing so he taught both Ethan and I lots of things about snakes and what to do if you come across a snake.

I think Ethan was a little uncertain about the lizards tongue!

 Ethan was so brave with the snakes though - here he is with the little snake.

 And here he is with the bigger snake! My heart was in my throat the whole time and I had to fight all my instincts to not grab Ethan away from the snake!

 After the snakes and lizards the keeper bought out a dingo for us to pat and then Ethan and I were left to explore.

We saw crocodiles, peacocks, wombats, a fox and some kangaroos.

Soon it was time to head home, but not without a stop at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory for an ice cream!

A day in Freo - Ferris Wheels, Pirate Ships and Little Creatures!

Now that we live in Joondanna we very rarely get to Fremantle. However when I saw there was a replica tall ship of the Duyfken (the first European ship to reach Australia) holding an open day with a pirate theme I thought we really needed to make the trip down!

It was a beautiful clear day in Fremantle and we were pleasantly surprised to find a Ferris Wheel in the park. We had 20 minutes to kill before the Pirate Ship opened so we decided to take a ride!

 Ethan really enjoyed the ride! He was fascinated with the views.

 Its always interesting looking at a place from a different angle!

 As you can see Ethan enjoyed the Ferris Wheel!

 Then it was time for the Pirate Ship! Ethan was very excited about this (as were we).

 Entry was a gold coin donation (or treasure).

 Its hard to believe how people survived many months at sea in the cramped spaces.

 It was great to see how they lived back in the 1600s.

 Ethan had a ball playing and would have stayed on the ship forever (but lunch was calling).

 As it happened we were right next to Little Creatures brewery which has a great kids playground! As we arrived before 12pm we scored a table right beside the kids sandpit so Jason and I were able to enjoy some downtime while Ethan played and we all waited for our food! A win win all around!

 Cheers everyone!

All in all it was a lovely outing to Freo! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

My 12 year safety record has come to an end...

So after 12 years of cycling (sometimes in pretty hairy circumstances) I have finally had my first real accident. Coming home from work on Tuesday a car cut a corner and knocked my off my bike! Although the damage is reasonably superficial to both me and the bike it is still very scary and it made me realise how badly things can go!

My commute is 3/4 very safe shared cycle/walk path and 1/4 quite dangerous road shared with buses, trucks, cars and complicated by jaywalking pedestrians.

Due to this extra dangerous stretch I am always on guard, riding very conservatively, obeying the road rules to the letter and just aiming to get through the section safely. Tuesday was no different. I was halfway through my dangerous stretch and waiting at a set of lights.... the three cyclists ahead of me jumped the lights while I waited for the green. As I cycled over the horseshoe bridge (named that for its shape) a car cut the second corner and basically drove straight into me. I thought I had maintained enough control to stay on my bike... but unfortunately as momentum carried me through I hit the wing mirror of the car and then it was all over... I went careering over the car bonnet, still attached to my bike, I slid across the road and ended up in the middle of the lane in front of the offending car!

Having said a few choice words to the driver I soon went into a bit of shock and was struggling to think straight. Luckily other cyclists stopped to help out. The driver decided that it was my fault and I cycled into him (interesting concept - not sure I know any cyclist that would choose to take on a car and then he proceeded to tell me that as a respected medical professional (acupuncturist) he would never hurt anyone!). 

So by no way was this a serious accident but it was significant enough to really shake me.

Here are some of my visible injuries - Elbow:

 Knuckles and knee:

 Ethan wasn't very happy with the "naughty man who knocked mummy off her bike" he told Jason that he was going to "throw the naughty man into the fence".... 

So all in all, it was a count our blessing moment... one to remind us of the fragility of life and, no matter how vigilant and law abiding you are, how easily accidents can happen.

A couple of days later Ethan showed me that he too had a sore elbow like his Mama!

Easter Bonnet Hat Parade 2014

Just before Easter Ethan's daycare had its annual Easter Bonnet Hat Parade, with a Humpty Dumpty Easter Egg prize up for grabs!

We made Ethan's hat the weekend before, and unfortunately Ethan didn't want to wear it or even take it to Daycare. However once he got there it was a different story!

I am pleased to report that Ethan won this years Easter Bonnet Hat Parade!!!

Here is the creation (at the end of the school day as well... so it wasn't looking as good as it did when we sent Ethan to daycare in the morning!)...

2014 Water Polo Grand Final Champions!

 For the second year running Jason's water polo team won its grand final! It  was a hard fought game, and the scores were tight throughout!

Ethan enjoyed the game, and the cupcakes, and the sausage sizzle, and all the other kids he got to play with!

 Here is the 2014 Championship team! Well done Melville F-Troop!

Sculptures by the sea 2014

Each year Perth has the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition with many a weird and wonderful creation. This year was no different!

We decided to visit the exhibition on the Saturday evening after arriving home from our holiday. I mistakenly thought it wouldn't be too crowded! After battling the thousands of visitors for a car park we then had to battle thousands to be able to view each sculpture.

Here are some shots of the exhibits.

Looking out to the sunset.

The same piece but from the other side!

This sculpture was thousands of flags fluttering in the wind.

I managed to get this shot with no-one in the immediate vicinity! Very lucky!

Moving in the wind!

Glass feet with the sun going down!

This was was supposed to represent jelly fish!

This sculpture was one of my favourites - thousands of milk bottle caps help together with cable ties.

This sculpture was known as the eternal sunset.... I was running out of good light for these photos!