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!

Dunsborough Holiday Part 2: Days 5 - 7

 Day 5 of our holiday dawned and we almost had the beach to ourselves! Bliss! Here we are, all set for the day!

From snorkeling, to sun bathing, to rock hopping and swimming. Fun was had by all.

Another day another kayak!

 After a day at the beach we decided to have an early evening adventure for (hopefully) some good sunset photos at Sugarloaf Rock.

Here is the stunning WA coast line.

 We all clambered over the rocks to get down to the water level, here we saw rock pools with crabs and snails.... Ethan was loving it!

 I can see how there can be some stunning photos taken at this spot, but it all depends of the cloud as to whether you get any rich reds and oranges!

 Ethan loved out "adventure"

 The early evening light on the rich red rocks of WA was stunning.

 Jason, our mountain goat, took Ethan the whole way up on his shoulders!

 Yet Ethan makes it look like he has been working hard!

The light was lovely for photos, I was hoping beyond all hope for a stunning sunset!

 Either way it was a great outing and we got some great photos!

 Unfortunately the cloud just wasn't quite right for the sunset that I was hoping for!

 There was a little bit of red, but not like the WA sky can be at times!

 The next day we took Ethan to the Wonky Windmill animal farm where he got to the lambs.

 Play with the rabbits and hamsters.

 and feed the sheep (they needed it after a dry summer.... not much grass for them)

 We spied goats, llamas, alpacas, deer, emus, ostriches, kangaroos, chickens, pigs and cows.

 In the afternoon we headed back to the beach and took a walk up to the Whale lookout (during Sept - Dec you can spot the whales here on their annual migration through). The views were amazing!

 Time for a quick family shot! We don't get them anywhere near often enough!

 Ethan had on his adventuring shoes and did really well over the rough terrain, until his legs just got too tired for him.... again it was mountain goat Dad to the rescue for the rest of the journey...

We finished our day with dinner and beers at the Pour House! A lovely evening was had by all! We took a leisurely walk home along the beach with Ethan walking nearly the whole 1.5km home!

BUT.... all too soon was it our last day! We took one last morning walk into town for coffee and then it was time to pack for home!

All in all it was a lovely holiday, one with many memories to treasure!

Dunsborough holiday part 1: days 1 - 4

Well its been a week and our holiday is a far and distant memory! So I thought it was time to post about the wonderful time that we spent away in Dunsborough.

Jason's parents arrived the night before Jason's birthday (Thursday) and we headed off to Dunsborough on the Saturday. 

It didn't take the boys long to pump up the pool toys and take advantage of the pool at the holiday house.

While dinner was cooking on our first night we took a walk down to the beach (600m from our holiday house) and it was stunning... in fact Ethan walked straight in! The water is very shallow for quite some way so very safe for a young one.

The light was beautiful and it was lovely and warm for our nudey rudey boy having his swim (we didn't plan for him to swim so didn't have any towel/togs or spare clothes.

It took some time to convince Ethan that we needed to head back to the holiday house!

Later that night I was a little apprehensive about what the night might bring with Ethan sleeping in an unfamiliar territory, but I need not have worried, he slept right through.

Invigorated after a full night sleep I took the opportunity to head out for a run and to see the wonderful sunrise! Bliss!

When I got back after my run I was greeted by my two boys.... how lucky am I?

This is the pool area at our holiday home... 

Ethan enjoyed some quality time with his grandparents!

Our first full day on holiday was a little overcast so we took the opportunity to do the  train trip on the busselton jetty out to the underwater aquarium.

The wait for the train back as a little long so we walked back, all 2km of it!

There was plenty to see and distract us on the walk, and I for one was happy that we weren't in full sun!

Ethan and Jason then did some rock hopping before we headed to the Cheeky Monkey Brewery and Cidery for lunch (great kids playground) and then back to Dunsborough for the afternoon.

We spent the afternoon in the water down at Old Dunsborough bay. After some initial issues with Ethan not wanting to wear his life jacket for paddling we all had a blast.

Our third day started with toast and pink milk on the front porch for Ethan and grandad. This shot also shows the awesome front lawn, many a fun hour was spent here.

Our accommodation was around 800m from town and on day three we walked in for our morning coffee... spying these sculptures on the way.

Ethan got quite used to his baby cino and marshmallows every day!

After coffee we headed back to our holiday home via the water (this time I bought togs for Ethan to wear).

Ethan LOVED the star fish and sting ray!

It was a little windy so we headed off to Yallingup beach for the morning. Here we were treated to a lagoon for Ethan and a reef for Grandad and Jason to snorkel over.

The water was a little colder over this side of the peninsula so we bought Ethan a wetsuit, the best purchase ever!

We had lots of fun in the sand

and chasing sea gulls

I couldn't resist this shot.... like father like son!

By the afternoon it was a lot calmer and we decided to pay a visit to Meelup Beach (my favourite beach to date)

And what a beach it was.... rocks for rock hopping, and snorkeling over, calm waters for playing and kayaking in, sun and shade!!!

Here is Ethan, me and Grandma kayaking and Grandad snorkeling.

Ethan thought the snorkel set looked like fun!

The first four days of holiday were idyllic... stay tuned for the rest!