Day 212 - We're going to the Zoo.

We took the girls to Taronga Zoo today. We started off on a very long walk, much longer than we were led to believe. Luckily it was a beautiful weekend in Sydney. We started by following the numbered path which is set out on the Taronga Map. It was a pity some exhibits were closed for maintenance and probably lucky that the girls aren't old enough to notice what they missed. We saw elephants, giraffes, penquins, zebras, seals, farm yard animals and much more! I am sure some of you who know me are surprised that the photo of the day isn't a giraffe, but this was one of the hardest photos of the day I have ever had to choose. At first it was going to be the gorgeous baby elephants, then a really cool looking yellow bird, but I couldn't go past the gorgeous photos I caught of the ram in the farmyard area.

Next time we take the girls to the zoo, we will be doing the farm yard area first rather than last! It was definitely where they had more fun.

Day 211 - A trip to the Aquarium

We took the girls to the Sydney Aquarium today to start off our little family getaway in Sydney. The girls enjoyed looking at the different sea creatures with the turtle the definite favourite for Ava. It was interesting watching the girls enjoy different parts of the aquarium. Ava loved walking underneath the water and having the sharks, fish and stingrays swim over the top of us while I think Olivia just enjoyed being out of the pram! I think the girls are going to really enjoy coming here over the next few years.

Day 210 - A catch up with some favourites

This afternoon we ventured to Mel's house to catch up with not only her Simon and Patrick but to catch up with Meri and Rubi who were up here for a visit from Melbourne. It was lovely to see them both and catch up. If only I got a photo of the four of them together!
 We had a little turkish for dinner and I caught the three stooges watching their favourite television spot Giggle and hoot. Nothing stops all three of them in their tracks like Jimmy Giggle and Hoot and their singing. Too cute!

Day 209 - Christmas in July

Tonight I went to a Chistmas in July dinner with the staff at Queanbeyan West Public School. It was a very chilly evening, with a beautiful woodfire and some Christmas decorations. The food was not as good as I had hoped, but the company was wonderful. Thanks to those who kept me entertained for the evening, even if I wasn't lucky enough to win the fluffy lucky door prize!

Day 208 - An unusual favourite that I hope lasts!

Broccoli is one of our favourite vegetables. Usually when I cook it I just boil it or steam it up and it is the first thing to go from Ava's plate. It is interesting watching the girls eat. Olivia usually eats all her meat first and Ava all her vegetables. I will have to watch them closely as they get older to make sure there isn't much food swapping going on! 

Hopefully this favourite lasts!

Day 207 - Circus Quirkus.

We were treated to a free performance through school today. We took Kinder and Year 1 to see Circus Quirkus at the Queanbeyan Conference Centre and it was very exciting. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't take my photo of the day. There was so much to choose from: a penny farthing rider, Christoff the clown or even the Zimm brothers who scared a couple of Kindy girls when they stacked up chairs and touched the roof of the auditorium!
It was lovely to see the kids have such a good time watching the circus and there was much discussion about all things Quirkus for the rest of the day.

Day 206 - Carlyn's shaddow

My friend Carlyn came to stay last night. It is not often we get to entertain Carlyn on her Sunday night stays as we just don't have the spare room. Ava followed Carlyn around this morning like a little sheep. She put cream on her legs when Carlyn did, here as you can see in the photo, Ava put on her scarf when Carlyn did. It was very cute to watch.
We'd love to have you stay anytime Carlyn, we'll always give our bed up for you. It was lovely!

Day 205 - Enter the world of bulk buying.

Costco opened in Canberra this weekend and with thanks to my mum for making me a household card member, we went for a little lookie. My favourite part was by far the trolleys. As a mum of twins, I often struggle to find twin trolleys that are clean or not the size of a bus! Costco ones are great!
It was so big inside and so much to look at. There were a few good buys and certainly if you had a huge family or would be willing to split things amongst a small group, you will be saving a bit of money. However I don't think i'll be buying my oil in bulk!

Day 204 - A great helper

Quite often the folding is done when the girls are otherwise occupied or even asleep. Today Shane decided to fold their washing with a little help from Olivia. I am not too sure whether he wanted her help or not, but he got it. It was quite cute to watch really. She'd pull an item of clothing out, look at it and pretend to fold it and place it in a pile to be refolded later. We shall have to train her as she gets older.

Day 203 - A missed opportunity

Today we celebrated NAIDOC day at school and we had an assembly to commemorate the day. Each chid at the school decorated a hand which we then placed under our flags. You can see a photo of the hands at Belinda's Project 365 Blog (http://belindasproject3652011.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-203-lively-hands.html) I went to take a photo of the hands as I was leaving school and they had already been removed, so it was a missed photo opportunity today. Hopefully there will not be any more in the next 162 days.

Day 202 - Bon Voyage Mum.

After a very sleepless night, I had a rather early morning to drive my mum to the airport for her big trip to Canada. Originally I was very happy to drive her to the airport. It wasn't until Ava got sick and displayed some dreadful sleeping habits at very unreasonable hours at night. Here is to her feeling better soon.

Enjoy your trip mum. We will miss you!

Day 201 - Another Round

I never really know where to draw the line of when to take the girls to the doctors office, at the moment it seems I am erring on the side of caution and am there very, very regularly. We are on yet another round of antibiotics for a chest infection. On the plus side (if this really is a plus...) it is Ava this time rather Olivia.  I am hoping this is the end of our sickness. I have everything crossed.

Day 200 - Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is my brother in law Sam's birthday. We got together and had delicious home made pizzas for dinner and cake. I made my first attempt at the Donna Hay layered chocolate cake tonight. It certainly tasted better than it looked! Maybe next time it will look just as good.

Day 199 - Jimmy Giggle Fever Hits Woden Plaza.

Today, thanks to Sue for telling me, Jimmy Giggle of 'Giggle and Hoot' fame on abc4kids, had a meet and greet at Woden Plaza. We thought it would be fun to go along as the girls love Giggle and Hoot. We met Mel and Patrick along with my mum this morning, in preparation for a Giggle fest.

Well apparently so did hundreds of other kids and their parents. While we were waiting, instead of getting in the line early and waiting with the kids for over 40 minutes we braved the rough little children's play area, which ended in tears for both Olivia and Ava, so it was time to then move on. Thanks to Jimmy Giggle for taking the stage not long after. I was hoping he would have done a little singing, but it was just a meet and greet.

I was grateful not to have lined up considering the girls more than likely wouldn't have gone near him. Even more grateful when we saw how long the line was. The line, for those who know Woden Plaza, zig zagged in front of donut king, around muffin break, along past the shops all the way down to SpecSavers. Where there was an estimated waiting time of 3 hours. No thanks.

A wave and a kiss blown to Jimmy Giggle was enough for the girls and I.

Day 198 - Dinner with Friends.

Tonight we had dinner with the gorgeous Hackney family. It is not often we all get to catch up with work and home commitments often getting in the way.

We went down to The Strip. The newest Woodfired Pizza place in Queanbeyan. We have had a few mixed reviews but I am happy to report it is more delicious to eat in than to take away.

Thank you to the Hackney family for the spontaneous catch up! I really must get onto organising a weekend down at your place again. Maybe we could put an order in for some warmer weather?

Day 197 - Happy Birthday Amelia

Tonight we got to go out and celebrate one of my newest friends 30th birthdays.

We ventured to the Ha Ha Bar in Belconnen to celebrate Amelia's 30th. It was a lovely evening, with exquisite food and wonderful company. It has been a long time since we have gone out and had a few drinks. Thanks to the lovely Ian for being Designated Dave for the evening (he even had us home for a reasonable hour too!)

Hope you had a wonderful birthday Amelia. Thanks for allowing us to share in your celebrations and introducing us to the Ha Ha Bar.

Day 196 - What a wonderful day.

Booked in a very girlie day with my wonderful friend Mel today. We started with a lovely, but interesting, massage in Griffith. We followed that up with a delicious lunch at Idelic in Kingston. Here I discovered the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Words cannot describe it, you just have to go try it yourself.

After all this luxurious food and relaxation, we hit the shops on a boot mission. With a lot more success than I had ever anticipated. Diana Ferrari had a sale nothing over $70, where I found 2 lovely pairs of boots. Even Mel who was only coming along as moral support bought herself a pair of new boots.

Thanks Mel for not only a wonderful day, but everything else that has come along with our friendship. I'd be a little lost without you nowadays.

Day 195 - A nice thought

While having lunch at Country Heir in Queanbeyan today I noticed this sign and thought it was very sweet.

The photo was taken on my iPhone, which explains the poor angle because I haven't charged my camera, I really should do that so I can give my phone a rest!  

Day 194 - New Shoes almost for all.

We went shopping today at DFO, on the hunt for some funky wedding shoes for Kristy's upcoming wedding, with Nerida and Kristy. I am pretty sure we went into every shoe shop we passed. Unfortunately the girls got a little fiesty with one another so I had to leave before trying on some boots I found in Diana Ferrari. Hopefully they will still be there on Friday when I am child free for a few hours.

Good luck with your shoe hunt Kristy!

Day 193 - Frosty Mornings

It has been a very cold start to Winter in Canberra this year. With the 1st of July being the coldest morning with -5.5 degrees.

The frost has always been thick but yesterday morning it seemed thicker than normal. The poor hose was covered as was Shane's black work shirt that we left hanging on the line overnight. I am looking forward to defrosting in my nice warm house today.

Day 192 - Picasso in the Making (times 2)

Usually I leave painting as an activity to do at daycare out of fear that they will paint themselves, the furniture or the walls.

With it being too cold to go out and after seeing Tina using water colour paints, a wet sponge and some brushes, I decided to be brave today. The girls loved sitting painting a few pictures to give to Shane to hang in his office. I am happy to report there was very little painting of themselves, the furniture or the walls!

A few masterpieces and some lovely creative time spent together is an afternoon I could do with more often.

Day 191 - Getting Organised

I am one for organising. I love having things to have their own home.

When I picked up the hinges for my Horn sewing table on Friday, I thought of all the possibilities for organising my sewing materials in this beautiful cabinet. 

I am looking forward to breaking out the Martha Stewart in me and finishing off all my unfinished products. Now the challenge is to just find the time to do all this sewing.

Day 190 - A Sleeping Baby

We went to Bredbo today to celebrate our nephew Caleb's 9th birthday.

I got to have some cuddles with baby Josephine, which of course I had to share with Ava and then Olivia. It was lovely when the cuddles turned to sleep. I had forgotten how nice it was to have a less squirmy and smaller baby fall asleep on you. If I was all alone I would have closed my eyes for a little nana nap myself.

Day 189 - Hinges

After meeting Jodi for a little brunch this morning in Woden, I went and picked up my sewing machine from Sew Simple in Phillip. I was ready to ask about when the hinges for the horn sewing cabinet we have inherited would arrive, when the lady told me they had arrived in store today. Excellent timing. Watch this space for when I get to start using the cabinet. Fingers crossed it is this weekend!

Day 188 - Chocolate Heaven

Today Belinda, Cathy and I met at Max Brenner Chocolate Bar for a little bit of indulgence. It was very hard to chose what to try because it all looked so delicious. I am pretty sure that next time we go I will try something different.

I loved the mugs the hot chocolate came in and the waffle drizzled with dark chocolate was very decadent. Belinda had the brownie which I am sure next time I may have to try for myself. If you like chocolate, I recommend a trip to Max Brenner in Belconnen Mall.

Day 187 - Flowers from Mrs Flowers

It was lovely to catch up with Sue today and do a few things together that we had started a little while ago. It was very thoughful of her to bring me these beautiful Sweet Peas. They look gorgeous sitting on my kitchen bench, and of course they are my favourite colour. Thanks Sue.

Day 186 - Chocolate Eggie

The girls got a little treat today.

A chocolate eggie. We had 2 little hollow eggs left over from Easter, the girls have been having so much fun at home together that I thought today was a good day to give them a little chocolate eggie with their afternoon tea. They eat it so delicately which is very cute to watch.

I am sure they'll learn the difference between chocolate eggies and chocolate biscuits one day.

Day 185 - A new toy... well until it is filled with toys

Tonight Shane put together the new storage we bought from Ikea.

The girls loved helping daddy put it together. It was at one point a house, a horse, a place to do Ring-a-Ring-a Rosie and Row Row Row your boat, a doorway to walk through, a climbing frame, a place to hide before the fun police put the tubs in and started to put it to its purpose, storing toys.

Anyone who knows me will know how much satisfaction I got from organising the girls toys into appropriate tubs. I can't wait until the girls are old enough to appreciate this organising.

Day 184 - The new Binga's digs.

This is our new home away from home.

Our gorgeous friends, Nerida and Andrew, have finished building their house and have moved in. So on our way back home from Sydney we had to stop in Bingara Gorge, or Binga's as it is now called, to see our new home away from home. I love it. The colours, the little details and I especially love the hospitality. I look forward to our first official night in our new "digs".

We didn't get to catch up with Andy this time, but we did get to catch up with the gorgeous Mrs C, who always keeps us entertained.

Congratulations Neri and Andy on your beautiful new home. May you spend many happy occasions and make even more precious memories within these walls. We will be blessed to share them with you.

Day 183 - Hello Ikea!

We took a trip to Sydney for the weekend with our first stop, Ikea in Rhodes.

The girls slept a little bit in the car so we bundled them into the trolley for a leisurely stroll around Ikea with a few things like toy storage and single bed quilts on my shopping list. I am always amazed at how much they can fit into the shop.

I am already thinking about what our next purchase can be from Ikea.

Day 182 - Thanks Uncle Scott!

Tonight we went out for dinner with Friends. Being after daycare usually the girls are exhausted, particularly when they decide not to sleep at school. Thanks must go to Uncle Scott for keeping the girls, in particular technology junkie Ava, entertained with the ABC4Kids App on his iPhone. It was lovely to see you all again. We look forward to doing it again.