Happy Birthday to Z!

On the day after Thomas we had an early birthday celebration for my brother (forty!). Craig, Lou and Scarlett came over to Tuscan Villa for lunch and we were also joined by my cousins Chris and Geoff and my Auntie Judith. We gave Craig some Sea Monkeys and a pop up Sound of Music book, which he seemed to be delighted with, understandably. The Sea Monkeys were inspired by our tragic past experience. When we were young we got some and popped them in water and day after day checked their tank for movement but there was nothing. It was years later that mum admitted that she had sprayed fly spray right bear the little critters at that fragile time in their lives. And the ones we got for Craig were piratical sea monkeys - even better. Just imagine the size of those eye patches.

And as for the pop up Sound of Music? As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect for Craig. He has a heightened sense of kitsch and I knew that he would truly appreciate the spinning Maria with vast mountains in the background and the pop up Nazis.

Jack and Scarlett ate their lunch at the little table in the living room and from the dining room where we were all squeezed in (in the nicest possible way) we could hear much giggling and chatter. Scarlett, unimpressed with her meal of lasagna took the opportunity to transfer most of it into Jack's plate. I don't think he noticed.

We ate and ate (antipasto from Fourth Village followed by Chermoula lamb rumps and salads), while they played and played. We finished with a tart or two....

(as you do) and Jack and Scarlett enthusiastically helped to blow out the candles. Then after all that hard work they decided to have a bath.

After the bath we adjourned to the courtyard for cheese and Jack and Scarlett played some more till it was time to go.

Little big day out

Before we went to Sydney for Thomas, Jack and I went to the Little Big Day Out in Wagga. It's an event the council puts on every year and the library, museum, art gallery, theatre and lots of council departments take part. There were balloons, fire engines, balloons, stalls, balloons, music, balloons, races, balloons, games, balloons, colouring in, balloons and a disco. Did I mention there were balloons? Jack tried to get as many as he could handle and then got me to carry them. He had a flavoured milk and a cupcake and then tried out the spooky disco at the library. He loved the bats and spiders but loved the skittles most of all. He did become disturbed when a baby drooled on one of the skittles but he soon got over it. Outside once more he played with the Lego at the toy library stand till it was time to pack up. Official tally: 1 cupcake, 1 chocolate milk, 1 boogie and three balloons.

Thomas

Last Friday we drove up to Sydney to see Thomas Live on stage. To say that Jack was excited was an understatement. All week we'd been doing the countdown (how many sleeps till Thomas?) and when Jack woke up on Friday he bellowed, "FRIDAY!!!"
We made sure that we arrived in plenty of time at the Acer Arena, parking next door in the handily located parking station and joined the throng massing towards the entrance. We paused to admire the poster for the upcoming Wiggles concert (on Mum's birthday - wouldn't that be fun?) and made our way inside. As S and I paused and goggled at the prices of the merch Mum purchased two programmes (one for Jack and one for Scarlett) and we found our seats. Then my brother and Scarlett appeared (who made a beeline for uncle S) and Jack and Scarlett inspected the ceiling (I have no idea wha was so fascinating, but there was lots of gesticulating and perusing) and had a catch up. Nonno reappeared after a short absence with Thomas caps

and these wild spinning light Thomas things. Big hit!

And the Show? Jack was delighted when the trains stared appearing, pointing and enthusiastically calling out their names (my son the trainspotter) but it did go for a looooooong time. And then it stopped for an interval (so Craig could buy churros) and then it stared again. At this point Jack started crying and saying, "no, no," and in between the songs you could hear the wailing of small, overstimulated children.
We were pleased when it finished and we could head back to the car park and get him home for a nap, except that when we got there we found puzzled parents wandering around holding small tired Thomas lovers. We were duly informed (by a sort of weird game of chinese whispers) that there was a bomb scare and we could not return to our cars. What is scarier a bombscare or an arena full of frazzled parents and their feral offspring?
We headed off in search of food, but with all those 'masters' getting ready to compete and other parents having the same idea we didn't have much luck. After Jack had a meltdown we decided to take a chance and try the car park again. We sailed on in, no police no security and reclaimed our car. Jack was asleep before we drove out the exit, no doubt dreaming of Thomas.

Road Test #2 great cookers

On Thursday Amy and her gorgeous daughter Bethany took time out from their busy schedule to come and visit us. Knowing they were keen cooks or as Bethany would say 'cookers' I asked if they'd like to help test another recipe from Sabrina Parrini's Little Kitchen.
After some discussion over tea and pinwheel scones we decided to make gingerbread. I liked the idea of testing it because it differs lightly from other recipes with ingredients like cardamon and orange and lemon zest. The ones in Sabrina's book were in the shape of snowflakes dusted with icing sugar but we decided to go with rabbits, ducks, butterflies and bears.
Bethany had great fun with the flour sifter while Jack just tried to introduce a steam engine into the proceedings at different times. The recipe seemed quite easy, in spite of my being a tad vague, and Bethany assured us that the dough was very tasty. She (and Jack) checked several times just to make sure. We couldn't wait so we immediately rolled out some of the dough and cut it into shapes, while the remainder rested in the fridge.
They turned out really well and were tasty, with the lemon and orange giving the gingerbread a nice flavour and cutting some, but not all of the sweetness. Now when Jack is 'making a cake' and I ask him what the ingredients are he says, "butter, sugar, flour, eggs, ginger..." That's my boy.
Thanks to Amy and Bethany for visiting and helping us out. Enjoy your holidays.

Meccabah

After our quick tour of the gallery we paused long enough to find out who won the grand final (Geelong) and then got ready for dinner. It was absolutely pouring, but as we were staying only 5 minutes away and parking in Manuka on a Saturday night is a nightmare we armed ourselves with Soph's enormous technicolour umbrella and trudged to our dinner destination.
We had (well, me) decided to have dinner at Meccabah in Manuka. I long for good middle eastern food which is just not readily available here and while I have made things like hummus, tabbouleh, felafel and Turkish pizza, it's not the same as sitting comfortably with a glass of wine and someone else doing all the work. We ate a delicious meal with sweet potato felafels, mezze of dips and bread, boureks, cheese wrapped in kataifi pastry and a Turkish pizza with haloumi and the most luscious roasted tomatoes.
Our waitress was very funny and amazed when Soph chose the wine with the aid of her iphone (I was too). We finished with dessert and then Soph and I retired to watch a very cheesy movie.

forecast: rain, sleet and small hail

That was the lovely spring weather that we encountered on our last day in Canberra. There's an iciness to the wind that just cuts through you. Soph and I got up extra early to have our encore breakfast at Silo. We had excitedly talked about what we were going to eat and I was calculating just how many pain au chocolats and croissants I would be purchasing and then we got to Kingston and Silo was shut. I know that bakers need a day off (especially ones as clever as these) but Sunday? And I think this is why I had never found it, because S and I always seemed to turn up in Kingston on a Sunday. We vainly searched for other options at 7am in Kingston and Manuka, but the best we could do was muesli, fruit and bread from (sigh) a supermarket that we took back to our apartment. At least we were warm, if disappointed. I was certainly glad we hadn't put off breakfast till Sunday.
After packing and checking out we went to the Kingston Bus Markets. We purchased some food then had a quick look at the Canberra Glassworks next door while we waited for Karen.
There's something about glass blowing that I find fascinating. I could (and have) watch it for hours. Soph and I watched some people make some paperweights

and then returned to the markets. I purchased bagels, bread, strawberries, tomatoes, tea, chocolate and some very good Ethiopian food for our dinner. I spoke to S and he reminded me to buy dinner and I assured him I already had. Soph stocked up on very good honey and more strawberries and set off for Sydney. I dallied a bit longer looking at the craft section and then I too bid Karen and Canberra farewell. No sleet, but very cold and I was glad to hop in my car and listen to Phryne Fisher on audio all the way home.

going around in circles

After our delicious breakfast Soph and I walked around Kingston and Manuka having a look at the shops. Funnily enough we spent most of our time looking at food, books or books about food. We met up with Karen and after a look at some chichi but very overpriced baby shops, had some thai food for lunch. Very exciting for someone who is used to a choice of Chinese or Australian meals.
After lunch Karen disappeared to watch the footy (it was grand final day) and Soph and I decided to visit the War Memorial or maybe the Art Gallery. After my last trip to Canberra I was feeling confident about navigating but Soph was a bit more circumspect so we agreed to let English Jane (her dad's satnav) give us directions and I would supplement her advice. We worked pretty well as a team and I was glad she was there when I temporarily got lost (who moved the Hyatt?).
Whenever we got to Canberra, S always wants to visit the War Memorial and I usually fob him off by saying we'll go after the gallery and then we never do. I felt mean going without him, but then we only had a quick look (it really is a striking looking building) before we dashed off to the gallery to see the McCubbin exhibition. Love that Gallery, it always seems so peaceful. Must be all that concrete.