Day 513: Prepare for take-off

20/12/2022

After a big fun family snow day we rushed downstairs to check on Lachlan, he was not looking too well.

Speaking of Lachlans not feeling too well, we then heard “Dad, Dad, Lachlan just dived off the couch onto his head again”. Oh no, I rushed in to check on him and he was giggling his head off. We have a bit of a problem at the moment where he thinks he is a stuntman. Eloise stepped up and made sure that he stayed safe.

Once we had managed to crack into our car we were off to Football Buzz. The roads were even icier and slipperier than yesterday, we only had one hill to get up and just managed to get the coche to the top. The next challenge was crossing the car park. Eloise loves to slide and just locks her legs and expects you to drag her along, which is especially tricky when you are top-heavy carrying a flailing Lachlan, time for another penguin walk.

This may be Eloise’s last Football Buzz session, when we return next year, Lachlan is going to take over the morning class. We will have to see if Eloise wants to move up to the midday class, which is tricky timing-wise. There have been murmurs about trying swimming lessons. Football Buzz was going great, Lachlan was getting involved but we all ran into an issue at the first water break, it was all ice. At least, they found it hilarious.

Both Eloise and Lachlan had a fun session, we think Lachlan would like to come back. Eloise made sure that he waved goodbye to their beloved bear, although you don’t need to encourage Lachlan to wave. We then ice-skated back to the car.

After a big day in the snow and a massive week coming up we planned to have a quiet one and get ready for our trip. The kids were overtired and it was an eventful slippery walk with the Batmobile drifting all over the place.

The rough bumps from the ice quickly shook Lachlan to sleep. Eloise was too amused by all the snow and kept yelling to build another snowman, there was no chance she was napping. Instead she wanted to build her poorly toleranced Spitfire. After a bit of trouble with some “cheeky parts” and lots of giggles, we had done it!

Eloise was thrilled with her new plane. It was good fun, once Lachlan was awake we dashed back to the shops to get the F-22 and other boring food stuff.

A famous Aussie author, Doris Pilkington Garimara, was the doodle of the day.

Doris Pilkington Garimara AM (born Nugi Garimara; c. 1 July 1937 – 10 April 2014), also known as Doris Pilkington, was an Australian author. Garimara wrote Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996), a story about the stolen generation, and based on three Aboriginal girls, among them Pilkington’s mother, Molly Craig, who escaped from the Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia and travelled 2,414 km (1,500 miles) for nine weeks to return to their family. Pilkington was born at Balfour Downs Station, near the north Western Australian settlement of Jigalong.

After a decent night’s sleep by all, Eloise kickstarted Sunday full of energy with kids’ Zumba.

From there the excitement was building, at midday Emma came over, we were looking after her for the afternoon as we massively owed Jo. The playdate started great, the kids were having a great time and pizza and chips were a hit for lunch.

Lachlan being Lachlan then started doing laps while he ate, fairly standard. He started to chase Emma who chased Eloise who chased Lachlan who chased ….

There were some nibbles in between, but the girls must have done half a mile as food was no longer the priority.

The soft toys and dress-up were then out in force. Jo, an early Christmas miracle, there were lots of happy cuddles too.

The day was starting to get a bit wild, Dad exited stage right as the match of the century was about to kick off. Super Mum used her magic and the girls started to play Hospitals and Hoovers.

Super Mum then tricked both the girls to have a pretend play nap before the chocolates came out.

We watched possibly the most incredible football match in history play out with a TV dinner. The time zones have really worked in our favour. My explanation won’t do the match justice, but it was nice to see Messi complete football, now he has beaten the whole game. “Cry for me, Argentina: The joy and sorrow of watching Lionel Messi win the Qatar World Cup”.

Eloise, the traitor, was a happy girl. After choosing sides early.

It was just nuts, check out Buenos Aires, all just because of a football match. Unbelievable!

For the Danish troll fans, we bring you very disappointing news that “a suspicious fire that destroyed a popular art exhibition in Perth’s south has caused an outpouring of anger and disbelief, as police offer a $25,000 reward for information”. Deservingly so, Australia has been whipped off the Trollmap, shame on Australia.

This week started much warmer than the last as “temperatures jump by 15 degrees”. It was snacks for all at The Honeybee Bakery to celebrate being able to feel our limbs again. Excitingly, Juju is also preparing for their family trip back to Australia shortly after Christmas. It would be funny if we saw them there.

As you may have seen on the homepage it is not long now until the FIK Australia Tour Extravaganza. Concerningly, in the UK at the moment Strep A is the new infection of concern, sweeping through nurseries, we decided to keep Eloise home from nursery this week, that would be the last thing we need. Lachlan enjoyed the extra time with his Big Sister and helped Dad pack in the afternoon, among the souvenirs, Dad has just been left a small corner in one of the suitcases.

Due to the family’s terrible self-control, after dinner, the kids were keen to crack into the box of British Quality Streets. We had to quickly wrap some dairy-free Jammie Dodgers so Lachlan felt included, although he was suspicious.

Quality Street is a line of tinned and boxed toffees, chocolates and sweets, first manufactured by Mackintosh’s in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, in 1936. It was named after J. M. Barrie’s play Quality Street. Since 1988 they have been produced by Nestlé. Quality Street have long been a competitor to Cadbury Roses which were launched by Cadbury in 1938.

On Monday a student was “charged after eggs were allegedly thrown at the King and the Queen Consort during a visit to York… All of the eggs missed”.

Just like Messi completed football on Sunday, this morning Lachlan completed the onesie game. In Lachlan’s defence, the carpets do not look as bad as these photos make out.

The girls thought it would be a good time for face painting. Lachlan did not want his beautiful skin touched but was more than happy to grab a paintbrush.

Eloise had a special pyjamas-themed dance lesson in the afternoon, which was tricky because they were already in her suitcase. Lachlan also wanted to dress up, grabbed the koala beanie and was reading on the run in the library.

Today, “the new look of banknotes featuring the image of King Charles has been unveiled by the Bank of England. The portrait will be the only change to existing designs of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes and will start to enter circulation from mid-2024″.

We have yet to mention the Australian River Murray floods, relentlessly the water level keeps rising, “modelling predicts between 190 and 220 gigalitres of water a day will flow down the river as the flood peaks in late December”, with “all River Murray communities on alert as waters continue to rise”. Unfortunately, it is not getting any better as “The South Australian government has closed the River Murray to all non-essential activity, effective immediately, with the Premier saying the ban will be in place “for some time to come””.

Everyone hang tight, all going well our next post should be from Adelaide!