Aprill {life & family in the Southern Highlands}

Summer’s getting hot hot hot. We had a birthday party for Lincoln to attend today, in the park at Mittagong. There were a few preschool mothers there to talk to, including one who is also a teacher at the public school where Fraser will be going this year. We talked a bit about school, while Fraser hung around being mopey about the heat and refusing to play in the playground or ride his scooter. Meanwhile, Lincoln had a lovely time, as we always seems to. Then we came home and ate ice-blocks, before having an indoors afternoon of Wii (the boys) and WordPress hacking (me).

A not-very productive day was capped off with a not-cheap, but very tasty dinner down in Robbo at Pizzas in the Mist. Just as the mist began rolling in. Poetic.

We usually ring in the new year with a big ticket electrical item. One year it was a chest freezer, (which we now want to sell), last year it was a four slot toaster with the “a bit more” button and new kettle. When I walked past Bing Lee the other day I felt the pang of a big purchase not yet made. Anyway, I dismissed it.

Then Matt brought up the idea of buying a ride-on lawn mower. We’ve had it in mind since moving here, but we’ve been paying a guy to mow the lawn, until we had a shed to house all our garden gear. Well, the shed is on order and the mower was in stock for a good price, so Matt bought it today. It’s done its first few laps and, in the meantime, is sharing the garage with several bikes, boxes, the double fridge, a bunch of other stuff, and the chest freezer, which we want to sell. Anyway, it’s fully automatic and I should be able to use it as well.

Watching Matt mow was this afternoon’s entertainment, but this morning I took the boys to the pool for an hour before coming back home for a playdate with one of Fraser’s school friends. I must say, I’ve never known a more outdoors-averse kid than Fraser. He swam in the pool for about ten minutes before getting out and hovering around me, whining about being cold and hungry, while Lincoln was happy splashing about in the toddler pool.

Ahh, well. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I guess.

So hey! It’s 2012. Happy new year! What did you do?

On new year’s eve, Matt and the boys went up to Sydney to sell my old car. While they were gone, I used my Christmas voucher on a massage and facial at the local Ella Bache salon. Then I painted the undercoat on the purple wall. Then I went for a bike ride! Whew—the things I get up to when the kids aren’t home. We had a BBQ with friends at their house around the corner, got a  bit merry, and I was asleep sitting up in my own bed by 11.30pm.

The first part of new year’s day was fairly subdued but we got out of the house eventually and ended up at a beach, just a bit north of Shellharbour. The boys paddled, we soaked up some sun and enjoyed the first really warm day we’ve had all Summer.

After our active afternoon yesterday, we felt ok about nerding it up today. Matt read, I wrote (on the computer) and the boys played on the Wii and watched movies, until the late afternoon when they ran around in the sprinkler for an hour or so.

It’s been a pretty good long weekend.