Sunday 31 March 2013

The week that was ...

Well, this week has been undeniably better than last week, thank goodness. We've all been of better health. By Monday Mahlia was back to her happy self and went to Montessori without a mention of a sore tummy. She did miss her swimming on Sunday but I took Leila—they both love their swimming lessons. We then walked over to the local beachside market to browse the stalls, have lunch and listen to some live music.

After we returned home, I unsuccessfully tried to get Leila to have an afternoon sleep (again... grrrr). The weather was beautifully warming so we decided to go to the beach for a late afternoon swim/paddle board/snorkel. I went snorkelling and it was absolutely stunning—the visibility was good, the sun's rays were cutting through the water to highlight the rainbow of the underwater world. And the fish were aplenty, of all shapes and colours. A truly magical moment.

Hubby then took the girls out on the stand-up paddle board around the boats. This is relatively new experience for Leila, but she loves it as much as her big sister does. Our time on shore was spent recreating a sand giant from one of our books:
Mahlia found one of her Montessori friends just as we were about to leave. Hubby took him out on the paddle board and we enjoyed the last hour of sun.

Tuesday we celebrated my baby's 2nd birthday—read all about it here. She seems to have really grown this past week too.

And Friday we finally made it to the zoo. The girls slept soundly the night before, so awoke full of energy and excitement. Traffic was minimal, as were the crowds at the zoo. The girls had a ball. Desperate to always see more, we managed to cover nearly everything. My personal favourites were the meerkats, big cats, chimps and the young gorillas playing (although the daddy gorilla really did look sad and very bored, which in turn made me very sad too). The girls loved everything, but were particularly excited to see the zebras.

A perfect day for my perfect girls.

And today was Easter Sunday. We had an egg hunt in the garden, and Leila struggled to understand why she couldn't eat all her eggs today. We practiced bike riding and spent some time at Nana and Pa's, before getting take away for dinner.

I hope you've had a lovely Easter! x

Saturday 30 March 2013

13/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: LOVING our trip to the zoo on Friday for Leila's birthday treat. She was ridiculously excited and just couldn't get enough of all the animals.
Leila: Her birthday lunch at our local Japanese restaurant. She couldn't get enough of it, and ate more than the rest of us, each piece of sushi is inhaled in one piece. My big girl now, and she does seem to be so much bigger all of a sudden.

A favourite from last week is the jumping-on-the-bed action at Blog a la Cart!

Joining in with Jodi and the 52 Project at Che and Fidel.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

My baby's 2

My baby girl has turned two today. I'm struggling with it a little if I'm honest. She's still my baby!!

We've had a lovely day together as a family. It started with a few presents, each one played with or read  or worn before moving on to the next.






We then took Mahlia off to school and Leila, daddy and I headed off to the dog park where Leila could ride her new balance bike! It will take some getting used to but she's enjoying it so far—I can't wait to see them both riding off together.



We made our way back home, where I decorated the cake I baked last night, and daddy took Leila out on the paddle board. Hubby is now teaching yoga every evening, so we decided to take Mahlia out of school early so we could have a birthday lunch celebration. One of our favourite places to go is Crave Sushi in Terrigal, and the girls love their Japanese cuisine. Leila devoured her soft shell crab, salmon and avocado sushi and the edemame.


The girls then had a ridiculous amount of fun at the water playground at The Entrance.








With two very tired girls, we headed home for the all-important birthday cake.




A jam-packed, fun-filled day and she loved every minute of it. She is so cheeky this one, but oh so gorgeous! I love her to pieces, and she amazes me every day with the things she learns, says and does. I feel so blessed to have her in our lives. I Uv Ooo Leila xxx

Sunday 24 March 2013

12/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.




Mahlia: A blustery, yet sunny day in the dog park, after a jog and stretch with daddy. She has started running with daddy on the beach, following in his foot steps.

Leila: We stopped at the park at The Entrance during the week, unprepared for a splash in the water. She took great pleasure in jumping off a step, a mere 3 centimetres high... she makes it look like she's jumping off a cliff!

One of my favourites from last week is this gorgeous smile peeking through the clothes!

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project over at Che and Fidel.

Saturday 23 March 2013

The week that was...

Our house has been hit with the nasty tummy bug that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. I woke up ill on Monday, but being a mum had to soldier on—dropped hubby off at work, pulled up at home where Leila promptly vomited her weetbix up in her car seat, threw her in the bath, cleaned car, made Mahlia's lunch and got her to school within half an hour. Then took the dogs for a run before heading home and collapsing on the lounge chair/cuddling the toilet. It had to happen on the day that hubby was working 12 hours as well. Luckily Leila was fine for the rest of the day, and I woke up much better the following day.

You always want your mum when you're ill, don't you? My subconscious made me dress in a top that I hadn't worn since I was at my parent's in the UK at Christmas. It smelt of mum's washing powder, and just made me feel a little bit better.

This week is Leila's last as a one-year-old. She is still my baby, we still have bubba cuddles. And to mark the week, she fell back to sleep in my arms after her nap on Thursday.

And today we were meant to go to the zoo for Leila's birthday outing. Mahlia had different ideas. She woke at 1am this morning and threw the mother of all tantrums. She was inconsolable. It was sticky hot which didn't help. At 2.30am I finally managed to calm her. Leila awoke not long after. Tag teaming between the 2, it was a long night. Mahlia woke this morning, surprise, surprise in the foulest of moods.  I persevered and packed everyone up in the car—we WILL have an amazing day, girls will sleep on the way to Taronga and wake up full of beans. Less than 2 minutes from home, Mahlia: "I think I'm going to be sick" from the back of the car. Pull-over too late, weetbix covered car... again. So the zoo has been postponed until Friday, the car has been cleaned again (apart from the annoying electric window button that I can't get into to... yuck), and I have spent lots of hours cuddling Miss Mahlia in bed and catching up on sleep. I'm hoping she will awake in the morning feeling better... my other baby:

And to top off a bad week, my uncle is seriously ill over in Perth. I feel for my mum, being so far away.

I hope you've had a healthier week! I'm looking forward to celebrating next week with Leila's birthday, followed by the zoo and then Easter! 

Saturday 16 March 2013

11/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: Tear yourself away from those mesmerising eyes and can you guess what she's drawn? Sushi with pink fish (aka salmon) and avocado—not bad for a four year-old! Making a birthday card for her good friend's Japanese theme party.

Leila: At the aforementioned Japanese party, on a bit of a sugar high, she was running circles around me, falling to the ground and cracking up laughing. She's a character that one.

A couple of my favourites from 10/52 are the curls over at We Stood Together, and Blackbird has Spoken—peeking through her feet!

Joining in with Jodi over at Che and Fidel!

Saturday 9 March 2013

The week that was...

Since the rain subsided a week ago we have been desperately trying to spend as much time as possible outside, enjoying the return of the warming sun. We missed a third of the summer here, when we travelled back to the UK for Christmas, so I found it quite hard to adjust to summer having already ended when it felt like it had only just begun!

We are lucky enough to be able to walk to the beach, so as soon as the skies cleared last week, that is where we headed. It was still fairly gusty but it was so worth it! A salty, sticky foam had developed from the ocean and it was just so much fun for the girls.





We spent time in the park with friends, we enjoyed the garden sprinkler and began a new veggie patch, where we came across a new friend.



We've taken long walks in the morning sun. We (well, the girls) climbed trees and watched the local bats.

Helping her little sister over a fallen branch... bless.


Mahlia and Leila sitting in a tree
K I S S I N G





We spent an evening bathing in the rock pools, searching for crabs and watching a very enthusiastic Taiwanese fishing TV personality film his show. We spent this evening running down the sand banks at the beach and then chasing the waves in and out of the ocean. Both girls stripped down to their birthday suits, Leila's feet were constantly washed out from under her but each time her head popped up from the white wash with a big smile. Mahlia's lost her fear of the waves... she jogged home in the nude with hubby, while myself, Leila and the dogs drove home in the car.




We're not ready for summer to be over, we're holding onto its long, warm days for as long as we can. Are you still enjoying long summer days? If so, how are you spending them?