Estelle takes the Water

What's funny about the priest, the comedian and the old man who were all up on the stage today? They were the same guy. Except the stage was an altar platform.  We brought a candle that was previously at a baptism about 40 yar ago. Yes a reused candle. Now this presented the priest with a whole raft of comedic material from, it is supposed to be burnt to nothing, to we don't take secondhand candles here.  It was all mostly because our family was getting the full attention, as we were the only ones on the roll for today. Compared to tomorrow, where five dunkings were scheduled. We arrived with just one god parent, we did not know our lines and we got the answers wrong. Other than that he was quite impressed. When Estelle started signing the cross on everyones forehead well he was without speech.  Never in his career of splashing water had he seen that.  

There were some drinks and party pies later so a pleasant afternoon was had and the amount of detail that James has spent on the outdoors over there is enormous.  There is a seeded bed now, an enclosed broccolinium, a vine bed and an ent that is starting to flower, not to forget the plans for a flower wall.  It's not a green thumb but green fingers.

Flowering Ent

Williamstown Sleepover

 Yes Estelle has had her first adventure without the parents looking over her shoulder. It didn't help that the breaker on the hot water had tripped while we were away and also that the cooktop refused to turn on but we did get to walk the parkland and get pizzas instead. I got to sleep on the couch so that Estelle could use the main bed. It was my first go on the fold out bed. Such adventures and the sleeping is not too bad for thin springs. If anyone wants to comment on what this steel framework might be that we found in the backyard. It just appeared since last week.

Estelle hits Five

 At last Estelle has made it to 5 and she let us know in no uncertain terms. Kids parties are hard work and we have been to a few lately. I think the highlight this time around was the face painter who also doubled as a balloon engineer. She was working solid for 2 hours with facial masterpieces everywhere. I think if she was asked to stay longer then I bet other skills like paper folding would have come out.  When did Pin the tail on the Donkey get replaced with stick the Hat on the Cat?  There is something wrong there. These days parties go off like clockwork, 11am til 1pm and everyone out by 2pm. We had to get the great grandparents home so it was a big day. Now Estelle has to work thru the mountain of presents.

face paintind

balloon queue

Tyro Goes to Mars

 I have not been to science works for some yar and I don't think it has changed that much.  There was the possibility of a lovely lovely tour of the sewerage pumping station which was just across the way, all about pushing s**t uphill however there did not seem to be too much interest. We toured the sports area, running and jumping and pedalling before it was time for the Planetarium. Now they are all very excited in there at the moment, as there was an eclipse of the Moon last night, not to forget this years circumnavigation of the Moon and next years Moon landing.  After all that we watched Tyro fly his cubby house to Mars.  Dogs in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!

Ready Set

the Moon is Soon

nap time

Spell Estelle

 The Bingo game is still a winner around here but it does not seem to be lasting past two cards worth of concentration. So how to extend the game. Estelle came up with her own idea of spelling out all the words on each piece with the tokens provided. Except that it is one token only for each letter of the alphabet.  We start out ok with wombat and xray, so I say let's try some harder words like astronaut which then involves making extra letters and they have to be round and they have to be black.  Now we have easily passed my 30 min marker on the activity scale and there are plenty more words to get back to.

Estelle floats the Keys

 For the first day at least, of this post Christmas Grandie bonanza, Estelle is getting all of the attention.  There will be much more competition soon.  It's just too exciting to combine Christmas with sleepovers. So far attention moves quickly from one thing to the next. The piano did get a lot of time and maybe there is some interest there for future lessons.  Also the Grinch continues to be the trend around here. I never paid much attention to the Grinch previously but recently I have seen both movies. I can hear someone on the hunt and she is small.

 

Estelle's day off

 From time to time Estelle needs a full day from Nana and Pa and today is it.  First was a swimming make up lesson from the other day. There was only three of them but unfortunately there was a four year old on his first ever swimming lesson. Most of the attention was directed at him. Next was snack time at Cinnamon Grove next door. An hours playing got us to lunchtime and into the afternoon it was doll's houses and arty craft followed by a ride to the playground. We have retreated behind TV set now and boy she knows how to use that remote.

Estelle Red Owlet

I am obviously struggling to keep up with the comic characters list, as the Red Owlet really threw me. I have heard of the Green Hornet no problem and Peppa Pig is an old friend and this one also flies which is worse when you don't know the basics.  Estelle's yard has easily taken the large double pond with plenty of room to spare. The hollow logs are a feature in the water and also in the veggie patch and it seems there will be more peaches than we will have apricots if the Sun ever shows itself.  Today is another birthday in the ninties. We did a count and came up with nine people we know, in their ninties and five of them are across the road here right now.

Birthday Walk

 Doing anything with grandies is bound to be physical like blowing cobwebs out on the beach even though it is a bit blustery. There was plenty for Estelle to be occupied.  Dead fish seemed good value and also washed up sponges from the pole line. Then there was the seaweed tossing which had to be done directly back into the water where they had come from. Lastly it was following some dog tracks all the way up the beach and then back again.  The ramp to get home seemed daunting, then suddenly it was a run to the top so she could feel her heart beat.  I need a sit down.

3 2 1 Eggnition

 I had forgotten about the early morning start but 6:15am wasn't too bad considering the long day yesterday.  The Bunny had been busy around here with eggs being dropped off but also a mug for hot chocolate. There were many eggs and we are still finding them two hours later. Unlike her QLD cousins who seem to be devouring chocolate, Estelle has not eaten a single egg so far and she has found at least 40 of them.  It seems the fun is in the finding not the eating.  Maybe Bunny might leave a few less next year.

Estelle Beach runner

It was a warm 2 hours spent over at our newly cleaned beach with Estelle.   She went the furthest out we have ever seen and there was a little bit of choppy stuff to deal with as well.  Then there was the rocket whistler throwing game and finally the beach sprints. It was like holding our own surf competition.  The older they get the more physical it seems to be. The Sun did not really appear much but it was pleasanr enough. Back on dry land Debbie and Heidi are preparing the snapper Debbie caught at the shop. Those fins are tough to cut off. The "Back to Basics"  youtube channel does it way easier. They probably have sharper knives.

snapper

caught

howzat

Estelle's Big Four

It doesn't take long to get to four.  Estelle's house is bursting with new toys so it is time to move out the old ones. There was a bouncing session early in the afternoon however we joined the party with Grandma and Grandpa back at Estelle's house. The veggie patch is thriving here with many things we have not tried, like rock melon, beetroot and chilli peppers. We had some feather fine strands of pulled pork that had been on the heat for 17 hours with home grown salad.  After a long day we were ready for the all night Milan-San Remo bike ride. Not! I will have to leave that for a replay.

her first barbie doll

James hasn't moved so fast

blown candles

Estelle Library Tour

 We got to Estelle's house at 12:30 pm just in time to see Heidi on her way.  The main activity was a walk to the Library. We have not taken her on this outing for at least two years and previously it happened every time.  The Watsonia town square project has been under construction for two years and is a series of detours for pedestrians. Now this is a source of wonder for a three year old pushing her own pram.  Diggers moving dirt, lolly pops directing traffic and concrete trucks pouring.  We got to the library and Estelle is in charge.  We sat at the jigsaw bench and completed a puzzle there then it was over to the books where 10 were selected but they all had to be read even though we were booking them out.  The other highlight was picking a rock melon from the garden. Their veggie patch catches a lot of heat and light and is doubled up by a reflective wall at the back.  Enough heat to grow canteloupe. We ate at the RSL which is very handy as we still had to get back to Williamstown to finish off a long day.

Estelle Playtime

 We got to Estelle's around 1:00pm  which then started 4 hours of non stop playtime and to Estelle it was the best.  We started with board games for an hour or so and her attention during these is much longer than previously.  Then it was the tubs of building material followed by books and finally an hour or so of water play out on the deck. The temperature had snuck up to 30° during the afternoon.  She knows every game and how to play them and you know who is in charge. We finished off at the RSL with a minutes silence at 6:00pm.

Game Time

Estelle's Drawing

This drawing arrived by purse post. I am not sure of the exact method that this works but in any case I have the letter as below. I did send Asher a letter last year after she was getting on with her reading and writing.  Estelle and Evie have a way to go so I am hanging back yet for a postman's delivery. Mind you there have been many drawing sessions where my creations have been coloured in, scrunched up or generally drawn over. 

Courtyard Pool

I got some video of the pool action.  It seems there are problems with floaties in the pool especially bugs and more importantly lady bugs. The first little while sorted that out then it didn't seem to matter. I have never seen so many water pistols. The long shooters were tricky to fill. It took Estelle a while to hold the end submerged yet be able to draw the tube back all the while getting shot at.  Kaia was happy to splash about and Asher had the shoot and run strategy. We will see what the other cousins can do soon.

Estelle beach belle

 The cool change came in but when the Sun came free it turned hot.  So we wandered down to the beach however the previous winds had churned the water dark so Estelle was not much interested in waterplay. The trusty bucket and spade was all the go. It took 15 minutes for us to convince her not to stamp on the castle straight away. After a while a village appeared long enough to decorate them all after a shell hunt.  Another wind change sent us off to the showers.  Just found a quiet moment to unload some video.  

Village People

Kaia takes the stage

 It is Baptism day and we were expecting a bit of noise when it actually came to the pouring on of water but it all went swimmingly. Kaia never made a sound nor did the other two candidates who were there as well. The godparents James and Bec moved when they had to move and smiled when they had to smile. James' present of a cross on a chain was a good touch.  It was a warm day and back home for lunch consisted of salad and fruit platters. Nana got the girls cooled off by running them under the hose without getting herself too wet.

Estelle Train Driver

We fitted in a lunch visit for Estelle before we drove back to Clifton Springs. Two hours of driving rain later, we arrived just as the Sun came out. James was working up a sweat with some heavy axe work to get a pile of chopped wood inside before the rain came. As it was, it took a while to get the fire going with slightly damp wood. Heide got some chicken and salad with bread rolls organised then we nad a catchup on how their Port Douglas trip went. That seems like a long 24 hours.

Bunny Prints

 Estelle was up at a reasonable time around 7:00 am. It was still a bit dark but there were these white footprints in the courtyard leading up to the door.  She figured out quickly that there was a game to be had.   Eggs were turning up all over.  It wasn't until she searched every room three times that she was happy there were no more to be found.  Then the counting game started and there were no less than 35 eggs in her basket.  She was used to the very small solid eggs but these slightly bigger ones were something else and the very first one she got through half and that was it.  At least there was a book as well which will last longer than chocolate.