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Tag: family

Spirit of Tasmania versus flying: Which do you prefer?

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Right now, as I write this, I’m looking out the window at the Spirit of Tasmania sitting out on the Mersey River. It’s such an awesome sight on a still night.

It’s one of the reasons we first bought his house. You never tire of watching the Spirit sailing in and out of the mouth of the Mersey.

I’m going to be honest and say it’s been a while since we last sailed on the Spirit. Pre kids actually. I remember doing a day sailing over and getting to explore the ship, while on the way back we opted for a night trip with a cabin.

A few years back, just before one of our previous trips to Melbourne, Julian was talking to Ella’s child carer. Ella repeated her usual “yes, we’re going to Melbourne to see Uncle Rick, aren’t we Dad?’’.

“We hear so much about Uncle Rick. Apparently he has a really big boat?’’ the child carer said.

Julian then had to explain that the “big boat’’ is actually the Spirit. The child carer had more than a little chuckle at that.

Due to the boat being so visible, there’s been repeated requests we go to Melbourne on “Uncle Rick’s big boat’’ since instead of the plane.

Watching this video I’m questioning why on earth we don’t go on the Spirit more often. Especially with trying to organise kids. I know they would think it was such an adventure.

Tell me: do you prefer to fly or sail?

DISCLAIMER: I was paid to write this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

June 2, 2014
When Cradle Mountain turns on the snow

For two winters now we’ve been promising Ella we’d take her to the snow. And for two winters, someone in the house always seems to get sick. Or it rains. Or someone pops out a baby.

Finally, on the weekend, the rain stopped, the snow settled and no one was sick. So we headed for Cradle Mountain and all that glorious snow.

You should have heard the squeals when they caught sight of it out the window.

Ella asked me whether I was excited about seeing the snow. I wasn’t really.

Mainly because as a kid I spent nearly every weekend during winter at our shack up the Great Lakes, in Tasmania’s Central Highlands. My most vivid memory was of mum having to get out, mid snow storm, and sit on one corner of the boot of the car because the wheel was spinning frantically. We weren’t going anywhere until it touched the ground again.

Of course, as kids, we just wanted to get stuck in the snow so we didn’t have to go to school the next day.

But, while I wasn’t excited about going to the snow, I was excited about seeing the girls experience it for the first time.

There was a bit of snowball throwing.

Ella tasted snow for the first time. And wasn’t impressed.

Julian attempted a snowman – not his finest work.

And Holly tried to feed Molly Golly some snow.

When the wind got up, we knew it was time to go.

Holly had to have one last play in the snow before we went though. She hasn’t stopped talking about it since. While it’s always been Ella who wanted to see the snow, I think it was Holly who enjoyed it the most.

Are your kids snow bunnies or are they yet to experience the white stuff?

August 7, 2013
What to do in Melbourne with young kids

Melbourne has become a bit like our second home. We visit so often we nearly need to buy a house – if only they weren’t so bloomin’ expensive. Seriously, I could buy three houses in Tasmania for the price of one in Melbourne.

Our regular visits also mean we have done, what feels like, most things in Melbourne. This time however, we did get outside the usual Melbourne zoo and aquarium – both of which we love, by the way – to have some new experiences.

Here is what we did:

Build a Bear

Build a Bear was part of our first day in Melbourne. We headed to Chadstone Shopping Centre and Ella got to make Rabbi (a hugely original name for a rabbit). She chose the bear, gave him a heart, selected a sound (she chose the song Under the Sea), watched him being stuffed, cleaned him and then picked out an outfit. The whole bear cost us $60. It might sound a lot for a teddy bear, but it really was worth the experience. Plus, she gained a bear at the end that holds sentimental value because she created him herself. And it was with less pain than I went through to bring her into the world.

Scienceworks

Julian and I went to Scienceworks years ago – pre-kids – and thoroughly enjoyed it. We knew the girls would love it because it’s so hands on. When we got there we were blown away. It was just fabulous, with a Wallace and Gromit display (ending this month). The highlight was certainly Nitty Gritty Super City.

Collingwood Children’s Farm

We arrived on a day when the Collingwood Children’s Farm was free and a Channel Nine film crew were there, so it was extremely busy. Ella unfortunately didn’t make an appearance on TV, but she didn’t care – she “got to milk a cow, Mum’’. Her summation was that it was “very wrinkly’’. She also rode a pony, lining up for about an hour for that five-minute ride. I’ve never seen her so patient. Holly, absolutely petrified of animals, was excited by the whole show. Just as Ella dismounted, Holly piped up with: “my turn’’. Maybe next time. By the end of the day, Holly was feeling much more comfortable being around animals.

Royal Botanical Gardens

We’d had a picnic dinner in the Royal Botanical Gardens before, but had never had the chance to look in the children’s garden. Super sweet, it gave Ella the chance to learn about The Magic Pudding. She also found a ladybird she was thoroughly fascinated with. The girls were excited to see all the veggies and herbs growing and asking which we were going to plant this year. We also sat by the lake at the other end of the gardens and watched the ducks, geese and a few eels. Eww.

There were plenty of other smaller things, but that sums up the main attractions.

What are your favourite things to do in Melbourne?

November 9, 2012
Some people don’t deserve kids

By Julian O’Brien

It was a typically wild winter day in Tassie and no other car was silly enough to be parked in the local playground car park. It was deserted.

I wasn’t there to play on the swings in the driving rain and freezing wind. No, a recently discovered fetish for running and exercise meant I was spending a rare weekday off, in weather which I’d only seen on crab-fishing reality TV shows from the North Atlantic, by doing a casual 12km run.

Yet it was not the run that was to cause me concern. Aside from being a launching point for the run that day, this park had a special place for our family and we were regular visitors…. albeit when the weather was a tad better.

It was only back from my run, which I enjoyed by the way, my mood changed. On returning to the park, I could see another car parked not far from mine. Not that strange. What was strange though was there was a young boy not much older than our Princess Ella running around the play equipment in the Antarctic weather in just a t-shirt and jeans unsupervised.

The real issue

As I neared my car I could see a male and two females in the other car and that eased my mind – but only temporarily. Strapping on my seatbelt and looking to reverse, I spied out of the corner of my eye the female passenger lift a bong to her mouth, breathe in and exhale in the car. Well, that explained the “unsupervised” thing.

I shook my head and continued reversing, but to my horror I watched as the kid ran from the playground and jumped straight into the back seat which only moments before had resembled the set of a Cheech and Chong movie. The driver in the other car started his engine and THEY started to reverse.

A parent’s values

Now, I’m no prude and I’ve had my share of “life experiences” but if having children taught me one thing it was I needed to take more responsibility for the sake of the souls I’d chosen to bring into this world. I was livid. I drove slowly out of the car park long enough to block the other car and report the incident and vehicle to a mate in the local police station.

I took no joy or pleasure from that and there are still days I wonder about that little bloke in that car, hoping to God he is receiving the parenting every kid deserves. Do I feel guilty about what I did? Not on your life.

What it did reinforce to me was that not everyone views parenting the way myself and Kel do and maybe, just maybe, we have to make a stand in our own communities at times to right that balance.

What would you have done in the same situation?

October 26, 2012
The difference a year can make

Where were you 12 months ago? The Bloke in the Shed and I were doing this excruciating 6km community walk the other day – excruciating for me; a leisurely stroll for him – when he piped up with: “I couldn’t have done this a year ago?’’.

He’s right. He would have been struggling to complete it, if it wasn’t for taking on a personal trainer 18 months ago and having dropped a significant amount of weight. He now does 10-12km runs every night – without breaking a sweat. I know. Makes you sick, doesn’t it?

Janelle, his trainer, is a huge motivator for him. She’s lost 90kg (that’s two of me) and is a totally different person to who she was a few years ago. She’s also a mum. Like Julian, her kids become the catalyst to get healthy.

It’s made me think about how far I’ve come in 12 months (which might be interesting to look back on in another year). Here are some of the things I was struggling with then:

THEN: I swore I was going to turn into ol’ black eyes rocker Jon English from the effects of sleep deprivation and, like Jon English, it would last forever. I was still getting up at least once during the night – on a good night.
NOW: I’m like a frizzy-mopped child getting their hair brushed if one of the girls wakes before 6.30am. It’s strictly non-stop 7pm to 7am sleep here now.

THEN: Managing two to three business clients on my own and dreaming one day I’d be drinking pina colada’s from my private island home (ah, too many Richard Branson books, maybe). At one point, maybe six months ago, I contemplated shutting the business down.
NOW: I’m writing a book, have two exceptional team members on board the business, a list of super talented clients, doing public speaking/sessions on blogging and social media, gaining media attention and more exciting opportunities coming up in the near future. Still working on the island though…

THEN: Holly was about to turn one and was totally dependent on me – still couldn’t walk, unable to really communicate what she wanted and I was having to feed two mouths at once at meal times.
NOW: Holly is about to turn two and can walk; never stops talking (and singing the full lyrics to High School Musical); does dance concerts with her sister in the lounge room; has developed an incredibly cheeky personality, complete with selective hearing; can feed herself; is starting to toilet train; and has a strong group of little friends she’s close to. Best of all, her and Ella are now able to play properly together, leaving me in peace to unpack the dishwasher.

THEN: Blogging every day, struggling to come up with unique topics, putting an incredible amount of pressure on myself and watching my stats like my life depended on it. Apparently, it doesn’t. Phew for that!
NOW: I blog 2-3 times a week – either when I feel like writing or have something to say. OK, so let’s be honest, I just don’t have the time for daily blogging anymore (says she who’s doing a #BlogFor30 challenge on her other blog). I rarely look at my stats but, when I do, it seems this space is continually growing without any great effort. I also seem to be falling into collaborative opportunities, including with the recent Mum Blogging Masterclass and now via a group of bloggers I’ve long admired who work together to help each other – and our readers.

It’s amazing the difference a year can make. Imagine what another 12 months will bring. Let’s hope it’s: getting fitter and healthier (time to curb the chocolate habit), finding a better work/life balance (some days are harder than others) and having an updated wardrobe (seriously, there’s only so much white, cream and pink one person should legally have).

Where were you 12 months ago? Where do you want to be in 12 months? Are you actively working towards it?

September 7, 2012
Gardening can be fun. Umm, are you sure?

You hear people who have a liking for terry towelling hats go on about the therapeutic wonders of gardening. Generally, it has the opposite effect on me, primarily because of the state of the seedlings after I’ve had my way with them. I did not inherit my mum’s green thumb.

However, I still can’t help but have this desire to want a vegetable garden abundant with fresh produce for the kitchen – every Spring. And so the planning has begun. I’ve weeded out (pardon the pun) which plants won’t grow and which we have moderate success with here on the North West Coast of Tasmania.

Here’s what works:
Lettuces – usually more than we can manage
Cucumbers – each year I vow I’ll use them to help the bags under my eyes, but somehow eat the lot.
Zucchinis – Zucchini slice is eaten till we turn green.
Corn – only if in a certain spot in the garden
Peas – usually don’t make it to the kitchen
Beans – as above, but not usually with the same degree of enjoyment from small children.
Carrots – they don’t really look like carrots. The last lot looked more like deformed Barbie dolls.

With the weather soon to warm up, we’ve started to explore the new dirtgirl scrapbook. It can basically be used for whatever you wish, but we’ve decided to make it very much focused on gardening and the recipes we create from those veggies – if they grow, of course!

Ella has already drawn pictures of what she’d like in the garden (although, I’ve had to explain, we can’t grow chocolate) and used some of the cut outs of dirtgirl, pumpkins and flowers to glue onto one of the blank pages.

As part of the Grow Garden Journal Expansion Pack (sold separately), there are dedicated “in my garden today’’ pages, which inspired our gardening focus, along with recipe pages and a sheet of weather stickers. As part of the scrapbook itself, we also have 64 blank pages and pretty craft pattern pages to use for dried leaves, to paste photos to and write in information we glean from the internet to help our gardening become a little more… fruitful. What I love most about the scrapbook is the fact it grows with you – you can add pages as you fill up the existing ones.

The scrapbook certainly oozes quality, style and will have longevity – this is something to treasure many years into the future. I can’t wait to look back on this journal and see what we produced together – with our bare hands and a bit of sun! Priced at $39.95, I think it’s going to be particularly popular with the grandmas out there. I see a lot of grandparent and grandchild projects happening over the coming months.

Now go get grubby!

The dirtgirlworld scrapbook is available through selected Stockists and online at shop.leafjournals.com.

DISCLAIMER: Cath Connell from Leaf. Paper and Journals is a Mum PR client. However, I genuinely love this product. Hence the reason for feeling compelled to blog about it!

How does your garden grow? What vegies do you have the most success with?

August 10, 2012