A month in Review - February 2009

What we did:

• Went to Gold Coast for a mini-Gold-Coast Holiday
• Caught up with Auntie Lyn in Bangalow
• Caught up with Uncle Peter and some of our friends in Brisbane
• Caught up with my Godmother Gainor and family, and friends on the Gold Coast
• Went to Dreamworld
• I got and started a new job (3 week contract but meh!) after almost 3 months off work
• Got very sick of the rain, which I think out of 28 days of this month it has rained 24. ergh.

Milestones:

Laura

• Transitioned (mostly) to doing all poos in the toilet
• Wearing undies daytimes 100% even going out!
• We started doing 'homework' with Kindy this month
• Started 'Mighty-Mites' at Kindy this month
• 99cms tall on 21st (3 years 2 months)

Olivia

• Transitioned (mostly) to doing all poos in the toilet
• Wearing undies daytimes 100% even going out!
• We started doing 'homework' with Kindy this month
• Started 'Mighty-Mites' at Kindy this month
• 99cms tall on 21st (3 years 2 months)

Eloise

• Starting to get some of her letters the right way (as opposed to backwards due to being a lefty)
• Starting to understand the concept of counting to 100 (i.e. twenty, thirty, forty etc.)
• Small improvement in arguing, but screaming has become a new issue
• Started 'Mighty-Mites' at Kindy this month
• She's not using the word 'hate' as much (well pretty rarely) but now I realise I have probably been dropping too many f and s bombs as at times I will hear her repeating what I have said.. eek. bad mummy.
• Big gains on general attitude, positive reinforcement is working on the whole

When size matters?

Today we had to do some errands and found ourselves agreeing to the pleas of our three obviously-successful-target-of-mega-marketing children to go to McDonalds. Now a disclaimer here, we hardly ever go to Mickey-Dees' usually when on holidays perhaps.. anyways..

I look in my trusty Entertainment book and we've got a voucher for buy one big mac, get one free. My recollections of the Big Mac stem from a teen/early twenties when we'd have them before going to a movie etc and a cash-strapped-students there's little else to afford. I remember them being pretty filling and not-too-bad so I ask my hubby whether he'd like to partake in the buy-one-get-one free deal.. he agrees.

I go back to the seat and then my burger arrives. Is this the big Mac I remember or a kiddies' version? It seems awfully small. Surely this is the "Small Mac"? Where's the "Big" Mac? I'm sure I can remember holding it with my two hands and it *just* fitting, now it seems it could fit in the palm of my hand! It's $5.50 or something (I don't remember!) hmmmm pay same/more -get less... Good ol' Maccas....harrumph.

Then just looking on Wikipedia to see if there has been a change in size perhaps we USED to have a standard Big Mac size the same as the US? Theirs is 214grams and ours is 202gr? That doesn't seem like much, however there is a 170gram calorie difference for that 12 grams. eeek. Wish I hadn't looked that up...

Something to sing and dance about?

At my local theatre they are performing Menopause: the musical now to me this seemed quite confronting to say the least when I read it on an advertisement on the bus... I suppose the iminent threat of menopause isn't a laughing matter to most who are either at risk of it or approaching that age but I suppose laughter is the best medicine..? "Inspired by a hot flush and a bottle of wine'.. hmmm.. Might check it out.

D'oh moment

Sitting here, reflecting on my day, thinking how I don't know as sick as I have felt today how I managed to go to an interview and seemingly getting through it when a) bus rocked up 15 minutes late and then the journey taking 10 minutes longer, making my original 25 minutes to spare a rather panicked run from the bus stop to the interview and arriving in the lift at 4.30pm exactly.

I'm congratulating myself here because I almost didn't make it and arrived unflustered etc and looking my best (I had my eyebrows waxed this morning and even coloured my hair), then rubbing my ear, I remember I took one of my earrings off to change them.. except I ran out time, so yes, I went to my interview with ONE earring. Not a subtle one either - a gold sparkly euroball.

Hopefully the bloke who interviewed me didn't notice.. d'oh!

Long time, no blog...

OK, ok, I have some really good excuses, um I mean REASONS!!
I'm tired
Well a bit more tired than usual, I'm trying to keep the house running, keep laundry going with no sunshine and cook up a storm in advance for workdays so there's no real cooking in the week
I've been ebaying
I've been selling the 'baby' stuff. Babygates (yes the kids now have run of the full house *groan*) and baby food and toddler rearing books etc. At one stage I had 21 people watching our baby gate, before someone eventually bought it 2 days after listing at full buy-it-now price. It was crazy!
I've been working
And whilst the work is pretty easy-going it's a bit of a challenge mentally as I feel there's a lot I DON'T know if that makes sense. Add to that about 3 hours a day commuting and when I get home it's straight into bed-time story, cuddles, whoolf down dinner and pass out.
My new other job
On Wednesday I take over as the cleaner. Our cleaner hasn't been in a while on account of finances so on Wednesday I'm cleaning bathrooms, mopping and vacuuming like the devil. Shame I don't get paid for that one but at least I know it's being done once a week.
Good Telly
Underbelly II, The Life and Times of Harvey Milk to name a few are keeping me up late.. hence I'm tired.!

But here I am, I'll be back to update tonight

These smell devine..

Orange Toffee Muffins
Made these muffins (yes despite the bathroom interruptions!) this morning with the girls, I got a recipe from allrecipes.com and modified it a little (don't I always!!??) - what can I say, they are delicious and end up having a crunchy-caramelly-orangey top. It made 3 dozen for me, so I've frozen 27 of them in sandwich-size ziplock bags in lots of 3 (you could get 4 each in those if you needed to) for trips out on weekends or afternoon tea on the way home from kindy.

Ingredients: (I just put these all on the scales together)

• 500grams plain flour
• 200grams of white sugar
• 100grams of brown sugar
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

then:

• 2 large navel oranges - zest and juice (about 320ml juice you'll need)
• 220gr melted butter or margarine
• 4 large eggs
  

Basically, choose whether you want ot use a mixer or not - I didn't and we all got a turn of combining the ingredients.. fun. mix the dry ingredients together, and then add one-by-one the wet ingredients.

Whack into patty pans in your muffin tin and then into a preheated 180deg oven and cook until deep golden brown on top (about 20 mins in my fan-forced).

Let cool for about 15-20 and serve. You could also serve these hot with icecream and/or toffee sauce.

Here's some gratuitous shots of the 'apples of my eyes' :)

Why I have dirty hair...

This is not a dramatization.
This actually happened this morning whilst taking a shower. Well trying.

get into shower, wet self, close eyes
(door opens)
E: Mummy, what are you doing?
M: I'm taking a shower like I told you, please stay in the loungeroom like I asked you to - bye
E: Bye mum
(shuts door)
10 seconds...
(door opens)
O: Mummy, I really want to wear a headband today.
M: Your hair is done and I'm having a shower right now, I'll talk about it when I'm dressed
O: Ok Mum, bye
(closes door)
5 seconds
(door opens)
L: Mummmmeeee, I miss you. I stay here.
M: Laura, Mummy misses you too, but I need to have a shower, can I have a cuddle when I'm dressed
L: Sure Mum! Bye!
(closes door)
25 seconds
(door opens)
O: Mummy, when are we making muffins?
M: (getting irritated that hubby is in bed and can probably hear this!) When I'm OUT of the shower
O: You getting out of the shower now Mummy?
M: No, please go in the loungeroom before I get cross
O: Oh, but I want to make muffins!
M: (irritated) Olivia, PLEASE go in the loungeroom
(closes door)
15 seconds
(door opens)
E: Olivia says we're making muffins when you're dressed, are we Mummy?
M: Not if you don't go into the loungeroom and everyone leaves me in peace to wash my hair
E: (whingy tone) ohhh Okkk mummy
(closes door)
25 seconds
(door opens)
L: Mummy, I'm hungry (this is less than an hour after we have finished pancakes and cereal for breakfast)

I gave up. Greasy hair until 8.30pm tonight.

Weather determines the mood...summing it up in 10 points...

1. It's wet.
2. It's grey.
3. I feel yuk.
4. Have done nothing of any significance.
5. My children are surprisingly well behaved.
6. Some washing was done and hung out in my chinese undercover laundry.
7. Hubby's unwell and crabby.
8. Not going to long awaited soiree on account of points 3 & 8.
9. Not inspired
10. That's it for now

Work imitating life....

Whilst on my job hunt in this past three months I’ve come across so many automated application responses and recently when I’ve been applying for roles that I’m over-qualified for, I’ve been getting those ‘You have not been successful in proceeding to the next stage of the recruitment process’ letters too. Ho-hum.

Now in my current short-term contract role I find myself writing functional specifications for a system to produce such letters. It’s depressing analysing all the different types of letters for ineligibility, rejection, withdrawal of application and then physically fleshing out how they will work/appear/worded - to be sent top people , just like me.

Oh well, I’m moving on to letters of offer and-the-like soon…. Hopefully in my real life soon too!

Dead successful?

Do you reckon those guys who play corpses in the umpteen crime drama shows on telly are just struggling actors who list that on their CV, and maybe have a string of appearances as dead guys. I mean all they do is get made up, stay still and well look...errr.... dead.... looks dead easy to me! How much does that pay?

Talking of pay in case of you are interested in earning some extra moulah....

Model required for instructional DVD on Brazilian Waxing
We are seeking the services of a professional female model for an upcoming DVD production in Sydney.The DVD will be an instructional video of Brazilian waxing and will be sold commercially in Australia and overseas.The model will be required to be naked below the waist (clothed upper) as would be required for this type of treatment in a beauty salon. The footage used will only appear on this video in the context of a professional waxing treatment. Models will be required to speak briefly to introduce themselves (less than 30 seconds, no lines, just ad-lib). Screen-names are fine for the production if you'd prefer.The look and feel of the production is stylish and tasteful with a touch of glamour, designed to educate people on this popular style of waxing and for anyone wanting to know more about waxing in general, including women wanting to wax at home and for the first time.The shoot will be professionally run by Louder than Words, a Sydney based Production Company with numerous TVC and other commercial credits. (www.louderthanwords.com.au)A professional Australian licensed beautician is performing the waxing and has over 20 years experience in waxing and training within the beauty industry. Safety and hygiene are paramount requirements of the production.To register your interest, please include a recent Head-shot and a Swim ware photo for consideration (no nudity please). A brief CV, with career highlights would also be appreciated.Finalists will be forwarded to Louder than Words who will then contact you to discuss the role in detail.This is a great opportunity to expand your portfolio to an International market!Position closes Friday 27th Feb (or once the right person is found)
Prefer email responses, with photo attachments as outlined above, thanks.

I'd be a great candidate for waxing but I don't think anyone wants to see me naked below the waist (especially me!) let alone get paid for it... I giggle when I read 'The look and feel of the production is stylish and tasteful with a touch of glamour' mmmm sounds it!....

Dooodle-do-do..

Been humming that most of the day:

Here comes the sun.. doodle-do-do.. here comes the sun ... and I sayyyyy.. it's alright..

Today I'm pleased to report the sun HAS come out! Although I have been in the office for most of it, no coats, no umbrella's I wore a blouse today... was lovely... felt jubilent crossing the Harbour Bridge on the bus with not a cloud in the sky... sigh..

Washing under control.. for now!

Am very tired though - late nights at 5.30am starts catching up with all of us. TGIF tomorrow indeed.

The Great Cookie Commotion

Gotta love a simple and delicious recipe to have fun with the kids. Add to boot it's pretty inexpensive and I didn't have to even leave the house with a shopping list.

Katy has shared this recipe with many, that she got from the Simple Savings website. Thanks Katy!

Apparently this mix makes 120 biscuits, but for us it made 62, but I didn't use the full 5 cups of self-raising flour, instead 3.5 cups of SRF and 1.5 of plain... might make a difference, also my cookies are about 6-7cm diameter and about 1cm high.. you could make teensy-dinky ones if you want!

Ingredients:

500gr butter or margarine (I used 2 sticks of fairy margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

5 cups of self-raising flour (again I used 3.5 selfraising and 1.5 of plain - worked well)

Method:

Cream softened butter/margarine with sugar with electic beater, pour in sweetened condensed milk and keep beating, then turn to low speed, and add flour, 1 cup at a time and combine. Take out of bowl and you can either:

a) Put some in glad wrap and put in the freezer for another day or b) Use the whole lot like we did and divide it up into as many variations of cookie you would like.

What we did today:

Divided into 4.

- mix 1 lot with 1 cup of sultanas (Olivia's cookies)

- mix 1 lot with 1/2 cup of 100's and 1,000's (Laura's cookies)

- mix 1 lot with 2tb ginger and 1.5 tb cinnamon (Liss' cookies)

- leave the last lot... for now.

Once each lot has been mixed, roll into balls and then squash flat-ish onto a greased tray, bake in 180deg oven for about 12 minutes.

The last lot we rolled the same, but squished down and then poked a hole in the top with your finger to make a small well. fill with a little strawberry jam - making jam drops... (Eloise's cookies)

Now for our pics:

Our little cooks:

Olivia's sultana cookies:

Eloise's Jam Drops (modelled by Olivia!) :

Taste testers

Clock on.. clock off

There's something about old clock towers I love. On my travels to and from work I pass two of my favourites.

This one at North Sydney Post office. My first ever 'real' job was as a trainee travel consultant at Milsons Point. I used to get off the bus from Manly at North Sydney and pick up the mail enroute to the office... I felt like I had *such* responsibility! I've spent a lot of my career since in North Sydney and Milsons Point and I never get sick of looking at it. This was this morning on my way to work - after leaving hubby to drop the kids off at Kindy - Time 7.25am

And then there's good ol' Sydney Town Hall clock. Some years ago I worked in the high-rise right behind it, Town Hall House and I was lucky enough to have my office at the corner directly overlooking the clock, it was like my desk clock for a couple of years. The architecture of Town Hall is beautiful, it's seen some history, that's for sure! This was catching Bus No.2 on the way home from the Queen Victoria Building (on left of picture) - Time 5.05pm.

Back to the trenches...

It felt good to be a productive money-earning member of society again today even though it meant I had to brush my hair and wear make-up! Working in an area I would exactly call my area of expertise, but it's good to learn, but it's a bit of baptism-by-fire. I have to write specifications like I know it inside-out... gotta love that steep learning curve! (I do actually!)

Anyhoo the other feel-good parts of the day:
-Sitting next to my friend and colleague who I enjoy working with immensely

-Trying new places to have lunch* This is Laksa from the Dixon Centre.. actually they gave me some coconut sago as an accompanyment and I must say I thought that was much better! I hate it when Seafood Laksa has 3 prawns in it and the rest is fish balls/calamari.
*not that I intend to eat out really, just a once off treat for now..

Didn't really enjoy the commute home, especially when my ipod ran out of charge about half-way home... and the woman next to me was sniffling constantly.. you know that sniff where you want to say 'blow your FREAKING nose would you!!??'.

So life's a treadmill of time-management again - pleased to report my undercover washing was dry when I got home and we're slowly catching up on the black hole of washing from these rainy days.

What else is there.. but to cook!?

I'm a bit over this rain now. Yes, I know, last week I was over the heat, but now I'm over the rain. I really hate using the clothes dryer... to the point I haven't used ours for a good 5 months I estimate... I make good use of the sunshine and also we have an undercover clothes line set-up for rainy or overcast days... these days I actually exclusively use that for the kids clothes - they last longer if they are dried out of direct sunlight.

Anyhooo. the past week since we got home from Sunny Queensland it's been raining, raining raining! Now I have a backlog of washing.. add to that I"m back to work 4 days a week from tomorrow (yay!) so I need to be more organised than usual... so we've got another retractable clothes line and hooks and not only the decking but the BBQ area are Chinese-laundries now! I can get 3 loads of washing on both.. so that should get us through the winter and hopefully we can get rid of the clothes dryer for good and get a chest-freezer for the same space in the laundry.

Talking of chest freezers - we went out farmgating today - first time in three weeks...just fruit and vege today and since we got home I've been whipping up in the kitchen. Knowing we'd be going farmgating today, and that the abbatoir would be closed.. went to the 'wholesale' butcher yesterday and was truly mortified...! (no pun intended there!) we are saving so much money going to the abbatoir, I bought the BARE minimum.

Today though, at the farmgate, got the usual but got a few little extras - one being rhubarb $1.50 a bunch (they actually went out in the rain and cut it out of the ground for me! And a couple of kilos of cooking tomatoes for $3. I also got some mini-white nectarines, supersweet. Yummy for lunchboxes.

So I've roasted the rhubarb already: Just chop the stalks (not the leaves they are poisonous!) and put into ovenproof dish with 1/4 cup of Orange juice or juice of 1/2 orange and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Cover with aluminium foil and put into moderate oven for about 30-40 mins until soft and stew-ed looking. You can serve it on it's own over ice-cream or I like it with some steamed apples or pears and a dash of cinnamon with runny cream. I also make apple and rhubarb crumble. I'll do that and give you the recipe another time! It's really easy.

The tomatoes I made passata (italian cooking sauce) with one for tonight's dinner, and one for an easy dinner one night (i.e. over pasta with some fried smoked (sliced) chorizo.. or over browned diced onion and beef mince to make bolognaise)

Liss' Passata

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

2 kilos soft or 'cooking' tomatoes, sliced

2 stalks of each: basil, oregano and italian parsley...chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, finely diced

2 tb sugar

2 tb tomato paste

Just bung it all in the stock pot, bring to boil for 20 mins, simmer for futher hour, stirring regularly.

Now, how I used this tonight, I made Chicken Parmigiana. (Serves 6)

Ingredients

4 large chicken schnitzels/crumbed chicken (got mine from the butcher)

Passata - about 2 litres

Tasty cheese.

Method

Pre-heat oven to moderate setting, fry the chicken until crispy on outside/cooked on inside, place on bottom of oven dish.

Ladle over passata until it totally covers the chicken, and levels out over the top (does that make sense?!).

Sprinkle tasty cheese generously.

Cover with aluminim foil and bake for 30 minutes, take off aluminium and let cheese brown.

I also made some cheesey scallop potatoes tonight, but I'll leave that recipe for another time, you've probably got recipe overload now!.. kids tonight were begging for seconds (and thirds!)

In the land of make believe...

No, I'm not talking about that absolutely tragic Bucks Fizz number, I'm talking about dress ups people!

In the land of make believe.....

You must accessorize, accessorize, ACCESSORIZE.

Make new and wonderful discoveries..............

Fulfill your dreams....The girls love dress ups, although almost every time we get them out, doesn't matter if we have 7 types of fairy wings (we do) and 6 fairy skirts, someone or everyone at some point wears something that somebody else wants to wear. It's very tricky business....

Chocolate for every occasion

Well yes, Valentines day IS tomorrow and Chantelle has shown us some gorgeous little cakey morsels to share with the ones we love -YUMMO -but I must say I'm intrigued by Not-so-Nigella's Blood-Clot-and-Brain-Cakes for Friday the 13th. They look so wrong but so yum.

Do we observe Friday the 13th? I'm probably a little superstitious.... Do I observe Valentines Day.. only in a joking-kind-of-way. I might be corny and buy my hubby a card, or I might just send him an online one. I might make a heart-cake for my family tomorrow... still haven't used the chocolate..

My little models...

With this freakily cold weather in summer (only 17deg C here at the moment!) I've had to pull out some of their warmer clothes I have stockpiled for winter. They were so excited about it there was a record-breaking consumption of breakfast and getting dressed!

The clothes are all from Gymboree - and everyone is wearing their favourite colour today - Eloise loves blue at the moment:

Laura is a staunch green fan ..

....and Olivia being my girly-girl is a fan of good ol' pink.

The outfit is from the Candy Shoppe range, the shoes we already had from the Prep-School or maybe it was Petit Mademoiselle range (I think Olivia's are at least) and they'll last us this season...
They are soo cute aren't they??!! (my kids that is, the clothes aren't bad either!)\

the light at the end of the tunnel...

not so many years ago (3 to be exact) I was in a very different place. I used to fantasize about having twin 3 year olds and a 4 year old like I do now. My life at that point was changing at least 20 nappies a day, living on maximum of 3 hours sleep a night, being tired, frustrated, never being able to relax... 24-hour-a-day-feeding-changing-cleaning-settling-crying robot.

I loved my girls but oh my I wasn't enjoying my life. It was just so intense. I couldn't see my way out of the fog. I was drowning in the enormity of raising 3 children under 2. My hubby was going to work and trying not to fall asleep behind the wheel every day. He was short-tempered (like me) and stressed and like me felt like he never got a break.

I remember resenting him because he did get to go to work. He got to talk to adults. He got to have a cup of coffee and drink it all at once. He got to eat his lunch in one sitting. He only had to smell of baby vomit for a few hours a day. What I didn't consider is that he had to maintain a professional career on little sleep and then dread coming home to an overwraught wife with three babies that she ceremoniously handed over the minute he stepped in the door so she could either finish dinner, have a shower or go to the toilet. If he was 5 minutes late there would be tears because she hung out for that time you walked in the door and shared the load.

And when people say 'oh I miss when my daughter/son was a baby' I don't feel that way. I say 'there's not enough money in the world to make me do that again'. And that's sad you know? It was just so hard.

I love it now, and I can almost say it was worth all of that stress and strain on our marriage and finances because we aren't waiting for the 'baby' to grow up. We don't have to hang on to things forever until X grows out of it. 18 months difference from eldest to youngest is brilliant.. they like doing the same things, we feel like we're moving forward as a family now. We get sleep now.

I wish I enjoyed their babyhood more. I wish I wasn't so tired. I'm happy I took lots of photos because without them, it would be a blur.

I love them more than anything my three girls.

View from your window ?

This is the view from my 'blogspot' on the red couch - I'm looking out to our concreted play area for the kids where the barbeque lives ... I find myself staring at the petunia's which have survived the hot summer.. gorgeous red. In this pic you can see hubby's harvest of chilli plant seedlings resting atop the railing no doubt I'll be making some chilli jam with before long... those were harvested from the seeds of ONE chilli! I think they'll end up being about 15-20 plants or more.

The grass though you can't see it here is very green at the moment as the temperature has dropped significantly this week and we've had some rain today..

Show us your favourite window view and tag it in the comments !

What's wrong with this picture?

I have had 2 blocks of 70% dark chocolate in the cupboard for more than two weeks.

Why haven't I cooked with it?

Why haven't I eaten it all?

Well tell a lie, I'm starting to eat one block now (tsk tsk I hear you say!) but I need some inspiration for making something yummy with it. I also bought some peppermint essence... hmmm.. not sure..

OK, resolved not to eat any more until I've made something that's not mudcake, not souffle. Maybe a chocolate pannacotta? Maybe Nigella's Chocolate Pistaccio Fudge? Tomorrow...

The Blogspot Challenge

I have been tagged by Chantelle and set the challenge to show everyone my 'blogspot' or where I blog. At the moment, I'm blogging on the red couch. I can look outside for inspiration and then put my red laptop back on the red entertainment unit, it's all for camoflauge really... or maybe it's my obsession with red?... nah!

I now have to tag 5 other bloggers to show us where they blog and tag it back here.

I'm going to tag

Kat, Nett, Katy, Meagan and Raels

Ze Rules
So here are the official rules: Show Us Your Blog Spot!
1. Once you are tagged, post a picture of where you blog. This might mean a picture of your cozy bed, or your office at work (you naughty employee, you!) Feel free to be creative, but be honest--if your desk is usually covered in Ritz crackers and love letters to Brad Pitt, then show us!
2. Feel free to tell us a little about your space, or explain certain items in more detail. Or not.
3. Link back to this post. (I want to see how far this goes!)
4. Tag five other bloggers to show their blog spots.
5. If you are tagged and do not participate, you will become allergic to cabbage.

My days may be numbered

and I'm happy about it!

My days looking for work and playing house are I'm hoping over soon - I have a good lead on project contract of 6-8 weeks in a role that could possibly lead to other opportunities. I'm just waiting for that call like a teenager on Saturday night!

Holiday Report - the Gold Coast...

What a jam-packed whirlwind of activity!

We left on sparrow's-fart flight on Friday up to the Gold Coast - and squeezed in a lot! Friday visited Byron, Bangalow to visit my aunt and menagerie and Ballina to visit friends - before heading up to our apartment and then back down to Currumbin for dinner with my godmother. Busy day, and the kids handled it beautifully catnapping in our budget-buster-hire-car (Nimbus!).

Saturday we went to Dreamworld and I often lamented on the discounted cost of the tickets still being extremely expensive in my opinion - having only paid for hubby, myself and Eloise (Laura and Olivia didn't need to pay) was $150 discounted. But in retrospect, well worth it.

Kids loved it, Nickolodeon World was fab - kids went on most of the rides... with us!

Wild Thornberry Ball pit - Kids can collect, load and shoot balls - Mummy got hit with a few let's just say! They don't hurt though. Eloise loved it in particular.

Then Olivia's favourite part - the Backyardigans Merry-go-round - perhaps because she got to ride a pink horse. It's all about pink you know!

Dora Seaplanes were fun, we went on twice! Blue Skid-doo - I think Daddy liked this more than the kids! hehe.

Eloise and Daddy went on the super-slinger - that was her favourite ride.

We then went on to Tiger Island and bought the worst lunch I think I've ever eaten. I even succumbed in the heat to buy the girls a slushie in the heat. (First time with soft-drink) argggggh.

Wiggles world. Hmmm.. not what I was expecting. Withstanding the RosyTea Cup ride which was an enormous hit, I thought it was a bit lame. The kids and we were really disappointed with the Big Red Car Ride - not sure if it was because of the 1/2 hour wait for 2 min ride, but yeah, I think if you had no wait you'd think it was OK, not great, just OK.

A tip to the wise: Eat at Wiggleworld. We should have done that (well actually we should have packed our lunch like you're not supposed to but we saw everyone else do it!)

Then we took the steam train around whilst Daddy went on the Claw, Tower of Terror and some equally vomit-worthy rides that I can't watch let alone think about go on! Then we went and had an iceblock and whilst I was lining up, left the girls to sit outside where I could see them... a couple of Japanese tourist kept staring at them and then started taking photos! It freaked me out! I don't know what it is, that I have twins or they're cute, but this happens alot. I just think it's rude to take pics of people's children without asking. I mean we were at Dreamworld don't you have anything else to take pictures of? Once when travelling down to Wagga we stopped at a truckstop restaurant and I'm not exaggerating a whole busload of japanese tourists got off and lined up to take pictures of us eating dinner. It was awful.

When Daddy was finished we had snocone (without flavour - they didn't care!) and then back to our aparment... had a swim and then headed to Mermaid Beach for dinner with friends that we haven't seen since we had two children between us. Now we have 5.

Yesterday we drove up to Brisbane and met some more friends and realised on arrival I had left my wallet back on the Gold Coast. Annoying! Kids had a great play and it was great to catch up with everyone and see how their kids have grown rather than just pictures. It was particularly lovely to see Eloise play with two little girls that were born to mummies I was pregnant with at the same time.

What is it about Brisbane? We got lost a number of times getting in and out of the City! Roadworks, inadequate signage, odd layout... argh! We saw my uncle for a short-time which the kids loved.

After an impromptu BBQ with friends we headed back to our apartment to pack and clean up.. and then onto the sparrows-fart-flight again this morning. I have never been so happy to see our car! I mean our hire car was extremely economical but it was basic and a bit squishy and I now know I don't want three-row car - doing seatbelts is a nightmare!

Some recommendations:

http://www.ablcarrental.com.au/ - affordable car hire, family owned, lovely people.

http://www.pelican-cove-resort.com/ - affordable. but basic (decor outdated) accommodation - we got a 3 bedroom apartment, washing facilities, security parking, fridge, stocked cooking facilities, microwave. You need only take your food (which you can get at the local IGA in the same street) washing powder and a little dishwashing liquid. It has a great pool with a shallow end for the kids and it's right on the waterway so nice views. Wished we stayed there more. We will next time.

Sydney Airport Long Term Parking - Much cheaper than taxis and regular shuttle buses makes it quick and convenient. Much cheaper than Park'n'Fly which we've used before.