Our trip to Brighton

Some of the things we got up to when we stayed in Hobart with Collette last week...

Drove via the Great Lakes..........

Came across some weird rock sculptures as we headed out of the Central Highlands toward Bothwell. (ps - Bothwell has a crap bakery - they microwave the sausage rolls to heat them)

Don't go via the Great Lakes if you have just washed your car - which we hadn't because as fellow mafia car owners know.... who can ever keep a black car clean and those who can, have way too much time on their hands... or if they are mafia they pay someone to clean it everyday. Note to oneself - must establish ties with mafia.

On Fri night, Collette, Esther TT and I had a girls night.... pizza, caramel cheesecake, City of Angels, facials and hand massages. I'm not quite sure what Jonty and baby Minol thought of it all but it did us the world of good.

BEFORE.....

AFTER...........

We went to the movies.....

Ice Age 3 for Simon and the girls and Oliver. Harry Potter for Coll, me and Jont.

I spent most of the time at the top of the stairs jiggling Jonty but I still got to watch it. It is the best HP movie thus far so if you are a HP fan you are in for a treat.

Jonty started sitting up unassisted without wobbling and toppling over straightaway....

He thinks he is so clever now...

We spent alot of time driving and the kids occupied themselves by watching DVDs in the car....

The kids did their own facials with face paint....

We had dinner with Ben and Chelsea Emery who I spent many a fun time in our YSA days. Chels and Ben were two of my closest friends in YSA and so I was so excited when they got married 10 yrs ago now. We always have the best time when we get together. It's like no time has past. Friendships like that are rare.

We did some shopping. Coll babysat while Simon and I went out for tea. Jonty never slept at night because he loves his cot so much but made up for it during the day with his gorgeous grin. (sorry about the morning hair Collette).

Hallie and Hawka

Hallie loves Hawka. A couple of weeks ago Simon took Hallie, Oliver and Rohan to watch the Hawks footy training on Saturday. It was bucketing down with rain but they didn't seem to mind.

Hallie wore her Hawks beanie and took her Chickenfeed Hawks footy (all of $6) along and a few of them signed it. I can't believe Buddy took the time to sign a Chickenfeed footy - I am impressed!

They caught up with Lisa and Harri there who also braved the rain. I suppose the players play in all kinds of weather so a little rain would not have bothered them much.

(photo courtesy of Lisa)

Hawka kept everyone entertained and Hallie loved talking about him and what he was up to on the footy field.

It will be great when they come next and have a Saturday game so Hallie can finally see a real live match.

A mother of four

You know you are a mother of four, when you don't even realise your youngest child, has teeth. Two Sundays ago while at the Websters for tea, Simon comes up to me and says, 'do you realise Jonty has two teeth?' He has been dribbling for months so I had given up on checking to see if any were coming and there they were, two little bottom front teeth, poking through the gums............ oops!

Last night Hallie and I tried to hold Jonty down while Hallie took some shots of his new teeth.

We tried to make him laugh so he would open his mouth, but it was never wide enough.

He gets around by rolling everywhere so it's hard to pin him down for a decent shot, especially if you are small like Hal and the camera looks bigger than you.

I think he thought we were a bit nutty.

In the end Hallie tried to hold him while I opened his mouth with one hand and took a photo with the other.

Only nearly a week late family but I finally got round to blogging Jess and Kyle's reception weekend below.... what happened to 'Marvellous Michael and Munchies' Collette?

When its cold... we eat

Following on from the wedding reception, (blog post below) on Saturday it was decided to entertain Kyle's family by going on a roadtrip, and seeing as Tassie has some of the best food around, Mum decided to centre the iconic sights around FOOD.

First stop was the Raspberry Farm at 10.30. We were under strict instructions not to eat breaky so the kids were pretty hungry by the time we got there.

It was lovely just to spend some time relaxing and chatting with Bobbie and Jo and Rachael. Jess and Kyle looked tired but it must have been nice to relax and know they didn't have anything else to organise now.

Next stop was Sheffield to see the murals and marble shop. I didn't actually get out of the car because Jonty needed a feed but I could see it blowing a gale and was glad for the excuse not to go for a walk.

After Sheffield, we went to Reliquaire in Latrobe for a look. On to Anver's but too late for lunch and seeing as Bobbie wanted meat, a hot choccie was not going to do the trick so we decided the ETC was the next best option, but not before heading in to the cherry farm and Ashgrove Cheese. By the time we got to the cherry farm, the novelty had worn off in our car and we all stayed in the car while the others went in.

Oliver spent alot of time in Mum's car as he loves hanging out with Nanny so Collette came in our car for some of the trip. We spent the time listening to and singing Michael Jackson songs. Oh the MJ memories!!!

Even though it looked like we ate all day, I realised that night that all I had eaten was a chicken burger at the raspberry farm (I know, not very raspberryish) and a bowl of soup at the ETC, oh I forgot the M&Ms while listening to MJ. But really not much.

The next day being Sunday, after church we headed into the Wheelers for a family dinner with the Andrews and to celebrate Mum's birthday. We had 12 adults and 7 kids. What a feast! As soon as we got there, Hallie dressed up in all Rohan's Hawks gear. Sure you don't want to adopt her Aaron??

Mum's birthday is not until July 14 but on that day she will be whizzing around Disneyland with Cathy Reeve. Mum starts long-service leave this weekend and is off to the good ole US of A for 6wks. You deserve a lovely long holiday Mum.

Wedding reception

Last Friday night, we celebrated Jess and Kyle's wedding reception at the Tailrace Centre. After the wedding and lunch reception in Melbourne, their honeymoon in Phuket and now the Tassie wedding reception, I'm sure after all that, they will be ready for a bit of relaxation.

It was a lovely function room with views over the Tamar River and Ben Lomond beyond but because it was at night, we didn't see any of it but hey during the day setting up for it, it looked beautiful. :)

A few guests....

my cousin Jarrod with his wife Samara and little Jasmine

Lisa Prebble holding Jonty, Simon, Kym and Joe Rogers, Scott Prebble

Sariah and Aaron Bailey, Emily Wheeler, Jonty, and Lizzie PrebbleAfter some mingling we had speeches from Kyle, Bobbie (Kyle's Dad), Mum and a poem from me.

Thanking the bridesmaids.............

Mum had asked me to do a soppy love poem so I pretended to be very serious and started off by saying how much thought I had put in to putting something together that reflected the seriousness and sanctity of the step Jess and Kyle had taken. Jess said she was thinking, 'oh no, I am going to have to plaster a smile on my face and pretend to like this'.

Lisa was thinking, 'wow I have a Helen Steiner Rice book of poems at home that she could have had a look at'.............. ha ha. But then I launched into two limericks, one for Jess and one for Kyle.

There once was a girl called Jess
Who liked to leave her room in a mess
One day she met Kyle, who said, 'why don't you clean up once in a while'
She replied, 'Kyle, stop making me stress'. (performed in whiney voice)

If you know Jess well, her room was always a mess, you couldn't see the floor (although she may deny it).

There once was a guy called Kyle
Who left last year's convention with a smile
He courted our Jess
And fell in love with-yes-her mess
And now they've settled on this beautiful apple isle.

Then we had cake. It was divine. None of this fruit cake with marzipan. Jess was definite in what she wanted and there was not a sultana or plastic chair in sight.

Instead they hired white ottomans for people to sit on and a million helium balloons that were scattered around the room, tied down with a pebble to the floor.

The balloons ended up outside on Jess' car.

The kids got to go down to Kids Paradise for free and be fed down there which I think all the parents loved.

Oliver entertained himself by playing with Collette's phone.

We wish you all the best Jess and Kyle, although Kyle doesn't look quite so sure............