Got my fix...

We achieved two things that we set out to in the past fortnight. One, a successful cycling adventure. The first for me since having children and although much shorter in length (back in my day I would have cycled the 70 km's we took 3 days to ride in one), it was altogether a richer experience for having my children along. I hope it's the first of many.

The second was to spend some time with our friends who live down south, and by default enjoy some time away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I feel like I got my fix.

Of big skies and wide open spaces.

The quietness and simplicity that camping for days on end brings.

Little treasures left behind by someone unknown along a track in the bush.

The smell of wood smoke and the taste of toasted marshmallows.

This beautiful sight in a camping ground, which captivated Hugo.

Unscheduled time so easily filled for my boys and their friends.

Days beginning like this.

And ending like this.

Now softly softly, back to our regular lives we'll go. Dex has a tummy bug and we're laying low while he gets better. Which is rather nice actually, after the peace of the last 2 weeks. Easing back into the rhythm of where we live.

Off-roading on the Xtracycle!

It's almost 5 months since I got back on my bike (thanks to Xtracycle's awesome Free Radical) and from that very first ride I've been dreaming up a way to hit the 'open road' with the kids and test my bikes ability to go beyond the daily commutes to music class, home-school meets and all the normal life stuff that we achieve on wheels. I wanted something more, something akin to the kind of bike touring that I did pre-kids. A proper cycling adventure, outside of the urban jungle.

Last week the kids and I packed up the car with our camping gear, threw the bike onto the shiny new roof-mounted bike rack (a tandem to accommodate the length) and headed south to try our luck with cycling along a Rail Trail. Well, not quite threw - it's bloody heavy and not easy for this 5 foot nothing mama, but with the help of a milk crate and sheer determination I can do it. And have put it on and off successfully several times now with little more than a few greasy stains and perhaps a tiny little bit of chipped paint on the car! (Lucky I'm not precious about the car).

We drove for a few days, camping along the way. The weather turned rather foul at one point and we postponed hitting the Rail Trail for a couple of days while snuggled up in a gorgeous warm log cabin outside Marlo, sitting around the wood fire toasting marshmallows between little bush walks and wanderings along the beach nearby. (I'll post about the non-cycling part of our trip soon).

When the rain finally stopped we drove to Bairnsdale, ditched the car and hit the East Gippsland Rail Trail on the bike for the next 3 days for our first ever almost whole-family (Will stayed home to work poor thing!) out of suburbia cycling trip. It was great. Challenging and hard work, but really great.

We needed to take a detour off the trail for the first night after discovering on-route that our accommodation options in the village we were headed to did not exist, and apart from the rather hairy 2 or so kilometres of cycling along the Princes Highway with enormous high speed logging trucks and way too fast cars in a 'shoulder' that consisted of a lot of loose gravel and uneven surface, we cycled the whole way along the peaceful old railway line through farmland and forest. Over rivers and creeks and gully's. Past a Brown snake, many kangaroos and wallabies, about ten million butterflies and thousands of birds. And even a few other cyclists, though none of them carrying a load or child(ren)!

I just want to do it all again. Hopefully next time we'll figure out how to carry camping gear as a cycling trip just doesn't feel right when you're not pitching a tent each night in my opinion. Oh well, for this trip we were loaded up enough without throwing in the extra weight of camping gear. And being our first time off a sealed road on the Xtracycle I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. I have found myself day dreaming about acquiring some super dooper ultra lightweight and compact fancy pants camping gear that I imagine must exist... anyone have gear of that description that you want to off-load on us?!

this moment

In the tradtion of soulemama, here's this weeks moment. No words, just a moment from our week that we'd like to remember...

A brief time out...

A brief visit to my parents during the week. It was lovely. The kids are just the perfect age now. Never has a trip to my folks place been so easy. They were relaxed during the long drive. Ran about excitedly upon our arrival pulling out remembered toys from our last visit. And chomping at the bit to get outdoors into what Dexter described to Hugo as 'the biggest backyard you're ever seen'!

I know my mother will roll her eyes with a knowing look - but really, after such a smooth and relaxed break from the city life I'm wondering why we don't visit more often. I almost feel guilty for depriving my children of more time in the great open space of this gorgeous place, when it's here for the taking whenever we care to spend 3 hours in the car. Where such common natural occurrences such as fog, dew drops, sunsets and rainbows are somehow more acute and vivid than we ever experience in our urban lives. Can you tell I'm feeling a little city-saturated at the moment?! A brief trip to the paddocks of my childhood only whet my appetite. Lucky we're planning a camping road trip next week to fill my nature-cup!

Dex and Hugo lost themselves in play while I spied on them with the camera. Dex held the map and Hugo looked for clues.

Hugo enjoyed some quality one on one time with Pa. He chatted on and on to his granddad all about his body parts and how he is growing bigger. Pa pointed out the king parrots nearby. They hung out. It was very sweet to observe.

We perched here to watch the sunset. Dexter literally kept exclaiming Wow! Look! and such things in genuine amazement at his uninterrupted view of the sun setting!

They tried to get closer to the double rainbows by going to the highest point of the property!
Our morning of departure. We picked a humongous bag of Golden Delicious apples which are sitting in our kitchen waiting to be stewed. They certainly don't need stewing to be palatable, they are super crispy 100% organic and sweet and delicious, but there's an awful lot of them. So stewed apples it is.

Embroidery, 5 year old style.

Last week when I was sick and we didn't get out of the house much, we pulled out the kids sewing stuff. Dexter really loves doing simple embroidery. He draws a picture first with a fading fabric pen, then basically traces over it with the thread. It's an activity that immediately chills him out. Look at him slouched on the lounge, lost in his needle work.

This is a Fire Engine in progress.

Hugo gets in on the action too. He was much younger than Dexter's first foray into embroidery when I handed him the tools of this simple sewing technique. It never occurred to me to offer the activity to Dexter until he was almost 4 yrs of age. Hugo at 2.5yr took to it with enthusiasm last year.

At the time of creating Hugo said this latest work is a computer, on the left below. But when I asked him just now he said he couldn't remember what is was! It is certainly rather abstract, though he has been drawing a lot of computer's lately. I remember Dexter going through a similar stage, mobile phones featured heavily too. Oh this modern age we love in! Dexter created this Rainbow the other day. I was impressed with how much persistence and patience he had to deal with all those colour changes. (It took a little patience from me too, as he needs a little assistance to thread the needle and tie a knot in the end! But it's patience I can muster up pretty easily. I love seeing the kids enjoying this sort of activity. I only hope it continues).

Now we only need to decide what to do with these creations. Another bag? Or simply frame them? We've made some book marks with small ones in the past. I never got around to photographing the Christams decorations we made last year. Mini pillows? Endless possibilities - most requiring me to head upstairs to the sewing machine...lovely.

Brothers

Photos from the past few weeks...

Hide and seek.

Emergency escape-slide exit from the rocket ship.

Enjoying a meal at The Deck Restaurant.

Trapping insects. (With little success).

Submarine journey to the sea floor.

Consulting the treasure map.

The past week I have been sick as a dog. Will was away for a 6 day business trip. We have hardly left the house and I have been a very hands-off parent, apart from meeting their basic needs for food, bathing and bedtime cuddles.

While laying about feeling unwell, my attention kept drifting to these gorgeous boys. Keeping themselves entertained for hours on end, playing together in their many imaginary worlds. It was wonderful to watch and listen to. It feels like their relationship only grows stronger as they get older.

They are the bestest of buddies. And it warms my heart in a way that words can not do justice.

Another milestone

The milestones are coming hard and fast for my first born lately. Learning to ride a bike, mastering the ability to stay afloat in water - I wouldn't call it swimming really, but he can do a fine dog paddle! And now - losing teeth. See that gap down the bottom? Dex lost his first baby tooth last week. A second one is wobbly. Naw, stop growing up would you please?

Dexter's love affair with his new wheels has only grown these past few weeks. I'm beginning to have trouble convincing him that the best place for him is on MY bike - especially when we've got some proper distance to cover. (And we don't want to ride the whole way on the footpath. At a quarter of our usual speed - bless those little legs and gear-less bike)! He surprised me on Friday actually. We rode our separate bikes (Hugo with me on the Xytracycle) for over an hour and a half before he ran out of steam. And even though his enthusiasm waned by the end of our trip he pushed on the last little bit home - after a little arm stretch.

The other day Dex and I enjoyed one of our 'special days', the highlight of which was this water thingy. For a few months now Dexter and I have been spending a few hours each fortnight together. Just the two of us. We go out for lunch, visit a museum, hang at the library. All at a sophisticated pace that isn't possible with a 2 year old in tow! It's really lovely.

Last week we scored the biggest bag of toy cars at the Salvo's. Full of awesome old school cars, proper metal ones with opening doors and tipping trays. Tough, well loved, some of them decades old and still going strong. All for the price of ONE new Matchbox car!

I love how some kid has written 'natural gas powered' on these!