Easter

How has your Easter been? We enjoyed a lovely quiet weekend beginning with kite flying...of course.

Did you know that in Bermuda the whole country heads to the beach to fly kites on Good Friday?  We like to continue the tradition.  We had the most perfect day and kite flying conditions that we've had in years.  Last year at the farm it just wasn't quite windy enough.  The year before on the cliffs in Coogee it was too windy. This year conditions were just right! The day was made even better by sharing it with our friends.

This one is for you mum - check out that toothless grin! 

Flying four kites at once, that's right.  What a dag that it even occurred to him to try this stunt.  I love this guy!  

Big (cycling) Moment!

So the other day, on Hugo's 4th birthday to be precise, we went out for a short bike ride.  No ordinary bike ride mind you (and I'm not referring to the helium balloons that accompanied our return trip that day either).  Extraordinary because the Xtracycle remained under her tarp in the backyard.  This ride was a Big Moment because...wait for it...Dexter, Hugo and I ventured out on THREE SEPARATE BIKES! 

They ride their bikes all the time at the park or on the footpath the short distance to Don Campos while I walk along beside them.  But its only now that I've felt confident that they can both behave sensibly enough on their bikes for me to cycle also.  

Today we ventured much, much further than Thursdays short outing and cycled all the way to Sydney Park, looped all the way around the duck ponds and then onto the mini road system before returning home.

Dexter has been sensible and alert on his bike for ages now and he and I have even cycled off the footpath and on the road where appropriate at times.  But I've always felt more at ease with Hugo strapped into his child seat on my Xtracycle until now. He still isn't anywhere near ready for on-road cycling but wow, it felt pretty fantastic to be able to each ride our own bikes. 

Birthday Boy(s)

Oh do stop growing please!  Hugo turned 4 last week.  FOUR! And of course his dad celebrated another birthday too.  It's pretty fun having half of our families birthdays on the same day.  I documented the day in photos, though of course there's a disproportionate amount of photos of the youngest member of our family.  We didn't fancy following Will around at work with a camera, though I managed to snap this one later in the evening of him receiving his gift...a frying pan.  Yep.  Exciting stuff huh, but really it's what he wanted! 

Our day was spent cycling to the balloon shop where Hugo picked out balloons (of course) and party hats.  He chose green as his colour of the day because he said it was daddy's favourite colour and its his birthday too you know.  It was great fun cycling home with helium balloons tied to our bikes! 

He played with his birthday presents. Favourites include a spinning top, glockenspiel and marbles.

 

 There was a lot of running around like maniacs with the balloons and we made a cake which Hugo didn't eat because, well, kid doesn't like cake!  Must be something to do with being born on the 5th of April as his father doesn't like cake either.  More for Dex and I!

And we finished the day with a late night dance party.  Hugo danced so hard he ended up crashing out in my arms about 2 minutes after asking for a cuddle around 10pm.  Dexter is still telling everyone how he stayed up until nearly midnight!  

Dancing Shoes

 Extremely cheap* canvas shoes + fabric markers = easy way to pass a rainy afternoon.

 Hugo finished his and announced 'these are my dancing shoes, they make me feel like dancing!'  So dance they did!

*$6 for Dexter's size 13 and $4 for Hugo's size 9 from Kmart.  Seriously, I don't want to think too much about the price because shoes sold for so little surely can not be manufactured under ethical conditions, can they?

Tuesday: Experiment Day

The blogging may have come to a stand still but let me assure you our Tuesday: Experiment Days have not.

Here is a photo journal of this weeks fabulous, simple yet thrilling, experiment comprising the easier than easy ingredients of milk, food colouring and detergent.  Oh and a borrowed book from these lovely folk from which we drew our inspiration.  

It was so much fun the boys demonstrated the whole experiment again for Will when he popped home for lunch.  And have requested that they do it all again for their awesome babysitter Becca when she babysits them on Friday.   Why not?!

Dog farts and giggling fits

Here's a little moment from our day yesterday.  Two small boys giggling their butts off over dog farts.  Offending dog not pictured.  But it was bad, real bad.

Little steps

It's difficult to know where to start or how to explain my absence from this space without just coming right out and saying it.

 So. Because I want to share it and because it's been an experience so huge for me that I can't move forward without acknowledging what we've been through I'm going to tell you just where I've been.

A few short - but long, so, so long - days ago we were preparing our family for a new member. I was 16 weeks pregnant. Four months. I'd been writing my blog post to announce this wonderful news in my head for weeks but in the mad rush to Christmas and the level of crazy that life takes on during the festive season - on top of morning sickness and general pregnancy weariness - I never got the chance.

Now, sadly, I haven't such joyful news to share. I lost my baby 2 weeks ago, at home, supported by my wonderful midwife. The story of my too-soon birth is huge. Too huge for here. But let's just say that physiologically it's been one hell of a journey...so much so that my heart is only now beginning to catch up to the loss of my baby girl as I lay in bed, new iPad in hand :), recovering from anaemia.

 I could say so much more but I wouldn't know when or how to stop. I could begin a rant and rave about the stark difference in my care between my beautiful home birth midwife and the hospital staff whom I sought help from when my body needed it. Or I could tell you instead about the storm that was brewing but never broke the evening we buried our daughter. Or about my wonderful mum moving in to take care of my boys and I while I build up my blood supply and begin my journey of recovery. Or the amazing support of my friends who have provided meals, child care, a shoulder to cry on and shown such kindness and love I could never repay them. Or.... See? Where to stop? Too huge.

So now I am taking little steps. Back to Normal Life. To blogging. To leaving the house - 17 days and besides hospital and doctor visits so far just one outing....to the pet food store for cat food yesterday afternoon. Big moment! Back to reading my boys their bedtime stories, feeding them and playing with them. Back to my body which no longer contains a new life, a wee baby who should have been entering our lives in June.

 Little steps...