Catch-up with old friends

The Birds went on a little trip the weekend before last, back up to sunny Sydney. Although the advertised reason was to catch up with all those wonderful friends that we abandoned, the real reason was to experience a couple of days of decent weather for a change. And Sydney did not disappoint! We arrived to a pleasant balmy weather that lasted for pretty much the whole trip, and came home to an icy blizzard. Typical!

In any case, we had a wonderful time catching up with all our friends, and look forward to seeing them all again. In fact, Jules had already booked the next trip up before we even left for the first one.

Lucas at the MCG!

This weekend was a very exciting event for Lucas, because his "cuz" Seth was coming down for a visit. In and of itself, this is cause for much excitement, because the two boys get along famously. However, Seth was bringing with him four tickets to the MCG, to see the Bombers play it off against the Lions! Both boys (and their dads) were very excited. Seth was even excited on the train ride in to the city (mind you, it was his first time on a train).


The boys were a little overwhelmed by the crowds, but their Dads managed to keep them in line, and Pete sought out and landed some champion seats up high, right near the goal square, with a commanding view of the whole oval! The view was great, but probably the highlight of the game for the two boys was the traditional footy food - pies and chips!


Of course, the boys watched about ten minutes of the game, and then got a little bored with the proceedings. Lucas' dad was able to keep him engaged for a little bit longer by explaining the complex maths involved in the AFL scoring system, but in the end both boys ended up looking over the shoulder of another boy, who was happily playing on his Nintendo DS. Both dads were a little outraged, and started talking about "the good old days", when kids were happy to watch a two hour game with no other distractions. Mostly though, they were happy to leave the boys to their own devices, because it meant they could sit back, grab another beer and enjoy the game themselves!

PS. A bloody draw - what a rip off!

More family photos

Some more shots of the Bird family, including Nanna's first visit to the Melboune house, and a rare cameo from Good ol' Uncle Pat.

Pick your teams...

A standard ritual of settling anywhere in Victoria, Lucas and Alicia have finally picked their AFL teams to barrack for. Granddad got in very early with Lucas, buying him a St Kilda bear (that sang the anthem when squeezed) when he was one year old, and it appears to have paid off. Alicia may or may not actually end up going for the Bombers, but for now she's happy to wear the scarf and beanie.


Of course, in order to properly become a supporter for either St Kilda or Essendon, there is a slight surgical procedure required...

Granddad's visit

Granddad popped in a little while back, on his way to pick up Nanna and the Olivers from the airport for a houseboat cruise on the Murray. In what is fast becoming a tradition for all good Bird grandfathers, he brought some LEGO with him for his grandson. Lucas was over the moon, and immediately set about assembling it. He needed just the tiniest bit of help from Granddad (and none from Alicia, but she insisted anyway) in order to complete the whole thing.

Mummy's birthday

Mummy had a quiet little birthday celebration this year (well, compared to last year's hullabaloo, at least!), down in Wodonga with a few family friends. It co-incided nicely with our tobogganing trip up at Mount Buffalo.


And just in case you didn't notice the detail on Alicia's face, here's a closeup for you. Suffice to say someone is no longer particularly fond of toboganning!


The injuries might look a little horiffic, but young kids heal up a real treat (thank goodness!) Here's a more recent photo of Alicia looking almost her normal cute self again.