Launceston Visit

The Melbourne Birds took advantage of the Australia Day holiday to tack on some extra Annual Leave, and pop down to Tassie for a short visit to the Home Land (a.k.a. Launceston). We had an absolute ball, catching up with all the relatives (mostly the Birtwistles, of course), and just generally relaxing and having fun.

With the weather being so pleasant, we spent quite a lot of time at the recently-refurbished Launceston Acquatic centre. A fantastic facility, with heaps of fun to be had by all.

A new friend moves in...

We were delighted to have the Johnsons (who migrated south very recently, only just missing the QLD floods!) over for dinner the other night. It was great to catch up, and we look forward to having them over for many more visits. Lucas and Bethany got on famously and played together very well, but Lucas was not quite as besotted as Alicia, seen here getting cosy with her new "big friend".

Alicia pretty much ignored poor Cameron, which would have been more of a pity if he'd actually CARED (which he didn't, instead taking a rare opportunity to explore a whole new world of big boys' toys).

Mad scientists

Behold, two mad scientists hard at work on their next ingenious project.

Drs Lucastein and Alicie-Curie direct the dim witted, hunch-backed Igor to carry out their nefarious bidding, pushing the very bounds of possibility itself.

They said we were Mad, but we'll show them, we'll show them ALL! Mu-wah-hah-haaaaah...

Nanna Bird comes to visit

We were very pleased to have Nanna Bird come over for a visit during the school holidays. She provided some very welcome company, not to mention assistance (particularly in the "keeping Lucas entertained" department).

We all went for a trip down to the Peninsula on the weekend, to check out the sand sculptures at Frankston, and also to visit the Sunny Ridge strawberry farm. Nanna decided to leave the actual task of berry picking to those more willing and able (at least, willing to wear plastic bags over their shoes), but was happy to assist in the eating part!

Australian Idols

One of Alicia's presents for Christmas this year was a little keyboard with attached microphone, and she has already had heaps of fun singing and mashing the keyboard. We see her and Lucas here, singing along to their respective "favourite songs".

Press the play buttons at your own risk. Caveat auditor.

Uncle Pat and the Helmet of Awesome

Uncle Pat popped in today, on the last leg of his mainland road trip. Sadly, his road-trip clashed fairly significantly with our own, and he only had time for a quick visit prior to jumping on the ferry back to Tassie. Alicia was shy as always (plus, you know, Uncle Pat does look a bit scary even at the best of times...), but Lucas was all over him like a rash, primarily in order to get him to lend him his helmet.

Pat wisely advised patience, in order to give the helmet time to cool off and the accumulated sweat of a week's worth of riding time to evaporate a little, but eventually gave in and let him put the helmet on.

A fantastic lunch with friends (old and new)

Some more photos of our Sydney road trip, this time of a lunch that was hosted at our good friend Di's house. We had a good showing of our friends their as well - Speedy, (Big) Alisha, Wiggy, not to mention our good friends Sam, Sue, Jac and Josh, who were also kind enough to house us for the vast majority of our stay.

A swim for some, a moment's respite for others...

In the midst of the hectic schedule of our Sydney visit, we were able to schedule a sleep over at the Gidney's residence, and Lucas and Alicia were delighted to catch up and play with Harry and Callum. They were also deligheted to take advantage of their swimming pool.

Daddy was also quite happy to take advantage of the facilities, and when he discovered an inflatable chair with a stubby holder, he was in seventh heaven.

Mother's group reunion

The Birds went on a road-trip up to Sydney shortly after Christmas. The trip itself is almost worth a blog entry, alas we did not have the presence of mind to take any photos while in the car. In summary: thank goodness for portable electronic entertainment devices!

Anyway, once we were up in Sydney, we went around visiting all our old friends, not least of which was Lucas' old mothers' group! We all met up at our favourite park - Buffalo Creek Reserve. The parents had a good ol' chin wag, while the kids went crazy playing and riding together. We had a fantastic time - it was almost like we'd never left.