We LOVE McDonalds

As part of a family outing the other day, we stopped in at McDonald's for some lunch. Isabel got a Happy Meal and although she only ate one nugget, she loved the Happy Meal for her toy that she got. It's a Pokemon toy that you can make spin like a spinning top.

Her most FAVOURITE thing at McDonald's though was mummy's straw. Unfortunately, Isabel now has the taste for all things sugary and will give a little whine if we refuse to give her anything of ours that looks yummy to her. So we had a hard time keeping her away from the McFlurry.

Lord of the Flies

As Stake YM President, Dallas had the "privilege" of organising a Father/Son camp. It was organised for the Friday night just gone at a Scout camp. The actual camp grounds are located in a beautiful national park and had a few bunk beds as well as camping facilities. Fathers and their sons started showing up at around 5pm Friday. I was helping with the orientation of each group and it was fun to see the little boys that were camping for the first time. I think their dad's were just as excited!

As part of the festivities, Dallas arranged to have a big bonfire with roasted marshmallows. He was moving a large log down to the area where the fire was to be when the one of the smaller boys asked what he was doing. The news spread like wildfire (no pun intended) through the group of boys.... there was to be a big fire and there was going to be marshmallows as well!

After hefting one enormous log down to the pit, Dallas decided to enlist the help of a few big men. He spoke to one of the dads and asked if he could organise a few other dads to help with the wood carrying. Dallas had to start off the BBQ dinner first and then he'd be back down to supervise the firepit. Once the BBQ was organised, Dallas found the Dad to see who he had rounded up. Now, I know you can get a gaggle of women, but what do you call a small cluster of boys?? whatever you call it, Dallas had it. The Dad had found some help - it just presented itself in the form of many boys ranging in age from about four to twelve. They were so excited to get this fire going. So down they all went to the fire pit, Dallas, the Dad, and the over-excited boys. Dallas soon organised those boys and had them picking up any type of wood and throwing it in the general direction of the where the fire was to be.

Once enough wood had been collected, it was time to start the fire. All the eager boys clamoured around Dallas as he struck a match. As he did so, he began to have visions of third degree burns and unhappy parents, so he suggested that they go find the perfect marshmallow roasting stick. This didn't have the desired effect as they were soon huddled around him asking if their particular stick was good for roasting marshmallows. So as soon as the marshmallow sticks had been found, they were ordered to sit a little further away on some rocks. Dallas didn't think this kind of order would be well received, but I guess those boys were so happy to be just a little close to some fire, they stayed put.

At this point, Dallas was so worn out from all the preparation during the day, he just seemed to lose all fire starting skills. Shouts of encouragement and suggestions came from the direction of the rocks where the boys sat. "Blow on it", "oh, it's gone out", "IT'S just smoke!", were just some of the comments made from the peanut gallery. Poor Dal, pressure from all sides and all he wanted to do was sleep at this point. Suddenly from amidst the "suggestions" came a small chant "Fi-re! Fi-re! Fi-re! Fi-re!" A few more little voices joined in, getting stronger with each "Fi-re!". If Dallas didn't get the stupid fire to start soon, anarchy would soon be reigning. It was only then that one of the dads who had come down to watch, took pity on Dallas and asked if Dallas would like him to try. With a sigh of relief so loud it almost drowned out the chanting, Dallas threw the box of matches towards him. Cheers arose from the chanters as the fire was almost immediately lit and started to gain momentum.

It was later, when Dallas was relating the story to me, that I was reminded of another pack of boys and some fire - that story didn't end so well!

All things Technical

From the time she could crawl, Isabel has had a fascination with anything she isn't supposed to have, including the remote controls. She absolutely LOVES them. She loves them so much she eats them, which in turn screws up the wiring and we've had our tv, remote control fan, dvd player and vcr all turn on and off randomly and occasionally do other tricky things without our help. We try to keep them from her, but she seems to manage somehow get them anyway.

As a present for mothers day, Dallas bought me the Wii Fit. Isabel can't get enough of it. As all good children should, Isabel has started to "help" me with a few things.... like tidying her toys (she takes them back out for me). So now the Wii Fit is another thing to help mummy with. My crunches became a great source of entertainment today as Isabel sat on my stomach and squealed with delight every time I crunched. She even tried to copy my pushups. I guess my little girl is going to be one (Wii) fit baby.

Clap Hands

Isabel clapped her own chubby little hands today! She has been clapping our hands for quite some time - grabbing them and pounding them together. But today she delighted us by clapping and cheering for herself. She crawled half of the house to get to where we were and was just as pleased with herself as we were, so she applauded herself. Of course, we then cheered even more. She was one chuffed little girl.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera right on hand, so we are yet to prove that she can actually clap by herself. In the mean time, you'll have to do with a picture of another child clapping.

Catching Up

I have a heap of catching up to do on this blog. For starters, I've completely skipped our trip to Hobart. So here are a few photos from our trip. We went to the Salamanca Markets, journeyed to the top of Mt Wellington (brrr!), took a look at Hobart from Mount Nelson lookout, took HEAPS of photos at Richmond and Port Arthur, walked around the museum and ate fish and chips on the wharf, amongst other things.

We really appreciate the hospitality the Oates showed us, especially Ian. If you ever visit Hobart, make sure you pop in and say hello to the Oates - they are the friendliest people in Tasmania!

Tasmanian Sausage King

Eating Bratwurst at the Salamanca Markets

The girls having fun in Richmond

I like this poor box idea

On the oldest working bridge in Australia


On the top of Mt Wellington


Mount Nelson Lookout


Outside the Cadbury Factory

Eating Fish and Chips on the Wharf

Isabel's Birthday

Don't try this at Home, Kids!

Isabel has been having some sleeping issues recently and I have been wracking my brains trying to think of ways to stop her from waking up during the night. Then, last night, I had an epiphany. When Isabel needed to cut back the number of naps she was taking during the day (from 3 to 2) she was doing the same thing. So last night, I decided to see if she could handle only one nap today. I thought 1pm would be a perfect time for her to take said nap.

As the morning wore on, I really thought she would make it to 1pm. 10.30am came and went and then 11.30am. She was still all smiles, screams and drool at 11.45am, then midday came and she started to get droopy eyelids and there were some genuine yawns as well. Clever me decided she would sleep longer if she had been given lunch before she went to bed. It's good in theory, but trying to get your child to eat when all they want to do is sleep, is somewhat comical.

But my little trooper soldiered on in her battle against sleep and food and managed to find an alternative - why not EAT while you are ASLEEP! BRILLIANT!!!

Shoes and Waving

Isabel joined me outside to hang up the washing on Friday. I decided that it would be best if I made her wear the only pair of soft shoes she owns - Pink mini converse shoes. I think she walks best when she's got them on. Anyway, we wanted to get a photo of them on her and of course as soon as I start taking the shot, she starts to wave. Isabel is a very friendly girl.... she waves at pretty much anybody who'll look. So I decided to get a video of her waving.

Isabel's 1st Birthday!

It's taken me a while to post this video, so I hope you enjoy it for what it's worth. Our timing was completely off and by the time we were ready to eat Isabel's birthday dinner, she was REALLY ready for bed. So she ended up crying for most of her birthday party. I guess it's a learning experience. We had fun, though. And we are so excited that our little girl is one. She's such a big girl now and can do so many big girl things. She can "talk", she walks around all the furniture, she knows how to manipulate her parents, she "reads" all her books and occasionally eats them and she's now refusing to eat the food that she doesn't particularly like.

Aside from the usual baby upsets, we feel so blessed to have our little Isabel in our lives. She is a delight to watch, especially when she waves goodbye and hello to Dallas. We just love her.




As an aside, we were kind of slack when it came to the birthday cake.... we bought some princess cupcakes and because we couldn't find a "number one" candle, Dallas bought the next best thing - a "number seven" candle!