3 months on....

Hi all, been a little absent from the blog front...not much to say really. So heres a quick catchup.

• Aimee's 4th Birthday has come and gone.
• Aimee's moved up to frogs in swimming woohoo.
• We went to the farm for the Octoboer Long W/E - see photos.
• Planning a holiday to Phuket over New Year.

Other than that, Rose and I have been busy with work. Which sux.

Anyway, enough for now....

Merry Xmas to all my readers....all one of you.

Here's a photo:

August...

Hi all,

August has come and gone. In our family, we celebrate mine and Aimee's Birthday, as well as our friends Kitty and Mariana. So it's been a busy month.

Aimee turned 4 on the last day of winter, boy that has gone quick. As her Birthday fell on a Monday, her official party is tommorrow. We've invited her cousins, family friends and pre-school friends. This time the party has been outsourced, so when I get a chance, will upload pictures.

Poor little Aimee has been sick since the day before her Birthday, until yesterday really. Not eating much and a lot of throwing up. Not good. But thankfully, this has cleared for her party.

Caught up with Rochelle and David via Skype last w/e. It was exciting to see Inara for the first time - in action. What a good little girls she is, she turned six months last Saturday. Again, time flies...

Aynway, enough from me. Chat soon.

Aimee jumping in...

Scratchy video, but Aimee looks like she's having fun. The video was from my Dad's mobile, thanks Dad

Where have I been....

In short, nowhere...

Sorry, have been neglecting my blogging duties - not that anyone would notice.

So, what's been happening - not much. Bought Rose a HP Mini, loaded Windows 7 RC1 on it...not bad, bit slow to boot, but once running it works nicely. The Mini is nicely spec'd and does the job, Atom N280 processor, 1GB ram and a 160GB drive. Good enough to surf on your lap while out an about (tethered via bluetooth to my Nokia N96 over the Telstra NextG network). Funny how Rose's Mini spends most of it's power on time sitting on my lap. ;)

What else...

We got away for the long w/e in June to Port Stephens, nice w/e away with friends - big group - who was there - Jeff, Kitty, Craig, Thao, Renato, Mariana, the boys, Duncan, Connie and Sebastian, with us totalled 14. Aimee had a great time . Will post some pics over the next week or two.

Went to Sydney Aquarium, hopped a ferry and had a nice day out, though Aimee was a little ratty for most of the day. Spongebob was everywhere for some reason?? Kurtis, I think enjoyed it...

Winter seems colder this year, maybe I'm just getting older and feeling it more...

Anyway, enough for now - off for a hair cut.
Cheers

Easter 2009

Hi anyone,

We've had a nice week, spent 5 days up at the farm meeting the cows....then on Wednesday, went to the easter show here in Sydney.

Since we were last at the farm (Xmas), the boys have bought some cows, 18 to be precise. They are on there way to fattening up for a year or so before heading off to a butcher near you...

The show experience wasn't too bad, we went early and were back home by 3pm. Aimee was scared of he baby lambs and goats in the farmyard nursery - was really hoping for a good photo op, but she enjoyed rides on the bumper boats, merry go-round, mini roller-coaster and big wheel.

Check out this video for Aimee's reaction to the cows...

The weather was unseasonally warm, close to 30c. Aimee did well in the showbag hall, her Poppy and Nanny donated $50 bucks, so she got a "Dora the Explorer", "Tigger and Pooh", and "Pirates of the Caribbean" bags. Here are a few more pics at the show.

See ya next time.

Time for a photo blog...

Pre-school and phones...

Hi again,

a month (almost) since the last blog... Guess I'd better write something then.

Aimee has started pre-school 2 days a week. She's nearly 3.5, and we think needing some more learning and social stimulation, so off to school. She loves it, can't get us (or Grandma and Papa) to leave quick enough when she gets there. So, school has begun... sort off.

Picked up a new Nokia N96 as my old phone speaker stopped working (Nokia N80). Yeh, it's nice and it's NOT an iphone. I really like the Nokia PC Suite - great for syncing all my contacts, appointments and tasks from my exchange account. Comes fully featured, Wifi, GPS, Radio, 5mp camera, 16GB memory etc. Has it's own podcasting app, so no 'middleware' itunes application. Very happy with it. I've posted some pictures on Flickr (direct from the phone), so you can check out the quality of the images.

Anyway, enough for now. Write soon.

Zig Zag Railway and Friends of Thomas

Hi anyone,

Last Saturday was the long anticipated "Friends of Thomas" at Zig Zag Railway day. Our family group included, us, Zane, Airley, Brad and Cindy and both sets of grand parents. Mariana, Renato, Luca and Marco along with Jeff and Kitty came as well.

The day started early as the Zig Zag railway is 2 hrs west of Sydney. The weather in Sydney has been hot lately, so it was a bit of shock the 9c temp that awaited when we arrived. Very chilly, but we were in the mountains (>3500ft).

The "adventure" includes a ride up and down the now historic Zig Zag railway in some rickety old carriages pulled by "Thomas the Tank Engine". The ride up and down lasts about 25mins, and you spend an hour between trips in a shed full of fun activities for kids and hot coffee or tea for adults (very much needed on this day).

After returning to Clarence Station, we had a picnic lunch - still chilly but luckily it had warmed a little.

I can fully recommend this to any parent with kids into Thomas. Train buffs might like it too!

See you soon.

Happy 2009....bye bye 2008

Well, 2009. Yikes, were all getting older! (mind blowing insight I know!)

Anyway, hi anyone,

Here's what's happened since Xmas. We started by taking Aimee to the beach. It was our 5th wedding anniversary (27/12), so we went for an early breakfast at Neilson Park cafe, then took Aimee for a swim. Aimee is funny girl, wants to build sandcastles but doesn't want the sand on her hands - big dilemma for a 3yr old. :)

For New Years eve, Rose's office was opened up for the 9pm (kids) fireworks, so we ventured out - and surprisingly, we all enjoyed it. Back home by 10.15. Rose and I stayed up to watch the midnight fireworks, initially on TV. But outside around the corner was a great view, so we took turns to go watch the fireworks. They have several firework barges up and down Sydney harbour, so from our locale, we could see three barges and the top of the bridge - not bad at all. There was also a huge crowd around - surprising to see how many people were there by the bay walk and at the parks. Next year we'll just stay home to see the fireworks :) (photo: NYE sunset from Rose's work)

On New Years day, we went to the farm for 4 days. Hot up there, but we had a restful time. Aimee's cousin Kurtis was there, so she had a playmate. Check out the bum crack photo to the right.

My webhosting mob have moved servers again, so have been sorting out some issues - the photo album (gallery2) is broken, so in the mean time, have posted a temporary album with link with the photos from these 'adventures'. Enjoy

Hope you all have a great year

Christmas Carols

Hi anyone,

On Monday we went to the local Christmas Carols, nice evening here in Sydney - just a bit blowy. We went along with Cindy, Brad, Zane, Airley and Cindy's friend Jaquie. Aimee and Zane enjoyed running around and seeing Santa arrive on a old english double decker bus (go figure?), dancing and generally being 3yr olds.

I've posted more pics in the album.

Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays to be politically correct)!

Merry Christmas...where applicable!

Hi anyone, time for an update...

We've had a busy month since the last post, lots of catch-ups, christenings and the like. Also lots of shopping for Xmas. We took Aimee to the city for the Xmas Parade on December 1, which was pretty average I must say. Aimee enjoyed it though. The highlight of the day was seeing Santa, so here's the pic.


She's growing up fast, she's 3yrs and 3 months in this photo, but looks more like a little girl to me.

Anyway, that's it. I need to fix the weather and some other pages. In case you haven't noticed I've swtiched layouts, and now need to retrofit the blogger template to the non-blogger published pages. Sort of lost motivation for now, but should be done in a month or so.

Hope you have a great Xmas and New Year. :)

Hunter Valley Gardens

Hi anyone,

Spent and enjoyable Sunday up at the Hunter Valley Gardens.

2008-11-09 Hunter Valley Gardens

We carpooled with Jeff & Kitty and met Renato, Mariana and the boys there. The gardens are well worth a visit if you're into 'that'. Spectacular, good at this time of year. In the end, didn't even get to a winery :( - but doesn't matter - it was a great day out.

Aimee enjoyed herself running virtually everywhere as a 3yr old does. Might have to go back for the Xmas lights spectacular, looks interesting from the website.

I've posted some pics on Picasa Web, nothing compared to Renato and Jeff's efforts with there 'big' EOS type cameras, but good enough to capture the day.

ciao.

Face Painting...

Last Saturday was Milena's 4th b'day. Snapped these pics on the N80 of the face painting efforts. (lame, but free!)

Aimee enjoyed playing pass the parcel, face painting and generally running around and making noise like a 3 year old.

Aimée at the wheel!

It's becoming part of the arvo routine. Aimée has to jump into the driver's seat. Hmmm... Don't know where it comes from ;-)

Apologies for the poor photo, best not to view the full size

Aimee Gymnastics

Shot this of Aimee, obviously inspired after watching the Olympic gymnastics team finals last night.

A Sommersault, followed by a half twirl - difficulty 5.6 (for someone who is nearly 3).

Another Dad moment - sorry.

cya.

Blogtime...

Hi anyone,

Well, the week without Aimee passed slowly - but strangely enough - we survived :)

I purchased a new point & shoot camera last week, a Canon IXUS 90IS or Canon PowerShot SD790 IS depending on what part of the world you are in. I'm happy with the purchase, here are some sample shots taken over the past few days.

I've posted these and others in the Photo Album if you want a look. The camera replaces the IXUS 75 which we've found doesn't bounce too well on a tiled floor when dropped.

It's b'day month in our small family, two of us have b'days, mine next week (ho hum) and Aimee's 3rd b'day at the end of the month. I'v asked for undies - that's all I need.

Also, September is Holiday month, we're off to Langkawi for 12 days. Fun in the Sun hopefully. Just planning how to keep Aimee entertained and in her seat for the flight (7.5hrs, + 1hr). Wish us luck. Anyway, more on that subject coming.

Ciao for now.

Strange week....

Hi anyone,

it's been a strange week...

We've let Aimee go to the farm up at Merriwa with her cousin Kurtis and grandparents. Apart from the emotions of our daughter being away for the first time, we've had to re-adjust to what it was like before Aimee came along. A very strange feeling indeed!

We dropped Aimee over at her grandparents on Sunday at lunchtime for the trip, then came back home. Rose and I didn't know what to do!, it was really quite puzzling. We ended up, after lunch, watching a movie - something we are lucky to do once a year. We almost watched another lastnight.

Strangely, the house is so quiet and feels empty without Aimee running from one end to the other stamping her feet as she goes.

We've taken Friday off so we can join the family at the farm. Roll on Friday, it's just too strange until we have Aimee back.

Aimee and Zane Vid

Hi anyone,

another indulgence...video of Aimee and Zane watching telly. I thought it was cute anyway. Aimee and Zane will be 3 in late August and 2nd week of October respectively.

Sorry, been quiet recently - haven't had too much on to blog about. We did get to the Hunter Valley recently and the farm (Queen's B'day long w/e). Purchased about a dozen bottles...so a fun weekend.

Anyway, I'll blogul8r.

Aimee on the loose...

Hi anyone, another Dad moment - shot this video on my Nokia N80 in late April of Aimee.

Really a video of no value to anyone but us, but she is cute don't you think? Filmed on location at Westfield Burwood here in Sydney.

Bye for now.

Fishing...

Hi anyone, time for an update.

It's a long weekend in Australia, 3 days off anytime of the year is great. This weekend commemorates the Anzac soldiers (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) landing at Gallipoli in WWI. Anzac day has since been expanded to commemorate all wars/police actions that our forces have been involved with. A time to reflect and be thankful for our freedoms of today.

I took these photos on my Nokia N80 of Aimee and Kurtis 'fishing' just around the corner from home at the end of March, and have just now uploaded and thought I'd share as they are quite reasonable. These camera phones are useless in low light conditions, but not too bad in full/soft sun.

Anyway, we (Ivan, Kurtis, me and Aimee) went just around the corner to the bay (aka the 'bay run') and caught nothing. Nonetheless, Aimee and Kurtis enjoyed building sand castles.

I also like this pic, taken a week ago...

Have a nice day.

Aimee video...

Hi again,

took this very dodgy video thanks to poor lighting and the fact I used my mobile of Aimee at play delaying her bed time. It goes for about 4 mins. The highlights are her singing "twinkle twinkle little star" and "ABC". By the way, she's wearing her new "fluffy" 1 inch shoes ....

Aimee is now 2 years 7mths and has become very chatty and polite little girl (between tantrums :))

Our Dell XPS420 christened...and F1

Hi anyone,

Been a busy few weeks for us. Two weeks ago, our new Dell XPS420 arrived. I must say, I'm impressed with the Dell experience - much easier than building my own. The PC arrived 7 days after order, everything nicely packed up and in it's place. Installation was a breeze (well it should be hey :)) and it all fired up 1st go. The order, 100% correct!

I've since spent my nights since transferring data, setting up Flight Sim X (which runs very nicely on this beast) and coming to grips with Vista. Obviously, the whole UAC thing in Vista is a little painful, but reading up on it you can see it has it's purpose. The other prob I encountered was the Windows Easy Transfer thing - it don't work - so ended up mapping folders and transferring over the local network. Don't waste your time troubleshooting, no useful logs/errors - trust me.

Luca and Marco's christening was Sunday week ago, have uploaded some pics so check out the Album if interested. Another two Catholics in the world hey!

Uploaded this video of Aimee on a skateboard with her cousin Ryan taken at the start of March on our now broken :( Canon IXUS 75 , just a test really, it was an 88MB upload, not sure how big now as blogger did some post processing on it Don't play it if you don't have the bandwidth.

Watched the Melbourne F1 over the w/e. Only 7 cars of 22 finished. Hmmm. Plenty of carbon Fibre flying. Hopefully race 1 is not an indication of how the season will go for Webber. Good to see the Honda's back to midfield pace. Looks like the removal of driver aids like traction control and engine braking is a good move, might be interesting to watch this year to see how things pan out. As they say ... somewhere..."bring it on..."

New PC..soon

Hi again,

We all went to the city today to go shopping. Aimee is proving a little handful to ..um handle. I'm afraid Aimee is turning into one of those uncontrollable kids screaming at the top of his/her lungs while lying on the floor in the middle of the department store. I hope the terrible 2's don't go into the terrible 3's. Don't know how to manage her at times, guess that's just one of the joys of parenthood.

Finally got around to updating our 5.5yr old PC. Ordered a slightly customized Dell XPS420 last Monday...and guess what, it arrives this Monday...2 days away. Quite happy with the spec and am now just getting my head around what needs to be moved to the new PC (like Roses iTunes library etc.). I guess the only thing I'm not too happy about is the move to Vista, but I too am hoping that with the imminent release of SP1 there might be an improvement in peoples opinions and of course usability.

Have posted some more pics from Joan and Greg's camera of the 50th anniversary lunch, so if you're interested family, go have a look.

Haven't blogged for a while....

so, here goes...

Hi anybody,

haven't been up to much, here's what I can think of:

1. started a new role at work - which I'm enjoying. It's great to get back to a tech role after pushing paper for a few years.
2. been adding a few more galleries, some public - so have a look in Albums.
3. switched to the nifty Picasa web album slideshow - looks nice - basically cycling through photos of Aimee since birth.

Other than that, we all well and looking forward to the Australia Day long w/e. Yippee.

blogul8r

"Official" 2007 Christmas Photo

Hi anyone,

as you may or may not be aware or even may or may not care, Christmas is fast approaching. Young Aimee (2yrs and 3months) is very quickly becoming aware of the "real" reason of Christmas - presents and that whole Santa thing :). So over the past few weeks, we've been sussing out if she'd want to see one of Santa's proxies (call them what you like) and ask for him for her presents.

So, weekend before last we took Aimee to see Santa while out shopping. Initially, she was quite excited about the whole idea, but when it came to the crunch, she would say "don't like Santa" and not want to go near him. Rose and I persisted and tried with a different Santa - but met with the same resistance. My parents also tried several times while mid-week shopping - same problem - although Aimee was happy to stand in the mall and scream "Hi Santa" and wave from 3 floors above.

Then this weekend, I tried again while Rose had an appointment to keep. This time, I compromised and let her sit on my lap next to Santa. Aimee sat there patiently while the assistants blew bubbles and squeaked stuffed toys and the result was this 1 and only picture worth keeping. Poor Santa, everytime he tried to win Aimee over, her reply "don't like Santa". So, in absence of Aimee declaring her wish list for 2007, here it is:

Dear Santa,

I really do like you and would like the following items delivered Xmas morning:

1. Playdoh (perferably more than 3 colours)
2. a kitchen (preferably without sharp knifes and made of durable plastic)

That is all, and see you next year,

Aimee

Hope you read my blog Santa.

cya.

Chicken Pox , Pasta, Birthday, Xmas, Europe and a Wii

Hi again, been slack with the blogging, but who reads anyway?

A few weeks back Rose got chicken pox....who knew hey! She never had it as a child and was exposed to it by our nephew Kurtis. Anyway, she spent an annoying week at home trying not to scratch. Luckily, I've had it (well 99% sure), and Aimee was vaccinated :) Rose is fit and well and back at work now!.

The other annoying aspect to chicken pox was that we had booked an Italian Cooking class that was a xmas gift for us and the WongChu's from Lars last year. Of course -Rose with pox couldn't attend - and the cancellation policy ...."tough"- no refund or credit and you can't reschedule. So I ended up going without Rose. The course itself was enjoyable, made fresh pasta - and the eating part was the best, though the lack of cancellation policy left a slightly sour taste.

The WongChu's are heading to HK and Europe for a month - Xmas in Paris (very nice). As it was Wongy's B'day last weekend, and they fly tomorrow, we had dinner last Saturday as a bit of a happy b'day/farewell/merry Xmas get together. We went over early and played on their Wii, which I've kindly volunteered to look after while they're O/S...look out high scores - not. The whole gang was there, Us*3, Jeff, Kitty, Lars, Craig, Thao, Mariana, Renato and the boys (who mainly slept....). We went to the Asia's Restaurant in Lindfield. Very nice, I especially like the soft shell crab and chilli eggplant. Yum. Aimee was relatively good for the night...no major incidents to report - and she scored early Xmas presents :)

Anyway, enough for now - blogul8r.

Time for a break

Hi anyone,

We had a relaxing week away from work last week (except Monday, Rose and I both had work commitments). Pity it rained most days, but it was certainly fun to be at home with Rose and Aimee and "hang out" and play. We didn't get up to much, did some shopping around at Ikea, some park visits, that sort of thing. We also picked up Rose's car from the smash repairs (minor dent and detailing done), and are now selling it - so if you want a Holden Astra Classic (TS model) as new, 2005 year - automatic, low k's and reverse parking sensors, let me know...ad over :) - remember, we're in Aus.

Aimee's swimming lessons have recommenced, now at an outdoor pool down the road. Last Saturday wasn't so bad, but the previous Saturday was freezing - poor little Aimee - her jaw would not stop chattering. The pool's heated, but certainly not like the indoor pool we previously went to. I can only hope the weather stays warm.

Anyway, that's it for now, blogul8tr :)

Taronga Zoo, thanks to work

Hi all,

just a quick update, spent and enjoyable and cost free day (thanks to my employer) at Taronga Zoo on Sunday (28/10).

Aimee, Rose and I had a great time. We caught the train to Circular Quay, then the ferry, then took the zoo cable car to the top and wondered on down to the seeing the animals to the work sponsored lunch area.

A nice day and a great turn out for work really. I have uploaded some pics to the photo album.

cul8r.

F1 season end and Aimee

Hi again,

The 2007 F1 season completed at Interlagos on Sunday. I got up in the wee hours of Monday morning to watch it here - coverage started at 2.45am. It certainly was a thrilling end to the season with 3 drivers in contention for the championship. In the end, Kimi, who was third place before the race got the drivers championship - great result and congratulations to Kimi. Kimi actually had more wins this year - 6, while Lewis and Fernando shared 4. Great consistent season from Lewis, shame it fell apart in the last two races - but he does have time on his hands and will undoubtedly (provided the team follows) win championships.

As for Mark Webber, what can he do but to keep trying. The two red bull cars look very encouraging in terms of pace, just fail in the reliability mark - bleeding edge gearbox and hydraulics I guess. Hopefully, next season - the gremlins will have moved on to another team. Interesting how the customer Renault team did better than the factory team at Interlagos, though the engine is just one of many components I guess.

Here's a pic of Aimee and her "sunny glasses" I took on my N80 the other day - I like it cause it's cute. :) Click for a close up.

Zane's second B'day

Hi again,

Our nephew Zane turned 2 last week, his birthday was last Saturday.

Aimee enjoyed herself being the only girl at the party and enjoyed playing with Zane's toys. She also enjoyed the egg & spoon race and singing Happy B'day (well the hip hip hooray part at least).

We all enjoyed the "Thomas the Tank Engine" cake :)

It was a fun day, have a look at some photos of the day at Cindy, Brad and Zane's Blog.

cul8tr

Rose's Birthday

Hi all, how was your w/e?

We had a busy w/e, it was Rose's Birthday on Saturday. The day started with Aimee and I singing Happy Birthday...hip hip... hooray. Rose opened her present... which she liked - she chose it :) For lunch, we went for a picnic at Nielson Park in Vaucluse with Lars, Jeff, Kitty, Thao and Craig (also his b'day).

The weather was nice - initially :( - Aimee and I were making sand castles on the beach with Kitty and Jeff when a wind storm blew up and it got cold and cloudy very quickly (dropped 10 deg C). Rose, Thao, Craig and Lars were copping a sand blasting at the picnic site just behind the beach at Nielson Park - so moved to a sheltered location, and at least finished out picnic lunch as the rain started. :(. So, Kitty & Jeff invited us all back to their place for coffee and cake cutting (luckily Thao was organised and brought a cake). Anyway it was a fun day, Rose and Aimee enjoyed themselves - I hope...

Sunday was just a hectic, our other friends Christine and Vic were coming for arvo tea with their daughter Hope (4+ months older than Aimee). So we dropped Aimee over at my brother's place to play with her cousin Zane (also 2) while I was to do the garden and Rose finishing baking a cake, biscuits and cleaning up. Between watching the first 45 mins of the Bathurst 1000, picking up Aimee and the Gardening I ran out of time - Chris and Vic turned before I could shower. A quick shower later, avro tea and a few beers, Vic and I watched the very exciting final 30 mins of the race due to rain and a safety car.

We also went for dinner last night to Aqua Vista with my family to celebrate Rose's Birthday. We rushed home to bed, it was paste Aimee's bed time, and I wanted to get up and watch the replay at 1am of the Chinese F1 GP in Shanghai. What can I say, F1 races are the best when it's wet - the rain closes the field up and adds another variable to team tactics / luck.

anyway, have I bored you yet? cya next time.

Aimee met the boys

Hi,

just a quick update, Luca and Marco will be out tomorrow, so last night we visited Mariana and Renato in hospital to give them a few things they'll need when they do get home. We kept telling Aimee the boy's names and to be gentle and quiet and that this was the first time she would see "the bubba's"

Anyway, she was so intrigued, I held over the boys who were sought of asleep - she starts of by patting herself on the chest and repeating her name - so as to introduce herself. Strangely - the boys did not respond :). It was so funny to see....sorry - boring tidbit to most, interesting to me.

As we left, she yells out, "see ya boys".

Aimee's 2nd B'day

Hi again,

Aimee's party on Saturday. Hectic, but fun. Everyone over at 2pm and out by 6pm...good idea this afternoon tea thing of Rose's. Aimee enjoyed herself, so tired she was straight to bed after the party almost.

She played with every present she got, especially her new pram and dolly as well as her Thomas the tank engine set...It was funny, she woke up on Sunday in a half dazed state and said 'hooray'...obviously dreaming of singing happy b'day the day before.

It was fathers day here on Sunday, so we went for lunch at Rose's brothers place to catch up with her father, then for dinner at "chinese" to catch up with my father. Nice and relaxing day actually.

Got my weather station the other day, now need to set it up. The plan is to have the data on the web site - possibly. We'll see how I go.

Blog you soon.

Last weekend

Aimee's 2nd B'day this Friday, so getting ready for that and the family coming over to visit our small house. As per usual, any house we buy has sewerage problems - backed up on Saturday, so spent late Saturday and most of Sunday getting it sorted with plumbers and Sydney Water - luckily it's a Sydney Water issue so I don't have to pay for my plumber yippee.

We went and saw A Midsummer's night dream on Friday night. Interesting interpretation to say the least - I enjoyed it though, I must admit - "not my cup of tea". Had a bit of drama just before the show started, left my wallet in the taxi - silly me. We waited 30 mins out front just in case he came back (naive hey?) and rang the taxi company - nothing they could do but to take my details, then as I was on the phone canceling our credit card, Ryde Aquatic Centre called (that's where Aimee goes for swimming lessons, I had her registration card in my wallet). They said someone
had called them to see if they had a contact number for us so we could hook up and get my wallet back. Phew!, but of course the bank could not un-stop the card - bummer. Anyway, picked up my wallet Saturday morning, the finder didn't even
accept a reward. Thank you kind Malcolm - saved me an aweful lot of trouble :)

I've started a new work assignment in town, interesting - I haven't been city based for 15 years (God I'm old). So, getting my bearings this week, working out the important things like where to get my raisin toast and coffee, and lunch venue's. You see my prorities hey! Catching public transport is novel too...though I'm sure it will rub off. :)

til next time, ciao!

weekend at the farm

Hi again, long time no blog.

Last week, we had a 4 day long weekend at my brother in-laws farm near Merriwa. It's a 4hr drive and in the middle of nowhere. Aimee enjoyed herself, especially throwing rocks into the river, nothing scares her...happy to march of and do her own thing.

It was also my b'day, so Rose made a cake - very nice Lemon cake improvised with what few ingredients she found.

Traveling back, we visited Tea Gardens on the coast north of Newcastle,. Nice accommodation there stayed at Oaks Boathouse for one night - but very quiet when not summer.

I've posted more photos in the album.

Babycino's

Hi, just uploaded this video of Aimee enjoying a babycino. She's sitting on her Godfathers lap, we met up on Saturday shopping for new furniture for the new house....



Anyway, check it out if have a 2 mins to spare :)

Yay :) we're moving

Hi everyone,

late today we got the keys to our new house :) very exciting - well to us as least! ;) Tomorrow we move, well actually, the removalists do and we unpack. So exciting times ahead settling in to the house.

Posted some new pics of Aimée and her cousin's taken recently, also been fixing (embedding) videos in some albums - have a look.

Time flies...

Isn't time just flying by this year, we visited Mariana & Renato on Sunday, Renato ask if he could take some Aimee photos, and we being the slack parents who hardly take photos jumped at the opportunity. Marian is starting to show big time, she is, afterall having twins. Good to see them as our visits a far a few between. Click this link to have a look at the photos Ren took, and don't forget to check out his site. Thanks again Renato.

In other news, the Pasha Bulker has left the beach - finally after 25days....yay. See my previous blog and youtube vid.

We move house in less than 2 weeks, yay. Can't wait to get in. Wrote a big cheque for Stamp duty today, bloody government....blood suckers they are....:( All that money just to stamp a piece of paper. oh well, enough, for now. Cya next time.

Settled and in at the in-laws

Hi all,

we've settled on the old place, so now looking for a new one :( It's hard work, well, for Rose, she's done most of the research so far, I've been busy and, well, I drive. :). Our furniture in storage, we've unpacked our suitcases, setup our bed and very comfortable in our own room with ensuite. Feel very welcome at Rose's parents.

Have youtubed a video of Aimee running free at the park on the w/e...check it out if you want.

We've moved

Been a busy two weeks....

I have been so busy with work - this project is driving me mad. Oh well, life in a big organisation can be frustrating, especially when you have to rely on others to do things for you. Yes, I know, I have control issues.

We've moved, in with Rose's parents. Packing and moving is so not fun. But I'm glad it's over, though we now have to unpack our suitcases here. Almost lost Rose's laptop, the removalists removed anything not tied down, even Rose's laptop in backpack. Luckily, found it in the next day in storage (where the majority of our possessions are). Settlement was missed due to our bank stuffing around with the mortgage discharge, even so we let the new buyers in - hopefully will settle tomorrow.

...then we're in the money until we find another place.

Poor Aimee, we are so busy we hardly see her, makes you wonder if it's worth it. Even now, I have to re-join a conference call for an issue that occurred tonight in 5 mins, it's crazy. Feeling very guilty that we don't get enough time with Aimee :( Hopefully, this trend will reverse over the next few weeks...hopefully.

in the spirit of blogging...

Rose and I were talking on he way home tonight from weekly dinner (or so) at my parents....we're so amazed at Aimee's progress.

Over the past month or so, she's moved from a finger pointing 18 month old to a 20 month chatter box. Her vocabulary and understanding has developed and surprised both of us. :) Small things like responding with her name when asked, or making animal noises.

Now, I know that this fact is probably of little amazement to anyone reading this blog, but in the spirit of blogging and sharing thoughts, that's it for the day.

oh, and also....I'm playing with a new photo album app named Gallery (v2), purely PHP and running on my webhost lunarpages, may prove to be more practical than Jalbum, I'll keep you posted. I like the idea of uploading my pictures directly to the site and it building the album, rather than uploading a generated album.

bye for now.

Slippers

Hi again,

Here's young Aimee trying on Mum's slippers. A snug fit! I'm sure you'd agree. It's amazing to watch her grow and learn new things day in-day out.

Check out the flickr link for a few more images.

Pick me up.. now...and Picnik

Look at this picture, how cute - Aimee demanding to be picked up... , and NOW!. Just thought I'd share it with you.... :) She is cute when grumpy. Taken from my mobile, hence the quality.

Also, have you tried Picnik? - it's fantastic!, basic photo editing tool via a webpage and integrates to flickr. Very useful for on the fly editing of pictures.