Brisbane year

When we first got married the question of Christmas family visits came up.  So Chris and I decided that we would do alternate years in Brisbane and Armidale.  And as our siblings have go married over the years they have fitted into the rhythm of home and away years.  It works surprisingly well.  So this year was a Brisbane year.

She got bumblebee socks.

Gab loves her new rag doll.

I received a tree.

We had this lovely big crab for lunch. mmmmmm

Gab's Christmas lunch is on the left.  She only ate the cucumber.  That's my lunch on the right.  I needed to sample every salad.

Cricket on the street after lunch.  Scooter helped with the fielding.

Gab wore her Christmas pyjamas all day.

The cousins.

We cannot take a sensible photo.

Merry Christmas!

Although Boxing Day is proving o be quieter and more relaxed.

dog at beach goes crazy

We popped down to Pottsville to catch up with Chris' Dad.  Which meant trips to the beach.  A first for Scooter.

The beach! The beach!

Yeah!  Let's run into the water!

Eat the water!  Eat the waves!

Ok.  That stuff is quite wet.

I feel the responsibility of rescuing the smaller members of my family from the dastardly waves.

Dig! Dig! Dig!  and I don't get in trouble!

 
A hole!  I can sit in!

(Apologies for the excessive use of exclamation marks in this post.  It is just how I imagine Scooter thinks.)

Sydney done and dusted

Loved spending a week in Sydney.  I did all of my Sydney essentials like catching up with cousins, eating Lebanese food, licking excellent gelato, visiting the Powerhouse museum to see Harry Potter, having Turkish pizza, hanging out in Sydney parks, getting proper Greek baklava...it is really about the food isn't it.  And the company.

We watched the cousin's Christmas concert.  She NAILED her part of an angel.  Proud aunty moments.

Visiting Taronga Zoo.  Where the animals have an awesome view.

This is a weird looking creature.  It is a Tapir.  We all got the giggles.

All aboard the Hogwarts Express at the Harry Potter exhibition!  I think I would have enjoyed the exhibition more if I could go by myself without the crowds of Sydney crushing my attempts to see Dumbledore's wand and Hermione's time turner.  Maybe I should become a person of major importance so I can demand exhibitions be opened only for oneself at night time.  Although it is less fun without living on the edge with a two year old nephew running through the exhibition.

Reading stories with cousins.  Who are super cute.  And have adoring eyes for my two big girls.

Visiting lovely friends (Gerringong is quite far from Sydney.  I didn't think it through very much before saying I would pop over for lunch.  Five hour round trip.  But so worth it.).  I miss her.  I didn't say half the things I wanted to or hear half the news I needed to.

Cousins, pizza and a back yard.

The fabulous Aunty Katie made cloaks for the girls - with fabric chosen by them in an excrutiating trip to Spotlight.  Gab insisted on stripes.  I didn't have the energy to argue against the seventies curtains connatations.  Annika went for a more traditional fairystory blue sparkly velvet.  Which she has worn non stop for three days.  Even on the plane home.

And I also fitted in some food play with my nephew to practise touching and interacting with different foods, and possibly eating some new things. He did well, and we had fun.  And we made some small progress. Yay.

We picked up vegetables and made a vegetable tower.

We made an apple and cruskit fire engine with cucumber wipers and an apple puree road.

We made a dinosaur swamp with chocolate yoghurt, hummous and apple puree.

Fun.

Thanks to my extended family who hosted us for the week.  We are blessed.

Going to the zoo zoo zoo how about you you you

We have come down to Sydney for a few days to recover from the last week of school. I find getting away from my house the best way to not think about all the jobs I need to do around the house. And hanging out with the cousins is always fun.

Apparently last time we were in Sydney (two and a half years ago) I made a vague promise that next time we were here I would take the girls to the zoo. They have memories like elephants, because zoo demands were made on this trip. So today we packed a lunch and headed off to Taronga Zoo, where the giraffes have a fantastic view and there are baby elephants and tigers. We walked downhill through the zoo, which is the right thing to do, and then caught the cable car back up, then down, then up , then down, then up.

Cable cars on a slow day at the zoo are fun.

I also managed to drive back to my sister in law's house from one side of Sydney to the other while being navigated by 8 year old Gabby. All I can say is we were fortunate the traffic was slow as it took her a while to work out her alphabetical order and her left/right orientation. I only made two wrong turns and we were back in time for tea!

Harry Potter exhibition tomorrow - bring it on!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

carols at Creek Road

Carols night tonight!  Only minor dramas in the lead up - and everything went smoothly.  Let's remember the very first Christmas!

I actually have some wonderful photos of our beautiful angels and sheep - but will not blog them! There were hundreds of people involved in carols setting up, cooking, carparking, lighting, acting, singing, dancing, greeting, ushering.....a big production!

Dizzy and Christmas Kate

Twinkle anxiously made an appearance.

It is such a privilege being part of an awesome team all working together to serve God.  It really worked as the body of God together - each one using their gifts to serve.

Yay.

when you know all the alto parts to carols by heart...

you know you have been singing in the Christmas choir for a few years.  This weekend was the 'Spirit of Christmas' weekend at QPAC - I am part of the choir.  It has been a massive week with rehearsals every night and three performances over the last two days.

Performing the Hallelujah chorus by Handel in a 150 strong choir with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the organ in the Concert Hall was pretty special.  As was doing '6 white boomers' with actions.

Here's a posse of altos just before the second half of the last concert.  We look pretty happy!

And in between the concerts on Saturday afternoon I popped over to the Lord Mayor's Carols at the river stage to do a quick bit of puppeting to promote Kidsgames.  Fun!  Rainy - but fun!  Hanging around backstage I spotted The Idea of North, Colin Buchanan, Marina Prior, and chatted a lot with the stage manager and the sound guy.  I felt like a backstage rookie.  But what an opportunity!

Oh yeah - that's Colin Buchanan behind us doing a sound check.

On the River Stage!

Very fun and a great way to use our talents to serve God.

wide eyed Christmas season

Well - it is a bit of a stretch calling it a Christmas season.  But I count more than one show a season.  And this year we have been booked for 12 shows!  That's right - an even dozen of storytelling puppetry.  We have even been paid for some of it!  It has been so much easier doing a script multiple times.  Characters have developed, jokes get funnier (for us anyway), and setting up gets slicker.

Photos below by Naman Briner (lovely having an in house photographer husband...).  CSI stands for Christmas story investigation.

This has been a very fun job at the end of the year.  Hopefully we will get more shows! - sorry Lisa there are no photos of you!

And I think I have overcommitted again this week.  QPAC choir rehearsals every night, three puppet shows, helping organise Creek Road carols and performing in them, organising the grade three break up party at school tomorrow, agreeing to having 6 grade fives around tomorrow afternoon for silly games and giggling, Christmas shopping, break up dinners, house stuff and being civil to my family.

Bring on Monday when I fly to Sydney and collapse.