2!

Christmas Parade

Today we went to the Myer Christmas Parade in the city. Mum managed to get us into the Telstra corporate seats so we had a fantastic view (as well as seats and showbags!)





It was a great parade: marching bands, belly dancers, Dorothy the Dinosaus, fire engines, and so much more!




David was very serious at first, taking it all in, then once he warmed up he clapped and waved and joined in the dancing actions all the way! His favourite bit was the drums!




As you can see it was a wet day but the rain held off for the whole actual parade time.

We're going to make it an annual event for us!

Thailand

I haven't forgotten about posting pictures from our time in Thailand, but I'm having trouble. First I left my memory stick (with all the photos on) at Mum & Dad's house. And now I can't seem to read my memory stick on my home computer.
I will do it eventually. There are some great pictures to share.

"Daddle and Bamba"

Walking Tour

David and I did a walking tour...






...beginning at Westminster Abbey...







(past Big Ben, down Whitehall, past Downing St, the Horse Guards)










...to Trafalgar Square and the lions...








(past Charring Cross and down the Strand)









...past the Savoy (David developing a camera smile!)...







(past Australia House, the Law Courts...)








...into Twinings Shop (on the left behind David)...



(on down Fleet St)




...to St Paul's Cathedral, where we went to Choral Evensong.




What a wonderful city!

London Family

We're already back in Australia and I didn't post a single picture on our trip! Sorry!

I'm going to do some now, beginning at the end. These are some from our last hours with our London family. We so enjoyed being with them and miss them very much!

Building towers with the duplo (which eventually spanned the room!):

The last dinner with the boy cousins:

Playing the piano with Uncle Sam ("UnSam" to David!):

Martha and Becca (Martha checking out Mum's drink...):

David's final farewell to Uncle Tom and Auntie Anita - or "UnTom" and "Nina":

Chiang Mai

Hi from Chiang Mai!
I'm not up to putting photos on yet (though I'm taking plenty!) but wanted to let you all know that we're having a FABULOUS time! It's so good to be back here. It feels like home in so many ways. I've reconnected with lots of friends and revisited lots of my favourite places.
Dad, Seren, David and I all stayed a night in Victor's village, and D, D and I spent another day there also. They were so happy to meet Victor. I felt so welcomed too - as family - and have had some very good conversations with Victor's family.

We're off to the Night Bazaar soon. I have a long shopping list! It's fun being a tourist here for a bit.

We're off to London next Tuesday (to see some of you! Yay!) and I will put photos up then.
Until then...

blocks

Cousin Coco

This week we went to St Kilda to watch cousin Coco at her basketball practise. Coco is very clever at basketball!

David was very impressed with it (here he is practising the side-stepping the team had just been doing.)











David loves Coco very much - and loved calling out her name loudly across the playground!

Great friends

Together for the first time since my 30th.

Dig, dig, digging!!

This is now our daily walk, down to see the diggers. They're replacing the main water pipes so there's lots of activity - and will be for a while yet!


David begins talking about diggers when he wakes up ... and continues all through the day.

It's great having such easy entertainment!

Cousins

(and cheetahs) at Werribee Zoo.

Surprise, surprise, it's a photo of...

I've realised that all the photos I take these days are of David. So here he is again, enjoying his toys and his new Thomas table and chairs. (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!)

David is very much into diggers and the moment. Trucks come a close second.

18 months today!

My delightful boy is 18 months old! He's very much the toddler now, always busy, chatting away, making friends.

Here are some pictures of him today...

Werribee Open Plains Zoo

It's 3 weeks now since we went to Werribee Zoo and I've only just got around to posting these pictures!



It's an amazing zoo. We did a bus tour around the largest part, then a walking trail as well.


David loved the meerkats! (Don't we all!)
He ran up and down as they did. We saw them being fed too.
The African area of the bus tour is the biggest - more than twice the size of Melbourne Zoo! We drove onto this plain just as they intorduced 2 ostriches for the first time in ages. So all the other animals were terrified! As we arrived we could see the giraffes all running - so gracefully. They saw the ostriches first. Then the zebra and antelopes came tearing past us. Eventually they all stopped running, but most animals didn't take their eyes off the ostriches the whole time. We ended up feeling quite sorry for them!

Watching the giraffes, watching the ostriches...

guitarists jamming

We're just back from our church camp near Riddell's Creek.
The focus of the camp was Music and there was lots of singing and playing time. Here are some of the guitarists playing together on 3 different guitars...

David's 1st footy game!

Last Saturday we went to Etihad Stadium for David's 1st ever game of AFL. At first he was completely overwhelmed by the crowd, the size of the stadium, the noise...
...but pretty quickly he was joining in with the cheering and arm waving, and the "oh no!" with hand on head!
In the car on the way home David continued with the sounds of the crowd... "no, no, no...yeah!" He's such a good mimic!
The final score was disappointing but it was a great game and David loved it. He'll be back!

i love washing up gloves!

medicine time

Close encounters

Yesterday we had another lovely day at the Zoo. David is getting more and more interested in the animals with each visit.As always he loves the many birds - seagulls, sparrows, pigeons and peacocks that roam and fly free.
This time he got up close to the glass to watch the seals swimming...

...and the tiger came up close to watch us! It was amazing! He was pacing back and forth at the glass and several times stopped to look David in the eye!

David enjoyed the stingrays...

...and had another close encounter with the gibbon! We had a long chat with this fellow. The black gibbon was in the background shrieking the whole time!

Thanks again to Grandma for such a great birthday gift - the year pass to Melbourne Zoo.

Tramspotting

David and I frequently walk the few blocks from our house to the end of the tram line to watch the trams. David loves them. You can see him waving to some kids on the tram.









The weather has just taken a cold turn so yesterday we had to rug up before we set off. David got to try out his new beanie.






A new cafe has just opened up (painted red - you can see it in the first picture) and yesterday we popped in for a cuppa and a play after our trainspotting. Actually, you can see the trams from inside the cafe too. It keeps us both happy!