Henry's birthday surprise

"What's my birthday surprise this year Mum?" asked Mister Henry.  The truth was we didn't have one planned.  In fact, we had zero ideas for any gifts for Henry's 12th birthday.  He doesn't need anything and he didn't have a wishlist either.  But with this one question I realised how much he looks forward to the experiences we have given him for his birthday over the past few years (ie, swimming with sharks at Sea World and being a zookeeper for a day at Taronga Zoo).

It was then I remembered a TV ad shown in the lead up to the school holidays.  It was an ad for Oakvale Farm, a place less than an hour's drive away that has native and farm animals..... and lemurs.  Lemurs just happen to be Henry's favourite animal, after Minnie our pug.  The ad showed lemurs on the shoulders of young kids and I thought how perfect - Henry would get to interact with a lemur.

As it was Henry's special day, this wasn't going to be a family outing.  Michael had taken the week off work to enjoy the kid's birthdays with them and because it was school holidays - so it was a special day out for Mister with his Dad.

How disappointing then to arrive at Oakvale Farm to discover the lemurs secluded on an island and the closest Henry could get to them was looking over a fence and a moat.  In fact, the lemurs were not the lemurs in the TV ad.  These lemurs were much older and had been rescued from a zoo in New Zealand that had closed down.  As parents we were thwarted.  Upset we'd failed our beautiful Mister on his special day.

Turns out Henry wasn't too disgruntled.  He was just enjoying his day out with his Dad all to himself.  He still got to get close to plenty of animals.

Then it was out to lunch to his favourite restaurant Noodle Hut, where he could enjoy a big meal without his brother and sister whinging they don't like anything on the menu.  He got to order all his favourite foods:  satay chicken skewers, salt and pepper squid, and chicken pad see ew.  When he finally got home he got to indulge in his birthday cake of choice, a homemade chocolate brownie.

Happy birthday Mister.  You'll be a teenager next year.

Milly makes double figures

Yes, Milly has made it to ten years of age.  To celebrate her 10th birthday she had a small group of school friends for a sleepover.  The girls had fun, it was a noisy house for 24 hours, they all loved playing with Minnie, and I think some of them actually got some sleep.  We were all exhausted when it was over.

Lego Exhibition

I am way behind on blog postings, so apologies for that.  The school holidays and two birthdays have already been, gone and celebrated and I haven't shared anything about them.

So, during the school holidays we took the kids to the Lego Exhibition.  The exhibition was basically lots of Lego creations made by a "brickmaster".  Everything was made with Lego.

There was an interactive zone for parents and kids to create in.  Michael was very clever and tried to replicate Milly's toy cat in Lego.  Didn't he do well?  Good one Michael.

Dad's 70th

It's important to celebrate those milestone birthdays.  Especially when you reach the age of 70.  I missed out on my Dad's 60th birthday due to being heavily pregnant with Milly and unable to travel.  I wasn't missing this one.

There aren't many direct flights from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour and it turned out they were booked full for the trip up.  My wonderful Dad came to the rescue.  He drove all the way to collect me.  My brother also came up from Sydney to take advantage of the lift to Coffs and make it a family road trip.   

It's approximately a 4 1/2 hour drive from Newcastle to Coffs, but it's amazing how quick the time flies when you are cruising in a super comfortable car and there are no kids to placate.  I sat in the back, stared out the windows and daydreamed.

Being the first weekend of the Easter school holidays there were plenty of police patrolling the roads.

Once we arrived in Coffs, it was nice to sit down with a cup of tea and then time to get ready for the party.  Dad only wanted an intimate affair of close friends and family, with the instruction of no balloons or a birthday cake.

Tracey had put together a delicious spread of canapes.  The ones picture below are Beetroot, Candied Walnuts and Goats Cheese Cream cones.  Seriously yum.

It was lovely to catch up with lots of old family friends and meet some of Dad's new ones.  There was a lot of love for the old man, which was touching to see.

The morning after.  Neither myself or Corin drink anymore, so no hangovers for us.  Dad did ok too.

Corin had to catch a flight back to Sydney, so on the way to the airport we did a drive by of old haunts.  I love Coffs beaches.

With Corin flying home, we headed out to lunch.  Dad and Tracey's favourite spot is in Urunga called Anchors Wharf Cafe.  Food is good.  Very good.

The following day was my turn to head home.  I'd secured a flight for my return on a very tiny plane.  It was an 18 seater.  My Dad calls them Buzz Boxes because they're noisy and shake.

So it was farewell to Coffs Harbour with her beautiful blue skies and sun, and hello Newcastle where it was overcast and windy.

Two out of four to welcome me home.  Look at her smile.  My smile was just as big.

Henry and Minnie

Henry has longed for a dog for many years.  I'm not sure who is luckier.  Henry for finally having Minnie, or Minnie for getting Henry.

Four eyes

Another family member has poor eye sight.  After complaining of having trouble seeing the board in class, I took Milly in for an eye test.  She had one 18 months ago, but her eye sight wasn't significantly poor enough to need glasses then.  This time the optometrist said Milly's vision had doubled in deterioration since that prior visit.  Plus she has two astigmatisms in her eyes.

She's the first of our kids to need glasses, and she's short sighted like me.