Happiness is ... toes in the sand

This weekend we are relaxing at our beach holiday spot. You've got to love long weekends. It is Hobart Show time here in Tasmania. We take whatever opportunity we can to get away and enjoy family time.

The weather has worked out to be just right. Yesterday it was just warm enough to be comfortable, but not quite warm enough to swim at the beach. So the kids and I went rock jumping, I spent some time reading, and I even had an afternoon nap! Last night we went to a local jetty and hubby was lucky enough to catch a few squid.

Today, I started the day off with a good walk around the beach with the dog. When I got back, I could tell it was going to be a lovely day. After some breakfast, the kids were as keen as mustard to get down to the beach and get wet. We spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon building castles, having a splash and chillin' out.

Tonight, we will be eating our squid and having a barbecue. Maybe just a little more relaxing on top of that.

I have really enjoyed the chance to relax and dig my toes into the sand. No set agenda and no restrictions to our day. When we come to the beach it's not only an opportunity to stick my toes in the sand, but in theory, stick my head in the sand as well. It's great to get away from the daily grind and just push it all to the back of your mind for a couple of days. We all know that the grind will certainly be there, waiting for us, when we return home.



rub some dirt blog

Memorable moments with the cherubs

I'm so pleased to be joining seven cherubs again this week for her ongoing project of Cherishing our Cherubs.

This week we are remembering special moments. There are literally a trillion memories, moments and photos that I could have picked for this post. It was a really hard decision which way to go, so I hope you enjoy these memories.

Freedom is sweet
Our daughter was always bubbly and full of giggles. There were those grumpy moments (of course), but generally she was a treasure. They say that children will reach their milestones in their own time, and she was doing all the things her peers were doing at 5 months of age.
Our clinic nurse showed concern during a check and urged me to seek the opinion of a doctor. The doctor was happy with our little girl's progress and sent us on our merry way. Several weeks later, after more urging from our nurse (bless you Ruth), we ended up in Radiology and learned that our precious girl's right hip was, and always had been, completely dislocated.
Her father and I were distraught, wondering how this could have been missed for so long, by the medical professionals and us.
It broke my heart the day I had to hold her so they could put the little mask on her face that would send her to sleep. To feel her limp body in my arms was surreal. That operation was the first procedure to correct her hip displasia and the last time we would see her from top to toe for the next nine months.
We took our little girl home, and started the process of reorganising her wardrobe and finding suitable equipment to accommodate her cast.
The last cast was removed when she was 15 months old. She had adjusted well to each cast and her mobility restraints. She certainly coped with the ordeal better than I did.

To see her free of the cast finally and be told her hip was shaping well was such a relief.  In the end, compared to the medical situations of so many others, this was a small hiccup in life, but it was our little girl's life.














Our adventurer
Since our son could crawl life has just been one huge adventure. He is at his happiest when he is free to explore. We have so many memories already of him getting into situations where our hearts have been up in our throats. He is certainly in his element in the outdoors and can physically do things that I have not seen his peers do. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. We'll see.
I have mentioned before of our holiday spot and his love of rock jumping. The speed at which he can move across the rocks always astounds me. He is sure footed and very agile. His curiosity of the things around him is ever-present.  This means that he is very hands-on, constantly, dirty, wet and poking things that he shouldn't. But the wonder in his eyes and the glee at discovering something is just beautiful.

His list of skills/conquers/accomplishments in his 3 years is lengthy, including climbing the ladder to the roof, learning how to open the window and walking along the outside windowsill, skilled with a scooter, competent with a drill, kicks a football well, great at handstands, has very cool dance moves,  performs acrobatics, hangs upside down from the monkey bars, and many more. Some of these skills we applaud. Others have us cringing as we run to his rescue.

Grateful for…. The young’s thirst for knowledge

There is so much knowledge to share, from the parent to the child.  It certainly gives a feeling of satisfaction to pass down important facts and see the child’s awe.

Nowhere is better for passing down knowledge than the outdoors.  Our family enjoys the outdoors and the variety it brings in things to do and see.  Even going back to the same place time and again, there is always something new to share as things change or there are new questions that the children ask.

We often go south to a beautiful little beach holiday spot.  This is where we were this weekend.  As long as the rain stays away and the cold winds don’t get up, there is opportunity to go explore and discover.

Our first adventure was to take part in our children’s favourite activity in these parts. Rock jumping! The shore of the bay is lined with rocks of different sizes and offers a world of discovery.  We usually start at the end of the beach and work our way around, picking our path along and around the rocks, looking for washed up treasures, and lifting the rocks to discovery scuttling crabs.

Our trip did not disappoint.  We found many crabs under rocks, a sea urchin which the children were reluctant to touch, a smelly, dead, puffer fish, hundreds of shells, and soft sea sponges.  As we reached the jetty we were amazed at the number of good sized crabs in the water.  We walked up and down the jetty pointing them out and watching them, and then caught sight of a school of small fish.

We made our way back along the rocks the way we had come. We had the option to follow the road back, but where was the adventure in that.  There was much talk on our return of what we had seen.