Treats of Tasmania: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

We visit The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens on a regular basis. There is always something for everyone and something new to discover. Entry is free, and it is open 365 days of the year. It is only 2kms from the heart of Hobart, so very accessible.

We also have a soft spot for the RTBG, as it was the place hubby and I chose for our wedding.

We have so many great photos from our many visits, and of course, our wedding. Everywhere you go in the Gardens, there is yet another photo opportunity, which is why nearly every person you see there is carrying a camera.

The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens have a great website, where you can discover all you need to know about what is currently going on, the history (it is the second oldest in the country), the different sections, what there is for the visitor to eat, and buy, and a link to their Facebook and Flickr pages. They even have their own iPhone app. to enhance your experience.

I apologise for the number of photos, but I have honestly kept it to a minimum compared to how many photos I took in this one visit. My children also move very fast, and the open spaces and the many paths to follow encourage this, so some photos are a little blurry.

If you get the chance, pop the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens on your list of places to visit soon.

Wordless Wednesday - F F Fishin'

My family love to go fishing. And I love to take photographs. That is why there are photos of my family fishing and no photos of fish!

Me, just me

Age: 36 and 3/4

Breakfast regime: Yoga or walk, shower, Uncle Tobys Oats with honey and lite milk, Green Tea with Jasmine

Can't Live Without: Family, Internet connection, hugs, creative outlet

I DARE not blink!

My baby boy has just hit another milestone. 4 years. Gone - just like that!

I remember sitting with him in the hospital, knowing that he was my last baby. Willing time to creep by slowly. Alas, time waits for no-one. This is definitely true.

We have been through a lot with him in 4 years. So many memories, that it almost seems that it was impossible to cram it into that time. We are lucky that we have evidence of many of those memories that we can re-visit. Thanks to digital photography I happily snap away, and most of the time the children are happy to play along.

We reviewed some older video footage of when our boy was a toddler. It was great to be back there again. At the flick of a switch we were transported back to chubby cheeks and curly blond hair, his funny stiff walk and love of eating with his hands. Miss 7 was, of course only 4 in the footage. The love for her brother beams from her little face, even as he pulls her hair.
I guess, if they must grow up so quickly, then I must be thankful that I have the video footage and photos to look back on. I just hope that the memories that go with them, that are still quite vivid in my mind, will stay just as fresh with me for a long time to come.

It was evident that our boy has changed in his features quite a bit since his baby days. He is now slim and athletic. His hair is now short and straight. The puffy little red cheeks are gone. But he is the same boy - cheeky, a glint in his eye, quick to cuddle, adventurous, with the cutest little grin and ready to tell you what he thinks. He has always been able to make me smile, even when he is at his naughtiest I find myself smiling at his antics and courage.

I will leave you with photos of Master 4 (no longer Master 3) at his best.

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.

Show Off Your Shot - bubbles

Today I am linking up with and then-she snapped. People who know me will know that I have a camera of some description on hand MOST of the time. Love, love, love taking photos! Can not have too many - Thank God for DIGITAL!

It would be quite correct to say that Master Three LOVES a bath, and doesn't mind a bubble or two.

He will tip ALL of our bath toys in and play until the water goes cold.

He is very sneaky though - he likes to splash which is breaking rule number 1.

He also likes to find things to add to his bath, whether it be some of Mum's shampoo, some Insect Repellant, some non-water resistant toys, a balloon .... anything is possible.

Master 3 is also a bath stunt professional and likes to perform tricks, swirling the water over the edge and seeing how much water will leap out when he jumps in from the bath edge.

Breaking rule number 2.

Something unique to Master 3 that I did not have to endure with my daughter (could it be a boy thing?) is how relaxed a warm bath can make him. And I mean relaxed! Every muscle ... do you see where I am going here? If you don't,then let me just say that Master 3 has had foreign objects, not usually welcome in the bath, on several occasions join him for a swim. Needless to say that hubby (who is not a fan of foreign objects) quickly lets me know my services are needed.

All in all... it was a doozy.

It was one of those weekends where we had committed to a couple of social gatherings, and then thought, did we really do that?

We tend to accept social invitations quite readily, and often eagerly. As we approach the date, however, we get the jitters. WHY? Because we have tried to pack too much into the weekend, because we are lacking energy by the time the event arrives, because one of us is on the verge of not attending through illness, or simply because we have committed to go but get nervous by who may or may not be there.

I wouldn't say that either hubby or I are big social butterflies. We REALLY enjoy catching up with friends and family, but more in a laid back, casual way. We both tend to seek comfortable corners and are lacking social confidence.

Then, there are the kids.
Really, only master 3 is the challenge.  Miss 7 has started to master some manners and social grace.
There are certain places or events we avoid taking master 3 to, as he tends to have a tornado effect where ever he goes.

On Friday night, for instance, we joined family for a counter meal at a local hotel for my Dad's birthday. We ummed and ahhed about taking master 3.
He was quite true to form unfortunately. Wanting to sit on the table or crawl under it, banging loudly and wanting to run around. I have to commend the staff who were still smiling as they guided him out of the gambling area and had to dodge him several times as they delivered meals. It usually ends in a hasty departure, a talk on behaviour and two anxious parents.

Saturday night we were to attend an aunt's 60th at a Golf Club. This had it own pros and cons. Other family would be attending but there were also friends of the aunt whom we didn't know. The club had been hired privately for the event and master 3 could move around a little with less restrictions than a sit down dinner.


For the first part of the night hubby and I did the usual tornado watch. Where has he gone, what is he into?
Master 3 managed to shock us BOTH with his good behaviour and I found myself taking photos in case it was a one event happening. There were balloons to play with, his sister and cousin joining in on the fun, a dance floor, music and dancing which seemed to really fascinate him.

A round of applause after each dance

Keen to watch but not eager to join in

We really did wonder where OUR child was, as THIS little boy was charming, entertaining (in a good way), and overall A WELL BEHAVED CHILD. It made for a surprisingly great night as we started to relax and enjoyed catching up with family and having a good chin wag and a laugh.

Master 3 and Miss 7 had a great time too, and I can proudly say they were a joy to have with us.

Master 3 managed to return to his normal self the next day. But now I know!

I know he has it in him to behave when it suits. He is showing some other behavioural improvements too. Just little ones and slowly does it, but I think he is starting to head in the right direction.

And I'm allowed to get excited by these developments ... right!

Very Pleased to Meet You!

So I have joined inkparperpen and have been introduced me to a writing exercise, which is as follows:

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 1 - Very Pleased to Meet You!: Write about yourself as you are in this moment. Use the five senses to do so. The main idea is that we should get a little more insight into YOU after we read your piece. Here are some (optional) questions to get you started: How do YOU look right now? What colours/fabrics/accessories are you wearing? What can you see? Consider lighting, shapes, objects. How do YOU sound right now? What can you hear? What can you smell? Does the smell remind you of anything? Can you taste anything? How do YOU feel? Comfortable? Tired? What are you touching? Is it cold, hot, smooth? What is your posture like? Slumped? Sitting? Standing? What does your posture say about your mood?

http://inkpaperpen.blogspot.com/

And I thought, let do this. So here goes!

I'm in our cosy office chair donated by a friend from his workplace. It's not what you know, it's who you know - I'm a strong believer of this.

I still have my clothes on from work being a light knit top, soft green pants .... and my slippers. The slippers were a "must have" as soon as I walked through the door. Today was bitterly cold, and the first place I feel the cold is my feet. Also, they are comfy.

Ok ... interrupted for the second time by a three year old who is up wayyyy past his bedtime, because he now wants to go to the toilet, unlike the three times I asked him if he wanted to go.

So I have now grabbed a ginger nut biscuit (it calms me to chew) and sit cross-legged at the laptop. Finally, silence ... or close to it. Hubby has gone to bed (hopefully he has switched on my magic blanket - our kids' name for the electric blanket). I hear the soft hum of the heat pump, my daughter coughing in her sleep and me ... tapping on the keyboard.

Considering it's late I am still feeling quite energetic. This must be a good thing, right ... or it means I will have trouble falling asleep. Some nights I fall into bed mentally and physically exhausted. Tonight I have a little left to burn. Hmm ... burn. I forgot to light my scented candle that has become a ritual for me. It doesn't smell that much, although my sense of smell is dreadful, but the glow from the candle and the flicker is comforting.

With the taste of the biscuit still strong, I am dislodging any bits from my teeth with my tongue. I need to adjust my wrists as I write, as I have a large watch on the left hand which I got for Mother's Day(the face covers my whole wrist), and I'm wearing my troll bead bracelet on the other. The beads are mostly gifts from my hubby and family and they are growing slowly in numbers. Unlike the one shown here my leather is black, and my silver beads are surrounded by glass beads of brown and blue. The beads tend to drop to the bottom of the bracelet which is why I need to keep adjusting my wrist to reposition them.

As I look around our lounge room, and think "it really IS time to go to bed", my eyes fall on the organised chaos that is our family. The polar fleece blanket casually crumpled on the lounge, a pile of washing folded and ready to be put away, a rack full of washing being dried magically by the heat pump as we sleep. My camera sits next to the laptop and is ALWAYS close to hand. There are a couple of sections of mandarin left by my son on the desk and an empty cupcake wrapper from my daughter's cooking efforts today.

Watch out! The three year old terror has surfaced again to climb on my back. "Do you want a massage Mummy?"  "Oh yeah" I reply, completely giving up on being angry with him from not staying in bed.  So he has chosen a book for me to read him in bed, and then .... I MUST go to bed myself or I will have serious anger issues with my alarm in the morning.

This week I'm grateful for .... creativity.

Today I am joining maxabellaloves for a blog hop.

I must admit I have become a little addicted to blog hops.

I have probably taken the least amount of photos in the last six months than any time I can remember since my first born entered our lives 7 years ago.