This morning Penelope and Rob had their first swimming lesson together. About a 10 minute from our house (directly opposite Bunnings) the council has just opened up a swimming complex with and indoor and an outdoor pool. The indoor pool is set up predominantly for kids swimming lessons which is very handy. They start the kids at 4 months, so now Poppy is 4 months and 4 days we decided to give a lesson a go and see how she went . . . turns out she LOVED it!!
We went with one of Robs work mates Mat and his daughter Sam, while Alison and I took photos from the sideline, wishing we were in the water with them.
They sang lots of songs, put their ears (not faces) under and tried to learn about blowing bubbles. The main skills they teach at this age is learning to grab the edge of the pool, or your clothing as well as confidence. Their were no tears, a few hand splashes and lots of leg kicking!!
Rob, Poppy, Mat & Sam getting ready to hop in the pool with the instructor:
Having fun whilst posing for the camera:
Learning to reach for the duck at the edge of the pool:
Of course the obligatory movie:
Poppy & Sam getting changed on the change table afterward (these guys are two days apart):
And for something totally unrelated, before we went to swimming this morning Rob and Poppy were reading a 4WD magazine in bed while Mum got up and had breakfast. I think they may even have the same facial expressions!
Yes I admit that I am about 6 weeks behind schedule so thought I better do a BIG catch up on our activities:
NEW ZEALAND From 19 - 30 March we went to NZ to show off our little girl. We had a fantastic, yet slightly hectic time catching up with everyone and trying to relax at the same time. Penelope traveled like an angel. She fed on the way up and fed on the way down and chatted to herself and had wee naps the rest of time, on all four flights that we took her on.
She also enjoyed looking out the window as we travelled over the pacific and up and down the islands:
The biggest benefit of us going over was the opportunity for all remaining great-grandparents to meet the newest edition to the family. To do this we had a quick trip to Christchurch for 36 hours and had a lovely stay with Rob's cousin Cath & Eliot and their kids Emily & Darcy:
Poppy with Lois (Mums step-mum):
Poppy with Stan & Audrey (Dad's parents):
In Auckland we stayed with Dad for a weekend and Mum for the second half of the week. We got to take Rob out to Piha to see the wild west coast and its black sand beachs and other than that just has a relaxing time:
FLEMINGS COME AND VISIT After 10 days back in Australia we had Greg, Sarah & Madeline come to stay with us for 10 days. We had an absolutely fantastic time with them! Rob & Greg got on really well considering they didn't know each other very well to start with (they became very close after bonding underneath a bulldozer for a day), Madeline was a little angel to have around, and Sarah and I had a great time catching up and a bit of reminiscing!
They were after a Aussie experience so we took them out to Rob's Aunt and Uncles house (Mac & Loy) who live 5.5hrs solid drive (no stopping) west of Brisbane on a farm called Tregona.
We did a bit of 4WDing, checked out the farm, the boys reinstalled the bulldozer radiator, shot kangaroos, fox, wild pig and cats.
Poppy also caught her first cold while we were away and being 2.5 hrs drive from the nearest shops made me very grateful to have some experienced Mums who knew exactly what to do to help decongest a whole lot of snot!
All in all it was a fantastic time and we can't wait till the Flemings move over here so we can see them more often. A huge thanks to Mac & Loy for letting us come and stay at such short notice as well. CAMPING AT BOOREEN POINT We were feeling brave after such successful other activities that we decided to have a go at camping with Poppy over the weekend just been. We headed up to Booreen Point, just north of Noosa for 3 nights. Well it actually turned into 2 nights because weather and traffic were not in our favour on the way up and so we ended up crashing at Chris & Merilyns at the last minute, however the rest of the weekend was extremely successful.
Out little girl slept through every night, I learnt to drive on 60 odd kilometers of sand when we headed up to Double Island point, included learning to floor the accelerator on the soft sand, we took Poppy for her first 'swim' and all in all reckon we didn't scare our friends off having kids(!)
We are not quite sure how people travel with more than one kid and fit everything in the boot without taking a trailer. This was our car and daughter on the way there:
Poppy and Rob hanging out infront of the tent:
Hiding from the sun in the car at lunch time:
Just before the first swim:
Bed time . . . she was tucked in between our bed and the edge of the tent:
The first swim:
HICCUPS Today I had the hiccups and Poppy found it quite amusing. Just before this was filmed each time I hiccuped she would do an actual laugh. This video was the best we could capture!
So that's all folks. Sorry if some of it doesn't make sense or if I missed out something important. I'm tired and am just glad I have updated you all with some photos!
Having fun whilst posing for the camera:
Learning to reach for the duck at the edge of the pool:
Of course the obligatory movie:
