The life and times of Libby Withnall

Had a lovely weekend. Spent Saturday morning out the pool enjoying the sunshine and cool water, and doing some gardening.

Then in the afternoon Mum & I headed up to Sydney…

to see this….

Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer) was fantastic. The show was funny, moving and educational. We had 3rd row tickets and got to stay behind after the show for a special question and answer time.

Then on Sunday, after doing some paperwork in the morning we headed down to Kiama  to meet one of my online friends, Vanessa of Little Retro House(  they were staying at East Beach – you might remember our stay here). We’ve been trying to meet up for a while now so I’m so pleased we finally managed it. And like always when I meet blogging friends we hit it off straight away. It ALWAYS amazes me there is no awkwardness, just instant real-life friendship.

Her daughter, friend and Christy took off for a swim at the pool (also instant friends) while we chatted and enjoyed some afternoon tea. We then took all the girls (including Amy) down to the beach for a swim. Though it was overcast it was still very warm.

While we were sitting here  a Southery came through and it instantly turned cold. I think it dropped around 10deg. Just crazy.

When we could see the big grey clouds moving in we headed back to their van…

and tried to stay dry.

We really enjoyed our visit and it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Of course, it’s essential to have ice-cream if you drive through Kiama. Mad, I tell you, as it was rather cold.

Christy didn’t end up eating her’s as it was “too cold”. What, ice cream is cold? Who knew?

Me, being the sane one, opted for a nice hot tea .

We then headed home and since Kevin wasn’t keen on going out again to the basketball, I took Christy with me.

We had a nice time, though the Hawks lost (due mainly to bad sportsmanship by the other team).

It was a certainly a very enjoyable weekend. Hope you all had a good one.

We debated going to the Southern Highlands for the day but both girls were a little grumpy this morning (Amy had been a party last night). Instead we decided to just head out to buy some new sun-lounger cushions and have lunch at the Nan Tien Temple (which my regular readers know is just 10 mins from home and one of my fav. places)

I snapped a few photos of the girls….

And Christy got a blurry one of me…

then we headed indoors for lunch. We usually eat outside but it was a bit too warm today. Christy started with water in a paper cup.

Kevin and I had a delicious Chai Latte.

We then shared some dishes…

while Christy had a bowl of rice…

We then went for a bit of a wander enjoying the gardens and gorgeous flowers…

Cherry blossoms – just past their peak flowering…

these were huge – about the size of your whole hand…

and gorgeous bottle bush…

The buildings here are amazing. So many intricate details…

The amazing thing about this place is that is so peaceful and tranquil, yet overlooks the motorway – which runs along the row of darker trees.

Love this sign – I’ve never seen it before..

When we got home it was actually hot enough for Kevin and I to have our first swim of the season…

and to soak up some of those lovely Summer rays….

Hope you are all enjoying some gorgeous weather as well.

We had a very slow start on Sunday – letting Kasumi catch up on some sleep. Plus I was in a lot of sinus pain. We had a visit from Sean, the girls did more origami and made Anzac biscuits.

We headed out to have lunch at a nearby cafe that continually opens and closes as new owners try to make a go of it.

Loved seeing the signets.

It’s in a lovely spot, right on the lake in a local housing estate, but it’s a fairly quiet location.

The latest owners offer a high tea which we decided to share, along with some mini pancakes.

Everything was yummy. Unfortunately the service was a little poor but I think we just arrived at the wrong time. We will definitely come back. After filling our tummies we went into Wollongong Mall so Kasumi could buy some souveniers. On the way home I decided to visit the medical center. I thought it might be quiet but couldn’t believe I waited under 5 mins. One look at my throat and the doc says “the cavalry is on the way” . I picked up my anti-biotics and met up with everyone else who had gone to the supermarket. Back home Kevin cooked us a BBQ and Kasumi got to sample some kangaroo – she ate it but I don’t think she was too keen on it.

Despite my sinus pain it really was a lovely day. A lovely weekend in fact.

Saturday was indeed the perfect day to head up to Sydney to take Kasumi to the zoo. We have always driven but this time we parked at the Opera House then caught the ferry. It was fabulous and we’ll definitely do this again.

Unfortunately the sky rail isn’t working, but that just meant we got to use the new (old) entrance that was being renovated the last time we were here.

Obviously the main objective of today was to see the Australian exhibits. And it was a lot of fun.

We saw birds, and lots of cute nocturnal animals.

We got to pat a kangaroo…

watch a wombat eat his lunch..

laugh at a Tasmanian Devil lying just like Bailey does…

see the Koala statue celebrating the friendship between Aussie and Japanese zoos….

and finally have a photograph with a koala…

These guys were soooo cute and we were lucky to have them both in the photograph…

After the koalas we had some lunch and visited some other animals like the ringtail lemor…

some pelicans….

and the always popular seal show…

It was a wonderful day to be by the harbour. The only downside for me was the terrrible sinus pain I’m suffering with.

Seeing all the animals, and especially the cute baby elephants (they have 3) certainly made up for it.

We finished the day with the sea lions – two were biting each other and playing just like Bailey and Rosie.

And this guy was right at the exit…

If you got a toy penguin and ran with it, he would follow along the glass. And if you moved away he’d be looking for it. So cute!!! And obviously very smart.

Then it was time to get back on the ferry, past the Opera House and over to Circular Quay.

It really was a great day and we all enjoyed ourselves. And since we’ve got an annual pass we’ll be able to go back again and see all the animals we missed.

Yesterday my Mum (& Dad) took us all to see Mary Poppins. She had a spare ticket so we also took Emerson. The plan had been to have lunch before the show, which was just as well, because when Mum & Dad arrived they realized the show started at 1pm NOT 2pm. This was a 12.45pm and the main car park was full. Amazingly we managed to get parked and to the theatre just seconds before the doors were locked for the start of the show. Unfortunately though, Dad missed the start.

The show was wonderful. Even better than I thought it would be. And the girls LOVED it. They’re at an age now when they can really appreciate musicals. Definitely one of the best musicals I’ve seen. I could easily go watch it again today . Click here for see a preview.

We also took along Flat Stanley who is visiting from America.

When the show finished we were starving (ice cream and chips didn’t really make a satisfying lunch) so we went to the Korean Restaurant we had planned to go to at 4pm!!! This is the second time we’ve eaten here and we loved our food again.

NOTE …. I just have to say 11 year olds are just too grown up these days….

I was lucky enough to be treated to breakfast in bed this morning – french toast prepared by Amy.

I was given a great Mum Rulz hat from Christy.

a lovely picture from Amy

and everyone contributed to this collection of goodies. Spoiled aren’t I?

We decided to head to the Southern Highlands and visit an alpaca farm (seeing as it’s alpaca week!)

We learnt all about the fleece.

Met and cuddled Legend.

Got to see some Mum and bubs – quite fitting on Mothers Day.

They are so sweet.

Don’t they have the cutest faces?

And legs? And I never knew alpacas had soft feet – great for the not destroying the land.

Christy was very excited to get to walk Legend.

We also got to see some shearing. This looks cruel but the alpaca really didn’t seem to mind once it was strapped in position.

Poor thing looked rather sad losing it’s coat though. But they will put another coat on it as it’s going into Winter.

One more cute photo before we leave the farm. Love how he curls his front legs underneath his body.

On the way to Berrima we passed the valley of my future home/farm .

Doesn’t this look like a gorgeous place to live?

At Berrima we had a quick Mother’s Day photo shoot before heading to a nearby cafe for lunch.

We then had a little walk around the town…

admiring the turning leaves…

cute old buildings…

visiting the tea shop…

and of course, the lolly shop…

It was a lovely day. Such  nice way to spend Mother’s Day.

With another family pass to use at Jamberoo before the end of the Season, this was our last chance to make use of it. With me out of action (due to sore ribs) and Kevin having work to do, we decided that I’d take the girls and a few of their friends.

The weather started off cool and overcast but it ended up being a good day.

What did I do while they were off having fun? I relaxed, people watched, read….

played with my new camera…

and admired the beautiful flowers….

Today it was time to have another family fun day AND we had a family pass to use for Jamberoo Action Park. It was VERY warm for Mid-March so the perfect day for some splashy fun.

I

I didn’t take the underwater housing today so no photos in the pools.

And just in case you thought I was cured of my Iditarod addiction… I took the i-pad so I could keep up to date .

We had our first experience of visiting the first aid station when Amy (walking beside me) just fell over.

And there were plenty of rides for Amy on the taboggon.

I don’t particularly like the tobaggons and Kevin’s back was really sore so I just took Christy for a ride up and back on the chairlift.

Beautiful views as you can see.

Amy beat us back down…

It was a fun, and relaxing day.

With Kevin overseas for a training course (he’ll be back tomorrow) I thought it might be fun to have a girls day out. It’s been ages since we had one and it always seems to be a good bonding time for Amy and Christy.

Instead of their usual roller skating lessons (both are now on blades) we went to the open session. I had blamed to skate but with my heel spurs acting up I didn’t want to aggravate them. Christy’s roller skates had gotten too small (she got them for Christmas 2009) and she wanted to move to roller blades.

After the session we headed to the movie theatre where someone got VERY excited when they saw this poster (bad photo – sorry)

We got our tickets, picked up some lunch at Subway, got coke icees for the girls and headed in to see our movie.

We didn’t actually see the 3D version. It was a really funny movie – like a lot of kids movies theses days it had plenty of jokes only the adults would get. It was so much better than I thought it would be.

After the movie we went to Target where I let the girls pick out a few items of clothing (and I got some new PJs). We also got some nail polishes from Australis. We then went to newsagents for large cardboard for Amy’s school project (and Christy got some in Smurf blue!) and Coles to get lollies to make up lolly bags for Amy’s party next week. Then home sweet home. And I was right about the bonding….they got right to work on making up those lolly bags together .

Today we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Jamberoo Action Park. Unfortunately by the time we arrive just after 10.30am the carpark was already very full and we knew it would be very crowded in the park. So much to Christy’s horror we drove back out of the carpark. We had passes to use so we will be back – actually we’ll be back twice before the close of season at the end of April (we have two family passes).

Without really knowing where to go – only that since we were all wearing our swimsuits it needed to involve a swim – we headed to Kiama, then Shellharbour and eventually ended up at Killalea State Park.  Both the girls had been here on school excursions but I had no idea how beautiful the area was and that it included two surf beachs.

As you can see it is a popular place on a very hot Sunday during the school holidays.

After applying suncream we set off to the beach. We weren’t too pleased when we saw this sign . So the girls were given strict instruction not to go beyond waist height in water.

We had a brief swim – the water was freezing and we were a bit paranoid about a potential rip, then had our picnic lunch on the beach.

We only ended up spending about an hour here as it was midday and the sun was very strong. We decided to go and the girls a snorkel set that they can use when we go on holidays tomorrow and also in the pool. So after that we headed home and had a swim in our pool – which was ridiculously warm – and they played with their new gear. Then it was time to think about packing for our annual Summer holiday to Port Stephens with Nan & Pop.

So while today didn’t quite turn out as planned it was a good one .