2 + 1

Zach, Will and Bronte having a cupcake on the porch. You get the feeling that Will has another 11 years of being not quite as tall as Bronte.

Tea with Nanna

The china cup has now passed onto Zach, who protested loudly when I tried to hold it for him. He then proceeded to hold his saucer, and drink his tea (hot chocolate) disturbingly well. He has been watching his sister.

Self-portrait - by Bronte

Picnic awesomeness

We had a lovely picnic with friends at our favourite locale, Gap Creek Reserve - a popular mountain biking spot. And, appropriately, both Ava and Tadhg learnt to ride a bike without stabilisers today. It was pretty awesome - both of them just needed the slightest push off, and bang - off they went! With all the friends and kids around, I even got to go for a mountain bike ride myself. I am waiting for the (much) better photos from the Ava clan of the many kids playing together.

The under house wonderland

The renovation created an extensive, shady area under the house - which is filled with playthings including a mini tramp, a castle and slide, a sandpit, a hammock, a swing, and a backboard to name a few. Bronte is getting pretty good on the rings - though, as she states, she needs to wait to get enough energy before doing to many flips.

Escape to the beach

We escaped up to the beach in a long awaited break. Despite it still being 23 degrees in the water, the beach was almost silent. I was able to do some beach fishing, and hauled in my best catch at Mudjimba - 2 flathead (my first every flathead!), 3 whiting, and 5 dart - all from just out the front.

The flathead! Pretty tasty - though a sharper filleting knife would have come in handy.

As the sun got hotter we headed to Currumbin lakes where we hired a kayak and went out for a family paddle. Both kids are so good in the kayaks, the Anaconda 1/2 price sales start to look very tempting.

Bronte rode her bike down to the beach, and all the way back until the tyre burst on her (its not a brake unless it goes "shhh").

Mothers day at kindy

With Bronte's birthday coinciding with mothers' day, most of the attention was on the 4-year old. However, she did get to have a double party at kindy - her birthday celebration in the morning, and the mothers' day afternoon tea. I must admit, I might have been expecting a handwritten card, and maybe a song (we have heard her singing "Ben" by Michael Jackson for the past 2 months), but their main teacher is not into that stuff. We did however have a lovely afternoon tea, and a good chance to say more than "morning / afternoon" to the other mums.

Some of her gang - Migual, Lucy and Sila.

The funny faces of Miss B

15 months

This month Zach has fallen in love with books, and will insist on having them read over and over. His favourites are postman pat, thomas and bertie, and dumpy the dump truck. He is also very into dancing, with a kinda stomping action and twirl, as well as floaty hands. A very useful new skill is the ability to blow out his nose - something his sister didn't do until recently, and probably reflective of the number of colds he has had. He is fast - very fast - and Bronte and him play races up and down the corridor - always ending with crashes and giggles.

The 4 year celebration

The cake was picked out about 6 months ago - the Dolly Varden cake in the Women's Weekly. This involved the investment of a cake tin, as well as some careful cake planning by the cousins and Bronte. One of Bronte's birthday requests was a sleepover by the cousins - and they were invaluable in cake design and pass the parcel tasks and wrapping.

The cake! A winner in pink and purple with blue and silver beading and marshmallow flowers. The photos don't really capture how good it looked in my memory. Very much a winner all round.

The cake designers and decorators.

A necessary ingredient

A birthday cannot be celebrated without the involvement of a best friend. Zoe came over for a present delivery and a play.

4 years old!

Wow - 4 years old. What a huge and wonderful year. The combination of good conversation, rapid advancement in motor skills, and unconditional love makes for an absolutely delightful age. In terms of this month, Bronte has started to rhyme (like all the time), and has also started to do reading eggs (an educational tool on the computer). We have been playing more games, such as snap and memory, and she has been spending more "chillax" (chill out and relax) time in her room - somewhat necessary with a brother around.

Fete fun

I am not sure Bronte believed that we put the Ashgrove fete on just for her birthday, but it was worth a try. We snagged a winner in the toy section with a bob the builder workbench and tool kit. However, the relish had a bit too much onion and the flower stall was out of flowers way too early on.

Wedding weekend

Our lovely friend KB got married on the Friday, reception on the Saturday, and we joined in the celebrations at the park on the Sunday. Glorious weather, and a lovely afternoon with frisbee offspring everywhere.

Super cute

Out at the lake

Thirty minutes north of our house is a secret lake - only available to those with a key. Fortunately, our friends have that key, and we spent an AMAZING day kayaking, windsurfing and just general lazing.

Two leaps forward

Over night, every night, Zach seems to advance in leaps and bounds. Sometimes quite literally. He is now up to climbing up slides, and sliding down on his bottom. Doesn't sound like much - but it is a big advance from backwards / sideways / face-first / crashing / crashing then headfirst / and so on...

Dusk racing

Bronte's bike riding has now progressed onto bike paths - so much so her and Tadhg had a disturbingly fast race - disturbing as braking is still not really accomplished yet. Zach was urging his father to at least try and catch up.

The wonder of turf

We have been working hard on the outside area, digging up the old paved pathway and laying some new grass. It is amazing what a bit of green can do - I think even better value than painting to make a quick difference.