Our Place ROCKS!

Ok, so yesterday we went out for a bit of an explore on the trike. We are just a two minute stroll down to the foreshore, so Harry and I went out to see what lay on the other side of the river. We went under the train bridge and found a gorgeous park filled with large trees and picnic tables where we could sit down and have some boobie (Harry) and take some photos (Mama). However Haz decided to scout around inside my bag and found my phone. She then just started taking photos of herself with my phone camera! It was hilarious, because she was grinning like this when she was taking the shot, then turning the phone over to check herself out with a very serious face. She never grins on demand like that or me! Mind you, I've never thought to ask her...

The problem with this though, was that she not only wanted to look at herself, she also wanted to kiss herself. Which involves a lot of slobber. Baby slobber + expensive phone equipment = disaster! So I no longer have a phone, hahaha!!!!

Then in the evening when Papa Jimbo came home, we decided to go for an explore along the other side of the road along the river. And over there we found the most AWESOME park ever! It has a flying fox people, can you believe it?! It is also seriously big, there were a few groups of children there and none of them were playing in the same spot. Harry was absolutely thrilled to play in this place and in the post-storm air it was deliciously cool after being warm and humid all day.

Her favourite toy was this whizzy-dizzy. It is like a large egg cup for children, slightly askew so that once you're in, your body weight turns it around and around. Well do you think Harry was getting out of this thing? She would go spinning like mad (it was spinning pretty fast!), then we'd slow her down because she started to look serious (naively thinking she may be feeling slightly ill from an overloaded vestibular system) but when we'd go to help her out of the cup, she'd get quite cross with us and say/sign "More! More!". The best thing about it was when she finally did get out of there, she couldn't stand up! She was SO dizzy that James had to hold her upright for quite a while afterwards. This did not detract from the experience at all, and she kept going back for more. What a dizzy rascal.

Harry also had a go at playing with this equipment that she dubbed the 'stezza' (what we call the stereo at home but who knows why she called this large rocket-type contraption stezza), The long black thin hanging behind her head became the otoscope for her to examine my ears with, just as the doctor had examined her ears earlier that day. It was so funny, she was saying 'doctor' then 'ear' and looking in my ear with this large rubber thing - such a textbook case of play! There was a seat to relax on after the tiring play, a hole to look through for peek-a-boo fun, and a big pole to lean on and even do some impromptu pole dancing on.

One of the pieces of equipment has quite a steep staircase but the stair railings are close together enough for Harry to hold on to both sides for support. So she was determined to use them to come downstairs on her own. You can see it was a matter of grim determination for her in this shot. But she came down with narry a scratch so she was quite pleased with that result.

Finally there was the pesky issue of walking home. We have absolutely no trouble heading out the door to get to places, but getting back requires all sorts of negotiation. Not for any reason other than Harry just wants to push her trike rather than sit on it. Sure, no problem in theory. But in practice it becomes a nightmare of taking one step forward, four steps back (literally). And with a sunset like this to distract you, it's perfectly understandable. We walked past a rowing club that has an awesome balcony over the river, and the sound of people clinking their schooners across the water was enough for us to remember our long-term commitment to rowing. Rowing, our dear, beloved sport. Rowing, the sport of kings. Rowing, the sport that offers us cheap riverside beer. Mmmmmm....rowing. So yes, with all this a short walk from home, we love our new house!