The Fun of Sun in Winter

  

 Organising a playdate in the holidays is a little tricky - lots of people on holidays, enrolled in courses, busy with family.  Basically, they're all out and about.  So when Zoe and I realised we were having similar issues with catching up with friends, we united as one.  Time to play!  

Luckily for us, our children get on so well that we are pretty much left to our own devices to chat. On this occasion we arranged to meet up at a cafe first, then walk down to Sydney Park for a long afternoon in the delicious winter sun.  Some days there can be a little difficulty in Ted and Arki finding their groove at first, but on this day they fell straight into best buddies mode straight away.

 

However life can get a little difficult when you have to wait for your lunch. And wait Ted did.  It was an inordinate amount of time before his lunch arrived and while I wasn't that hungry when I ordered, by the time the food arrived I was starving, so poor little Ted must have been beyond ravenous. You can see that he was none too impressed at the wait.

 

Then after only one near-mortal injury at the cafe, one meltdown and numerous under-table adventures, we walked on down to the park.  Priya came with us in order to scoot on the scooter, and the three of them had no complaints about the short walk down the road.

 

We spent the time being lead around to all ends of the park by the boys, to areas I'd never been to before.   Next time I think we'll gather all of the children together and go on an escapade, but on this day the girls were still over at the playground so we had to entreat the boys to consider the girls so we could return.  I think a big adventure next time though, Zoe?

 

I literally nearly stumbled over this blue tongue lizard who was so placid he licked Harriet's hand.  As the group of four descended he ambled around in the leaf litter, casually observing their delight at such a relaxed close encounter.  I love blue tongues, and this one was a beauty.

 

On another sun-kissed day I was inspired to head out and see whether Ted would enjoy riding on a tag-along to go with my bike.  Oh I don't think I've mentioned my bike yet, have I?  It's delicious.  I almost ate it when it was delivered.  You want one too, don't you?

It has gears and a gorgeous basket (it has handles so you can take it out and be whimsical at the markets, then pop it back on to the bike to ride home, hair flying in the wind, carefree and gorgeous...err...so maybe that's the marketing intention and not reality, but it's still pretty), white tyres and pretty much loads of stuff I don't quite know how to use.  It is comfortable and I love it.

But of course I can't very well go zipping around with Ted on his balance bike and he is way beyond any consideration of a seat.  So - tag-a-long it is.  They're a great idea, have you seen them?  You can check it out here - http://weeride.com.au/Product_detail.php?product=47 .

Anyway, so the best way to test out Ted's interest was to zoom over to Centennial Park and get him to ride on one.  Which we did.  

And can I tell you - within the first minute of me wheeling the bike/s out of their location and finding that Ted had already popped himself up on the seat and was yelling "C'mon Mama!  Let's get going!" - I was sort of guessing it might be a winner.

 

In fact Ted yelled out numerous times over the course of our circuits of the park that "this is the best thing I've ever done".  And he meant it - he jumped off the bike full of enthusiasm and energy to grab one of his own.  Harriet, who has had a complicated relationship with cycling in the past, actually loved her ride too.  She even coasted!  It was such a wonderful afternoon and then we all descended on the park itself to picnic and the children played in the playground as I read my book.

Also - do not ever buy a coffee from the Centennial Park kiosk.  Mine was beyond terrible.  And I know because I am hardly a coffee connoisseur and even I could tell this was milky pap.

And the children were deliciously harmonious and interesting and delightful.  It's so much easier to enjoy their beauties when they are getting along together.






























Harriet has a book party coming up and I'm waiting on my purchase from Etsy to make the invitations.  How did this time of year come around so quickly? Because after her party it's meant to be my 'getting ready for Christmas' period.  Blow me down.