Telephone conversation between BallFiend and GrandPaul:
BallFiend: Hi GrandPaul. What-you-doin'?
GrandPaul: Hi BallFiend, how are you?
BallFiend: I'm two!
GrandPaul: No, not how old are you... How are you? Are you good?
BallFiend: I'm good thanks, are you good? Uh, do you like basketball GrandPaul?
GrandPaul: Well, it's OK. I like football better.
BallFiend: Do you like basketball GrandPaul? I'm eating yohgurt. Do you like yogurt GrandPaul?
GrandPaul: Yes I like yoghurt, I have it for breakfast every day.
BallFiend: Umm, do you want some yoghurt? Can you do this [pulls a silly face]
GrandPaul: I don't know what you are doing. I can't see you because we are talking on the phone.
[BallFiend looks intently into the phone; leaning forward until his nose is squashed into the phone.]
BallFiend: Your nose is missing. You are no nose, you are no nose... [repeat to fade]
--
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day
I really only wanted one thing for Mother's Day - to sleep in till at least 8.00 am (well, that and a box of Roses chocolates). BallFiend woke us at 6.45 am. So no sleep in, but at least it wasn't a 5.30 am wake up I suppose.
Still, I did get to lie in and have a hot cup of tea and breaky in bed, many thanks to DeepSpice (although he does this for me most days, so it wasn't really a mother's-day specific thing). Then BallFiend brought me in a gift that he made at crèche - a noteholder to go on the fridge.
We have now officially reached the point where the endearing-yet-truely-awful-handmade-gift-for-mum-on-mothers-day rite-of-passage begins. I remember many long weeks spent at school in Grade 2 making my mum a padded coathanger. This tasteful craft project involved:
Anyway... at 9.15 am, DesignerSis and Wigward arrived to take their nephew out to the Aquarium to see the penguins. It was weird waving goodbye to BallFiend as he drove off in another car. Apart from when he went with VolubleK after the Wedding, he has never been taken anywhere in a car without myself or DeepSpice being in the car too; and this was the first time I had ever actually watched him drive away without me.
Our child-free morning was spent industriously - planting new trees and other plants in the garden (purchased at CERES Nursery on Saturday):
After gardening, we had organised to lunch at a restaurant with GrandPaul, Gran and StompyDad. We had planned to enjoy lunch unencumbered by BallFiend, but the Aquarium trip didn't take as long as Ihoped expected, so BallFiend was back in time to come along.
I was concerned that he would be tired out and ready for a nap at about 1.30 pm, but he held up just fine and loved his spaghetti. So did the people at the next table who said they got a real kick out of watching him eat it, strand-by-strand, biting each one in the middle then sucking the ends in. Personally, I enjoyed watching the grandfathers, seated either side of BallFiend flinch and cry out in horror every time a bit of bolognese sauce went anywhere other than BallFiend's mouth!
Gran, DeepSpice and I shared a tapas platter and I also ordered a pasta dish but as this hadn't arrived by the time everyone had just about finished their meals, I asked the waitress to cancel the order. She was very apologetic that my meal had been missed and so didn't charge us for BallFiend's pasta as compensation. I was happy, since I had got too full on the tapas to fit the pasta in anyway!
--
Still, I did get to lie in and have a hot cup of tea and breaky in bed, many thanks to DeepSpice (although he does this for me most days, so it wasn't really a mother's-day specific thing). Then BallFiend brought me in a gift that he made at crèche - a noteholder to go on the fridge.
We have now officially reached the point where the endearing-yet-truely-awful-handmade-gift-for-mum-on-mothers-day rite-of-passage begins. I remember many long weeks spent at school in Grade 2 making my mum a padded coathanger. This tasteful craft project involved:- collecting plastic bread bags
- cutting bread bags into strips
- tieing the plastic strips around a wire coathanger
Anyway... at 9.15 am, DesignerSis and Wigward arrived to take their nephew out to the Aquarium to see the penguins. It was weird waving goodbye to BallFiend as he drove off in another car. Apart from when he went with VolubleK after the Wedding, he has never been taken anywhere in a car without myself or DeepSpice being in the car too; and this was the first time I had ever actually watched him drive away without me.
Our child-free morning was spent industriously - planting new trees and other plants in the garden (purchased at CERES Nursery on Saturday):
- a Eucalyptus forrestiana (Fuschia Gum) to replace the E. kitsonia that died in the January 2009 heatwave;
- a Scleranthus biflorus - a groundcover in the back garden to replace a Phormium (New Zealand Flax) that didn't do well under my 'complete neglect' gardening regime. When we had the garden landscaping done, I specified only Australian native plants were to be used, but somehow four of these NZ Flax snuck in. They are water-hungry things... there are two still hanging in there.
- a Grevillea nudiflora (Curvy Tops) - a prostrate groundcover for the front garden;
- a Kennedia prostrata (Scarlet Runner, Running Postman) - another prostrate groundcover for the front garden;
- a Grevillea pteridifolia (Golden Grevillea) - another tree in the front garden... actually I had intended to get a 2m bush but didn't read the label properly so have ended up with a (potentially) 4m high tree. Hopefully it won't be too big!
- I also bought a punnet of lettuce seedlings and a punnet of spinach seedlings but ran out of time to plant these.
After gardening, we had organised to lunch at a restaurant with GrandPaul, Gran and StompyDad. We had planned to enjoy lunch unencumbered by BallFiend, but the Aquarium trip didn't take as long as I
I was concerned that he would be tired out and ready for a nap at about 1.30 pm, but he held up just fine and loved his spaghetti. So did the people at the next table who said they got a real kick out of watching him eat it, strand-by-strand, biting each one in the middle then sucking the ends in. Personally, I enjoyed watching the grandfathers, seated either side of BallFiend flinch and cry out in horror every time a bit of bolognese sauce went anywhere other than BallFiend's mouth!
Gran, DeepSpice and I shared a tapas platter and I also ordered a pasta dish but as this hadn't arrived by the time everyone had just about finished their meals, I asked the waitress to cancel the order. She was very apologetic that my meal had been missed and so didn't charge us for BallFiend's pasta as compensation. I was happy, since I had got too full on the tapas to fit the pasta in anyway!
--
Hot Air Balloon
Apart from balls, the other thing that BallFiend loves is balloons. Usually, he just plays with them, kicking and batting them around the house. So I was very impressed with his creativity when he grabbed an empty pot from our recent garden-a-thon and plonked a balloon (obtained at the last ABA meeting) on top and said "Look Mum, a hot air balloon!
Summoning the Spirit of Playschool, I quickly grabbed some string and sticky tape so we could turn his idea into a reality. "Avalant" was given the privilege of making the maiden (and only) voyage.
Sadly, the hot air balloon was soon cruelly dashed to pieces on the floor after encountering a violent storm known as Cyclone BallFiend.
--
Summoning the Spirit of Playschool, I quickly grabbed some string and sticky tape so we could turn his idea into a reality. "Avalant" was given the privilege of making the maiden (and only) voyage.
Sadly, the hot air balloon was soon cruelly dashed to pieces on the floor after encountering a violent storm known as Cyclone BallFiend.--
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Theiving Bastard
Some bastard stole my wallet out of my bag during a staff function at work yesterday. Apart from losing cash (over $300) plus other items of value, and having the hassle of having to cancel my credit cards, I lost my evening because I had to muck around with completing a report at the campus security station, then a police report.
After being at work all day, I hardly got to see BallFiend at all before he went to bed.
And later in the evening I had another episode of Braxton Hicks contractions (probably induced by the exertion of having to walk around the city to the police station), just as I was about to eat dinner. So was left feeling tired and ill, and at the same time hungry but unable to eat.
Pissed off.
--
After being at work all day, I hardly got to see BallFiend at all before he went to bed.
And later in the evening I had another episode of Braxton Hicks contractions (probably induced by the exertion of having to walk around the city to the police station), just as I was about to eat dinner. So was left feeling tired and ill, and at the same time hungry but unable to eat.
Pissed off.
--
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Holiday at Johanna
Another long weekend away, probably our last getaway before the birth of #2. I say 'holiday' in the title of this post, but a holiday with a two-and-three-quarter year old child is not like the relaxing times we used to enjoy in our pre-BallFiend, DINK lives. There are no sleep-ins, no leisurely days spent having late breakfasts, little time for reading books and eating out at classy restaurants is replaced by takeaways at the park or a hurried counter meal at the local pub's bistro.
Still, it was nice to take some time away from the normal routine at home and for us all to spend time together. And it will really allow me to appreciate an 'indulgent' holiday, should I ever get to have one... I am dreaming of an weekend away, with DeepSpice on our own. Hopefully we will squeeze one of these in if Gran and GrandPaul can be roped into minding BallFiend for two consecutive nights. (So far, he has only ever stayed over for one night at a time).
Anyway, about the holiday...
Day 1 - Saturday, May 2nd
The Plan: depart home by 11.00 am, drive a bit, stop for lunch somewhere, arrive around 3.00 pm. Dinner about 5.30-6.00 pm. BallFiend in bed by 7.00-7.30 pm. Relax for the evening.
Actuality: depart home at 1.00 pm (after lunch), BallFiend's whinging starts 30 mins into the drive. We hold out for an hour, then stop in Geelong at Rippleside Park, where we found a fantastic playground. BallFiend however couldn't care less - he had seen a kid with a soccer ball who is playing kick-to-kick with his dad. He runs off with his own soccer ball under his arm. The next 30 mins are spent with BallFiend and his new friend Aiden (aged 4) being 'soccer players'.
Eventually we manage to drag BallFiend away, and depart Geelong around 3.00 pm. Our hopes that BallFiend would now be exhausted and so would fall asleep in the car quickly fade, roughly in direct proportion to the increase in whinging and whining coming from the back seat.
We press on, and make it through Lorne. I love this scenic part of the Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately the windy road is too much for BallFiend who gets car sick. We have a few short stops for false alarms, then an extended stop at Wye River to clean up the vomit and change BallFiend's clothes. DeepSice takes him for a walk on the beach to recover while I go to the general store to see if I can get something sugary that might help BallFiend feel better. As I leave the shop, someone calls my name and the first weird coincidence of the holiday occurs as I see a former neighbour SR. We lived on the same street as kids and were really good friends, and I hadn't seen her for years... though I see her parents every now and then, and alway ask how she is.
After a short chat, we continue on our journey, for another 30 mins until the next "I feel sick" stop. Another false alam. We drive another 10 mins, then stop to clean up more vomit. This time we stop on a precarious corner at the top of a cliff. BallFiend is well enough to throw stones over the cliff but still looks pale, so I squeeze in the back seat next to him when we drive off again. It is now 5.30 pm and getting dark. Finally he is weary enough to fall asleep and does so, holding my hand. Our poor, sick little boy.
Half an hour later (and 5 hours since we left home!), we arrive at our destination - the fabulous Johanna Seaside Cottages (which, strangely enough, is located at Johanna, a tiny locality along the Great Ocean Road). I dash into reception and get the key, then we drive up to our cottage at the top of the dunes. By 6.30 pm we have unpacked most of the car, and plonked a sleepy BallFiend on the couch, where he sits mesmerised by the flames in the fireplace while we prepare him a quick dinner. He enjoys a bath after dinner and perks up enough to put up the usual protest about having his nappy changed and teeth brushed. But we still manage to get him into bed by 8.00 pm. Finally we get to have something to eat and watch a bit of TV before crawling into bed.
Day 2 - Sunday, May 3rd
We were supposed to stop at a pharmacy on the way from Melbourne to get a prescription filled for DeepSpice, but we didn't go past one in Geelong and by the time we reached Apollo Bay, everything was closed. So our first errand of the day was to drive half-an-hour back to Apollo Bay to the pharmacy. A staff member from our accommodation assured us that they would be open until midday. Of course, it wasn't open. The 'checkout chick' (who was actually a woman in her 50s) at the supermarket said the pharmacy is usually open, but the pharmacist had to go away somewhere this weekend and they couldn't get a locum in for today.
We end up spending the morning in Apollo Bay anyway - a quick spot of grocery shopping for those few things we forgot; a quick browse in a boutique gift shop and then we head over to the beach for a walk. We have to stop at the park on the Esplanade first, to change BallFiend's pooey nappy and to let BallFiend play at a drinking fountain which has a public art sculpture(!) as its base. It is a cone-shaped thing, covered in mosaic, with a channel that spirals down around it where the water drains away. BallFiend just has to try rolling his ball down the channel and this keeps him fascinated for ages.
Then just as we are finally ready to drag BallFiend down to the beach, my second weird coincidence of the holiday occurs - someone calls my name and I look up to see MC and his wife. MC is a friend who I met when I was doing a postgrad course back in 2000. We hadn't seen each other for a few years, but had just become 'Facebook friends' a few days previously. We have a long chat while BallFiend kicks his ball and runs through my and DeepSpice's legs. It gets to lunchtime, so we say goodbye. Then I go and buy pizza for lunch while BallFiend finally gets to go to the beach with DeepSpice. After lunch, BallFiend has a play at the playground and then we entice him back to the car through careful dribbling and chasing of his soccer ball.
We get back to our cottage and have a quiet afternoon. BallFiend 'helps' me prepare vegies for dinner (Shepherd's Pie) - he peels an onion, layer after layer, until there is no more onion and then uses a unique 'stabbing' technique to peel the potato.
Day 3 - Monday May 4th
Finally the sort of holiday day I had been wanting - a lazy morning pottering about. Then down to the chook shed to collect eggs. BallFiend is excited to find one egg in the nesting boxes. I take BallFiend for a swim in the allegedly-heated indoor pool, but it isn't very warm and we only last about 10 mins. He is blue and shivering but doesn't want to get out.
Then we drive down the road to Johanna beach and spend some time climbing on rocks.
BallFiend loves it and doesn't want to leave, so eventually has to DeepSpice carry him up the steep, sandy path off the beach ('cause apparently he's too tired to walk). Then he spies steps that lead up to a lookout and suddenly he is off at an incredible pace for someone with such tiny, tired legs.
At the top, he strikes up a conversation with three stoner-surfies who are hanging out. "What you doin'?" he asks, over and over.
We go back to the cottage, have lunch, try and get BallFiend to nap. Give up on that idea - he has a rest but won't sleep. So after a while, DeepSpice and BallFiend go outside to play in the fenced yard (with balls, of course), while I put on a load of washing (all the car-sick stuff) and then take a pregnancy-induced nanna-nap. Then I take BallFiend for a walk down to the paddock so he can get a bit more worn out kicking his soccer ball around while DeepSpice prepares dinner (Chicken Risotto).
After dinner I am struck down with what I think was probably a very strong Braxton Hicks contraction - or rather a series of them. They last for about an hour, with each contraction sticking around for about 5 minutes. Nowhere near as strong as real labour, but much stronger than any that I had experienced when pregnant with BallFiend (and I didn't get them until much later in the pregnancy with BallFiend). I was left feeling crampy, nauseous, worn out and concerned enough to call the midwife for advice. I wasn't overly concerned, except that we were about a 90 minute drive from the nearest hospital. Eventually, I started to feel a bit better, but I still went to bed early - about 9.30 pm and was asleep soon after.
Day 4 - Tuesday May 5th
Our last day. BallFiend is awake at 6.40 am but happily snuggles in bed with us for 15 minutes or so. Then we get up, have breakfast and get packing. So much stuff for just a few days away. I cannot imagine how we will ever get to go on holidays once we have two kids - we would have to take two cars! I have even less idea how my parents used to pack our family of five into one car and take us interstate for a month over the January holidays.
Checkout time is 10.00 am and I am amazed when we are nearly finished packing by 9.30 am. But we still keep finding last minute things to do for the last half an hour, so end up leaving the cottage right on the dot of ten o'clock.
We decide to give BallFiend a good walk before the car trip, so DeepSpice and BallFiend walk across the paddocks to reception while I drive the car down and pay for our accommodation. Then we head off to the Otway Fly treetop walk.
This place is fantastic! There is a 'visitor centre' (translation: place where you pay to get in which also has a cafe and souvenir shop) with a great little playground outside. They have free stroller hire, which we decide to make use of. We start the long walk down through the rainforest to the actual treetop walk (about a kilometre). A few metres into the walk and I can't believe how cold it suddenly gets. In the car park, it was a nice warm sunny day - about 18 degrees. But in the rainforest it feels like it must be only 15 degrees. BallFiend enjoys pushing the stroller down the hill and admires the plastic gutters that are built into the dirt path every so often. Definitely a city boy, and not a nature-lover.
A detour half-way through the rainforest walk takes us past models of dinosaurs, supposedly to emphasise the ancient nature of the rainforest which apparently hasn't changed all that much since pre-historic times. To me, the dinosaurs were little more than a tacky, touristy thing (most of the species represented weren't even ones that would have occurred in this part of the world). But BallFiend thought they were great - especially the broken one (a Triceratops model which had a crack in its neck, leaving its head lolling down). BallFiend said "we need tape [as in sticky tape] to fix it" and asked a passing couple "Have you got some tape? We need to fix it", much to their amusement.
We also saw lots of little mushrooms and other fungi - BallFiend wanted to touch each one and then DeepSpice would quickly wipe his hands in case he got poisoned!
On the treetop walk itself, BallFiend ran along the walkway and climbed to the top of the 45m tower with DeepSpice (he walked up all the steps except for the last 10 or so!). I decided not to climb the tower in case the exhertion brought on more Braxton Hicks. He was making good progress on the walk back along the treetop walk too and we were starting to think that lugging the stroller along had been a complete waste of effort, but then BallFiend tripped over and his true tiredness was exposed as he bawled and asked for his dummy and blankie. So the stroller got used after all. We carted him back to the beginning of the treetop walk where there is a buggy-stop for 'people with limited mobility' who need help getting back up the hill to the visitor centre. That was definitely me and BallFiend, and I was very grateful not to have to walk back up the hill! By the time we got to the top, BallFiend seemed to have been reinvigorated - enough to walk, skip and jump all the way back to the car - about another 500 metres.
Back in the car, BallFiend started whinging almost straight away - he wanted to go back to the dinosaurs. This time I resorted to an Easter Egg-based distraction. We decided to drive back using the in-land route, via Laver's Hill and Gellibrand, to Colac and then home via the highway. As much as we love the scenic Great Ocean Road, a car-sick kid is not worth it. Unfortunately there was lots of roadwork being done and we kept hitting 40kph zones. On the positive side, all that walking had worn BallFiend out and he went to sleep fairly quickly.
We stopped in Colac so that DeepSpice could finally get his prescription at the pharmacy, but they took forever to serve him... we were stationery in the car for long enough that BallFiend woke up. I was anticipating a tedious and difficult drive the rest of the way home - with an overtired toddler whining in the back seat. But thankfully, he was quite good and not too demanding for over an hour. We eventually stopped at a truckies roadside stop on the outskirts of Geelong and BallFiend had a little play at the playground there. When we left, it was starting to get dark and by the time we reached the Western Ring Road entrance, peak hour had hit. Still it wasn't too bad and we arrived home about 6.00 pm.
Not a particularly relaxing, rejuvenating holiday, but definitely an adventure and at least a little bit restful.
--
Still, it was nice to take some time away from the normal routine at home and for us all to spend time together. And it will really allow me to appreciate an 'indulgent' holiday, should I ever get to have one... I am dreaming of an weekend away, with DeepSpice on our own. Hopefully we will squeeze one of these in if Gran and GrandPaul can be roped into minding BallFiend for two consecutive nights. (So far, he has only ever stayed over for one night at a time).
Anyway, about the holiday...
Day 1 - Saturday, May 2nd
The Plan: depart home by 11.00 am, drive a bit, stop for lunch somewhere, arrive around 3.00 pm. Dinner about 5.30-6.00 pm. BallFiend in bed by 7.00-7.30 pm. Relax for the evening.
Actuality: depart home at 1.00 pm (after lunch), BallFiend's whinging starts 30 mins into the drive. We hold out for an hour, then stop in Geelong at Rippleside Park, where we found a fantastic playground. BallFiend however couldn't care less - he had seen a kid with a soccer ball who is playing kick-to-kick with his dad. He runs off with his own soccer ball under his arm. The next 30 mins are spent with BallFiend and his new friend Aiden (aged 4) being 'soccer players'.
Eventually we manage to drag BallFiend away, and depart Geelong around 3.00 pm. Our hopes that BallFiend would now be exhausted and so would fall asleep in the car quickly fade, roughly in direct proportion to the increase in whinging and whining coming from the back seat.We press on, and make it through Lorne. I love this scenic part of the Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately the windy road is too much for BallFiend who gets car sick. We have a few short stops for false alarms, then an extended stop at Wye River to clean up the vomit and change BallFiend's clothes. DeepSice takes him for a walk on the beach to recover while I go to the general store to see if I can get something sugary that might help BallFiend feel better. As I leave the shop, someone calls my name and the first weird coincidence of the holiday occurs as I see a former neighbour SR. We lived on the same street as kids and were really good friends, and I hadn't seen her for years... though I see her parents every now and then, and alway ask how she is.
After a short chat, we continue on our journey, for another 30 mins until the next "I feel sick" stop. Another false alam. We drive another 10 mins, then stop to clean up more vomit. This time we stop on a precarious corner at the top of a cliff. BallFiend is well enough to throw stones over the cliff but still looks pale, so I squeeze in the back seat next to him when we drive off again. It is now 5.30 pm and getting dark. Finally he is weary enough to fall asleep and does so, holding my hand. Our poor, sick little boy.
Half an hour later (and 5 hours since we left home!), we arrive at our destination - the fabulous Johanna Seaside Cottages (which, strangely enough, is located at Johanna, a tiny locality along the Great Ocean Road). I dash into reception and get the key, then we drive up to our cottage at the top of the dunes. By 6.30 pm we have unpacked most of the car, and plonked a sleepy BallFiend on the couch, where he sits mesmerised by the flames in the fireplace while we prepare him a quick dinner. He enjoys a bath after dinner and perks up enough to put up the usual protest about having his nappy changed and teeth brushed. But we still manage to get him into bed by 8.00 pm. Finally we get to have something to eat and watch a bit of TV before crawling into bed.
Day 2 - Sunday, May 3rd
We were supposed to stop at a pharmacy on the way from Melbourne to get a prescription filled for DeepSpice, but we didn't go past one in Geelong and by the time we reached Apollo Bay, everything was closed. So our first errand of the day was to drive half-an-hour back to Apollo Bay to the pharmacy. A staff member from our accommodation assured us that they would be open until midday. Of course, it wasn't open. The 'checkout chick' (who was actually a woman in her 50s) at the supermarket said the pharmacy is usually open, but the pharmacist had to go away somewhere this weekend and they couldn't get a locum in for today.
We end up spending the morning in Apollo Bay anyway - a quick spot of grocery shopping for those few things we forgot; a quick browse in a boutique gift shop and then we head over to the beach for a walk. We have to stop at the park on the Esplanade first, to change BallFiend's pooey nappy and to let BallFiend play at a drinking fountain which has a public art sculpture(!) as its base. It is a cone-shaped thing, covered in mosaic, with a channel that spirals down around it where the water drains away. BallFiend just has to try rolling his ball down the channel and this keeps him fascinated for ages.
Then just as we are finally ready to drag BallFiend down to the beach, my second weird coincidence of the holiday occurs - someone calls my name and I look up to see MC and his wife. MC is a friend who I met when I was doing a postgrad course back in 2000. We hadn't seen each other for a few years, but had just become 'Facebook friends' a few days previously. We have a long chat while BallFiend kicks his ball and runs through my and DeepSpice's legs. It gets to lunchtime, so we say goodbye. Then I go and buy pizza for lunch while BallFiend finally gets to go to the beach with DeepSpice. After lunch, BallFiend has a play at the playground and then we entice him back to the car through careful dribbling and chasing of his soccer ball.
We get back to our cottage and have a quiet afternoon. BallFiend 'helps' me prepare vegies for dinner (Shepherd's Pie) - he peels an onion, layer after layer, until there is no more onion and then uses a unique 'stabbing' technique to peel the potato.
Day 3 - Monday May 4thFinally the sort of holiday day I had been wanting - a lazy morning pottering about. Then down to the chook shed to collect eggs. BallFiend is excited to find one egg in the nesting boxes. I take BallFiend for a swim in the allegedly-heated indoor pool, but it isn't very warm and we only last about 10 mins. He is blue and shivering but doesn't want to get out.
Then we drive down the road to Johanna beach and spend some time climbing on rocks.
BallFiend loves it and doesn't want to leave, so eventually has to DeepSpice carry him up the steep, sandy path off the beach ('cause apparently he's too tired to walk). Then he spies steps that lead up to a lookout and suddenly he is off at an incredible pace for someone with such tiny, tired legs.
At the top, he strikes up a conversation with three stoner-surfies who are hanging out. "What you doin'?" he asks, over and over.We go back to the cottage, have lunch, try and get BallFiend to nap. Give up on that idea - he has a rest but won't sleep. So after a while, DeepSpice and BallFiend go outside to play in the fenced yard (with balls, of course), while I put on a load of washing (all the car-sick stuff) and then take a pregnancy-induced nanna-nap. Then I take BallFiend for a walk down to the paddock so he can get a bit more worn out kicking his soccer ball around while DeepSpice prepares dinner (Chicken Risotto).
After dinner I am struck down with what I think was probably a very strong Braxton Hicks contraction - or rather a series of them. They last for about an hour, with each contraction sticking around for about 5 minutes. Nowhere near as strong as real labour, but much stronger than any that I had experienced when pregnant with BallFiend (and I didn't get them until much later in the pregnancy with BallFiend). I was left feeling crampy, nauseous, worn out and concerned enough to call the midwife for advice. I wasn't overly concerned, except that we were about a 90 minute drive from the nearest hospital. Eventually, I started to feel a bit better, but I still went to bed early - about 9.30 pm and was asleep soon after.
Day 4 - Tuesday May 5th
Our last day. BallFiend is awake at 6.40 am but happily snuggles in bed with us for 15 minutes or so. Then we get up, have breakfast and get packing. So much stuff for just a few days away. I cannot imagine how we will ever get to go on holidays once we have two kids - we would have to take two cars! I have even less idea how my parents used to pack our family of five into one car and take us interstate for a month over the January holidays.
Checkout time is 10.00 am and I am amazed when we are nearly finished packing by 9.30 am. But we still keep finding last minute things to do for the last half an hour, so end up leaving the cottage right on the dot of ten o'clock.
We decide to give BallFiend a good walk before the car trip, so DeepSpice and BallFiend walk across the paddocks to reception while I drive the car down and pay for our accommodation. Then we head off to the Otway Fly treetop walk.
This place is fantastic! There is a 'visitor centre' (translation: place where you pay to get in which also has a cafe and souvenir shop) with a great little playground outside. They have free stroller hire, which we decide to make use of. We start the long walk down through the rainforest to the actual treetop walk (about a kilometre). A few metres into the walk and I can't believe how cold it suddenly gets. In the car park, it was a nice warm sunny day - about 18 degrees. But in the rainforest it feels like it must be only 15 degrees. BallFiend enjoys pushing the stroller down the hill and admires the plastic gutters that are built into the dirt path every so often. Definitely a city boy, and not a nature-lover.
A detour half-way through the rainforest walk takes us past models of dinosaurs, supposedly to emphasise the ancient nature of the rainforest which apparently hasn't changed all that much since pre-historic times. To me, the dinosaurs were little more than a tacky, touristy thing (most of the species represented weren't even ones that would have occurred in this part of the world). But BallFiend thought they were great - especially the broken one (a Triceratops model which had a crack in its neck, leaving its head lolling down). BallFiend said "we need tape [as in sticky tape] to fix it" and asked a passing couple "Have you got some tape? We need to fix it", much to their amusement.
We also saw lots of little mushrooms and other fungi - BallFiend wanted to touch each one and then DeepSpice would quickly wipe his hands in case he got poisoned!
On the treetop walk itself, BallFiend ran along the walkway and climbed to the top of the 45m tower with DeepSpice (he walked up all the steps except for the last 10 or so!). I decided not to climb the tower in case the exhertion brought on more Braxton Hicks. He was making good progress on the walk back along the treetop walk too and we were starting to think that lugging the stroller along had been a complete waste of effort, but then BallFiend tripped over and his true tiredness was exposed as he bawled and asked for his dummy and blankie. So the stroller got used after all. We carted him back to the beginning of the treetop walk where there is a buggy-stop for 'people with limited mobility' who need help getting back up the hill to the visitor centre. That was definitely me and BallFiend, and I was very grateful not to have to walk back up the hill! By the time we got to the top, BallFiend seemed to have been reinvigorated - enough to walk, skip and jump all the way back to the car - about another 500 metres.
Back in the car, BallFiend started whinging almost straight away - he wanted to go back to the dinosaurs. This time I resorted to an Easter Egg-based distraction. We decided to drive back using the in-land route, via Laver's Hill and Gellibrand, to Colac and then home via the highway. As much as we love the scenic Great Ocean Road, a car-sick kid is not worth it. Unfortunately there was lots of roadwork being done and we kept hitting 40kph zones. On the positive side, all that walking had worn BallFiend out and he went to sleep fairly quickly.
We stopped in Colac so that DeepSpice could finally get his prescription at the pharmacy, but they took forever to serve him... we were stationery in the car for long enough that BallFiend woke up. I was anticipating a tedious and difficult drive the rest of the way home - with an overtired toddler whining in the back seat. But thankfully, he was quite good and not too demanding for over an hour. We eventually stopped at a truckies roadside stop on the outskirts of Geelong and BallFiend had a little play at the playground there. When we left, it was starting to get dark and by the time we reached the Western Ring Road entrance, peak hour had hit. Still it wasn't too bad and we arrived home about 6.00 pm.
Not a particularly relaxing, rejuvenating holiday, but definitely an adventure and at least a little bit restful.
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