family outing: melbourne museum

This is a Product Talk by Nuffnang which means that I was given complimentary passes to the Melbourne Museum in exchange for an unbiased review.

Yesterday I found out that I weigh as much as a freshwater crocodile. Comforting? Not so much. But fun? Indeed!  

We were lucky enough to score some free passes to attend Melbourne Museum as part of their school holiday program which included watching a performance of Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog.

I was a little concerned that Jaxon would be bored with the performance, but he giggled and participated throughout the entire 20 min performance. And my husband and I walked out of there with grins on our faces - enjoying just as much as our 6 year old. The two Aboriginal performers were engaging, funny and highly entertaining as they narrated, danced and joked their way through the family-friendly story.

watching the entertaining performance of Tiddalik

Unfortunately, Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog is only running until this Tuesday the 31st of January, so if it's something you think the kids will be interested in, I recommend scooting along to check it out before it wraps up.

After Tiddalik, it was time for a bite to eat. Being pregnant I was wary of whether the museum cafe would have some safe and friendly options for me (not being able to eat pre-prepared fruit salad, sushi, salads and deli meats). I was sure my options would be limited to one or two unsavoury menu items. But I was wrong. 

As tempting as the cake display looked, I opted for a spinach and ricotta pastry which was delicious. Jaxon was satisfied with a dinosaur kids pack which contained a vegemite and cheese sandwich, pop-top fruit juice, sultanas and caramello koala. And the husband? Well he went for a meat pie. Perfect! Lunch sorted. Onto the rest of the museum.

Where to start? There's so much to see! With my baby-brain (read: lack of common sense), I let the husband take charge and he suggested with start down one end, and make our way through all the galleries on that level before proceeding onto the next. That made sense.

penguins floating through the foyer

tiny fish surrounding a large fish

There is so much to see that you can quite easily spend half a day at the Museum exploring, eating and enjoying watching kids faces light up as they see things they've never seen before.

Jaxon spying some birdies in the Forest Gallery

I lost count of how many times Jaxon screamed "mum, dad, look at this... mum dad look at this" whilst at the museum. We would barely get to where he was and he'd be off to the next thing screaming it out again.

wouldn't you love to have a pet dino?

just like a crystal pom pom!

this crystal formation looks like it's out of a sci-fi flick

We definitely didn't get this level of excitement from him last time we visited Melbourne Museum. So it just goes to show you that you shouldn't discount it if you've been before. This time around, it was a whole new experience. Not just for him, but for mum and dad (that's us) also!

the chimney reconstructed in the rainforest following Black Saturday
stands as a symbol of the devastation bushfire can cause

up close and personal with a room full of amazing animals

you wouldn't get to see this gorgeous creature up close in real life

the boys wishing we could ride a tram like this one!

I saw so many things that I don't remember seeing last time around. It could be that I wasn't paying as much attention, or that I was paying too much attention to where Jaxon had run off to and didn't get to experience it properly last time.

colourful tapestry adorning he museum walls

enchanting illustrations in Cole's Funny Picture Book

It's definitely fair to say that we all had favourite parts in the museum.  Jaxon's was seeing all the creatures (dead or alive) up close in the Science and Life Gallery. Mine was also the animals, but I also quite enjoyed a trip down nostalgia lane with the historic installations in the Melbourne Gallery. 

goofing around in a pyramid of mirrors (Children's Gallery)

vintage advertising

more amazing tapestry

couldn't resist this 'typewriters through the ages' installation

just one more colourful tapestry

So if you haven't been to Melbourne Museum before, or haven't visited in a while, I highly recommend that you re-acquaint yourself with all that it has to offer. It really is a great day out for the whole family. And adult tickets are only $10 PLUS kids are FREE!

Now listen up my lovelies. I have one FREE Melbourne Museum adult pass to give away. And remember, kids are free so it means that you can take yourself and the kids along for zilch (parking and food not included)!  The pass is valid until 30 June 2012, so you'll have plenty of time to take advantage on a weekend or even the next school holidays.

To enter, all I need you to do is leave me a comment on this post. I will randomly select a winner this Friday the 3rd of February. You have until 8pm on Friday to leave a comment.

Thanks for all your comments. This competition is now closed!

neapolitan dreams

Neapolitan dreams granny stripe blanket

Thanks to the crochet workshop which Katie and I participated in last weekend, I now have the crochet itch.  We each received goodie bags care of Spotlight which were full of supplies to get us started such as crochet hook, knitting needles, haberdashery scissors, yarn, tape measure, wool needle and instructions. Thanks Spotlight!

My goodie bag contained a ball of pink and a ball of chunky orange yarn.  I pulled apart the granny square that I was practicing on during the workshop and thought I might attempt a granny stripe blanket instead using the pink yarn and some white and coffee coloured yarn which I'd already had in my stash. I quickly worked out the pattern for the blanket (thank goodness because I'm not really one for following instructions) and then it was all about getting the tension of the stitches right.

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you might have seen me tweeting pics the other day. 

Yesterday I spent the day crocheting, watching Mad Men (I'm up to season 2), sucking on Zooper Doopers and eating a delicious BBQ meal cooked by my beloved in honour of Australia Day. I have made much more progress on the granny stripe blanket than the above image leads one to believe following yesterday's crocheting marathon.

I'm hoping that this will become a blanket for the growing bump, but as we don't know the gender yet (another 5 weeks until we find out), I am just crocheting it for the sake of crocheting. My beloved says that we can gift it if we find out we're having another boy.

Head on over to Katie's place to see a photo of me "concentrating" on getting my granny square right at last weekends' workshop and more photos from the yarn bombing installation in Melbourne's City Square.

a good old yarn

Yesterday my lovely cute-as-pie friend Katie and I headed into Melbourne's City Square to partake in some yarney goodness.  Katie booked us into one of the workshops so that we could brush up on our crochet skills.  We both fumbled our way through granny squares (with a little help from the lovely teacher Andrea) and with a little more practice and some tension adjustments I think we'll be crocheting like pro's in no time.


But before the workshop, Katie willingly obliged and allowed me to indulge in my 2-week craving of churros and a shake. I'm sure it was rather painful for her as she of course had to join me in my indulgence and listen to all of my pregnancy complaints. Thanks Katie! You're a real pal.


We also took a moment to delight in the yarn bomb installation in City Square whilst waiting for our workshop to commence. All that marvellous colour, creativity and effort to transform regular overlooked trees into crafty wonders.


If you didn't manage to get along yourself, you can still pop by City Square and take a closer look at the bombed trees until the end of Feb.

a new life in 2012

So I've been keeping a secret. One which has had me itching to share for the past few weeks. I'm actually quite proud of myself for how long I've managed to keep my lips sealed despite wanting to burst at the seams.

I have no doubt that more than one of you reading this will already suspect that you know what I'm about to say. Or maybe you too have been itching to find out what I was rambling on about back in December. Read on.

The universe has a very sneaky way of throwing you little curve balls. Just when you think you're on track to getting things the way you've dreamed, something comes along which stops you in your tracks.  Now there are one of two ways you can choose to deal with unplanned situations.

Option 1. Kick, scream, wail, go on a rant and rave about how unfair your life is, post a very sourpuss update on Facebook about woe is me, get upset and act like you belong on an episode of tantrums and tiaras

OR

Option 2. Embrace change, see the glass as half-full, work through the options, believe that everything happens for a reason, take it in your stride, make the most of it and appreciate the opportunity to be challenged

So after option one, I of course move swiftly onto option two. Shock and surprise can often make you think irrationally so another good one is to sleep on it.  Things are always clearer after a good sleep (and some long thinking time in the shower).

So by now you're probably thinking to yourself, has this lady lost her marbles? Is she on some new self-help regime with the commencement of a new year? For goodness sake, what is she talking about!?

It could be the hormones or my new outlook on life, but I can assure you I am not crazy. Not just yet. At least not until the Alzheimers kicks in (prediction alert).

Now that I've used up all my words, I'm just going to leave you with a visual aid.

taken 5 Jan (bump) and 11 Jan (baby)

melbourne's biggest ever yarn bombing project

via Peppermint

Oh my goodness Melbourne peeps, this looks like so much fun! Get your organisers (digital or paper variety, either's OK) out and mark these dates for a yarn good time. The Yarn Corner is Stitching up the City... Melbourne city, that is, on January 21-22!

There's a yarn installation (think granny squares and plenty of yarn-bombing all over trees), experts to talk about yarn and their yarn-ey obsessions as well as knitting and crochet workshops!

Workshops (Sunday, Jan 22)
11:00am - 11:30am Kids Learn to Knit
11:30am - 12:30pm Learn to Knit
12:30pm - 1:00pm Learn to Yarn Bomb
1:00pm - 2:00pm Learn to Crochet

If you'd like to book into any of the workshops, make sure to email quickly before spots fill fast (if they haven't already).

And lastly, if you can't make it into town that weekend, don't despair, the display will be up in the City Square until the end of February, so take your time and enjoy!

holiday shenanigans

Since my last post back in December, I've been thoroughly enjoying some time off from the day job.  This is the last of three weeks of my annual leave and I'll be honest if I say that I'm not really looking forward to going back next week. It's always so difficult to go back to reality after such a long period of lazing and free time.

Nonetheless, bills need paying, so I will go back to work.

This week I'm reminiscing about the fun things we've been doing the past couple of weeks while the kiddo is on school holidays...  There's been:

• picnics
• swimming
• making creatures out of play dough
• duck (and pigeon) feeding
• movies (Puss in Boots and The Adventures of Tintin)
• parks
• making peg people
• spring cleaning the kiddo's room
• baking
• colouring in and baking shrinky dinks 

We've had some fun together, but sadly it all ends next week. I'm back to work and the kiddo is off to school holiday program for two weeks. Until school's back the first week of Feb.

Did you enjoy a little break over the Christmas/New Year holiday? Bet you got up to some fun things?

quick little catch-up

Yes, right, so I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted. Sorry 'bout that. I have not forgotten to write, no no. I have just had many other things taking priority of late. Hope you didn't miss me too much.  Here's a quick catch-up on what's been going on.

• I had my shop (Betty's Place) opening. You can read about it here and here and I will be posting some photos also this week.
• We put up our Christmas tree (the three of us) and had family movie night - Christmas themed of course
• Two blood tests, a wee test, two GP appointments and a specialist appointment later and I found out I have a thyroid issue
• Been doing a load of washing every day the past week as Jaxon has 2 weeks of intensive water-safety classes through school. Ergh, wet boardies and towel every day.
• I travelled to Sydney to attend a really important and grand celebration at the Sydney Opera House for my work's 250th anniversary
• I got a viral infection of the throat kind and had some time off work
• I caught up with some dear old friends from interstate over dinner at the delectable Chin Chin 
• I have considered starting my Christmas shopping

Betty's Place housewarming launch party

Chin Chin on Flinders Lane, Melbourne

our humble Christmas tree

watching fireworks on Sydney Harbour

I'm back to writing more regularly now, so expect to hear from me consistently again!  I also have some other news that I'm dying to tell you, but that will have to wait for the moment.

christmas on a shoestring

polish paper chandelier (pajaki), originally uploaded by The Craft Revival.

I've been wanting to make a paper chandelier for some time now and on the weekend I finally got the necessary supplies and got to it.

Yes, it does take some time to make one of these beauties, but it is well worth it when you're finished.

I'm thinking about teaching classes on how to make these traditional Polish paper chandeliers called Pajaki (pronounced pa-yon-kee) - translated it means "spiders of straw".

Originally used as Christmas decorations, these elaborate creations were made by families out of straw, scraps of paper and fabric to bring some cheer, colour and festivity to poorer households.

If you think you'd be interested in learning how to make pajaki, do leave me a note. If I get enough interest, I will consider running a class next year.

And if you're interested, check out this article I found on Polish Christmas traditions. You could do some of these with kidlets (yours or someone elses) or even on your own, to bring some festive cheer to your home for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

feelings

A Little Lesson on Feelings from The Mother Company on Vimeo.

Feelings. We've all got them. Sometimes we don't know what to do with them or how to change them. And sometimes we shouldn't (change them). But we should all talk about them. And we should definitely teach our kids about feelings. I do with my son all the time. Talk about them that is.

Watch this little video (it only goes for 1:57) with littlies. Or just watch it on your own. It's a super cute stop motion animation by Hine Mizushima.  He's a super talented Japanese dude living in Canada.

And while you're at it, check out some of his other work


via here

via here

via here

Have a happy Friday and enjoy the weekend lovelies.  I'll be doing more work in the shop and going to my son's 6th birthday party. Yes I said GOING to. No clean-up for me!

the simple life (aka pink lemonade)

via Pinterest

On Friday I was handed a lovely big shopping-bag of farm-fresh lemons from a gentleman whom I work with. He's fortunate enough to own a farm with cows, lemon trees and dozens of different types of roses (amongst other things).


Immediately my head started to conjure up images of lemon tarts, lemon curd and home made lemonade. So when I got home with said lemons, I googled pink lemonade recipes. 


Frankly I wasn't happy with the results of the search as I was quite specific in the ingredients which I wanted to use. So I made up my own recipe and thought you might like to try it for yourself. I've since emailed the recipe to B-Fab and she's made it and tweeted me to say she's glad she'd made a double batch!


Pink Lemonade Cordial

It should be noted that the following measurements will make a cordial which you should then mix at a ratio of 1:1 with sparkling mineral water or just plain old still water. Good luck to you if you attempt to drink it un-mixed!

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 8-10 fresh strawberries

Method

In a saucepan pour in the water and heat until boiling. When it reaches boiling point, add the sugar and stir until all dissolved. Set aside to cool.  Crush your strawberries with a potato masher or in a small food processor (you may add some lemon juice if using a food processor). If so desired, strain the strawberry mixture through a sieve to remove any large chunks. I left mine in because I don't have a problem with small delicious pieces of strawberry floating in my drink.

Add the lemon juice and strawberry mix to the cooled sugar water, pour the entire mixture into a sterilised glass bottle, give it a good shake (after popping the lid on of course), and chill for a few hours.  

Delicious and refreshing. And full of sugary goodness.

P.S. it would also be nice with vodka.

P.P.S. I had all good intentions of styling a beautiful shot of my home made pink lemonade, but with everything that I've got to do over the next few weeks, I'm trying to eliminate any non-essentials. In times like these it's fortunate that we have Pinterest to turn to. Upon entering my search term of 'pink lemonade' I was instantly presented with the cream of the crop of pink lemonade shots.

P.P.P.S. I didn't get to making any lemon tarts or lemon curd. But I still have about 20 lemons left, so it might even happen in between the great big shop tasks list. Which is where I'll be today. And tomorrow.