It's Definately Hotter Than 24

I know all of us Tasmanians are going on about the hot weather, but it really isn't something that we experience a lot of, and something we definitely aren't prepared for.

Our friend Marlo moved from Victoria in about March or April this year. She had visited Tasmania before, but had never experienced much of the Tasmanian weather till she moved here. All winter she would ask us 'is this the coldest it will get?' every time we would see her. She would come and visit all rugged up and would say how she was over the winter (only half way through). We told her to be prepared for a long winter and short summer.

A few weeks ago she asked me 'does it ever get hotter than 24 degrees?'. I couldn't help but laugh as she really believed it would never get over 24 degrees. It had been a very mild summer all of December, and if it started to get into the low 20s (celcius) we would get very excited. A few days in early January hit 24 degrees and Marlo would text me all excited saying 'it's going to be 24 degrees today!' (she has become obsessed with checking the weather report 3 times a day supposedly!). We have told her that it is always when the tennis starts (Australian Open) and when school goes back that it gets really hot, and told her that sometimes we would even get into the low 30s!

Oh boy what a shock the past few days have been! Yesterday was almost 37 degrees and it broke previous records, and we thought that it surely couldn't get any hotter but today it did - it was 39!! Yeah, yeah - I know what you mainlanders are all saying - you get that all the time :) but I swear the heat down here is a lot more intense - the sun just burns so much more. Thank goodness we don't live on the mainland! During winter we always joke that we should move to the mainland as we quickly get over the long winter, but seriously - I couldn't stand it!! Most people here don't have air conditioners, so we are doing all that we can to stay as cool as possible.

Jay, Harri and I went to the pool again today. It was just too hot to even consider taking Noah and Kobe out in the van (which is so old it also doesn't have any a/c). I attempted the slide with Harri - I was actually scared and screaming all the way down! (thanks Kylie for the pic!)

The boys have been going around with very little on - whenever we are home they often just wear shorts, undies, or nappies!

We have been making good use out of the new pool in the backyard. The boys will run out there numerous times a day and just jump in. Aaron and I even jump in when we are desperate! :)

Kobe loves it when we are all out in the pool,


but not so much when we are inside where it is so hot, despite closing all the blinds, opening all the windows and having four fans going at once.

Noah is finding it harder than any of us. Yesterday he wasn't too bad - he slept most of the day, but today he has really struggled. After just seeing Dr B (his paediatrician) two days ago and telling him his seizures have been so good and he's hardly having any, he is now having so many more because of the heat. We have been trying desperately to keep him cool by putting fans on him, laying cold face washers on him, spraying him with water and when he's really hot, putting him into a cool bath.

Because he's having so many seizures again he is getting a lot of cerebral irritation. This afternoon he started yelling and has only just settled down now - 7 hours later. It's a horrible yell where there is nothing you can do to stop it. He hasn't been like that for a while now, so it's been horrible listening to it all afternoon. Something funny though - some idiot stole our petrol cap (and probably some petrol) and also tampered with the drivers side lock on our van. I rang the police to report it (I knew there is nothing they can do, but thought I should report it anyway) and he could obviously hear Noah yelling in the background and goes 'sounds like you have a hungry cat there!'. I just laughed and said 'yeah!'. Didn't want to tell him that was my son yelling - he might have arrested me for neglecting my children or something! ;) It is exactly what he sounds like - a very agro cat!

We're all a bit agro with this heat at the moment, and hope that it starts to cool down soon - although the forecast tomorrow isn't saying its going to just yet :(

You Know It's Hot When....

....I go to the pool and actually go for a swim! This morning on the Sunrise TV show they had people email things to do with 'you know it is hot when...'. In Adelaide and Melbourne it has been in the mid 40 degrees celcius (113F) and here in Launceston it has been mid 30s (around 93F) which is way hotter than we are used to.

We decided to try to cool down by taking the boys (except for Noah) to the Riverside Pool. Kylie had mentioned it a couple of times on her blog that they liked going there, so we thought we'd give it a go. On the way to the pool we were listening to the radio and they said it was 36 degrees!

The boys loved it - especially the water slide. Jay had heaps of turns on the slide and could've spent all day there if we let him.


Aaron convinced Harri to try it with him. He came down with a funny look on his face like he was about to freak, but when they fell into the water he grinned and yelled 'can we do that again!!!?'.

There is a great little toddler pool there that the boys loved just as much as Kobe!


It was nice to run into Kylie, Patrick and Lauren. Kylie had seen Kobe on the blog sticking out his tongue many a time, and he didn't let her down today!

Jay and Patrick are only just over a week apart in age, and knew each other when they were tiny, but haven't seen much of each other since they started school. It was so cool seeing them hang out together and talk about Wii games. Aaron said he couldn't get a word in with all the Nintendo talk!

The water was so refreshing, but now we are at home we are stinking hot again! I was complaining that I wanted Summer to arrive, but not like this! It's supposed to be hot like this over the next couple of days.

Where Has My Baby Gone?

My little baby is growing up so fast!!! Kobe is 7 1/2 months now, but just doesn't seem like a little baby anymore. Nothing is safe in the house! He crawls from room to room and sometimes we don't even know where he is. Often Jay will come out carrying him as he has gone into the boys bedroom and is starting to get into their stuff. Kobe absolutely loves it when Jay picks him up and has the biggest grin on his face as he is getting carried from room to room. When he was smaller Jay didn't want to hold him very much - I think he thought he would hurt him, but now he is bigger Jay just grabs him under his arms and carries him everywhere which is great.

This morning I put Kobe to bed for a nap and went to check on him and this is where he ended up - right at the opposite end of the cot! He did start with his head at the other end.

This afternoon Aaron put him down for a nap. When he woke up this is what we found! The last two days he has just started to pull himself up, and now there is no stopping him!!

My baby is growing up way too fast!

No Sharks or Jelly Fish

The weather is starting to really heat up in Tassie :) We thought we'd take the opportunity while Di was looking after Noah, to take the boys for a swim at the Basin today. On the way there Harri asks 'is there any sharks or jelly fish!?'. I think we have spent too much time at the beach lately.

Kobe has never been to a pool before, but we thought he would love it since he loved the beach so much. We were right! He sat in the water and clapped his hands and kept grinning and splashing.

He loves his Dad, and spent ages splashing in the water with him and giving him big kisses.


It is such a beautiful day and there is no better way than to cool off in such a beautiful spot.



We really are so lucky here in Tassie to have so many beautiful places to go to, which are so close to home.

Australia Day '09

Our Australia Day today consisted of the usual drive up to Bridport to spend the day at the beach.


Nothing better than hanging out with friends,




paddling in the water,


soaking up the sun,


snapping photos (Kelvin is just as bad as I am!),

and watching the usual shenanigans on the tube, with everyone trying to throw everyone else off!



It always ends up in someone getting injured. Poor Rob got this huge scratch when trying to get the women off the tube!

Jay and Harri loved having a turn on the tube- that was until Jay overbalanced and grabbed hold of Harri and they both went in and right under the water. Harri came up screaming 'I want to go home!!'. He settled down after about a minute.

Whenever Rob and Scott are around someone is bound to get thrown in the water. I dodged them many times by either having Kobe or Noah with me or having my camera around my neck! Bishop Corey hates the beach and especially the water. Everyone kept asking when he was going to go for a swim and supposedly he said when Noah did. I didn't hear him say it, but took Noah down to have a paddle in the waves. He was looking very nervous after that - wondering when he was going to be thrown in! Everyone decided that he wasn't a good option as he is on the lookout for a new counsellor at the moment! :)

Rob decided to take Una on, but soon gave up as no one else was silly enough to help him!

Of course no Australia day is complete without having a kick of the footy.


It was such a beautiful day - perfect weather and nice to hang out with friends as we celebrate this great country that we live in.

Cool Kim

This afternoon we had a visit from Aaron's step sister - Kim, who is over from Melbourne for the long weekend. We love catching up with Kim as she is so fun and laid back. The boys don't really know her very well as she has lived in Melbourne since Jay was a baby, but she loves seeing the boys and hearing about what they are up to.

Kim has her own business which is called Yu Food and Lifestyle and is about making conscious decisions about food and lifestyle. She teaches groups how to cook different meals using organic foods and also runs retreats. She also practices Chinese herbal therapy. It's really interesting talking to her about what she does. Aaron is starting a wheat free/dairy free period to get rid of his excema and he was moaning to her about it, so she is going to send me lots of different recipes to try which should be good.

Before she left we took some photos and she was so funny as she pulled out a pair of goggles from her handbag and put them on. Harri was so excited! He yells 'are we going swimming!!?' Kim is training at the moment for a triathlon next week, so she had been swimming up at the gorge pool this morning and still had her goggles with her.

The boys thought she was really cool.

Eamon Leigh

Although we had a lovely week away in St Helen's it was not a good week to be away. Little Lachlan was blessed on Sunday and we missed out, and Becky gave birth to a beautiful baby boy - Eamon Leigh (pronounced Ayman). We were excited to go to Devonport today to finally meet him - a week later! The blogerazzi sure dropped the ball on this one - lucky I had Nicki and Steph to take over for me! :)

He is such a big baby - especially compared to Kels when she was born. We kept commenting on how he really looked like a little boy. Kels is such a proud big sister!

It's been great meeting all these new babies over the past couple of weeks - Chloe, Matilda and now Eamon. The best thing though is that Aaron is finally over wanting to have more kids!!! Before he would often say 'oh maybe we will have one more, one day', but now he says 'I'm definitely over having kids!' YAY!!! I've been waiting for this day to come for a long time :)

He loves having a cuddle, but then says he is so glad it's not him having to deal with a newborn again. We love watching Kobe grow up and know he is definitely our last one.

Jay was happy to have a little cuddle with Eamon, but when I asked Harri if he wanted one he says 'nah, no thanks!'. I think he is over the excitement of babies since Kobe came along.

Becky says she feels great and that Eamon is such a placid and happy baby. Kelsea was a harder baby, so it's nice for them to have an easy one this time - hopefully he will stay that way.

Nicki and Alex heard we were coming to meet Eamon and invited us to stay for tea. It was lovely to spend some time with them - even though they only live at Ulverstone we don't get to catch up as often as we would like. The boys were so excited to go for tea and play with Maddi and Alex.


When someone has a placid and settled baby we call them a 'Nicki baby', as both Maddi and little Alex were such good babies - sounds like Eamon might be a 'Nicki baby'. None of mine were ever 'Nicki babies' as they all screamed for one reason or another. Maybe we should've made up another phrase for screaming, unsettled babies - a 'Lisa Baby'. Little Alex is such a lovely boy and you wouldn't even know he was around half the time - definitely a 'Nicki Baby!'.

Nicki and Alex made us a beautiful BBQ tea.

With the boys being into Guitar Hero so much lately they were absolutely fascinated when Uncle Alex showed them his electric guitar! They even knew half the songs he was playing.

It was a really long day as we left home at 9.30 am and got home at 9.30pm but nice to catch up with family and to finally meet Eamon.