Melbourne's Scienceworks Museum

About a month ago my sister Nicki asked me what I thought about coming over to Melbourne with the boys for a weekend.  I was feeling pretty down at the time and really didn't feel like doing anything, especially not going to Melbourne, but thought that maybe it was just what we needed to have some fun and also catch up with Nicki and Alex and their kids, who we have been missing since they moved to Melbourne.

We were lucky to get cheap flights and planned on going on a weekend when there was a good game of footy on.  We knew we would only be in Melbourne for a couple of days as we have to get back to school and work, so we planned on filling the days with lots of things to see and do.

The boys were excited to go over.  Kobe couldn't stop talking about seeing his cousins as he has missed them a lot.  Nicki came and picked us up from the airport and we stayed at their house.
The kids were so excited to see each other.  Nicki and Alex's kids loved watching the boys on their gadgets.

On our first day we headed to the Scienceworks Museum. Aaron and I had actually been there eighteen years ago - before we got married. The boys thought it was pretty cool to know that Aaron had actually been there. The boys had never been and kept asking me what it was like, but I couldn't remember a thing! All I could remember was that there were lots of interactive exhibits and that it was really good.

The kids loved it as there were so many great things for them to do.  You could spend ages there, but we only spent a couple of hours as we knew we had lots of things we wanted to do.  They loved the 'Nitty Gritty Super City' section which was suited to younger children. 

Jalen doing a weather report, which he could then watch back.

Harri is making me proud as he is loving photography as much as I am at the moment.  He took our little point and shoot camera and kept taking photos all day.    Every time he did something he would yell 'take a photo on my camera Mum!' and would smile and pose for me.   I am trying to teach him that sometimes you don't need to look at the camera to get a good photo, and that sometimes it's better to just capture the moment. 

We all loved the Sportsworks section, except for Maddi who thought it was a bit boring. This photo makes me laugh as she has her cranky face on :)

It reminded us of the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, where we went once before with Aaron. There were lots of cool things to do.  We especially liked the wheelchair racing.





The House Secrets section was cool as you could see how different things in homes work.

Before we left we went outside and had lunch and a play in the outdoor playgrounds.  It had an amazing view of the West Gate Bridge with the city behind it.

It was such a beautiful day - about 24 degrees (celcius) so we loved being back in shorts and t-shirts again.

We spent the rest of the day doing a bit of shopping and I hoped to take Harri to the footy that night to watch the Bombers V Cats, but we didn't think about it till we got there and it was sold out.  I kept reminding Harri that it was okay as we had tickets to go to the footy the following night, which he was so excited about.  I forget that there is usually more than one game in Melbourne every weekend.   It was probably good that we didn't go as it would've meant an extra late night and we were tired already after a fun and busy day.

Guest Blogger - The Elm Tree

Thank you Eleanor for asking me to be a guest blogger on your beautiful blog, for Mother's Day.  Eleanor is so talented and paints beautiful pictures.  Thank you for this beautiful picture of me and my boys. 

You can read my post here or by clicking on the picture below.

Heart Attacked

This time it was a much nicer 'heart attack'.  There's no doubt that we have some amazing friends.  About a month ago we woke up and saw some hearts on our front door.  Harri opened up the door and started yelling 'come and see what's happened!!!'.    It was so cool to see hundreds of hearts over our front windows, door, footpath and car.

We have been lucky to have been 'heart attacked' a few times.  The day of Noah's funeral we arrived home to hearts all over our front yard.  Another time I remember Aaron yelled 'heart attack!' when he opened the blinds one morning and there were hearts all over our lawn.  

It's such a lovely way for people to let us know they are thinking of us. I'm sure the neighbourhood was wondering what was going on with the new crazy people who just moved in :)  

We still don't know which sneaky friends did it, and no one has given away any clues.  Thank you to whoever did it. It really made us smile.

Together Again

Last July Aaron's Pop passed away, and last week Aaron's Nan was reunited with him.  She would've been 95 years old at the end of the month and told people that she was quite happy to go because her health hasn't been great over the last few years.

We hadn't seen a lot of Nan and Pop since Noah was born because it was getting too hard to get him in and out of their house with his wheelchair and life just got so busy.   The last time that Aaron saw Nan was when she was in hospital just a few months before Noah passed away.  I remember him walking in and bursting into tears, as he told her how sorry he was that he hadn't seen a lot of her lately. 

He loved his Nan and Pop so much and always told me about spending time at their house when he was a kid.  He loved taking the boys to their house and telling them all the things he got up to there. 

The boys didn't want to go to the funeral with me because they said that it would make them too sad, as it would make them think about Aaron and Noah.   I was happy that they chose to stay at school, because I knew it would be hard for them.

Aaron's sister Trudy came over from Melbourne and it was lovely to catch up with her.  She spoke at Nan's funeral and read out a scripture and poem that Nan had commented at another funeral they went to, that she would love it to be read at hers.

After the service we walked behind the hearse to Nan's graveside which is just opposite the children's section and where Noah's grave is. 

 

 She was being buried in the same plot as Pop.    It's strange to think that is how it's going to be for Aaron and I. The boys often joke about how I'm going to squash Aaron in his grave when I'm buried on top of him. 
 

It's always lovely to catch up with Aaron's lovely cousins Tracey and Jessi-Rose and their family. 

I know that Aaron's Nan will be happy to be reunited with his Pop.  I couldn't stop thinking about how nice it was that they weren't apart for too long - 'only' ten months.    Even though it was only ten months I know how that feels like a lifetime. I can't imagine what it would be like to be together for over seventy four years, and then be apart.

It doesn't matter how long you are together though - it's still heart breaking when your best friend and love of your life is no longer with you. I just wish that I didn't have to wait so long to be with Aaron again.

An exhausting school holidays

I always dread school holidays now that Aaron and Noah aren't with us because the days seem extra long.  These school holidays came a lot earlier than we are used to in Tasmania, because we have just switched from three to four terms.

We were all definitely ready for a break from work and school, and I was looking forward to not having a routine, but dreading it at the same time.   Having a routine keeps us busy and makes the days go a lot quicker.   Being on holidays means that we enjoy sleep ins (if only Kobe would actually sleep in) and get to spend lots of time together, but that also means that we miss Aaron and Noah even more as it's a lot more obvious that Aaron and Noah aren't with us.

To make the holidays as easy as possible I try to make sure that we get out and do something every day.  The boys would be more than happy to sit at home all day, every day on the computer if I let them.    I don't mind them having some down time on the computer and playing on the Wii, but I know how important it is to get out as it what helps me to feel half normal.

The boys said they wanted to do a few things that we would often do in the holidays with Aaron and Noah, like going to the movies and going ten pin bowling, but we also had fun doing things that we didn't plan, like going on a tour of the fire station, and playing in the hail.

It was the first time we had been ten pin bowling since Noah passed away and we had a great time, but Jay felt really sad the whole time as it made him think of Aaron.  We used to go ten pin bowling every school holidays, so it brought back a lot of memories for us.   Aaron was so excited when the prefects from school gave him a bowling ball as a gift one year.  We decided to take Aaron's ball for good luck. 

I now know why Aaron used to win all the time. It wasn't necessarily that he was better than us at bowling - it was the ball! It was such a good ball!   Check out my double strike at the end! I'm sure Aaron had something to do with that.

We love living close to school now. It feels like we have our own personal playground close by.  We have enjoyed going there to play basketball, kick the footy, throw the frisbee and ride bikes.

The boys put their footy and basketball tops on when they knew we would be playing some sports together.     Harri was so serious that he took two tops with him - his Atlanta Hawks one for when we played basketball, and then switched to his Hawks one for when we kicked the footy. He makes me laugh as he is so serious about anything to do with sports.

We are lucky to have some beautiful places so close to home.    On the first day of our holidays I dragged the boys out for a walk at the Gorge.  Jay surprised me as he is so much fitter since he has been walking to school, since moving to our new house. 

My boys have learned if they just quickly pose for a photo for me, I will then leave them alone :)

Posers :)

I cracked up at Jay who was taking a selfie.  Apparently if you are taking a selfie you are supposed to  open your mouth really wide!

Harri and I obviously forgot to do it in this one.

The boys always love going to the Bike Centre.  I think the last time we went there was just ten days before Aaron passed away.  I can't remember going back since then and it's such a fun, cheap activity that you can do with a lot of people, so I booked it for a couple of hours and invited lots of people to join us.  It was lovely to have so many people come and we also got to meet some new friends who we had only met online, but have just moved to Tasmania from Queensland.

The kids had the best time time playing together and the time went so fast.



We hadn't been to Agfest for a few years, and Jay and Harri couldn't actually remember ever going, so it was good that it was on during school holidays.  We had a lovely few hours there with Mum.  The boys loved doing push ups and sit ups with the army to earn a prize from them.

All day Kobe wanted to go back to 'watch the news'.  He loved the Southern Cross tent where you could sit at the news desk and read the news on the teleprompter.  There was a huge screen outside where you could watch people doing it and some of it was really funny as some people would go off script and say their own thing.

The highlight at Agfest was meeting Hawthorn legend - Peter Hudson. He was at the Hawks tent and was so lovely to the boys and even signed a ball for them.  Aaron would've been going crazy if he saw him there.

Overall our holidays were good.  It has been our easiest school holidays so far, and I'm sure that moving to our new house has helped that a little bit.  It was nice to spend lots of time together over the last couple of weeks.    Even though we just had holidays I'm actually feeling really run down and tired, and I think it's because I've been trying to keep the boys busy.

Because the boys have been staying up a lot later, I feel like I have no quiet time to myself, so I have also been staying up really late to enjoy some peace at the end of the day.  It isn't good though when Kobe wakes up at his usual time.

We go back to school and work tomorrow and hopefully getting back into a routine and having some earlier nights, will mean that I feel a bit better physically.  I feel like I need a real holiday! :)