What is an 'arboretum' ?

A friend told us about a great park with a fantastic playground called Tim Neville Arboretum. Who is Tim Neville and what is an 'arboretum'.  Still not sure who Tim Neville is but an 'arboretum' is a place where plants are cultivated for scientific purposes .... hmmm had we known that when we were there we would have insisted that the kids did not pick the plants at the garden ! 

Kids had a ball at this playground which had lots of a different play equipment and there was even a lochness monster appearing out of the grounds.   

There was also ducks to feed and a bit of a bike path for scooting. As soon as she got in the car on the way home, Abbey said she was tired and fell asleep instantly !

Carnivores

The girls are truly carnivores ...especially Abbey. The meat always gets devoured first and any vegetables or carbs on the plate only get a disdainful glance. Here they are getting stuck into their chicken skewers with their vegetable risotto untouched. Eloise was eventually coaxed to eat her risotto but Abbey would not have a bar of it ... I suppose there is little room left after she ate her share of the skewers and finished off Eloise's left overs !

The faces of Abbey

Abbey's favourite word is "No" (pronounced Noooooooo) and is the answer to almost any question, except for when you ask her whether she is cheeky then it is "Abbey cheeky"..... 

The defiant No look

The cheeky grin

 Abbey's inquisitiveness has also really kicked in ... not a day goes by when we won't hear her ask "Wot this?"

Miss Inquisitive

Her mastery of the English language is now getting quite proficient with a few words being strung together. Her Mandarin is not bad either and she will alternate between English and Mandarin. However, as most of us don't understand Mandarin or a very minimal amout she does get quite frustrated ..... One day she kept asking for the "woo quai" stamp on a drawing app on the iPad and when mummy did not respond after several requests she screamed out in English in a rather exasperated fashion "the turtle ..." Daddy cops it even worse because he does not understand any Mandarin and when he went to change her nappy she asked him to "sei pee guo " only to be met with a blank look and again in an exasperated voice it was "wash bottom Daddy!". Ahh the joys of being bilingual when those around you aren't !

Exasperated Abbey

Self Potrait

Both girls Eloise in particular are now quite proficient with using the iPad and iPhone ... from searching for cartoons on You Tube to playing games to using the camera and video function. Here are some of Eloise's self portraits taken during what must have been a particularly boring car trip!

Swinging

Whenever the girls are at the park, the first thing they make a bee line for are the swings. Despite the fact that they can have a swing anytime at home, the girls will spend the majority of their time at the park on the swings.

Eloise has only recently in the last month learnt how to swing on her own and she is extremely proud of her achievement and we are equally thrilled at not having to push!

Whilst Abbey will always egg you on to push her higher and she has a tendency to scare the living daylights out of us when she occasionally leans right back mid swing and almost falling out the swing ! 

Stephanie's 5th birthday

The girls were invited to Stephanies's 5th birthday party which was a craft party at Petit Atelier in Prahran. It was a sea of pink and right up Eloise's alley as the activities included jewellery making and decorating a jewellery box. Abbey was also quite happy to get stuck into it. Happy Birthday Steph! Where did those five years go?!

Autumn Leaves

We caught up with Ange from Brisbane (who was in Melbourne for work) on a sunny Autumn morning. First stop was brunch at Chez Dre in South Melbourne which served a divine brunch. Eloise and Abbey were extremely well behaved and Abbey was a bottomless pit that morning! Next up was a walk around South Melbourne market followed by a walk on the beach. On the way back through the back streets of Albert Park the girls found the nature strips filled with autumn leaves and they just could not resist. Abbey who was in the pram was supposed to be be sleeping and she howled and screamed until she was let out to play in the leaves!

Mother's Day lunch at Kinder

Eloise has been talking about it for weeks, so obviously the preparations must have started a while ago. The day finally arrived for the lunch and all the mums were treated to a musical performance.

The tables were beautifully set for a lunch of salad and quiche served up by the kids.  There was even a delicious cookies and cream cheesecake for dessert.  The kids helped cook but Eloise said that she did not actually do any cooking because she was too busy putting together her creations!

Lining up to get the food to serve to their mums

Lunch is served mum !

And finally the presents .... the kids all presented their mums with the gifts they had made - a card, a necklace, a jewellery stand and an oven mitt. Lots of work has gone into these gifts.

Beautiful gifts all made by Eloise

Eloise the Swimmer

Her swimming teacher has called Eloise a 'superstar' and she has once again been recommended to move up to the next level. Eloise can now swim about 10 metres unaided and loves the end of a swimming lesson where she gets to practise diving into the pool