Pearly whites

Eloise had her first ever visit to the dentist  (ooops, I think 5 is a little late as apparently it is recommended that the first visit to the dentist starts at 3!).  She was actually very excited as she wanted the dentist to check if any of her teeth is wobbly ...since the middle of last year, Eloise has been eagerly anticipating loosing her front teeth so that she can get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.   We were all pleased when the dentist said that there were no cavities but Eloise was a little dissapointed that there was still no sign of a wobbly tooth.

Abbey was very concerned watching proceedings from the side lines and was gripping on to mum as she sat and watched.  She was actually scheduled to have her own checkup the following day but that had to be postponed because she was sick and also we did not think that she would be that amenable to opening her mouth!

Hot Summer Days

It finally feels like summer with a long stretch of hot days and Abbey has been loving it !  Whilst Eloise has been hard at work at school, Abbey has had playdates with her friends in the 'pool'.   

Abbey and Zoe cooling off on her 40 degree day !

While the cat is away ...

While the cat is away, the mouse comes out to play!  Abbey has taken this saying to heart and acting on it literally.  Whilst Eloise is at school she takes the opportunity to play with all of her big sister's toys that she is not normally allowed to play with unless she is under heavy supervision by Eloise!

So sometime between 9am and 3:30 pm, Abbey will play with the Barbies and even Monty who is Her big sister's security bear and something Eloise has gone to bed with everynight since she was 18 months old.  Abbey has even been so bold as to take Monty out to the supermarket!  

Looking a little sheepish

Happy Year of the Snake

Goodbye year of the dragon and hello year of the snake.  The girls were very excited to put on their chong sam outfits and as Eloise had a few to choose from, she made a number of dress changes before finally settling on one. 

 

Eloise the Dragon

Gung Xi Gung Xi (they are laughing because they turned it to "Gung Gung, Gung Gung")

This year, Amber celebrated her first Chinese New Year and from the looks of things she is no wall flower and will soon be joining the others in running around the house.  Already she seems not to be they shy retiring type.

The Girls

The kids all helped with tossing the "Yiew Sang" except for Amber who was more interested in eating it ... and there was plenty being flicked her way courtesy of Abbey who is still mastering the art of keeping the food on the plate when tossing ! 

The kids trying out the Yiew Sang

 Another year on, another year older and a new addition to the kids group shot.

CNY 2013

CNY 2012

WaterMarc

After waiting for a while for the crowds to die down, we finally made our way down to Water Marc, the new pool at Greensborough where as Eloise describes it, it has a huge waterslide that comes out through the roof!  

It is a fantastic pool with plenty for the kids to do... there are lots of things that squirt water at you or which you can use to squirt other people, huge buckets of water that tip on you after filling, two great water slides for kids and another two gigantic waterslides for the bigger kids.  There is also a great and most importantly warm toddler pool area which is just the right depth for Abbey. 

Abbey was initially a little worried about going down the water slide but she was soon tempted and within half an hour was going down on her own.   Eloise was also a great and patient teacher with Abbey, spending about half an hour trying to teach her how to do big bombs in the pool !

At $18 for the whole family (free for Abbey) it was great value for money, as the kids were kept active and occupied for the entire morning and were so exhausted that they had no problems falling asleep that night !

Eloise's first day at school

It truly is amazing how quickly the time has flown. Very cliched, but it really does feel like it was only yesterday when Eloise was just a baby and now at the blink of an eye, she is starting school.

From this ..... 

Eloise in her first week

 to this....

Eloise was certainly very excited and has been looking forward to this day for months. There was no sign of apprehension or nervousness and this in a large part is due to the numerous orientation sessions that started from the middle of last year.   

She had laid out her uniform and shoes neatly the night before and in the morning ate her breakfast much quicker than usual and promptly brushed her teeth and went to dress herself without the usual nagging to get ready ...before she spent a bit of time admiring herself in front of the mirror! 

"Is this really me?"

 

 

There weres no tears in sight at all and Eloise later reported that she had not even thought about us when she was at school !

Sporting a big grin heading into the classroom

Settling into the classroom

Abbey wanted to join in as well !