Winter came knocking...

As I mentioned yesterday, it's been snowing...

On Saturday we woke up to snow!!!!!!! It was actually snowing!!!!! Light, gentle, slowly falling snow!

There was no way I was staying inside and missing this (Michael initially hid under the covers, but changed his mind).

So, we got rugged up and went out and enjoyed the snow while it's still novel.

Jimmy had a little trouble on the stairs in all his layers, but he did well and made it down without much trouble, thanks to a helping hand from Dadee.

We weren't the first ones out in it, but we were close enough and in some places we were the first (yay!).

The snow wasn't particularly thick, but it was a good introduction for Jimmy. It certainly changed his favourite rock garden.

Naturally there were a few stumbles, but that's normal these days as Jimmy recalibrates how to walk in 3+ layers, with or without snow. Actually, this was the first time Jimmy had gone outside in the Muddlarks a cousin gave us (along with a good selection of clothes that has saved us from buying jumpers, thermals, long sleeve tops, and gloves - and yes, we brought them all with us from Australia), and they were great! Jimmy's legs stayed nice and dry, and presumably warm. We double gloved his little hands too, and his fingers were still warm when we came home.

It was such a quiet morning, even though it was after 9 am. The world seemed to be sleeping, yet it was snowing. It was a little magical.

Michael took this lovely one of Jimmy and me*. It's kinda weird seeing picture of us walking together because he's still so little, yet he's growing so fast.

Our coats caught snowflakes, we crunched the fresh snow with our shoes and in our gloved hands, made a little snow man, and yes, Jimmy decided to eat some too.

I think it's fairly safe to say that Jimmy enjoyed the snow, or at least the excitement and attention of his parents (we kept pointing our cameras in his face because, you know, snow).

We weren't out for long, probably less than an hour, but it was warmer than it has been lately, and it was lovely. We stayed inside for the rest of the day as we had no reason or inclination to go out.

The snow turned to rain, and the sun set.

Sunday morning we woke to even more snow! It had snowed overnight, but the clouds were starting to clear. So, we headed out for our first snowy trip to the shops before the snow turned to mush.

 Michael and I were very excited to see rabbit footprints in the snow just outside out apartment.

Michael was happy with how his bike handled in the conditions.

The snow was thicker on Sunday than on Saturday, but it still wasn't enough to completely cover the grass.

Jimmy was pretty cold by the time we arrived but that's the difference between walking around and being worn (something for me to keep in mind). After helping to push the trolley around he warmed up and was kinda happy to be worn home.

And we did well: somehow I managed to breastfeed Jimmy; and neither Michael nor I slipped on any ice!

According to the forecast we're not going to get much more until Christmas, so I'm glad we made the most of what little there was. And I'm glad it wasn't bitterly cold or super windy for Jimmy's first experience of snow.

*I'll tell you about my hat soon.

Frank Anneberg Park...

Last week, Jimmy and I went to Frank Anneberg Park with some friends for a play and a walk. It was a little windy but not too cold for the rugged up little ones.

It's a really nice park and the play area is all fenced in and no dogs are allowed, so it's safe for little ones to just run around (although when the children are still as little as Jimmy and his friends, us mummies/mommies were never far from our little ones). In the first photo there are Canadian Geese, on their way south... because winter is coming.

Even with winter coming, there are still trees holding on to their leaves... just a few trees, unless you count the evergreens.

Jimmy tried out the swing, which wasn't quite the right size for him, but he still enjoyed it.

High clouds, jet stream, baseball fields, leaf-less trees, and the fence separating the playground from the rest of the park.

Once the little ones had had their fun (read: were clinging to us, no longer playing, giving every indication that they needed naps), we went for a walk, with the little ones in baby carriers or pram.

With dry leaves on the ground and a chill in the air, we kept up a good pace and ended up with sleeping or sleepy bubs. It was a lovely morning!

Our friends dropped us home and all I could think of was a hot cup of something, even though the day was warming up and absolutely lovely. Jimmy had other ideas. Apparently he was sick of being inside (he was cooped up most of last week due to his cold), so he ate his morning tea outside our apartment and encouraged me to spend more time outside. It was lovely, and when I eventually managed to get him upstairs, Jimmy had a really, really big nap. Here's to hoping for a mild winter, so that I can keep taking Jimmy outside, because he's loving it.

Road trip: Part 4 - Lake of the Woods to Thunder Bay

Day 8: Lake of the Woods to Thunder Bay

We set alarms and were up before dawn so that we could see Uncle C. again before he left for Winnipeg and to thank him for having us. Once he was gone, we continued drinking our coffee and watched the sun rise over the Lake...

Photo: Michael

It was magical.

And then we packed up, locked up, and drove off. Not only did we have a 6 hour drive ahead of us but there was at least one more Geocache to find. 

But it wasn't found. Meanwhile, I managed to take a few pretty photos of mist and wild flowers, grasses, spruce, and birch. Jimmy and Pop got their groove on to the Wiggles, while staying nice and warm in the car.

As we drove towards Thunder Bay the landscape became rockier, with fewer lakes but more trees and grasses and wild flowers and road works. The race to finish everything before the ground froze was on. We were fortunate enough not to have to wait very long at any given point.

The day was uneventful otherwise, although we did feel pressed for time and by 4 pm, with 1.5 hours driving to go, we had to make a call: see Kakabeka Falls and have a really cranky Jimmy or just head to our accommodation. We skipped Kakabeka Falls. We were all close to being 'over' being in the car.

And we did manage to make it to KOA Thunder Bay without Jimmy getting too upset. Oh we were glad to be out of that car! We bought firewood and started looking forward to a hot dinner and cups of tea... only we were a few days too late for the dry wood... that all went over the Labor Day weekend, when they were very busy. Oh well... At least the swimming pool was open...

But we were all after refreshments first, but they were second to setting up our cabin. Except in Jimmy's case. He'd waited long enough.

Possibly one of my favourite photos, thanks Michael for taking it!

Jimmy, Michael, and I went for a swim. It was really refreshing, and not in a "the water was cold" way. Even Jimmy enjoyed the swim before he found the difference in water and air temperatures too much. Nothing a warm shower couldn't fix.

Our kettle.

38/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: Sound asleep after a short walk.

We went for a walk, really it was only very short, just to get out of the house because it was getting to that time of day and as Jimmy is moving to one nap a day, he was pretty cranky and in need of distraction. He did a little walking but then Michael helped me get him into the Manduca and by the time we were almost home, our little boy was sound asleep, using his hand to help secure his big head. Doesn't he have a big head? He's almost big enough for the Manduca to be unzipped, but I think he prefers having his arms free. He's also almost done with the Manduca, but I think we have a few more months until he's able to walk everywhere.

It almost goes without saying, but Michael took this lovely photo.

A glimpse of the Riley County Fair!

At playgroup on Friday, I was talking to another mum and she mentioned taking her children over to the County Fair in the morning to see the animals, and I thought it'd be fun to head over there too. Michael agreed. We headed out on Saturday morning, early enough to head to uni first and then go to the Fair and be home before the day reached its predicted high and before the predicted storm.

Pride before a fall...

We had Jimmy's 12 month checkup and vaccinations last week. I have to admit I was a little sad that we weren't seeing our GP in Brisbane. Ah well, the doctor we saw was friendly and we had a good chat. Of course Jimmy was weighed and measured by a nurse before we actually saw the doctor and another nurse administered the jabs, but at least the room we were in had windows and we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes between seeing each of them, unlike our experience when I had mastitis.

Jimmy was really good while the nurse weighed and measured him - no squirming or fussing (win #1) - and

A little bit of Australia in Manhattan...

On Wednesday, after going to playgroup and having had lunch with Michael, Jimmy and I were walking home when we had to stop at a set of traffic lights. A car pulled up, a few cars back from the intersection, but the driver had their windows down and they were playing music. So far, nothing note worthy: it's summer, so of course people are going around with their car windows down; and lots of people play music loud enough to be heard from their cars.

But then I started actually listening to the music. It was good music. It was familiar. It was John Butler Trio!!

Yep, someone in Manhattan, KS, was blasting John Butler Trio from their car.

And as the car drove off I think I saw an Akubra on the bit at the back, above the back seats...

A big day out...

Last week we decided to head to the part of town known as Aggieville. This is where the bars and a lot of restaurants are. We went in search of gelati, without an address, just the knowledge that it was there. We also had a mission: a friend had recommended that we go to Arby's because he liked the food and thought we might like it too.

Friday night the plan was to have a quick breakfast and head out before the day heated up. The best laid plans of mice and men... Fortunately the weather had been fairly mild, so when 10 am came around and we were still at home I wasn't too worried. Our route took us for a nice ~4 km (~2.5 mile) walk and after a little walking around, we made for Arby's. Hey! I'd just walked 4 km or more, in the sun, wearing a ~9 kg baby, and let's not forget the breastfeeding while walking.

Michael is getting good at taking group photos.

Michael's food photography isn't bad either.

Hmmmm curly fries... That was a win: the food was good; the unsweetened iced tea was spot on; the toilet was clean, but lacked a change table (good thing Jimmy was still dry). While it's a long way for us to go for a meal when we don't have a car, we'll be happy to head to an Arby's when the opportunity presents itself. On to the next thing!

We walked around for a bit and went into the bike shop, Big Poppi Bicycle Co., where we found the hipsters of Manhattan... No really, the staff are all hipsters. It's also a local business, so is well worthy of support. They had a nice range of bicycles, but nothing we were really interested in, or that was within our price range (we have bicycles back in Australia, and as we're only here for a year we basically only need beater bikes*). They did have one of these for sale... we're pretty excited about the prospect of getting around with Jimmy in a bicycle trailer, but there's not much point getting one if we don't have a bicycle. So, we kept going. On to the Dusty Bookshelf!

This was both relaxing and torture... All those books... So little time to browse... So little time to read... They have a children's section and with toys on the floor I let Jimmy loose. He had been in the Manduca for a good while and his patience needed rewarding.

Jimmy was more interested in throwing the books around... Don't worry, I didn't let him damage any, and while I was looking after the books I found one book for Jimmy - an abridged, board book edition Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. I'll admit that it's an odd reduction, with some (important) details missed and others (not so important) included, but it has Miss Potter's pretty pictures and the tale of that naughty rabbit. Jimmy likes it, and I suspect that it'll be easy enough to leave behind, when we return to Australia.

The Dusty Bookshelf visited, it was time to move on to finding that gelato. We didn't have to go very far because just across the road was the Coldstone Creamery. There were some hard decisions to be made, mostly which flavour of icecream to have.

After having a few samples, we decided to have a big waffle cone, dipped in chocolate and Oreo crumbs, with 3 flavours of ice cream: mojito; blueberry pancake batter; and [something else that we don't remember the name of, but it was delicious and creamy].

The big waffle cones... (and more of Michael's food photography)

Our order... and the last of Michael's food photography for that weekend.

We enjoyed the ice cream, oh did we ever! It would almost have been worth skipping lunch and going straight for the Creamery, but it was probably best this way. (And yes, even Jimmy had tiny little tastes and while I felt a little guilt in giving my baby sugary food, it was better than the tantrum that would have ensued otherwise. And later I remembered that my parents weren't strict on no sugar, and the 3 of us turned out fine, so the mum-guilt disappeared.) After we polished off the ice cream, we walked around a little bit more, found a little park to give Jimmy a nappy change and let him crawl about for a bit. Then we walked home, pushing through sugar comas, but we made it**.

The whole adventure was a win, with a little sunburn (not for Jimmy), and aching feet (and back and hips for me, from all that baby wearing). It's a nice part of town, it's fairly close to the city park, which we need to get to, so we'll be heading out that way again, sometime before the summer is over.



*Beater bikes: these are the sort of bike that you don't worry about, the sort of bike that can spend all day in the snow, end up with a rusty chain and it's just an "oh well, better remember to look at that when I get home", they are the sort of bike that, when stolen, is just an inconvenience ("damn, oh well, looks like I might need to take the bus/get a lift/walk home"). People who spend over $2000-3000 on one bicycle are likely to have a beater bike that they're happy to lockup with other bikes for a few hours, so they don't have to worry about someone scratching the paintwork..

**If you come and visit us, we will most likely take you to the Creamery, but we'll be walking there and back, so bring some good walking shoes. No, really, walking ~8 km is necessary so that we can enjoy all that sugary, creamy goodness and not feel sick.

An open letter to Summer...

Dear Summer,

It would be too easy to write the words "go away", because that would really oversimplify my meaning. Please don't take this personally, because you are important, very important in some parts of the world. You fulfil an important biological role, I just don't like you.

There was probably a time when I did like you, even look forward to your arrival. You meant that the (old) Warwick Swimming Pool would be open, that Christmas and all those presents and yummy food were just around the corner, that my birthday wasn't far away either (read: more presents and yummy food), and that soon I would be starting a new grade at school, going up a class in ballet, and that there would be long days of mucking about or reading or whatever.

What changed? I'm honestly not sure. It could be any number of things: the demolition of the old pool and the opening of an indoor, all year round, pool; finding that my favourite bathers had been stolen from the clothes line; deciding that my legs looked better in jeans than in shorts; moving to Brisbane, where it is mostly warm all year round; having to go anywhere in muggy January or February; I stopped caring about how old I was (once I was 22); having to work during December, January, or February; sunburn... sweat... hmmmm...

Now that I have a bubba, I am beginning to enjoy your presence: Jimmy doesn't need to wear as much clothing when it's warm, which means less washing; I get to touch his pudgy, little feet, and see his little legs sticking out of his nappy; nappy changes are less concerning for Jimmy because his bum isn't exposed to the cold; plus we get to take him swimming. On hot days going anywhere can be worrying and problematic because Jimmy has such delicate and sun sensitive skin, and he and whoever is wearing him get all kinds of hot and sweaty...

Please make all summer days like they have been this week: the occasional morning storm, followed by a nice breeze that clears the clouds away; and the temperature is just right as it's warm enough for plants to grow and for swimming but not so hot that I sweat while doing nothing. Three months of days like this, please, because I don't like it when you make it really hot, and when you do, I thinking about chasing Autumn or Spring, but I can't afford that kind of lifestyle, and with a bubba, who will one day need to go to school, it's just impractical.

All the best,
Kamala

First impressions and other things involved with settling in...

Photo credit: Michael.

What does the sign in the photo say? Have a good look. Yes? You've read it, re-read it? No, don't plug it into Google Image. Select "Read more..." and I'll tell you what we thought it said and what it actually says and we'll see if we saw the same thing. Go on...

21/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week of 2014"

Jimmy: basically in his happy place, eating a bit of his mumma's croissant, waiting for the bus home after an interesting but annoying experience, as a storm rolls in. Fun times.

Photo credit goes to Michael, who took this in the Dillons East car park and the background is typical of what we see in Manhattan, KS. There is a lot of room for cars to park in this town, there is a lot of grass around the parking lots, not much in the way of gardens, just grass and trees, with big buildings sticking out. We were all tired and ready to go home after our first experience with the US medical system on Friday. What I thought was mastitis turned out to be just that and as Friday morning wore on I knew I was going to have to see a doctor, for antibiotics, before the weekend. The experience is worth its own post (watch this space). It was worth it because I got the antibiotics and the mastitis has cleared up, and the blockages have cleared up too.

21/52 means that we're close to halfway through the year. Eep! Having gone from early Autumn to early Spring and now heading into Summer, I feel the year is just starting up but I guess that's what happens when you grow up in the Southern Hemisphere. In a week or so we'll be another month down in our stay in Manhattan, KS. And before we know it, Jimmy will be celebrating his first birthday...

11/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Sleeping soundly, but you're out of sync - it's too late and too early, but you sleep anyway as we wait for your Dada to head out on his last shift at the Story Bridge Adventure Climb.

I don't remember what settings I was using on my Canon G15 when I took this shot, but I have been playing around with the shutter speed and I'm liking what I see. I'm also spending 5 mins a day just taking photos of Jimmy (and Michael), in a conscience bid to have a photo or two that I like by the end of the week. This is turning out to be fun.