Werribee Zoo

Today we took our exchange student to the Werribee Open Range Zoo. We had a great time, but the pictures tell the story best! The animals were extreme posers which suited us admirably.

The beautiful cheetah. She actually snarled at us through the glass - I think she was hungreh.

There guys are such camera hogs.

It's a hard knock life...

We were worried we wouldn't get to spot any koalas, but this one was perfectly positioned for photography

Meerkats were on high alert as two hawks circled overhead

Rhinos soaking up the sun

No two have the same stripes!

ArtVo

Today we took our Japanese exchange student ice-skating at Docklands, which everybody pretty much loved, then after that we went to the new (ish) interactive art gallery, ArtVo.

We've heard good things about ArtVo, and had been intending to go see it for a while now, but it's surprisingly easy to put off doing even fun-sounding things in one's own city when everyone is busy and stretched. Having a visitor here gave

us the perfect excuse to finally bite the bullet and get in and do it.

The concept of ArtVo is deceptively simple - the walls are painted with large-scale artworks in a variety of styles designed to create a 3D impression if photographed from a specified angle.

The paintings are deliberately set up so that people can "insert" themselves into the picture, hamming it up as much as they please to achieve the outcome. Photo spots on the floor tell you the best place to stand and the best orientation for the photo. Away you go, through a substantial number of themed galleries (more than I was expecting, actually).

It was significantly more fun than I had expected - the kids adored all the posing and the artworks were well rendered enough to make the resulting photos really good-looking. As is usually the case, some came out a lot better than others, but some of the better non-face ones (well, except for *my* face, but that's my decision to make!) are here.

It isn't exactly a budget experience - I got no change from a hunny taking 6 people in - but we spent almost 2 hours there and to be honest, if my 8 year old hadn't hit a bit of a wall, we could easily have stayed longer. I'd like to go back with a bit more time, a better camera and a few less people and have another go at getting some good shots.

McClelland Sculpture Park

It is winter school holidays here, and today we went to the McClelland Sculpture Park in Langwarrin. We had never been before, but it was very interesting indeed. Here are some of the better shots.

Melbourne Star

Today, as part of my middle kid's 12th birthday celebrations (*how did she get to be 12 but I digress*), we took our family and three of her friends on the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.

It was somewhat challenging for me and my damn claustrophobia, but I DID IT and we ended up having a really good time. Me 1, Jerkbrain 0 - suck on THAT, anxiety!

Here are a few of the better photos we got, for your viewing enjoyment. It wasn't a cheap exercise for 8 of us, but it was fun to do once, and it certainly made the birthday girl's day.

The Royal Melbourne Show

We took our kids to the Royal Melbourne Show today. This is the very first time they've been, although their aunt usually brings them each a showbag from her annual visits. My partner and I last went to the Show 14 years ago, well before our first child was born, and I remember enjoying it but finding it exhausting and a bit stressy with the press of crowds everywhere.

I have been hesistant to take them before now, with a combination of fear of extreme expenditure and distaste for the crowding (especially with a pram or pusher) holding me back. This year, though, our youngest is 5.5 and well able to keep up with the group on foot, so we thought, oh well - it's worth a try.

All three kids were very excited and enthused about going, and have spent a few days researching their desired showbags on the Show website. We had a slight glitch getting going this morning, with still-not-100% youngest declaring herself to be too sick to go, but she was persuaded by talk of baby animals, and off we went.


We ended up spending 5 hours at the Show all up, most of it remarkably harmoniously and enjoyably (not a given in an outing with three children, as anyone who has wrangled same would attest). We petted baby animals, watched the dog breed judging, perused the prize animal tent, watched a quite clever but (I have to say) borderline skeevy magic show, visited the food pavillions, and found time for my perennial favourite, the arts, crafts and cookery pavillion. (Check out that chicken cake! And how about the rainbow serpent? The bar is definitely raised now for birthday cakes in this house ...)

Of course, kids being kids, they also had a ride on a fairly low-key rollercoaster, and showbags were procured - 2 apiece. However, we did manage to steer them away from most of the carnie attractions, which are such a massive cash-suck. Fairy floss and gelato were adequate compensation for not being allowed to feed the clowns or throw darts at balloons :-)

Overall, I really enjoyed the day. The car parking was much better organised and less stressful than I remember it being, and there seemed to be a more manageable amount of people - we weren't crowded anywhere, indoors or outdoors, and didn't have to queue to do anything (including go to the loo!) Maybe that's because we went mid-week, whereas when we were young adults we always went Saturday? Or maybe Show numbers are down? I don't know, but it certainly made for a more pleasant family experience than I was necessarily expecting.

It was a very pricey day, no denying - but I bought the combined Show / Aquarium entry ticket, and that, combined with restricting the kids to two showbags total value $30 apiece, helped keep it within spec. We did drop over $300 today but we'll "save" over $100 when we take the kids to the Aquarium next, so overall, as a huge family day out in a school holidays that doesn't include going away anywhere, I can live with it. I think we'll probably make it a biennial event now - every second year seems like a fair proposition.

Possum Magic, lunch and play: A one on one day with my baby

Another anti-disclaimer: I did not get theatre tickets for free, I bought them. Was not asked to write review, was offered no incentives to do so, and the Wyndham Cultural Centre doesn't even know I am writing it. It was just fun, so I wanted to write about it. Similarly, I received no incentive or request from Sanctuary Lakes Hotel to write about my meal - I just firmly believe that restaurants that get dietary needs right should be recognised and celebrated!

Today I took my 4 year old, the lovely C, out for a special morning together.

We had tickets to see the musical show of Possum Magic, based (very faithfully, I should note) on Mem Fox's wonderful classic storybook of the same name, at the Wyndham Cultural Centre at 10:30am this morning - a perfect timeslot for us, as we could travel on directly from school drop off and have heaps of time to park close, enjoy a hot drink together, and explore the theatre before kick-off. 

C loves many of Mem Fox's books, although her favourites, before now, have been the beautiful Hunwick's Egg and the sweetest Christmas story in the world, Wombat Divine. But as her excitement has been building over the past week, she's requested Possum Magic every night as one of her bedtime stories. She's pretty much word perfect with it now, which gave me a moment of pause, as I wasn't sure how she would react if the play departed too much from the text. (She's a purist, is C.)

As it turned out, I needn't have worried, as the one-hour performance followed the story with an exactness that C found very satisfactory. The addition of music and the inevitable physical comedy ("Behind you! Behind yoooooooooou!" audience participation FTW!) only added to her enjoyment of the whole thing. She was besotted with the funny kangaroo and the blue wombat, loved the kookas, and thought Hush was "so cute!"

As for me, I really enjoyed the performance, and more, the time with C. I turned my phone off when we arrived at the venue, and really focused on talking with C while we had our hot drinks, listening to her as we explored the theatre, and giving her lots of cuddles as she sat on my knee and squeezed me tight during the show. It was a wonderful experience, and I loved it.

I should add that one of the things that made the whole business so great was the professionalism and consideration of the box office staff at WCC. I had booked these tickets online months ago, when the program first came out, and thought no more of it. On Tuesday, a very nice woman from the theatre rang me to let me know that in the interim, a number of schools had booked, and we were now going to be seated within 6 solid rows of schoolchildren and teachers. She offered to exchange our tickets for ones further forward in a reserved row that was being offered to people with preschoolers only. I gratefully accepted, knowing C would find the noise and presence of a whole sea of unfamiliar schoolkids a bit intimidating. We ended up in a (relatively) quiet, spacious row, with a spare seat on either side, and I am certain this helped us enjoy our time more.

After the show, we decided to go out for a nice lunch.  I've heard great things about the lunch offering at the Sanctuary Lakes Hotel, so we gave it a try.

The meal at the hotel is essentially a luscious buffet, which can be problematic for Coeliacs because of utensil crossover and the like. I asked if there were gluten free options, and I was treated with such respect and consideration - it was wonderful.

The chefs advised that I could eat from the buffet if I wanted, but that they'd feel happier if they could make me something fresh, in their separate gluten free only cooking equipment, so I wouldn't have to worry about contamination. I selected a yummy green chicken curry, and by the time I'd loaded C's plate with rice, roast beef, pumpkin, chips and a bread roll, my steaming fragrant plate, with fresh pappadums, was in front of me. It was completely delicious and it's now almost 2 hours since I've eaten, with no ill effects in sight (I usually know by now!)

C also enjoyed her meal a great deal, especially the chocolate ice cream she got for dessert, and the whole caboodle cost me a staggering $19.95, as kids under 5 eat free at lunchtime during the week. It was great value and we had a lovely time.

Once home, C and I read Possum Magic again, played together outside, and she is now playing with toys while I write this and send a couple of emails. It's been such a beautiful day together and I'm so glad we did it.

A winter arts Saturday in the city

Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to the MSO Classic Kids: Magic and Monsters performance for review purposes courtesy of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own. 

After a cold afternoon and night of unremitting heavy rain - winter has arrived! - we awoke this morning to a thin drizzle and the prospect of a day in the city, enjoying some of the winter arts activities that Melbourne has to offer.

First up, we went to the Melbourne Town Hall to see the latest in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's Classic Kids series. We have been to these before, seeing the show with Jay Laga'aia last year and the Clowning Around with Melvin Tix show in 2011. We've always really enjoyed them, and the theme of this year's - Magic and Monsters - sounded intriguing.


Once again, the MSO came through with a great show. The comedy and crowd presence of British percussion performers, O Duo, really added to the experience for my kids, especially the 4 year old, who thought the antics of the "Monsterologist" and his assistant were just hilarious. My big girls, who are musicians themselves, were very interested in all the instruments and how they work together to create orchestral sound.

At 45 minutes and with a vast spread of floor seating, these shows are always perfectly pitched to accommodate the short attention spans and wriggliness of the little kids, while still providing plenty of exposition for the older ones.

It is a rare event these days that I can honestly say fully engages my preschooler and my almost-10 year old; they are at such different developmental stages and their interests are very different. One of the things I love every year about the MSO Kids shows is that they really do have something for everyone, and we can enjoy them together.

After coming out of the MSO performance, we wandered down to Federation Square for lunch. Minor peeve - why do so few Fed Square restaurants offer a decent gluten free selection? Chocolate Buddha, with its dedicated gluten free menu, is the main exception, not that I got to sample it, as the kids were not up for sushi et al today.

We came out of the cafe just in time to catch the first 45 minutes of the free opening show of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, hosted by Tracey Bartram. The kids promptly found some other kids to make friends with (and cadge food from, despite having just finished a meal) and we all settled in to enjoy the performances of swing group Leigh Barker and The New Sheiks with the Swing Patrol Dancers. The music was fantastic, the kids were happy, and we all learnt some basic Charleston steps :-)

Walking back to the car, we wandered through Hosier's Lane, one of Melbourne's main street art locations. The girls were all fascinated by the artwork, even more so as there were artists working on new pictures as we were there. This provoked a discussion with the older two about public art, creation and production, and with the 4 year old about why we couldn't immediately go and buy some spray cans so she could start her own art project :-)

All in all, it was a great arts day in Melbourne for a family of five, for the cost of lunch and parking. Granted, we got the MSO tickets for free, but even so, it just underlines how much arts-based stuff there really is to do in this city with kids in the wintertime.

Cruising on the river

Yesterday, for something different, I took my three girls and their friend, who holidayed with us for two nights this week, on a boat trip.

I've always associated boats and cruises with holidays away from home. We did a family holiday in Echuca back in 2010, and the riverboat cruising was the highlight of that, with all the kids (even then-infant C) loving it. For some reason, it's never really occurred to me to think about water experiences that don't involve swimming here at home. This is kind of odd, given that Melbourne is a bay city served by several rivers, one of the largest of which (the Maribyrnong) is close to my house.

So when a friend told me that she and her kids had done a Maribyrnong River cruise and really enjoyed it, I thought, why not? The prices are extremely moderate - $20 for adults and just $5 for kids - and all four girls were intrigued and enthused at the idea.

Thus we set off yesterday morning, heat beginning to rise (it would eventually peak at 37, although it didn't exceed 34 down on the cool river), to take a 2-hour tour on the Blackbird, a pleasure boat that has been touring Melbourne's rivers for 33 years.

I wasn't sure what to expect, or how well the four kids, aged 9. 8, 7 and almost 4, would handle the extended time cooped up on fairly small boat with nowhere to go, but as it turned out, I need not have feared. The cruise was wonderful, relaxing and engaging for all of us, and the first thing the kids asked when we eventually disembarked was whether we could do it again :-)

We stopped at the Footscray Market on the way and bought sweet Vietnamese rolls, croissants, strawberries, apples and cherry tomatoes to picnic on the boat, and this turned out to be a really smart idea. The boat's captain was cool with eating on board and the flow of snacking helped punctuate the trip nicely for the kids.

Once we were on, almost straight away, the feeling of stepping out of the everyday world began to take hold. I have seen the Maribyrnong River so many, many times - heck, I drove over it daily when I was still working in North Melbourne - but I've never seen it as part of it before, and it really looks different at water level.

The extremely knowledgeable captain provided a fascinating commentary as we glided upriver, pointing out landmarks that, again, I know from a different perspective - the Buddhist temple, Victoria University, the rendering and tanning plants (eugh) and so on. Hearing about the historical uses of the land, versus the attempted gentrified reuses now, was both entertaining and engaged my inner cynic - when former munitions dumps and waste facilities are turned into luxury housing, you *know* you've stepped through the looking glass.

The kids were very, very taken with going under bridges - especially the Vline train bridge, where, to our delight, a train thundered overhead as we slipped along below. C, my youngest, was fascinated watching the life of the water - ducks, swans, a few flashing fish, and the human life brought by the river; other boats (a few), fisher-people on the banks (a lot), people cycling or jogging along waterway paths, and even some swimmers. We passed through a stretch in Maribyrnong itself where we even saw several dogs cooling off in the water, an occasion for much delight from my canine-loving C.

One landmark that we went past was the wonderful Living Museum of the West at Pipemaker's Park. I have read so many good things about this place and somehow have unaccountably failed to take the kids there yet. Seeing it from the water, I am resolved to remedy that this summer.

I think that one of the best parts of the trip for me was getting to see the water-side life of houses of which I could only have seen the road side in other circumstances. I had no idea so many houses had little jetties, or densely treed backyards that make the settled side of the river look almost as wild as the unoccupied side. We even saw a tent and campsite in one steep backyard, right next to the river and boat dock. It was so appealing and gave me a real Wind in the Willows sort of feeling. After all, “there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

The kids all got to have a turn at steering the boat, with the captain's genial assistance, and on the way back, we all drifted into contented, dreamy silence, broken occasionally with a request for water (of which the boat was plentifully supplied, with a large icy cooler full of water to keep guests hydrated) or someone pointing out something they'd spotted.

I would heartily recommend this boat trip to anyone in Melbourne. It departs at 1pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and returns you to dock at Saltriver Place (near the Footscray Arts Centre) by 3pm. They also offer another cruise, at 4pm, in the other direction, towards Docklands (we have tagged that as a future family expedition, as my husband wants to come too!)

Overall - great fun, amazing value for money, very informative (I learned all sorts of things I didn't know before!) and a really relaxing way to spend time together.

Mum's day off

Today was my first total day off - no kids, no housework, no errands, no paid work - since April.

Actually, given that I was sick with heart troubles in April, it is my first truly discretionary day off since February (ie where I didn't have to content myself with doing nothing but lying still on a couch reading or watching X-Files repeats, nice as those things are).

Don't get me wrong - I love being with my kids, and I like working. I enjoy my time greatly doing these things. 95% of the time, I'd choose to be doing it.

But just every now and then, just once in a while, it's pretty cool to get a day off.

I didn't do anything earth-shattering, although it was all extremely hedonistic and not at all constructive of anything. I went and had a facial first up, then did a little Christmas shopping. At noon, I went into into town to meet a friend at Bopha Devi, a Cambodian restaurant at Docklands, for lunch to celebrate her 30th birthday. Lunch involved much chatter, delicious food, and champagne - not too shabby, all told!

It was exactly 6 hours of really self indulgent "me" time and I probably shouldn't admit it, but I revelled in every second of it.

Tonight I'm back in mother-mode and tomorrow, as well as caring for Miss 3, will be full on with preparations for, and helping to run, our school's night market - but today was a little gift that I was so happy to have the chance to unwrap.

This is post 8 in NaBloPoMo. 8 down, 22 to go!

Eureka Tower

I am tired, tired, tired, and words have fled me; I've been feeding them to work all week, and there are none to spare for blogging, my small precious thing that gives me a release valve for emotions and thoughts; more, a secretive kind of delight.

Look, I know it's not de rigeur to just like blogging - just because, rather than for what it can lead to or accomplish or leverage - but I do, I do. I feel a bit bereft when life leads me away from it for too long. I like to write, I like having my own sandbox where I can play with ideas and enthusiasms, and I like to keep a record of family things in a fairly organic way.

So in weeks like this one, when the words are dried up but I still want to blog, pictures will have to do the work instead.

Today I took a few hours out of work to go with my family to Eureka Tower, Melbourne's highest skyscraper, and look down on my city from 88 floors up. We even did the hair-raising Edge adventure, where you get poked out of the side of the building in a glass box. Predictably, my sensitive 9 year old was nervous, my curious 7 year old wanted to know what would happen if she jumped up and down REALLY hard, and my fearless 3 year old lay flat on the glass floor and squealed with delight.

Then, after the heights - ice cream at Trampoline, and a walk along the riverside.

So these strange, busy school holidays end as they began - with a family day in the sunshine at Southgate. I'm looking forward to a much less frenetic break with the kids over summer, but there's no denying we still got a lot of juice out of these ones, finely poised as they were. I wish the kids had another week off though.