Rash.
Lily was officially diagnosed with Hand Foot & Mouth disease on Monday, and the doctor gave strict orders that she was not to return to daycare until her rash blistered and dried up. Could be 2 days, could be 7. Just have to wait and see. I tried to do some work at home but she was awfully needy. I eventually basically gave up and decided my job as mother was more important. I was so thankful to have Riley around to help, as my back has still been giving me trouble. He did all of the heavy lifting for me. Lily and I got some serious snuggle time in. Riley got a fair bit as well. Jay and I have both noticed how much Riley’s interaction with Lily has changed over the past month. They are now pretty much best buds. So sweet.
Lily didn’t end up with a terrible case of HFM, thankfully. She was able to go back to daycare on Thursday. And I went back to work. Which kind of felt like vacation – once again I was reminded how tough a job it is to be a stay at home (or single) mom. Chic wore me out. :).

What do you think? Was she happy about going back to daycare???

Broncos.
Even though I was a bit worried about my back, I didn’t want to ruin the boys’ chance at going to a Brisbane Broncos rugby game on Friday night. Riley has more than earned his keep, and was overdue for some fun. So, after a quick dinner, Lily, Ty and I had a slumber party. We snuggled up in the big bed and watched Pete’s Dragon. Lily fell asleep right away. Ty and I stayed up for the whole movie then fell asleep. Thankfully I didn’t have to any lifting after carrying Lily upstairs.

So the boys had a great time, and I am really glad they were able to go. Riley is a bit of a sports buff, to put it mildly. He has become a Broncos fan throughout the winter (ours). After the game they stopped at a couple bars on the way back to the train station. No worries – the legal drinking age is only 18 and he is 19. I am going to stop the blog about how much fun they had – you can ask them to tell you their stories if interested. All I will say is that Riley may have become a self-proclaimed Australian legend. Good times.

Gymnastics.
Saturday morning I let Jay, Riley, and Lily sleep in, and I took Ty to gymnastics. It was his last week. We are going to hold off on signing him up for another term since we will be in the US for most of August. And I am not convinced that he learned much. He had fun, but he didn’t learn any new tricks or anything. It was basically all about jumping, doing obstacle courses, and hanging on bars. Maybe that is what beginner gymnastics is supposed to be, and I wasn’t expecting flips or anything, but at least a somersault…

Baby Proof.
Saturday morning I was able to go shopping by myself. Whoa. Wait. What did I just say?!?! Yep. It’s true. I shopped without the kids. Oh bliss. I could actually take my time, think about my options, and not feel like I had to rush out as quickly as possible. I may have spent an hour at the baby store. My mission was to buy some things to baby proof our house a bit more. I bought cabinet locks. Heaps of them. And then I picked up a few things for Lily’s upcoming 1 year birthday. Holy cow – has she really been on this planet for a whole year? It seems like yesterday that she was born, but I can hardly remember life without her. Anyway, back to shopping. So nice to get out and shop! I couldn’t walk too far (dang back) so I only went to a few places, but had a lovely time. Lily is not exactly thrilled with my purchases, though…

We spent most of Saturday getting caught up on some housework. We went down to the dock for a while and threw a few lines in the water, but no bites. Ty did a great job using the big pole. Yes, he was fishing in his undies. No, he never wears clothes at home. Even in winter (it was probably a brisk 70 degrees out). No worries.

This is what happens to a baby girl that doesn’t take a nap in the morning and can barely make it through lunch…

Whales!
Sunday morning we woke up early and headed down to Snapper Rocks to look for whales. We didn’t see any tails, but we saw the sprays from their blow holes. They usually did 3 in a row. So stinking cool. I am going to have to get out on a boat to see them up close. We tried to get some pictures with the good camera. I will attach those later if any turned out. They were pretty far away from shore, and the spray seemed pretty big at the distance we were at. I can’t imagine how big it is up close. Awesome.

Wetsuit.
After we got our whale fix, we wandered down the hill to Snapper Rocks. The boys played in the sand, Lily and I sat on a bench and watched the surfers and dog walkers. After a while we decided that we needed to get Ty a wetsuit – most of the kids wear those in the ocean. We drove up the road a bit to Coolangatta and stopped at Ripcurl. Ty found a sweet wetsuit. He actually wore it out of the store. Yes, the hood is attached. I found a couple new clothes, and a few gifts we had been searching for.

Surfs Up.
After a yummy lunch at Coolangatta Hotel (which is actually a bar/restaurant – confusing right???) we figured we needed to get Riley in a surf lesson. Nobody was giving lessons at Cooly, but we were able to get him in on a lesson at Surfers Paradise (or as Ty calls it “Paradise City”…queue music). We dropped him off just in time. Lily needed to get down and play so we found a spot on the beach near Riley’s lesson and the kids played in the worlds largest sandbox for a bit. Ty wanted ice cream so we went and got a bite. We went back to check on Riley’s progresses – just in time to watch him stand up on his board. His goal was 2 seconds, and I think he made it. It was at least a solid one second… Check out Facebook for a video. He had a fantastic time, and got a great workout. This is on my list of things to do before we leave, but I am going to wait for warm weather and a strong back.

Bromby.
So while the deal isn’t 100% done, I am pretty sure we are going to be adding another member to our family. Bromby, named for the raw, wild horsepower, will soon be taking up space in the garage, and will eventually be shipped to the states to live with us until eternity… Bromby is a 1953 FJ Holden ute. He was found and restored by the son of a former owner, whose father had served in the Australian army. While the paint job is a tad bit on the loud side, it is Jay’s dream souvenir.

Miranda.
Have I mentioned how wonderful it has been to have Riley here? I don’t know how we would have managed without him. Unfortunately he has to go back to reality soon. He flies out on Wednesday. We will then all be in a depression for a few days, but thankfully we have something else to look forward to – Miranda is coming! She will arrive a week after Riley leaves. Woohoo!!!!!! We have missed her, and can’t wait to see her smiling face.

Ty and I are snuggled under a blanky on the patio, and my nose and fingers are about numb. I better go inside and thaw out. You know, this winter chill is pretty rough. It is probably like 60 degrees or something… Have a great week!!!