Blog catch up

I am a little behind on my blog these days, so I am going to upload some photos from the past year and add the extra commentry when i can :-).

Easter 2011

Easter was a pretty low key affair for us this year, Graham had only just got out of hospital and was not very well so Easter bunny visited the boys, they ate way too much chocolate for breakfast and spent the day in their pajama's.

Next spot by the beach is Glenelg - April 2011

Well school holidays and another day by the beach, this time our beach of choice is Glenelg. It was a lovely day, bit of a cool breeze - but the water was freezing, which is why we were amused by this crazy tourist thinking that some jetty diving would be a good idea.
Not sure how on Graham got Harrison to attempt some push ups, but figured I had better take a photo to prove to him one day that he could.

we found some awesome antique motor bikes which I actually photographed for Grahams dad but never got around to show him the photos - so Ken on the off chance that you might actually see this blog, these were taken for you:

Some adventures frollicking in Port Adelaide - April 2011

Sometimes when you are bored and have absolutely nothing to do, the best adventures are what you can find close to home.

Being school holidays we decided that some trips out to Port Adelaide would be an interesting outing and we were not disappointed at all. Our first trip on a rather wintery day was to stop and have some pancakes for morning tea and as you can see from the photos, there was nothing healthy at all about that for breakfast.
Then we spent some time, taking in the local surroundings, enjoying the markets & eating hot Cinnamon donuts on the wharf.

Our next day in the Port saw us take our annual trip to the Port Adelaide train museum. It makes for a wonderful day out, and when you have two boys who love their trains, it really is worth every penny.
My boys are kept entertained at every turn and corner, climbing the steam engines and exploring our history.

Grahams Accident

I have not blogged for awhile and that is because I have found it hard to put into words the events that happened the week before Easter. How do you put down here in a blog painful events, when I more want to remember the happy times in my life. That being said, I think it is important to write about it, and remember, and look back and realise just how lucky I am that it has all turned out to be a good ending.

All I can say is that my perfect world came crashing down around me with the thought that I was going to loose my husband. In brief, Graham went out on a bucks night in April, while I looked after the kids. It was all meant to be innocent fun with some of the guys he works with, yet at 2:30am I received a phone call from the police to say that Graham had been assaulted and was being rushed to hospital. I was not given the extent of his injuries and was left in a state of shock and despair.

I am very lucky that my sister was the triage nurse at the hospital that he was being taken too because I was able to leave my boys sleeping while I sat by the phone to find out the extent of his injuries. At first we thought that it may have just been alcohol self inflicted and that he just had way too much to drink, however at 5:30am I got the call to say that he had a fractured skull, swelling to the brain and was therefore being rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment for brain trauma.

I dropped my boys off at Grahams mums and went straight to the hospital. When I got to him he looked terrible, had slurred words but still managed to tell me how sorry he was - I think he thought that I was going to be mad at him for being in hospital - gee did that make me feel like the evil tyrant!

The first day we didn't know if the doctors were going to operate to reduce the swelling in Graham's brain, it was the most awful feeling all day. Luckily his CT scan showed that the swelling was reducing by itself, and surgery was not necessary.

It was a week of hell, trips back and forth to the hospital every day, finding sitters for my kids and shoving them where ever someone could have them, my stable diet became what ever the healthiest thing was available in the vending machines. I think at this stage I really needed my friends help - but I am not one to ask for it, and therefore it was not really received.

Thankfully Graham got well enough to come home from hospital just in time for Easter with the kids. He was confined to bed rest because he still had double vision and balance problems. In all he ended up having nearly 3 months off work and even today still has not fully regained his sense of smell and taste.

We are rebuilding, it has been tough, but we are all getting through it. I don't think I will ever fully get over this, just the other night Graham worked overtime and came home from work late, and I ended up a blubbering mess thinking something had happened to him again.

I know that I act tough, and if you ask me ill tell you that things are wonderful, but in reality I will now fear every time Graham goes out without me. Every minor bump in the road will have me wondering if this will affect the equilibrium of our lives.

Those gutless wonders that did this to my husband are still out there, and what is worse would have not the slightest care of what they have done, and what they have put my family through. All I can hope for is that Karma will have its turn.

Grahams Birthday - March 2011

Well another year older for the old man, mind you he is the fittest and healthiest person I know. I wish in fact some of his exercise motivation would rub off on me. Graham is either lifting his weights daily or running on the tread mill in the evening - sometimes both in one day. Guess it is his way to ensure that he stays energetic for our whirl wind children.

We didn't do too much for Grahams birthday this year, just celebrated with some cake which according to Graham, must always be a Chocolate Cream Sponge available from the Cheesecake Shop, as this is his favourite treat every year.

Crazy Hair Day - March 2011

When Graham dropped Mitchell off at child care, they told him it was crazy hair day, and asked what color to put in his hair, Graham said "Just give him Norwood Redlegs colours", when I picked him up this is what I was presented with:

I had to wash his hair 4 times before it even started looking blonde again.....Good one Graham!

A day at the Adelaide Fringe - March 2011

Mad March is always a time of the year that I love here in Adelaide, and while I don't get the opportunity to go too many of the Fringe shows now that I have kids and not too many babysitters, it still provides us as a family with some wonderful opportunities to get out and about into the sunshine.

We spent a lovely day out in the 'Garden of Unearthly Delights', where the boys went on the Ferris wheel (even when their dad was too scared to go on) we watched the street parade, ate lunch at a cafe down Rundle Street and just had a good day enjoying each others company.

Some fun in the park: We caught up with my lovely who friend who is ever so talented with her camera and took these lovely photos of my boys during the street parade: How is this for some nearby street art in Rundle Street:
The Fringe Street Parade:

Below are some of the unique little spots in the Garden of Unearthly Delights in Adelaide East end:

A girly weekend trip to Sydney - February 2011

Well what was supposed to be a get away without kids for me and Rachel, did not start with smooth sailing. Our first mistake of the trip was to choose to fly Tiger Airways.

We got to the airport rather early and went and checked in at the counter, I did not realise that you had to do e-check in before you arrive, and we were both slugged a $20 per person fee. Then after reluctantly paying the funds, we decided because we were so early we would go and check out the shopping in Ikea. Apart from the walk over in 40 degrees that was a stress free expedition. Then we sat at the terminal waiting for our plane, and was surprised to see the Tiger Airways sign being taken down. Huh, we were then told our flight had been cancelled and our only option was to either fly the next morning or get a refund of our ticket. Ok, now there is one nights accommodation lost. But apart from my initial sook, we took it in our stride and booked the Stamford Grand in the city (getting a cheap Wotif.com.au deal) - this was a girls weekend, there was no way we were going home! We grabbed some dinner, then spent some time at the Adelaide Casino - pretending of course that we were actually sitting in Star City, Sydney.

We finally got to Sydney at lunch time on Saturday so half our time there was already wasted, but we made the most of what we could and ventured off into the 42 degree heat. As we walked around the markets and toured Sydney, we had no idea we were walking around on a heat record day, we thought it was hot, but thought the weather was meant to be 36 degrees.

Chinese new year celebrations were in full swing while we were in Paddy's Market which is near China Town, we heard the fire crackers going off and went out to investigate.

The only way we were able to cool off was a trip out on the ferry to Manley, Rachel and I loved it there, by the ocean we picked up a couple of caches, and enjoyed some baked fish and chips which we ate by the beach.

Sunday before our flight home we took a bus trip out to Palm Beach aka Summer Bay, it started off really hot and hard to do anything, then some thunder clouds rolled in over the ocean and within about 15 minutes I think that the temperature must have dropped 15 degrees. It was so lovely out here, such a beautiful spot that really must be a place where the rich and famous live or holiday.