The Donaldsons in Oz

Today was the Melbourne Marathon and Alan’s big run is over for another year!

We watched him run long the beach towards Albert Park then return in the opposite direction ahead of a grueling stretch down beach road.

The kids had fun high-fiving lots of runners and handing out jelly snakes, a much needed sugar boost for many.

We then took up a new vantage point on St Kilda Road to cheer on Maz & my friend Dora in the half marathon and Alan as he neared the end, we saw Maz but Dora must have whizzed past!!  It was great to catch up with Paula & Tim who were there watching too!

Those last few km’s were a struggle but I know the effort of getting the kids there gives him a much needed lift – here they are with approx 7km to go:

Training over for a few months…..but he’s already talking about next year!

K

It was the last swimming classes of the term today and the theme was ‘water awareness & safety’.  The kids had to wear their pyjamas to get a sense of what it would be like to swim fully clothed should they fall in.  Charlie thought it was hilarious!  He really enjoyed wearing his life jacket and going for a ride in the boat.  Ella’s class had to swim a length with their life jackets on and when she came out she repeatedly told us how difficult it was. Here they are in action:

K

Hard to believe school holidays are upon us again, yes, today is the last day of term 3.  Ella is really looking forward to the holidays, she’s seemed tired the past few weeks.  She has started a list of all the things she wants to do including the zoo, museum, ice skating, sleepovers…..we’ll take 2 weeks to get though the list!  Her teacher is going on long service leave for the next 6 weeks, spending most of her time in Edinburgh.  Ella made her promise to keep an eye out for Grandma!

Everyone at school was dressed in their footy colours. Here is Ella on the walk to school:

Happy holidays everyone!

K

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since I lasted posted…..I’ve thought about it a lot but just never seemed to get around to actually typing!

We were all delighted to see September 1st bringing with it the start of Spring.  We were lulled into a false sense of security with a few beautiful days then a cold spell returned but I’m glad to say the forecasts are slowly improving…..in time for your arrival Marie!

Here are some pics taken in the park which I’ve just downloaded from my phone:

And here are some from August 20th when we started to get a taste of beautiful spring weather.  The kids had fun playing with all their new outdoors toys from Grandma & Grandad….although Ruby & Poppy were not all that keen to be the running targets with Ella in pursuit!

We’ve been up to so much more but I promise I’ll post more in the next few days.

K

Another busy weekend is almost over in the Donaldson household!

Ella brought home the school bear, better known as Bojangles, on Friday to spend the weekend with us.  She has excitedly taken him around with her and wrote his diary this evening which she’ll present to her class tomorrow.  Here they are ready to ride to swimming lessons on Saturday morning and then ready for a dip in the pool!

On Saturday we all went to a fundraising screening of Cars 2 at the Astor Theatre.  It was a joint fundraiser for St Kilda Primary and our school, St Kilda Park Primary.  It was Ruby & Poppy’s first time at the cinema and they were really good.  We had a laugh at Poppy because at the end she said “Can we put Nemo on there now?”, thinking it was as casual as changing a DVD at home.

Ella & Charlie then went for a sleepover at Auntie Mhairi’s house so Alan & I took Ruby & Poppy out for dinner, something that is so much easier with only 2 kids to occupy. Here are some of Mhairi’s photos:

This afternoon Ella went to Olivia’s birthday party.  Surprising how much fun they got from decorating themselves on the pavement!

Now the weekend would not be complete without some of Charlie’s sleeping antics, this one is a classic.  He was in ‘time out’ and when I went to get him this is what I found:

A final picture to end our weekend, Ella & I decided to go out for a run just before dinner which was about the same time the heavens decided to open.  We had fun but got absolutely soaked!

K

This is a skill that Charlie has perfected.  Last night he fell asleep at the dinner table with a mouthful of food.

K

Ella Bella turned 6 last Friday and she had a fantastic time celebrating with her friends at a dancing party at Glittery Tapping Wonderland.

Warming Up

Dancing

Learning a Routine

Catching Bubbles

A Big Hug for the Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Ella

K