Just keep swinging, just keep swinging.......

It seems that our days are filled with trips to the gym or going to the swings and most days have both. Kirrily LOVES going to the swings and to make things more exciting, we don't usually go to the same set in the same week (spoilt for choice up here). Hayley was sitting on the sidelines for a few months until she realised "hey i want some of that action" so now i can't stop her. she too now loves the swings. The 'spider web' swing in Pelican Waters is their favourite as they can go together and Hayley also can't fall off very easily. Here are the monkey's.

This is the 'spider web' swing.

Hayley refuses to get out after her swing and grips on. she uses her feet and fingers to not leave. Once you've ungripped (is that a word) the fingers, the toes cling to the web and then you undo the toes and she's got her hands back to holding on again. Cheeky mite.

Golden Beach new swings

They've up fixed up the old swings with lovely new one's (you can see the red tape behind Kirrily). It now has a pretend petrol station and several other kiddie things to keep them amused.

BAck and posting again

I've been caught up in the world of Facebook and gym and everything else that goes with 2 little kiddies. Not much time to blog. So here's some new photo's that i've downloaded. haven't even had a chance to do much of that lately.

The monkey's on the slipper dip at Golden Beach

this used to be too hard for kirrily to climb on, she couldn't move it back and forwards and was also too frightened at one point to ride this 'snail'. Now she can't do those things as she's too big, almost. :-)

My masterchef. She has this lovely new apron and hat from Christmas. the books say "if they make it themselves, they'll eat it". Books wrong again. Think they can go in the recycle now. Kirrily loves to chop, bake, stir and lick the spoon but when it comes time to eat it - NOPE!!! We'll get there, i hope.

We are constantly visiting the ginger factory. it's a great time out for both of the girls and i also get to buy my favourite 'bean' when we visit. lately it's been weekly with the flower festival, buying more plants, more beans and "can i go on teh train again". The train is a bit weird as it goes out to a paddock and there are chooks and that's about it. $5.50 to see some chooks?

Kirrily's also back at swimming lessons. She has a new teacher after last year's debarcle with her other teacher. She's now with Sarah. She is fantastic and doesn't shove her under the water. Kirrily is doing everything the teacher asks and goes under the water herself, whereas before she didn't want to through fear of being shoved under. Today was her 2nd lesson with sarah and she's doing brilliantly.

we've had more rain than we need. after 6 months of nothing, the God's made up for it and dumped the lot in 1 day. Oh well, tank full i suppose and david's new drain worked. We also blocked off the neighbours water from coming into our property and it's amazing how much better it is. not sure he would appreciate it but that's just bad luck. He's a shocker.

Going to start my 2nd 12wk challenge on 27th Feb. That means no more little sneaky bad foods and loads of exercise. Holly is a brilliant trainer. I thought Jayne trained me hard, Holly is insane but i'm feeding off that and inspired to keep going. Who would have thought i'd be a gym junkie. I certainly didn't.

The Swings

The promise of a ride on the swings after a sleep is always very exciting for Kirrily. Hayley just goes with the flow but Kirrily had to try the new swings near Bells Creek, Diamond Head. There is a huge slippery dip there but no toddler swing. "i'm all grown up now i'm 3 anyway mummy so i can use the big kids swings" was what kirrily had to say.

So she did. Hayley was clapping away and squeeling in delight and kirrily joined in. If i was one of the neighbours i would have wondering what was happening there was so much noise but hey, they were having a great time and it always sounds less noisy when your outside as opposed to locked in the house.

Here are some snaps. (ps. kirrily also dresses herself and i didn't think this was too bad really. She did want to wear her winter pj's last night though).

Swimming Lessons

Well we've had a dilemma with kirrily and her lessons. She was going OK for a few months but the last 3 lessons she's been screaming, crying and wanting to do a wee (which is just a ploy to get out the pool). Davina ended up shoving her under the water, tears and more tears and then she really hated the lessons.

Other parents spoke to the head swimming coach who was rather unimpressed and has since given her another warning (she's now had 3 apparently) and kirrily is now booked into some free (yeah 6 of them) swimming lessons by herself with Froggie. Now Froggie is lovely (aka Angela) and kirrily likes her too. We have some of those free lessons next week.

But having said that, on monday this week, kirrily was fantastic as swimming. she did things i've never seen her do before and was a happy camper. Maybe it was the bribery of home made ice-cream on our return home that made her happy too.

On the way to swimming lessons (we park about 1klm away and walk along the River)

In the Frog Pool before lessons

Banana Smoothie With a Twist

• Take all your banana peels (yes peels) and chop the hard top and bottom off.
• Put all the peels into a blender (i used the stick mixer) and put in some water (you decide, there's no set measurement here).
• Blend to a pulp.
• Add to any plants (except Natives) and watch them grow.

This was in one of Lisa's Women's Weekly giant cookbooks and it sounds like a great idea so i've given it a go today. I'll report back if i see it working.

Facebook

Alright so i've had a few spare minutes and I've signed up to Facebook. Not really sure what i'm doing or if i'll even do anything with the lack of spare time but if your interested, i'm sure you'll find me there somewhere.

12 Week Challenge Dinner

Last night was the 12 week challenge dinner in Brisbane for all Qld clubs. I hitched a ride with Jaana down to the apartments where most of the girls were staying. When we arrived, the rest of the people we were going with were totally drunk.

After I put on my new dress, my new shoes and my new handbag and felt rather snazzy. We headed off to Southbank (the convention centre) and got lost, stuck in one way streets and traffic jams. Who would have thought that Brisbane had peak hour traffic on Saturday night at 6.30pm? The roads were gridlocked, we then took another wrong turn which then headed us into more traffic snarls. After 1 1/2 hrs of driving, we found the convention centre carpark and arrived a little late but didn't miss much.

The dinner was a little bit '12 week challenge' for most people, meaning it was more sample size than dinner size but the dessert made up for that. We had coffee caramel something with caramel popcorn and it was so sickly sweet.

I didn't win but hey, i've lost 10.1kg and still going so i think i've won more than anyone realises.

Although, the night ended on a sour and sad note. Jayne, my beloved trainer, has resigned from the Goodlife gym. To say I'm shattered is an understatement as she's become a friend more than a trainer. Her last day is 18th December so i'm sure i'll be even more sad then. :-( Not sure who to choose as my trainer now. I can have Holly or Mel. Mel runs you around like a crazy lady and most people end up sick after her sessions (no thanks) or Holly has her little clicky group of people which were the one's that ended up totally drunk at the dinner. Dilemma. I just hope that i can pick the right one to keep me on my weight loss journey.

Photo's you ask of last night? I haven't downloadede them yet and Jaana and Jules haven't emailed them through. It's only 2.30pm so i'm not sure any of them will be up yet.