Weekend 28 Nov

It looked like we were going to have a quiet weekend. We went to Curl Curl Beach on Saturday morning - we've set ourselves a summer task of trying all the different northern beaches! A great spot, but not as intimate as Whale Beach. It's further from the carpark to the lifeguard watched parts of the beach (but then Curl Curl is hugely long).

After a good swim, we went to Manly for lunch then cruised home to rest and relax. The boys were a bit agitated as they haven't been sleeping so well with the really hot weather, but the rest did them well. We received a late invitation to a housewarming BBQ that evening and had an interesting time. Keegan and Aengus are in the same swimming class which is how we met Aengus' mum Lea. Her husband works for a union, and the majority of people there were also people who worked for unions. This meant that Brennan was basically the sole representative of the other side of the coin; an employer! We had some really interesting discussions with people. Brennan made the point that he would like to reward good performance, but the union agreement system makes that quite difficult as the measures are black and white.

We had a quiet Sunday, did some Christmas shopping. The photo is Vincent at Curl Curl Beach.

Christmas Quote

Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live. ~Dennis Miller

30 days till Christmas

This year has gone so fast. I can't believe I'm making Christmas cards, deciding what to put in a Christmas letter. Should I just put it on here and facebook to save on paper? Yeah, I reckon. Maybe email to a few as well....

2009 Xmas Photo Shoot

At Whale Beach, Sydney this morning, the boys wore their new Xmas t-shirts and we co-ordinated in red and white.

Milestone Album Photos

First four layouts from the boys milestone albums.

A hot day here

We've survived a hot, humid day here by playing in lots of water. At playgroup we did water play activities, painting the fence with water, playing in a big tub and so on. Then on the way home, the boys ran in a fountain (oh to have remembered my camera!). Nothing like these old photos of them in the Manly fountains!!

Here is an interesting link for those who want some ideas about getting cool photos of kids: http://www.makeandtakes.com/5-easy-steps-to-taking-great-pictures-of-kids

A milestones album

I've decided to create a 'milestones' album for each child. The idea is to give Vincent and Keegan an easy place to look at photos of themselves at the same stage as the baby; and they can all compare each other.

A couple of cute photos of them at the start.

DJ Christmas Windows

We went for a train ride today into town, looked at the David Jones windows, visited the Santa Cave, and had an icecream on the way home.

First Layout

A layout done today using Kaisercraft's Q2 collection Rewind.

The boys had dressed themselves in 'matching' t-shirts; so this photo came out as if we'd planned it!!

Cockatoo Island, August 2009

Brennan gets a reply

Hi Brennan

I think you're right - blame has to lay with the audiences watching the
crap. I'm still amazed that Hey Hey It's Saturday rated so well it's
being brought back. Times like these that mountain cave in Nepal starts
looking mightily attractive. If it was good enough for Leonard Cohen...

warmest

m.


> Marieke,
>
>I just read your SMH article, User's Guide to Outrage and appreciate
>your comments. I recently returned to Sydney after spending 8 years in
>NZ and I was shocked at how low the target IQ for the television
>audience is here. I can't remember if it was always that way, or if it
>is something new but either way it's pretty sad.
>
>So which is worse - The people who make and air the stupid shows or the
>people watching the stupid shows? Ultimately it's all fuelled by
>advertising $$ chasing the ratings, so doesn't that mean that it comes
>back to the people who elect to watch the prime time rubbish?
>
>If that's true, then does it mean that we're getting stupider as a
>population?
>
>Anyway, saw Race Relations for the first time last night and found it
>very interesting. If a little uncomfortable at the foreskin
>reinstatement place at the end...
>
>Cheers
>
>Brennan Daly

NSW v TAS at the North Sydney Oval

For Brennan's birthday party, we attempted to gather some friends together for a day at the cricket. While only a few turned up (many spurning the idea for sitting in the sun watching cricket), we had a great time. It was a bit marred for Brennan at the end when a six came flying our way only to go over his fingers into my hand. Of course it bounced straight out again ("soft hands" was the call)....

The boys had a wonderful time, galloping around all day, making friends, getting players to sign their bat. Thanks to Tully for buying them a special bat to collect signatures with. It was hard work convincing the players to take their attention off the game and scrawl on a kid's bat, but we managed to collect the Tas player Geeves and Krejza plus the NSW players Warner and Lee. Vincent also added his scrawl to the bat!!

Welcome

With our two websites becoming specifically dedicated to our businesses, our family needs a new space to dedicate to family matters. Hence the Daly Journal....