Lula Park and fairy floff

Yes, it was THAT time of the year again. As Lara used to say, "Time to go to Lula Park to have fairy floff". Well, she still says fairy floff...

We were again blessed with beauftiful weather for this all important day of family fun. Sunny, but not too hot with a cool breeze. Sydney Harbour was very picturesque today with blue skies and a cruise ship docked at Circular Quay. I couldn't quite make out the name of the ship.

Sydney Harbour

At the entrance to Luna Park ready for a day of fun with no whinging, whining or fighting...(severe warnings put in place)

Mini Ferris Wheel

Innocent fun?!?!

Once again, the room that was hired was beautifully decked out and packed with goodies for the whole family. The usual favourites were there - face painting, fairy floss, coca-cola galore, coffee cart, lunch, Santa Claus, christmas presents, a toddler area. This year, they managed to squeeze in a jumping castle which entertained Elliot for quite some time. For the first time, we were able to convince Elliot that he should get something other than a "spider" to be painted on his face. His choice was...see below!

Jonah enjoying himself in the toddler area.

Lara after getting her face painted.



The presents for all the children

The real ferris wheel

Coney Island is serious business!

One last ice-cream before home time!

If you're wondering what Elliot chose..."scary monster"!

O Christmas Tree

We did it!

Amongst the chaos that was the weekend with ferrying Lara to and from dress rehearsals, getting her dressed, finding a hairnet, the right shade of lipstick, going to the concert, looking for our video camera, grocery shopping, christmas shopping, going to church, sending off Christmas cards, having 2 extra children over, cooking, meeting up with friends, and eating...we managed to find the time to get our christmas tree and put up our Christmas decorations! This included the lights for the outside of the house. We can't disappoint the neightbours now, can we?

Having the tree and decorations up have made us realise just how close Christmas is! The smell of the pine is just sublime. This year, we will be having Christmas lunch with Malcolm's parents and grandfather at the Swissotel in the city. I am really looking forward to the much-advertised chocolate fountain....YUMMMY!

Oh, and one more thing...I managed to make my very first cruise logo! This required overcoming the lack of many technical know-hows so I am very proud of myself!

Our little bunny

Lara had her first ever ballet concert performance today as a bunny rabbit. What a cutie she was! It never ceases to amaze me how seriously she takes her ballet and how much she loves it. As she recounted her moments on the stage, she informed us how she was always checking her feet and making sure that she pointed them beautifully. She was so excited about getting to put on make-up (an absolute treat for her!) and donning a beautiful white costume complete with bunny ears and a fluffy bunny tail.




Can you see my fluffy tail?


However, I must admit that I was very disappointed with the ballet school. They charged $40 for each adult and a further $2 just to get a home-printed program. This is on top of the $57 that we had to pay for the costume. I really felt for the families for whom this amount is a stretch. As parents, all we want to do is watch our little ones perform. It does not have to be a big production. These are only 4 and 5 year old little girls. I was also quite stressed about getting ready for the concert itself. The hair had to be done this way, the stockings had to be new, she had to have the right shade of lipstick..."a deep mulberry shade, not fire engine red". She must bring hair pins, hair spray, hair gel, foundation etc. We'll be writing a letter to the school but I am not sure if anything will change. We're fortunate that Lara has a wonderful teacher who has the patience of a saint and who is so postive and encouraging. It's a pity the administration/big wigs is so pretentious.

In the meantime, we're trying to figure out how to continue lessons without having to go the concert...

Back to Disney

Disney finally released their Mediterranean shore excursions today. The first thing that struck me was how expensive everything is! Some sounded like a lot of fun but not for that much money.

I was finally brave enough to write my very first ever pre-trip report on the DISboard. Let's see how that goes

I hope that my new alert - the Disney Cruise Line Horn! - for a new sms isn't too distracting...

A video is worth a million words

Well done Elliot! We are so proud of you.
Sydney Opera House - 21 Nov 2009

By George, he did it!

What a day! Flying solo the whole weekend when Malcolm is on-call was tough. Managed to scramble the troops together for church and had a yummy chinese lunch before getting ourselves ready for Elliot's first big concert.


After settling Jonah and leaving him in my father's capable hands (cough, cough, splutter, splutter), we headed out to the Theme and Variations showroom at Willoughby. Upon entry, my nerves started to surface. My brain went into overdrive "hope he remembers to repeat, hope he remember to play in time, hope he remembers the dynamics, hope he remembers to keep going if he makes a mistake...". Luckily, it appears that Elliot is still completely oblivious to the concept of being nervous.

Elliot on the Steinway concert grand

He walked up to the piano, sat down and started playing without much ado. And he played brilliantly! Maybe that's all that we needed all along, a $300,000 piano. After all, it is for sale...

A close up...

Despite the parental anxiety, I still thoroughly enjoyed every single performance. The music truly was beaufiul and the children all remarkably talented. I still can't believe that Elliot made it into the group chosen to perform. I have never been prouder in my life.

The talented little people

To celebrate, we all went to Ribs and Rumps. I lost the battle of wills and ordered a nice juicy cheeseburgers with chips complete with a large glass of coke. The healthy diet can resume another day! Tomorrow, it will be back to the grindstone in preparation for the graduation concert at the Opera House next week.

A toast to my little springroll

During mother's group today, a friend mentioned how proud she was that her son has passed his grade 3 piano exam. And on facebook, another friend posted a video of an incredibly talented 3 year old practising two of her piano pieces.

And it occurred to me that I should boast more about my own son's achievement. What is wrong with me?!?!? Why is the "competitive Asian parent" gene not expressing itself? So here it is, a tribute to little 6 year old Elliot's piano accomplishments.

We have been practising hard in preparation for 2 big concerts, the first being this Sunday. He is part of a small group who have been picked for the concert to raise money for the children in Cambodia, a charity that his piano teacher champions. He will be playing on a $300, 000 9 ft Steinway. As we madly try to get our scales in the Sonatina to be in time with the metronome, I have to be amazed at how far he has come.

We started lessons at 3.5 but had to stop because of my pregnancy with Jonah. This was a huge setback for Elliot. After a break of more than 6 months, we had to "relearn" everything. And this was a hard slog, not to mention discouraging for a little boy. He didn't understand why he couldn't "learn" new songs. To his credit, he never gave up. He would merrily sing along to all the songs and scales that he practices and still does presently. I should video it one day. Although very noisy, it really is quite cute.

I also have to give great kudos to Erica, his teacher. Ever so patient with such a great way with young children, her endless encouragement and clever teaching no doubt played a big role to keeping Elliot motivated. Elliot has not looked back since. He has flown through book 2 and managed to squeeze in 2 graduations this year. He is very proud that he is now a "Book 3" boy. We eagerly await his Sydney Opera House debut on the 21st of November. Well done Elliot! We are so very proud of you.

Here's to the same for my little char siu bau who started lessons 2 weeks ago...