Nicasso and the Avant-Garde art movement

Captain Nicasso has entered his Cubism phase, aged 4 years! He has spent roughly a week creating this and is so proud of it that he took it to pre-school with him this morning for show and tell. R and I are very pleased that the realism phase seems to be over and can only hope that there is no further disgracing of the family at Pre-School.

Ping Karrots and Bumbaids...

My little one just turned 2... and I am heartbroken! The baby years are over... he is thinning out everywhere and I miss those rubberband wrists and baby legs. He is playing actively with his brother rather than just following him around (this is good I know). Most of all I miss his baby language. He used to mispronounce so many words in the most adorable ways, my favourites would have to be bumbaids (bandaids) and Ping Karrots (King Parrots). Happy Birthday my gentle little one!

His birthday present? A teepee with the most divine cowboy print!

The school holidays so far...

We have had a fairly quiet holiday. R (husband/dad) has started up his own business so we don't anticipate travelling anywhere anytime soon. Instead we have had lots of play dates and pottered about at home.

The pond yachts in these photos are family heirlooms! We were in London in the early 1980s on a family holiday and my father bought them for me and my brother at the most extraordinary and amazing toy shop...Hamleys! It was basically a toy department store, I think there were 7 different floors of toys. I can't remember what else we bought but these little pond yachts have lasted well and are now close to 30 years old! The boys have been playing with them in our almost empty pool (it is about to be resurfaced) every day.

The Captain is growing up so quickly. We have completed his school enrolment for next year. It hardly seems to be possible that he could be heading off to big school in six months time! We have chosen a very small (120 students in K - 6), slightly alternative private school that I am confident is perfect for him. They teach meditation (perfect for his somewhat volatile temper!) and provide a hot lunch (hooray no school lunches to pack and ideal for his endless appetite!) and teach classical languages and literature! The whole school even performs in an annual Shakespeare festival, including the lower first , as they call kinder! So looking forward to that!

To assist with entertaining the boys these holidays, R built the boys a fabulous sand pit. In the centre of which is a lovely old wooden row boat that was destined for the tip. It now has a new life as a pirate ship, police boat, naval aircraft carrier, submarine and even occasionally fills in for the Manly ferry! We have all sorts of sand pit toys and endless trucks but the Captain's favourite sand pit toy? Some old wood off cuts that we made into a wooden version of the northern beaches!

Ah yes, Manly Hospital... been there a few times with my rascally boys!

Make and do: More volcano fun!

The volcano that we made recently is well-loved, treasured even. The pirates play with it nearly every day. Mostly the volcano could be described as dormant, however there was a surprise eruption earlier this morning.

A number of dinosaurs had gathered to observe the lava flow...

plus one random donkey (there he is in between Brachiosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex ... probably not for long though... I am pretty sure Spinosaurus is eyeing him off! )

Oh the joy on their little faces! They just love it!

The Organic Markets

Every Sunday, not far from our house, there is an Organic Market. We have our favourite stalls (in particular organic meat, eggs, mushrooms, nuts, goats cheese... the list goes on...) but no visit is complete without one of these:

THEY.ARE.OUTSTANDING!

The boys enjoying theirs whilst listening to a busker:

We also like to stock up on these:

Afterwards we have coffee and catch up with friends. The boys (and one of their best buddies and his beautiful grandma) found a truck mud flap and they happily spent the rest of the morning having rides on it:

Creating a weekend tradition, it's all good!

A colourful winter...

In Sydney we don't really get to enjoy the change of the seasons, it is something that I really miss about living in Canberra and the UK. However, we do have a lovely mild winter and are able to enjoy the garden all year round!



Sidewalk chalk can be used all year round:






Summer flowers...still popping up:

Even the Begonias!

Rainbow Lorikeets, little bursts of summer colour, come and visit every day :

Summer in Sydney is truly lovely, but winter is spectacular!

Vintage Fisher Price Little People

When I was about the same age as the Captain, my family lived in Indonesia, where my father was working in the Embassy. While we were living there, my parents picked up, (from an American family returning home), a whole bunch of Fisher Price Little People toys. I have the fondest memories of playing with these toys, I especially adored the campervan and was fascinated by the tiny toilet, the beds above the cab and even the little boat. The toys came back to Australia with us and then travelled on to India where we had our next posting. They are still there now presumably. My parents gave them to the children of our servants, I often imagine that their children are playing with them now!



As you can see I have endeavoured to recreate my own childhood for the boys! I have collected, over the last few years, various different vintage play sets. Finding them in all sorts of places, op shops, Church fetes, garage sales and of course, Ebay.


The details in the toys are fantastic. No batteries, yet with handles and levers you can move the baggage carousel or turn the helicopter's propellers.


A fireman going on a camping trip with some mates (and other children of the 1970s... do you remember Lucky the dog? There he is peering out the back of the campervan.)

The baby is filling up the plane with some avgas!

It is extraordinary how many people have catastrophic accidents and serious illnesses in Little People world. Luckily, there is an ambulance, an operating theatre, an X-Ray machine and a lift to move the invalids upstairs to recovery whilst strapped securely in a stretcher.

The baby operating the off shore cargo base.

Hours of play!