We survived five parties in under 30 hours

Yep.. last of the party goers are the Evett Family....Sad thing ( for me!)is that most of the parties were kids parties..

Yesterday was a pool party for Morgan - I didn't envy that mother with a half dozen high spirited 6 and 7 year olds racing in and out of the pool with waterbombs, buckets and water guns, devouring everything she laid out on the table - like swarming locasts.

This was followed quickly by a princess party - which both kids were invited to. 25 kids u nder the age of 7, mostly in fairy wings, pink and purple fluttering about the back yard, filling up on fairy bread, chips and lollies.

This morning was another fairy party, but held in a park. It was hot as.. well ... it was damned hot. Again - the park was a mass with fairies, wings and wands. Such alot of fun with the games organised - all fairy related; gorgeous cake and treats for all the kids.

We rushed from this party over to the other side of town, to a swanky lunch affair; but one where the kids escaped to the pool and I lay on a lounger in the pretence I was supervising them. The raspberry daquiries were the BEST i've ever had and I was sorry to have to stop at two ( designated driver...)

From here rushing back to our street party- held at th eend of our cul de sac- Street ricket, Thong tossing, bucket races and apple bobbing; along with a visit from Santa and a huge BBQ...

PLUS - lets not forget the lolly bags and other crap we all consumed.... groan....

Am off to bed now ( very early for me) and try and get off this sugar rush I am on.

Kids Disco

Put 7 kids under the age of 7 in a darkened room and hand them glow sticks, throw some streamers around and put some pumping music on and what do you have?

Very excited kids who will dance their feet off..

what started as a off the cuff thing and kind gesture by one of our neighbours - has evolved into the last incarnation - Disco at the Evetts.

I love the idea that the three families in the street look after the kids once a month - so that the other two couples can go out and watch a movie - or have a meal alone.. or good grief - talk to one another!!

I thought I'd share some photos from the night. The kids had such a wonderful time - mixing up playing with dancing, lego, blocks, watching DVDs, eating popcorn, munching on chips, playing super heros and spys, the hot dogs, the dance off competitions ( all instigated and run by my little organiser - Morgan!)

the kids were all delightful and loving with each other - no tiffs or tears - which was a blessing. I was so delighted with the way they all looked out for one another and played so well.

Looking forward to the next one!

Seaworld Expedition

Last night we tottered o ff to Seaworld for the Energex’s Staff Christmas Party. Its always held early as they want to include as many people in the celebrations as they can – with storm seasons in Oct to Jan – if it were held closer to Christmas then a great number of people would not bed allowed to come as they have to either stay close to base or be on call for disaster recovery. With al ittle over 6 thousand people there – it was like a very busy day at Seaworld with long line ups on popular rides.

We had around 3 hours to wander around Seaworld and get on as many rides and see as many shows as we could. Last year we stayed at Nara resort and had 2 days to explore – so had seen everything and went on most rides a number of times – so it wasn’t a mad dash. Lilly is a little taller this year and able to get one many of the bigger rides – she ‘is over’ the baby rides ( oh dear).

We sat in awe ( again) watching the dolphin show. The pure delight and rapture on both kids faces was enough to put a lump in my throat. What mad woman decided it might be a good idea to buy toffee apples and give them to two ravenous children at the start of the night? These pictures don’t fully show the extent of stickiness that ensued. I don’t like toffee apples ( well to be fair the last one I had was about 20 years ago and I remember the apple was shriveled and gross) but I have to say I really liked the ones the kids had – the apples were so fresh and the toffee not too sweet..

We planned our trek well and got to do and see everything that each person wanted. Lilly was too short to go on the Pirate Ship so Morgan and I hopped aboard. He was thrilled and delighted for about the first three swings. As it tipped higher and higher up, the poor lad clung to the silver grip bars for fear of his life. To his credit as I kept asking him if he was ok , he kept nodding. I put a protective arm round him but I am not sure if that settled him any. Although he said he thought it was fun – he didn’t want to go back on it. We rode the dragon flume several times and got very wet.

Lilly and I boarded the Burmuda Triangle ride ( she only scrapped it in with her height) and set off very excited. All the rides have a different feel for sure when its dark outside! We were up the front and again – to her credit – she did not show any fear. I had an arm round her and I could feel her heart pounding and she shook like a leaf in some of the spookier bits. Outwardly, she was smiling and she waved at the mechanical aliens. It wasn’t until we were 5 seconds from disembarking that she broke into tears and told me she was frightened. Oh bless her! After checking out the snoozing Polar bears, when asked what the best thing so far was – she chose the triangle ride…( oh dear)

We ended our evening off with some more sedate rides – I love the old fashioned merry-g-round and Lilly and I rode the horses for 3 sessions. I love the music and the gentle motion of the horses, the glitz of the decorations and the fancy mirrors. Lilly did really well with her arm in plaster – but I doubt that much would.

It was a great night and a real family fun experience where I felt very connected to each person. As a reward for our savings on our power consumption last quarter we are going to Dreamworld shortly - so have decided not to do this during school holidays – as we want to do it when we don’t have so many people to line up with.