Fathers' Day and all the other bits around it.

I've had one of those weeks where I've done quite a lot but I'm not sure what to say about it. But according to Nell I should be posting 3 times a week, and there are no children rattling round the house demanding attention or nutrition, so I am starting the typing in the hope that I can write something entertaining. Or at least coherent.

We had a Grandparents' Day at school last week and up till the last minute I was unsure as to whether we could manage to produce a grandparent for the Climber. My father has a mammoth work schedule and is therefore not reliably available. My mother usually lives in Sydney (when she is not flitting off on Italian sojourns) so no hope there, and Fixit's parents have had their hands full managing Fixit's mother's near-death experience with a dangerously blocked bile-duct (I think; there was a whacking great gall-stone in a vital tube which meant no bile could drain out so she was practically poisoning herself but as ever I am vague on actual details. Anyway. She is much better now thank goodness, and no-one told them till afterwards how close a call she had). In the end, my Dad did make it for us and was only slightly late, so we had a good time interviewing him about the Olden Days. The kids had questions about where we went to school etc and my memory was severely tested trying to recall the name of my Grade One teacher. I answered "Mrs Martin" for Climber's benefit but she could just as easily have been my Grade 2 teacher in which case I'm stumped. Straw poll: Can you remember the name of YOUR First Grade Teacher? I know my Dad couldn't. The closest he could get was that she was definitely a Nun, so he told Climber her first name was "Sister".

On Friday I had a friendly lunch time gossip with fellow bloggers House&Baby and Adventures of Teacup over at Aunty Cookie's place. Lots of small people playing in the lounge room while Jo and I took turns cuddling Baby Sadie and the talk skittered through night-sweats, Owen Wilson, tap-students and obstetricians, while Shannon fed us the nicest lunch I've had in quite a while; scrummy gourmet rolls. Not that it takes much to top toast-n-vegemite, but still. It was a bloody nice lunch.

On Saturday I had a massive day, starting with early morning chiropractor session and teaching the Kiddy Tap Classes, followed by lunch, then an hour-long drive to a friend's tap school where I taught for 2 hours before driving home for another hour, then dinner/bath/bed for the kids after which Fixit and I went out to the 'burbs for his brother's 40th birthday party and Nell babysat. Ma & Pa Fixit were at the party, and Fixit's brother nearly started sobbing during his speech when he went to say how much he loved his Mum. He's a Big Man, 6-foot-4 and S-O-L-I-D but he's the biggest softie you've ever met.

And Sunday being Fathers' Day, we started with pancakes for brunch, then with Nell in tow (in the front seat actually, she was whingeing about a sore back) we drove for ages...

... out to Healesville to get lost in the Hedgend Maze. Which was quite a lot of fun, but don't order coffee if you go there. Just saying. The hedge maze took at least an hour to navigate and Cherub got too tired after a while so he and I bailed to the observation tower and tried to steer the others out via mobile phone. Not that easy actually, because the tower wasn't really high enough to show the gaps. Eventually Fixit, Nell and Climber emerged triumphant. Most of the photos are on Nell's camera and will be put on my Flickr site at a later date. But this is one from my phone-cam.

A good time was had by all.