Anzac Day

This Anzac Day we got together with my dad's extended family. Dad and I met up at my grandparents' grave (the rest of the family were running late) and while Fixit and the kids ran around looking at everything, Dad and I talked; some catch-up stuff and some reminiscing. Which was nice. I haven't visited the grave before. My grandparents are buried in the same plot, and the plaques for each say that they were loving husband / wife to the other, which was true. And Cherub's middle name is the same as my grandfather's middle name (which was the reason I chose it - apart from it also being unusual and that I just loved it), but seeing it there on the gravestone really reminded me and gave me a special pang, of nostalgia, emotion, connection, all rolled into one.

From there we went (via a park) to my Uncle & Aunt's house for lunch. I made a super roasted vegetable & macadamia nut couscous salad...
(Roast some veg. Roast some macadamias. Prepare the couscous. Toss them all together with dressing - equal parts lemon juice & extra virgin olive oil, a generous dollop of honeycup mustard and salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy!)

We also made some personalised Anzac biscuits for the family, a smash hit! The boys and Fixit had quite a lot of fun pressing out the letters too.

We dined like princes and then got raucous playing Pictionary. Caitlin and I won. Of course. Cloakroom got us home on an all-play. Cherub was extremely pleased to see Caitlin again, but also fell in love with another cousin, Anna. So much so that he invited her to a sleepover at our house. (She's the pretty laughing girl in the centre of the photo.)

And Cherub drew a cat. I'm only telling you this because my current project is encouraging the non-writing/painting/drawing Cherub to have a go with writing implements. So that I can (a) work out which hand is his dominant and (b) try and balance the wall art disparity between him and Climber.

I'm in love with the drawing so it'll be laminated and displayed to address (b) but as far as (a) is concerned I am none the wiser. He drew it ambidextrously.

Things that made me smile today.

• The Cherub swapping his feet round like this at tap and telling me that his other foot was now his left foot.

(This is a re-creation featuring the Buzz Lightyear dress-up
and not featuring his tap shoes.)

• The Climber practising his joke-telling skills in the back of the car:

Knock Knock Who's There ? Cow. Cow who? No, Cow moo!
and
Why did the Dinosaur cross the road? He didn't, roads weren't invented when dinosaurs were alive
etc .

Because this inspired the Cherub to tell his own made-up joke:

"Why did the sheep cross the road? - Baaaaa."

I think he's a surrealist.

• Hearing that I am going to get to see a Comedy Festival Show after all - my friend Astrid has scored us freebies to see the delicious Adam Hills on Sunday night! Which is the last night of the Fest, so you can see why I thought I wasn't going to end up seeing anything this year (most unusual for me) and am now happy to get a reprieve....

*Sings: Let's get all dressed up and go and out and perve on Adam Hills and have a laugh and a drink - Yay!*

• Nell suddenly getting worried that the rash of hippies and greenies cleaning their houses with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda might cause a vinegar shortage.

This is Nell & Cherub with her New Toy, the Badge-Maker. You remember how I offered prizes for this post? Guess what the prizes were.

There was another envelope for Soozii but the pic is on Nell's camera not mine. Also, H&B was not a prize-winner as such, hers were just a thankyou because she'd sent me a little prez.

• Knowing that New Tricks is back on air tonight.

Edited to say: New Tricks was a bloody repeat! So we missed Rockwiz for nothing. Bah.