Just spent the day with my family at a South Australian icon. This place is as SA as Balfours frog cakes, The Hilltop Hoods and bung fritz. It has something for everyone of every age. Slides galore (wet and dry), flying foxes, tractor train ride, archery range, paddle boats, volley ball, a half decent maze... The list goes on and on... I am of course talking about Greenhills Adventure Park in Victor Harbor.
I slid down the wave slide, burnt my elbow on the giant slide (I don't recommend racing your brother-in-law with your daughter on your lap), raced my kids on the water slides, took a tractor train ride, paddled my daughter around the pond chasing my other two kids on their aqua bike, tackled moon bikes (a nightmare with my long legs) and took on what felt like a million trillion stairs... The day was A-MAZE-ING (pun intended) and even after three or four full on hours at this magical place the day ended way too quickly.
Sadly though this South Aussie icon of childhood memory making will be closing for good May 1st THIS YEAR!!!! No more family fun... No more excited car rides... Another icon of my childhood and my kids' childhood gone. It is one of the last places that I am aware of that gets kids into the out of doors and exercising without them even realising it is happening!! I am exhausted, I can only imagine how physically tired my kids are after the day we've had... The worst thing is the wonderful staff (70 or 80 of them I think) only have a few months left to find a new career...
This post is not designed to encourage an uprising to save this funfair (a gazillion steps included). I only want to encourage all of us to visit one last time... Go... Enjoy... Relive your greatest childhood memories... And create some new ones with your own kids... Do it now, before it is truly too late...
Saturday 20 February 2016
Wednesday 17 February 2016
The Final Catchup Post... A Day For the Romantics...
February 14... Traditionally a day for all you romantics out there... So many roses, so many diamonds, so many proposals... Sadly though the people I have spoken to in the lead up to this special day have been none-the-wiser that Valentine's Day is upon them.
For me and my gorgeous, stunningly beautiful, amazing wife the day begun perfectly with Miss H sleeping in and a breakfast in bed with a red rose to decorate the plate... closely followed by me heading off to work :-( and then dinner with the kids where they, all three, got a handful of heart chocolates each...
I fondly recall romantic weekends away (BC) but the last few Valentine's have been as much focused on the kids as they have been on the 'us' of my wife and I. It has even come to the point where the teachers at the new school where our kids attend have sent home cards covered in hearts for our little ones to give to us on this special day.
For those of you who have romance in your hearts I hope that your Valentine's Day was magical, special and filled with memories that bring a knowing, mysterious smile to both your lips and your eyes...
For everyone else... Better luck next year?
For me and my gorgeous, stunningly beautiful, amazing wife the day begun perfectly with Miss H sleeping in and a breakfast in bed with a red rose to decorate the plate... closely followed by me heading off to work :-( and then dinner with the kids where they, all three, got a handful of heart chocolates each...
I fondly recall romantic weekends away (BC) but the last few Valentine's have been as much focused on the kids as they have been on the 'us' of my wife and I. It has even come to the point where the teachers at the new school where our kids attend have sent home cards covered in hearts for our little ones to give to us on this special day.
For those of you who have romance in your hearts I hope that your Valentine's Day was magical, special and filled with memories that bring a knowing, mysterious smile to both your lips and your eyes...
For everyone else... Better luck next year?
Swim swim swim like a fish
It is such a great thrill when I get a chance to do anything with my kids at school. Sometimes it is cooking the BBQ for a whole school nature day, sometimes I get to do something related to work and sometimes it is just being able to drop by during my lunch break and watch them swim.
This week just gone has been all about the later. 12pm has been an awesome time to pop down to our local pool and watch what my three wonderful and amazing kids are up to. I time it perfectly to help my youngest dry off a bit and get as much of her sandwich into her as possible before it is time for her to go off and play. Miss 5 (almost 6) has a nasty cough which reappears at the worst possible time so it is great that I can make sure she get a jumper on to ward off the cool wind and it just totally makes my day when Miss Boo sees I have arrived and I get a joyful "DADDDDDDYYYYY!!!!" greeting.
The other two are still in the thick of learning when I arrive and I just love seeing how well extra lessons with a local lady are helping them to grow much more confident in the water. My eldest daughter gives me a warm smile when she sees me and my son's classmates make sure he knows when I have arrived.
Tomorrow finishes their week of school swimming lessons, traditionally the fun day. I regret that I cannot be there for any of the session and so will need to wait until tomorrow night before I discover the mischief they get up to. Something to look forward to...
This week just gone has been all about the later. 12pm has been an awesome time to pop down to our local pool and watch what my three wonderful and amazing kids are up to. I time it perfectly to help my youngest dry off a bit and get as much of her sandwich into her as possible before it is time for her to go off and play. Miss 5 (almost 6) has a nasty cough which reappears at the worst possible time so it is great that I can make sure she get a jumper on to ward off the cool wind and it just totally makes my day when Miss Boo sees I have arrived and I get a joyful "DADDDDDDYYYYY!!!!" greeting.
The other two are still in the thick of learning when I arrive and I just love seeing how well extra lessons with a local lady are helping them to grow much more confident in the water. My eldest daughter gives me a warm smile when she sees me and my son's classmates make sure he knows when I have arrived.
Tomorrow finishes their week of school swimming lessons, traditionally the fun day. I regret that I cannot be there for any of the session and so will need to wait until tomorrow night before I discover the mischief they get up to. Something to look forward to...
The best Bond ever
Last night I caught on TV the remake of Casino Royal starring Mr. Craig as the edgy, troubled, super spy James (007) Bond. This film I believe has a lot less humour than previous Bond films and Craig has that carefree charisma about him when he plays Bond that seems to suit the film. It is dark (this version of the film), but somewhat believable, you can almost see this story playing out somewhere in the world and I couldn't help thinking that a spy like Bond could be meeting with a contact at the National Museum of Victoria (near Pharlap perhaps) or cruising Sydney Harbour avoiding gangsters in speedboats...
This leads me to ask two of the most dangerous questions I can...
(1) Who is your favourite Bond?
(2) Which is your favourite Bond film?
No need to state why... I am sure that the mere mention of the actor and the film will be enough for us all to nod our heads knowingly and go "Yeah, spot on mate!"
Please leave a comment...
This leads me to ask two of the most dangerous questions I can...
(1) Who is your favourite Bond?
(2) Which is your favourite Bond film?
No need to state why... I am sure that the mere mention of the actor and the film will be enough for us all to nod our heads knowingly and go "Yeah, spot on mate!"
Please leave a comment...
Catch up... Happy belated birthdays
To all my loyal followers and anyone who has happened to stumble upon my site, my apologies for once again neglecting this page... It has been almost a whole month between posts, so much has been happening but I have not had a chance to sit down and write a single word. So this is my first catch up post... Enjoy!!
Happy belated birthdays to all my friends and family born in January and February! It is hard to imagine that we are almost through the first quarter of the year. A guy once told me that January and February are the worst months for business. I didn't believe him when I first heard but I certainly believe him now. Since taking on a more senior role at the library where I work it has been all event planning and budget bidding and all the stressful but important jobs which will pave the way for the rest of the year. Any contacts you try making with local companies (or any company really) is hard at the moment though because all through January businesses were shutdown for Christmas break and all through February the gears have only just started turning. Enough about work though...
This post is supposed to be all about the catchups I've had with friends and family whose birthdays we missed during January or February or even those whose birthdays fall at the end of 2015 and we just couldn't find a free weekend... So here goes...
It was great to have a mass sleep over with some friends of my son, mates from his old school. We love keeping alive these friendships since the boys are great together. There was a Nerf gun war in our backyard followed by a meal and movie night.
Early Feb we finally caught up with the Smiths (name remains unchanged to protect the innocent) when we spent an ammmmmmaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzziiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg day at the Adelaide Zoo. All day we were wishing the kids a belated happy birthday which confused them totally (lol). The weather was perfect with Funi the panda on the move, the frogs in fine form and the otters (all 5 of them) singing up a storm and acting very playful.
Feb also saw us (finally) catch up with a dear friend. Mount Barker was a great halfway location and gave us an excuse to try out the new Mexican takeaway place there. If you ever go don't mention that their setup is just like Subway... Only Mexican! They don't see the similarities and there are certainly no similarities on price!!! Money to a great cause though so all the best to them...
Thanks to Facebook my phone is alerting me a day early to everyones' birthdays. The challenge now is to get online on the day and actually remember to drop you all a line. Wish me luck...
If I don't get online though please know that I am thinking of all you February and March born friends and wishing you all the very best day...
Signing off,
Tim the Wizard
Happy belated birthdays to all my friends and family born in January and February! It is hard to imagine that we are almost through the first quarter of the year. A guy once told me that January and February are the worst months for business. I didn't believe him when I first heard but I certainly believe him now. Since taking on a more senior role at the library where I work it has been all event planning and budget bidding and all the stressful but important jobs which will pave the way for the rest of the year. Any contacts you try making with local companies (or any company really) is hard at the moment though because all through January businesses were shutdown for Christmas break and all through February the gears have only just started turning. Enough about work though...
This post is supposed to be all about the catchups I've had with friends and family whose birthdays we missed during January or February or even those whose birthdays fall at the end of 2015 and we just couldn't find a free weekend... So here goes...
It was great to have a mass sleep over with some friends of my son, mates from his old school. We love keeping alive these friendships since the boys are great together. There was a Nerf gun war in our backyard followed by a meal and movie night.
Early Feb we finally caught up with the Smiths (name remains unchanged to protect the innocent) when we spent an ammmmmmaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzziiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg day at the Adelaide Zoo. All day we were wishing the kids a belated happy birthday which confused them totally (lol). The weather was perfect with Funi the panda on the move, the frogs in fine form and the otters (all 5 of them) singing up a storm and acting very playful.
Feb also saw us (finally) catch up with a dear friend. Mount Barker was a great halfway location and gave us an excuse to try out the new Mexican takeaway place there. If you ever go don't mention that their setup is just like Subway... Only Mexican! They don't see the similarities and there are certainly no similarities on price!!! Money to a great cause though so all the best to them...
Thanks to Facebook my phone is alerting me a day early to everyones' birthdays. The challenge now is to get online on the day and actually remember to drop you all a line. Wish me luck...
If I don't get online though please know that I am thinking of all you February and March born friends and wishing you all the very best day...
Signing off,
Tim the Wizard
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