26/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Harrison: You are loving reading the Secret Seven series at the moment, borrowing from the library and now you have Daddy's 'vintage' books that he used to read when he was a boy.

Amelie: Open morning at the end of term ballet class.  I loved being able to watch you dance with so much more confidence than last term.

Finley: Book time with Daddy.  

A slow week this week with everyone in the house sick with colds, Harrison had a couple of days off school so we were all able to rest up.

Highlight of the week was Finley learning to crawl! He did it after being so close for what has felt like months, he just took off on Friday morning after Amelie's discarded ballet shoe caught his eye and he hasn't looked back.

Another school term has finished and we have school holidays for the next two weeks, yay! looking forward to easy days and our time away for a week during the school holidays.  Although Matt is working we're tagging along and looking forward to exploring some more of Australia.

25/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Harrison: All rugged up on the coldest day so far this year, it was bitterly cold as we explored Cockatoo Island, a hot chocolate helped to warm you up.

Amelie: Happy Birthday to you! Our big 4 year old!

Finley: Smiles for Nana as she pushes you on the swing.

A very busy week here for us with Nana & Poppa visiting from New Zealand and the birthday party prep ramped up. 

We caught the ferry to Cockatoo Island and explored the island with it's interesting buildings and learnt about the convict history.
Nana and Poppa were a huge helping hand during the week as well as getting to spent some quality time with all of the grandkids making time to do special outings with them which they really appreciated.
Amelie took Poppa to preschool for the reptile visit where she helped hold a giant snake!

Amelie loved having a week of birthday celebrations.  She was very spoilt with wonderful presents, a yummy breakfast of pancakes to start the day, a visit to one of her favourite parks, getting her fingernails painted with Mummy and Nana for the first time at the local nail shop!  Gelato for afternoon tea once Harrison was home from school and then her dinner of choice - chicken and noodles!
Amelie then celebrated on Saturday with her friends at her Enchanted Wood Party.  She had a ball eating lots of yummy food, playing games and doing fairy craft! photos to follow!

24/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Harrison & Amelie: Learning to sew on Nannie's old sewing machine.  I love the pile of magazines so that Harrison can reach the pedal and then how it almost doubles for Amelie to reach!  They both loved it and were very proud of the little bags they made.

Finley: Marmite on a rusk, delicious!

Having Queens Birthday long weekend made the week fly by in a blur.  Birthday party prep has been in full swing for Amelie's 4th birthday party in a week's time.
Nana and Poppa arrived to a very wet Saturday morning but thankfully it dried up and much fun was had catching up with them during the day and a late afternoon visit to the park to enjoy the sunshine.

23/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Harrison: Busy playing your new Lego spy game. 

Amelie: In your element playing with the new batch of playdough we made, purple was your colour of choice today.

Finley: Down on your hands and knees, getting closer to crawling!

A quiet long weekend for Queens Birthday, some winter rain and a drop in temperatures this week.

Harrison got a certificate at assembly this week, that's two so far this year, he's working towards getting four and then you get a gold certificate!

Counting down until Nana and Poppa arrive and Amelie's birthday in a week's time, looking forward to having them here for the birthday celebrations.

22/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Harrison: Glowing in the late afternoon sun! Enjoying the trip home on the ferry after our day trip to Garden Island. 

Amelie: Taking after Mummy! Your camera is very high tech, not only does it take photos but it hands out lollies too! Gotta love your imagination!

Finley: The new blinking game we play where you copy me when I blink, you pull this face each time you blink and it cracks me up!

We had fun day trip to Garden Island in Sydney harbour, making the most of the Sunday fun day cheap ferry tickets! A stunning Autumn day with fantastic views back to the city whilst on the island and especially from the top of the the old signal station.  Garden island has been the Navy's Sydney headquarters for many years and the kids enjoyed looking around the museum and all the monuments around the island.   We couldn't pull Harrison away from the periscope that was working within the museum that allowed you to see all around the island. 

We're really enjoying our Saturday morning routine with Harrison playing soccer and Matt helping coach the team.  Amelie, Finley and I cheer them on from the sidelines, thankfully most weekends in the warm morning sun!  Harrison is doing really well, taking after his Daddy as a natural striker!

The Vivid festival of lights runs for a few weeks at the end of May.  We braved the insanely crazy crowds on Saturday night to see the amazing lights being projected up onto various buildings around the city with the star attraction being the Opera house lights.  The kids also loved the interactive light features.

Finley has made progress this week with his movement around the room, still not crawling but getting so close!  Things across the mat are catching his attention and he is doing his best to get closer to them.