Christmas Day...

You really can't imagine how magical Christmas is with a toddler until you have one! Marley is 2 and 9 months and has been extremely excited about Christmas, all about listening to and singing carols and making gingerbread... From the get go she wanted one thing from Santa and that was a triangle, the instrument... I don't even know how she knows that they exist, but hey... I encouraged her to think about other things she might like, she came up with Fairy Bells from the fairies, and music in her room (it just do happens we had bought her a boom box/iPod dock for her room), definitely a theme here... She has talked loads about getting a fish called 'Squeaky' so Santa brought her one of those two amongst loads of other gifts!
She put out snacks and drinks for Santa and Rudolph the night before and surprisingly went off to sleep with no issue (she is usually awesome at going to bed, but I thought the excitement might be too much!) after a delicious dinner with the family... In the morning she was beyond excited, the only downside was that she had so many presents that she barely noticed each individual one until later on the day... I was impressed with my gifts too!
We shared the cooking for 8, had a delicious traditional roast with pav for dessert, couldn't fit in the pudding and custard... I ate far too much and couldn't even fit in dinner!
The weather was warm and stormy... The beautiful thing about mums garden is that half of it is more like an extension of her lounge area, under cover with a lounge, tables and chairs, so we spent most of the day outside... Lovely to spend the day with our family, delicious food, thoughtful gifts and by the end I was do exhausted I could barely speak... Cuddled up with Mark and watched Inbetweeners The Film again, perfect light hearted laughs to finish off a big, big day!























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Ikea Christmas lights

Not a great picture, but you get the idea! Super cute stick on snowflake lights from Ikea, great value at $5! Already with 30% off... Looks like everywhere are doing their Christmas sales before Christmas has begun... Went past Bed Bath and Table today and their decorations were already 50% off, they had some lovely stuff too!




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Game of Thrones: Songs of Fire and Ice George RR Martin

Game of Thrones
Holy moly, first things first, if you haven’t watched the show DO IT! And then read the books, or the other way round, whichever... The show is so true to the book it really doesn’t matter which way you do it, just do...
The books are a huge commitment, thousands and thousands of pages, but completely engulfing... Definitely not my usual genre, but the characters absolutely have me... Am start of book four right now, while I know I still have many hours of reading ahead, I am starting to wonder how I am going to manage without these characters, or even if there will be any left by the end!!!






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Melbourne Victory Fan Fest at Luna Park

We went to MVFC fan fest at Luna Park 2 years ago and loved it... It changed to being a look at AAMI park last year, but back again this year! We were pretty excited, it always restores faith in the team to feel like you are in it with them... Marley was looking forward to the carousel and meeting Archie Thompson, she only got to do the latter as the carousel was closed, then she got so shy around Archie - hilarious... But now she has a picture to keep forever of arguably the best a-league player thus far!

I must admit I liked the set up better last time, the players out with us, people watching, milling around... This time you had to queue to get upstairs, get autographs and get out, so only one of us to go (pram factor), it was ME!!! Yayayay!!! Interesting that Mehmet and Muscy weren't with the players for autographs...

The TAC stand was good fun for Marley, playing a ball game... We went on the elephant ride, saw Santa, and ate some curly fries... Loved seeing all of the fans that made it out, even with the threatening weather... Was definitely worth the trip, we were all exhausted by the time we got in!


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Sunday Morning at Max Brenner

Max Brenner has become a guilty pleasure since my friend Leigh reminded me it was there... So Sunday morning we went to indulge my waffle craving... Their waffles are AWESOME! Mark had their chocolate crunch pizza, which was too much for one person... My waffles and fruit for two fed Marley, Mace (fruit only) and me, delicious! Marley and Mark read a tattoo mag while we waited, always a long wait there!!! But always worth it... If you only have time for a drink, their banana chocolate frappe is divine...








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Jingle Bells from Bed Bath and Table

These are just too cute! Stars made up from loads of tiny bells... Good fun as a Marley sized instrument and beautiful hanging about the house! They come in different sizes, we got a couple and hung them on the stairs between the kids Christmas stockings...


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Foo Fighters at AAMI Park Review

Foo Fighters

The first ever gig at AAMI park... I must say as a venue for a gig it was awesome, loved being under the stars! As a Melbourne Victory supporter I was concerned about the pitch, I guess time will tell just how much damage all the drunkards in general admission did it to, and there were plenty... Leaving the venue my shoes were sticking to the floor, thought I was going to lose them, yuck!

The Foo Fighters have been a favourite band of mine since their inception, I have seen them loads of times and they have never failed to impress me... I am completely enamoured with Dave Grohl... The band came through with a great set, but, yes there is a but, it is probably the worst set list I have heard from them... Still good though, still an awesome show, still will continue to see them live... Just thought that there last show was better, felt like they tried to mix it up a bit too much and there was a little to much jamming and lulls (this was made up by our truly awesome seats, 6 rows back, at the front right)... Most of all he made us hang for the best part monkey wrench, kinda blowing the track for me, and it is in my top 3 Foo Fighters tracks, so that sucked...

The other thing was that Pat looked like he wasn't well? Sick, or stressed, or sad? By the end he seemed a little happier, but I was genuinely worried about him...

For all of that, these guys put on a damn good, loud, long show, with such an impressive catalog of music they always bring it! They are a tight unit performing, charismatic, funny and make it feel personal... Was a great girls night out with my best friend, who is leaving me... Love the Foo Fighters!!!



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Decorate the Christmas tree!

Decorate the Christmas tree!

We got an awesome deal through xmastrees.net.au who deliver your fresh tree to your house, all ready to go in the stand... When Christmas is over they come and take it away and dispose of it for you! Awesome!

The tree itself is pristine, packed full of branches... Really deluxe tree, I think I would go as far as paying full price next year!

Marley woke up to the sight of her Christmas tree and insisted we decorate it, and so we did!










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The Wiggles Big Birthday In The Big Tent Flemington Racecourse Review

The Wiggles Big Birthday In The Big Tent Flemington Racecourse

We booked these tickets what feels like forever ago... We were lucky to get in the Hot Potato section only 8 rows from the front...

The parking queue was a nightmare, the toilet queue was a nightmare, taking 20 minutes the. 15 minutes respectively, so we dashed to our seats with 2 minutes to spare! And waited 20 for them to start... I was pretty disappointed with this as there was an extensive merch stand and other things to do in the tent and we didn't get time to cruise it pre show because of the time constraint... I can see why, the parking situation was crappy, but sitting and waiting with a 2 year old is not a good time...

Once the show started, The Wiggles won me over! I was surprised that it felt so personal, even though we were up close there really wasn't a bad seat on the house... A good range of songs, comedy, dancing, it was over an hour of proper, professional, entertainment... Marley LOVED it! Dorothy the dinosaur was her highlight, but every time anyone came out, she got very excited...

On our way out we grabbed some merch, and ran to the car to get out before the traffic inevitable traffic jam started again!


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