A day out with Thomas the tank engine at Puffing Billy

A Day Out With Thomas The Tank Engine at Puffing Billy

We have talked about going to Puffing Billy since having Marley, but never really got around to it... I had heard about Thomas at Puffing Billy and thought that Mace would dig it, so booked with some friends and their little boys... All in all, it was a good day, there were pros and cons of course, it sort of felt that it could do with a bit of an organisational and customer service overhaul...

My first tip is to print two sets of tickets if you have 2 children, so you can separate if you desire... They aren't always staunch about checking tickets in the non train ride section, but it is inconsistent, and I prefer to be able to comply with the rules... So we had to show tickets at the face painting for Marley, and the boys were going to get seats at the pantomime, we needed tickets for both! Luckily I had my email saved and showed the pantomime people that to get in...

The train ride was the highlight, 20 minutes on a train with open windows, pulled by Thomas... The best tip I have here is sit on the same side as you enter for the best views! Rolling hills, lots of greenery... 

The pantomime was boring as can be... It was completely uninteresting for all 4 of us, and the seating is organised in such a way that if you are at the far right of the stage, you catch about an 8th of the show... Complete waste of time!

The jumping castle and animals were a nice add on, what kid doesn't like those!?! And the face painting was a bit hit and miss... Marley wanted a rainbow unicorn, I knew it could be a stretch and had seen some lovely butterflies, so I suggested that the artist (?) do something else... Unfortunately she didn't think unicorn was above her expertise, she was wrong! It looked like a dinosaur drawn by Marley, it was embarrassingly bad!

The staff were mostly abrasive, car park staff aside... It felt that they were doing us a favour by being there... Lots of bad communication over crossing the tracks, lots of grumpy faces...

Korma time...

Pre kids, curry was a huge part of our lives, many nights a week we would eat it, and love it! Lots of types, it sort of became my specialty. Then I got pregnant with Marley, and the smell of curry didn't sit with me, then we ate it out a couple times and it made me sick. Just like that, it was over. Poor Mark, taking away an easy vegetarian dish out of his life! We have been talking curry with people lately, and it has been on my mind, then out of the blue today, I decided it was time to go back. It was delicious, Marley disagreed!

Veggie korma

Big onion

2 garlic

Tblsp coriander

.5 Tblsp cumin

.5 Tblsp turmeric

.5 Tblsp garam masala

Chilli to your taste

1-2 cups veg water

1/2 cup pasata

Tin lentils

Cup of soy milk

Whatever veg you like

2 zucchini 

2 carrot

Fry up onion, garlic and spices, fry up veggies, add vegetable stock, pasata, boil up and let simmer for 20 mins or so. Pour in soy milk and keep simmering until you are ready to eat. At this point I stick blend almost half to beef it up a bit, give it a good texture. And serve, with rice or roti. Mmmmm

Friday baking: clinker slice...

It's been a while since I have baked on a Friday, there have been too many sweets in our lives! But today by 8.30 I had made a chocolate caramel tray of brownies for my beautiful girlfriend and her husband to celebrate their new baby girl, and a clinker slice for our family to celebrate the weekend! Haha... The caramel slice is surprisingly good! Sweeeet, but good!

The recipe was from the stay at home mum website...

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl - Paul Brannigan

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

Paul Brannigan

As a Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl fan, I have read a few books about them, this was a good one... The beginning can be a bit much, way too much about other bands, bands Dave liked, bands that were around at the time Dave was growing up, it just felt like it was more about bands on general then Dave and his bands... As he enters Nirvana the story gets really interesting, I love reading about Dave's life, the path he was on... The touring, the band, Kurt, Krist, and then the Foo Fighters... When nirvana and the foo fighters started, the internet wasn't quite what it is today, so it is nice to read about things that weren't highly publicised, things that I have never read before... It's also really interesting to go deep into each Foo Fighters album, tracks, touring, band changes, Taylor's path... It covers a lot, and the vast majority is really interesting...

Honey Joys

Honey joys

After the Little Mermaid tiffin, the kids fell in love with honey joys... So I grabbed the recipe and made a batch, non dairy to suit Marks needs... The recipe online is the same as the one on the side of the Cornflakes packet... They are delicious... It's very hard to stop eating them once you start!

Little Mermaid Childrens’ Tiffin at the Langham hotel

Little Mermaid Childrens’ Tiffin at the Langham hotel

We heard about this and booked immediately for the one day mace is in crèche... Girls morning out! 

The hotel is beautiful and the Aria Lounge is lovely, perfect for high tea... Big cushy couches, amazing food, and gorgeous little girls dressed as princesses everywhere... Definitely a lovely treat for your special little one...

The kids menu was:

King Triton Cupcake

Ocean Jelly Square

Ursula Red Lip Cookie

Sabastian Cakepop

Flounder Honey Joy 

Starfish Fairybread

Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Scones with jam & cream

Babyccino’s or Ariel Red Hair Lemonade

Marley loved it, couldn't eat even half, brought the rest home to share with Mace after dessert!

FourFourTwo magazine A League preview...

As you may know, we love our football…  We are fierce supporters of Melbourne Victory Football Club and were lucky enough to be included in the 'Who do you sing for?' fan special in A League preview of FourFourTwo magazine this month... I must add that the A League preview was awesome, thoroughly enjoyed it! Bought a copy for my Nanu, another Victory supporter, and he was blown away 'a whole book about football?!'...  Definitely amped me up for the impending season! 

School holidays, without any holidays...

I know I have been incredibly quiet over here... But school holidays will do that to you! I have no idea how I used to manage before Marley started kinder? Or maybe it is just since kinder, it's can I paint/cut and paste/do craft etc etc etc, which is fine, except mace wants to join in and isn't quite there yet... It's the only time I can really see the difference as bring so wide in their skills... All of the independent play, football, imaginary play, Lego, they share the interests and Mace can keep up with Marley, sometimes even go beyond her skill set, dude can kick a ball!!! But I am definitely struggling...

One of the best ideas ever was to send Marley off to K&C performing arts school holiday program for three days last week... It was awesome, and somehow cheaper then childcare! They had three days from 9-3.30 with a concert on the last day to show us their singing, dancing and drama (including little outfits and all) that they had learnt, as well as a little art show... It was amazing! I can't put up much in the way of photography as other kids were close at all times! And if this sounds like an awesome program to you, check with your local school to see what's available in your area...