A Day in the Life of a School Holiday

We're at the end of the first week of J's two-week April school holiday.  C2 took the wise road and high-tailed it to the US of A for a week - coward!  That left my mum and I as event planners and we implemented an action-packed week designed to amuse the little man and crowd out any desire to lounge in front of the TV or computer.

Wednesday was a particular highlight and all three of us declared it the winner amongst a week of good ones.  To recap:

9:00  Walked Murphy in Hedgley Dean gardens, adjacent to our house, and listened to the Cockitoos, Lorikeets, and Doves welcome the morning.

9:30  Shoo J out of the house

9:35  Go back into the house for sunglasses
9:36  Go back into the house for market tote
9:37  Go back into the house for Grandma

9:38  On our way to Noisette, a French cafe in Port Melbourne about 20 minutes away.  All enjoyed spectacular drive along Beach Road and Beaconsfield Parade admiring long lines of Palms and the sparkling water of Port Philip Bay.  The Spirit of Tasmania ferry was docked for our viewing pleasure.

10:00 Followed my GPS's very circuitous directions, parked the car, and still walked 15 minutes to Noisette.

10:15 BREAKFAST consisting of: Viennoise with smoked salmon, prosciutto, baguette, croissantes aux amandes, jam beignets, hot cross buns, hot chocolate (for J), many skinny cafe lattes for Grandma and I.  Healthy it wasn't, reminiscent of breakfasts in France it was!

11:45  At the South Melbourne Market where we picked up fruit, veg, flowers, a new sofa pillow, new dish towels, and a cactus for J.

12:45 Walked across the street to the Chef's Hat Kitchen Supply Shop to restock some worn kitchen items including new kitchen measuring cups, cake pans, 2q All-Clad pot, cutting boards, baking trays, and pastry bag and tips.

2:00 I hit my shopping patience limit and danced from foot to foot trying to hurry Grandma up.  Grandma still raring to shop deeply ignored me while deeply examining a wooden bowl.

2:30  Finally on our way home.  Grandma went to nap, tired out from shopping.  I happily added to my pile of hard rubbish ready for pickup next Monday and purred at my new All-Clad pot.

4:20  Hurridly organized a picnic and shooed J and Murphy out of the house

4:35  Go back into the house for sunglasses
4:36  Go back into the house for towels
4:37  Go back into the house for Grandma

5:00  At St. Kilda beach, nibbling on ham/cheese/pickle sandwiches and fruit, throwing a tennis ball for Murphy, marvelling at J's swimming, and thoroughly enjoying a late summer resurgence in the middle of this Australian autumn.

5:30  Ooohing and aaaahing at an amazing sunset over the Bay.

6:00-7:00   See 5:00  but also laugh at J's judo rolls in the sand, played monkey-in-the-middle with J and Murphy and tried not to think about how much sand was about to get deposited in my car.

7:00  Dried everybody off as much as possible and took leisurely walk along the boardwalk to the St. Kilda pier where we joined many, many others in a balmy stroll admiring the city lights, the glow off the water, and the full moon.

7:30  Walk back to the Beachcomber Restaurant and Cafe on the boardwalk and get ice cream.

8:30  Home - J showered and in bed reading, Grandma showered and sitting down to watch last two episodes of Downton Abbey Season 1 with me.

A near-perfect day.