Pool house kitchen done

No self respecting Aussie (bloke) cooks in the house - so the outside developments are now finished to world class bbq levels !!  As you can see from the pictures here, our outdoor kitchen is complete with all mod cons, importantly, including the other Aussie stape, the beer fridge. For anyone planning a visit - expect to do plenty of time in this area.

The New Australians

Meet some of the newest Australian's .......... a.k.a. The Hawkins Family.  Yes, today we pledged ourselves to this wonderful adopted country of ours and became Citizens and now hold dual nationality.
When we first arrived, 200 blogs ago and getting on for 5 years, we never suspected it would end up with Citizenship but happily it has.  It was always important though to get citizenship for the kids, especially Aidan, as he was born here. Now they have both Australia & Europe to freely explore as they get older which is a nice thing to have.
So 'Gidday' to all of you from the real Aussies..... perhaps I need to rename the blog now.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you today Mam, strange co-incidence it happened on your Birthday!

See more of today's pictures here.

Cardinia Water Picnic

Sunday saw us all head to Cardinia Reservoir as winter approaches (see pic ;-).   Brrrrrrrrr.

The reservoir is only a few miles from our place and is an easy option for a walk with the kids. It also has wild Kanagroo's around and about and we managed to spot a few lying in the sun. This time we took the bikes as we're trying to get Aidan onto his bigger bike.  The reservoir wall is about 2 Kms long and has amazing views across the valley and water. Its only about 25% full at the moment due to the long drought so its not quite the view it should be, but not bad.

Aidan's legs were 'killing him' by the time we headed back but he managed to demolish the picnic with Ethan with ease.  Here are a few pics of the day.

The birds

After another set of swimming lessons and the now obligatory Aussie Rules training on a Saturday, we headed off to the Dandenong hills to feed the cockatoos & parrots. Even after almost 5 years of being here it's still amazing that these types of birds are part of the normal wildlife here, we even see them around our back garden trees all the time.  Anyway, Aidan was a bit scarred of the Cockatoos, not surprising given they're almost as big as him - but Ethan waded in with the seed to hand feed them.  After that we went for a short stroll in the giant gum forest before heading back home. You can see at the pictures here.

Mothers Day at Kurll Park

Last weekend we slogged up the hill from our house (Maxine and I had to walk off the full Aussie breakfast I'd cooked for Mothers Day). Few brownie points in the bag there I recon. The top of the hill is Kurll Park with great views all around and as far away as the city (roughly 40 kms away). The last days of Autumn here have been fantastic, really mild weather perfect for taking the kids around & about. Here are a few pictures of the kids & some of the views from up there.

May is proving to be an expensive month nowadays. With Mothers Day in Australia falling in May, that now means I've got to contend with three (count 'em) lots of presents for Maxine. Ouch. Mothers Day, her Birthday and then our Anniversary. Hows that for bad planning.

Auskick Part Deux !

OK, second week in of Ethan's budding Aussie Rules career and already he's playing with the stars. The club had a player over (Clint Bartram) from Melbourne Football Club (Demons) to come and give the kids some advice, the pre-game pep talk & a Q&A session. Ethan got his AFL ball signed and here he is in the picture teeing himself up for a hi-5. Ethan (nor I) had the feintest idea who he was but I'm sure it meant plenty to some people! Here are some more pictures of Ethan in action from today.

Auskick

Today, May 1st 2010, was a momentous day in my eldest boy's Aussie life as he attended his first "Auskick". Auskick is a national footie programme to get kids into Aussie Rules Football and is basically almost like national service - you just have to do it. As proud parents we watched as Ethan ran around with all of the other kids trying to sus out a game which is a bit more complex than Football (Soccer). This now joins his swimming lessons and tennis lessons in an attempt to make an athlete of him yet !! There are a few more pictures here.