Riverfire 2008

We had a busy day today.

This morning we visited Craig and Liz and the kids for morning tea as we haven't seen them for ages.

We came home and Ben recalibrated our old laptop and I got everything ready for Riverfire.

One of Ben's mates from the gym works as security at Griffith Uni at Southbank and he got us a car park and we got to sit on a massive balcony and had amazing views of the river and the city. Here's a couple of photos.


Amazingly it only took 5 minutes to get back onto the freeway and then we headed home, the kids pretty much went straight to sleep - hope they sleep in tomorrow!!

August Exposure

What an amazing experience, to have brilliants photographers like Yervant and Marcus Bell speak about how they do things in their business and what works for them etc was just amazing!

We also had the amazing Wayne Radford, Rob Heyman (Rob and his wife Shirl organised the whole event), Kelly Munce (she's just great fun), Greg Dries and Tracey Powell speaking also!

TALK ABOUT MOTIVATORS!!!

I also met some amazing people and I think I've made some great friends.

Oh and on Tuesday I was called out to hang onto some canvases, and Rob threw a glass of water at the canvas (to show it was waterproof) but he missed the canvass and spilt the water all over me!! I nearly died - and thankfully no one really got photos of that!!

Poor Rob was devastated, he felt so bad and kept apologising and bought me champagne etc but on Thursday afternoon he called me out to the front again, and gave me an amazing photography book and it was SIGNED by all of the photographers that had attended the seminar. That was way beyond the call of duty and was just incredible to receive!!!

Ben managed to come down on Wednesday night for dinner and the kids stayed at Mum and dad's place (and the kids were excellent for Ben for the 3 nights he had them by himself).

Where has the last week gone???!!!

Well the last week has jut flown by in a blur!! I can't even remember what I was doing last weekend - oh yes I can, I was getting everything ready for me to go away for 4 and a half days to a photography seminar!

I was getting all the washing, the ironing, the lunches and everything ready so things were pretty easy for Ben whilst I was away.

Sunday morning I had to make a quick outfit for McKenzie's Book Week on Tuesday, and it was Under the Sea theme, so we raced down to Spotlight and got a few things and Kenz went as the ocean with all animals and shells on her green and white dress. Unfortunately, no photos :o(

Then Sunday afternoon I headed to Mum and Dad's place down the coast as I was staying with them, whilst I was going to August Exposure...

We went and visited Nanna and her friend that was out from WA and Rich, Beck and the kids popped around too.

Had an early night as I was nervous about going to the seminar.

Photo Shoot

I dropped Kenz at work this morning and then caught up with my friend, Natalie, from work and her two lovely children, Sophie and Lincoln. Nat's house backs onto parkland, so we went and fed the ducks and then went to the park and along a walking track to the little bridge. I got some photos , they've turned out ok, but you know when you just want a certain shot and you can't get it!! Well that was my problem today. Then we went to McDonalds to have an early lunch and wore the kids out altogther! Dom crashed the moment we got home.

Here's a couple of piccies...Dom had to get in on the action too!





Then I took Kenz back to Numberworks for a make up class which she missed last week because she was at the Ekka.

Robyn was there with her 2 kids (we went camping with Robyn & Lance at Easter) so it was great to catch up with her.

Run around day

As usual, Thursdays are pretty busy.

I took Kenz to school but because she was mucking up so much, I refused to stay in her class today!

So I did something for myself and went to the gym! Since I've been sick for ages, I just took it easy and just did 45 minutes on the treadmill, bike and stepper. Nothing much, but better than nothing.

I dropped our pie order (for Dom's child care pie drive) to child care (and forgot to order my own pies!). Oh well.

Then Dom and I went grocery shopping - spent a fortune because I wanted to make sure I had all the snacks etc that the kids like since Ben will be looking after them next week whilst I'm at the coast.

Came home, unpacked, had lunch and I fell asleep on the lounge - luckily Dom was just playing there (and it was only about 20 minutes) and Ben was downstairs. I was just exhausted!!

Picked up Kenz from school and then took her to Numberworks.

Jess (the manager) said Kenz is improving but still needs to work on a lot of things and they'll test her at the end of this term and hopefully she will do well enough that they can actually start her on grade 2 week for the last semester of the year. (so in other words, she's only a year behind what she should be!).

Watched some more of the Olympics.

New Computer system at work

Kenz went to school today, her neck is still sore but getting a bit better. She has to go back to physio this afternoon.

Well I went to work and we have our new computer system up and running and I must say, it's a nightmare! Nothing is simple, everything takes twice as long and everyone hates it! I'd like to see how many people leave work because of it!

Wednesday

Another dreadful day with the computers and everything seems to go missing off my desk lately! I'm getting a bit paranoid because I feel someone has it in for me! My work author put the document down on my desk, I went to lunch, came back and it was gone! I'm getting pretty peeved about the whole work thing.

Off to the Physio

McKenzie's neck was still sore this morning so I managed to get her into a Physio at Junction Road, Clayfield. The physio's around our place were either on holidays or didn't work on kids under 7 years old.

Ben's going to take her back tomorrow afternoon.

Scrapbooking attempt

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Sore neck

Kenz woke up with a very sore neck this morning (screaming in pain) and I can feel it knotted. I've been doing heat packs, deap heat and a bit of massage and Nurofen but it hasn't helped yet.

At lunch time we caught up with Mark and Sharon at the Tavern for lunch - geez they're fun! They turned up in their little Mini Moke (I will download some photos when I get a chance)!

Oscar went to the Groomers

Had a bad night with Dom - he woke at 2am, with a temp of 38.8 degrees and wanted some milk - which he managed to throw up all over his bed! So I was cleaning that all up, Ben was snoring his head off (you know Ben isn't well when he snores!) and I finally got back into bed at 3am.

The kids woke up at 6.30am (which I wasn't happy about) and Ben had a wedding.

We took Oscar to the groomers at Eaton Hills and then we drove to Wooloowin to get his dog food (and they were shut), then back to Big W to pay off some lay by and buy the pillows I forgot to buy the other day.

then we came home, had some lunch and then got the phone call to come back and pick up Oscar.

they did a pretty good job of him (as he was a bit of a mess with matts and he stunk of smoke from camping) but they made him look like a poodle. Nothing peeves me more than people giving him a poodle cut. (but of course I didn't mention it when I dropped him off as they had people coming and going and I didn't get a chance).

Anyway I sort of said "you realise he's not a poodle" and they said "he looks like one" and I said but he's not, he's a Spoodle. The groomer, Kate, felt really bad and said it wasn't their poodle cut as they shave the nose and legs but she had given him the pom pom head - so she shaved it down a bit so it didn't look so "boofey". Other than that, it was a great length and they said he had a great manner (nothing like a poodle)!

The kids are driving me mad - especially Kenz - I've just sent them to their rooms and they're driving me mad!

Friday..

Kenz went to school and had her "feast" and then had a disco at school. Seriously, it was a waste of a week since they had 2 days of sports, 2 days off and then a disco!

I think next year we'll go camping up north or something like that!

Dom and I went to the chemist, where he just practically "hit a brick wall" - he got his temp back, was tired and just wanted to come home - so we did. I'll go to Big W tomorrow. Dom had a big sleep and I watched some of the Olympics.

Then we had a terrible afternoon / evening with Dom - he just didnt' know what he wanted and just didn't feel well at all! Poor little man.

Ekka Wednesday / School Holiday Thursday

Today was the Ekka holiday and we didn't really do much at all! I did a quick grocery shop and we didn't do anything else - which was nice for a change.

And Thursday McKenzie had the day off school (all of Bris City council shire) did. McKenzie was very lucky that she got to go to the Ekka, because she hadn't been behaving the best!!

But Ben took her (I dropped them off) and then Dom and I went to Brookside. Dom fell asleep from Bowen Hills to Brookside (which is not like him and at 10am!) so I have a feeling he's coming down with something too.

We went to Medicare and then to Target (I bought a shirt and pants for work) and of course I forgot the whole purpose of going there - to buy new pillows!!!

Anyway I let Dom have a ride on one of those little cars (who needs the Ekka) and then we came home.

Kenz and Ben had a great time and caught up with my parents there for a little while. They were home by 3pm as Kenz had had enough walking around - I'm sort of glad I didn't go with Dom.

Dom fell asleep at 6pm without dinner (not like him at all) so it was no surprise when he woke up at 10pm, wanting some milk and having a temp of 38 degrees. It then took until 11.30pm to get him back to sleep.

Tuesday

Still sick but went to work. Had to as we had a 2 hour training session for the new computer program that goes live at work next week, so had no choice really.

McKenzie had choir practice this morning and she said it went well. She also had her sports day and she got a Participant ribbon for her race.

Ben is now coughing and spluttering (and of course blaming me) :o)

Great, I'm starting to get sick!

Starting to get an ear infection, sore throat and a chest infection - obviously from being so cold on the weekend.

I didn't feel that great today, but I went to work and struggled through the day.

Got home in time to see Ben being interviewed on Extra..

This is all that's on their website at the moment..

FEMALE FIREFIGHTERS CALENDAR

You can purchase a Female Firefighters Calendar at the EKKA for $10. Otherwise, log on www.femalefirefighters.com.au to order calendars or for a list of stockists.

Apparently Extra put their shows on uTube so once that's uploaded, I'll put a link to it.

I have never been so cold in my life!!!!

Well Neurum Creek is great - it's just absolutely freezing!!! Saturday night at 6pm it was 4 degrees and Sunday morning it went down to -1.1 degrees - I have NEVER been so cold in my life!!! The kids were rugged up in a singlet, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, jumper and jacket, beanie, gloves, shoes and socks to wear to bed! Then they had their sleeping bag and quilt on them and they were still cold. I could just not get warm at all - I think the camper trailer would have been about 4 degrees inside and you know it's cold when you go to bed and you're blowing steam out of your mouth!!!

We had a terrible night with Dom Friday night/Sat morning - he was screaming, crying and inconsolable from 3am until 5am Saturday morning and everyone camped around us could hear him! Dom even went around and apologised to everyone on Saturday for keeping them awake.

A little boy (about Dom's age) in the campsite up from us tripped and fell into the fire coals on Saturday morning - oh the blood curdling scream - so they had to drive him to Caboolture Hosp who couldn't help and then took him to Brisbane. He came back with bandaged up hands late Saturday afternoon - his dad said he will be ok but has to go back for treatment for the next 2 weeks -poor little kid.

The camp ground is lovely - we pretty much stayed at our camp sites (they were huge F12 and F13 are great sites) and close to the toilets. We took the kids to ride their bikes on the bmx track and we pulled up some chairs and just sat in the sun and watched them. The weather during the day was gorgeous, but it gets very cold, very quickly and because of the mountains you lose your sun around 4.30pm, so you need to have your fire going and getting dinner ready early so you can eat and then sit near the fire all night.

Saturday night it was 2 degrees at 6.30pm!

Sunday morning at about 4am Dom started crying (after we gave him some phernergan to try help him sleep) and I checked him and he was totally soaking wet. So he started crying and carrying on again because he didn't want me to undress him to change him. Once he was changed and warm again, and ended up in bed with us (and McKenzie) she came into our bed both nights because she was so cold, Dom went back to sleep. Sunday morning it was 1 degree at 7.30am.

Oscar was brilliant (and lots of dogs there). He pretty much sat around our 2 camp sites, never even looked like he'd run off, he was happy to run around with the kids and he is a great watchdog - he'd give a little bark if someone came close to our campsite - like he knew this was our area. A couple of dogs (and their owners) came over to say hello to him.

We'd definitely go there again but not in winter - it's just too extreme! I'd imagine it would get very hot in summer too.

Heading to Neurum Creek for Camping

Today we're going to Neurum Creek (out past Woodford) to camp (in our camper trailer), but before we can go, Ben has to go into the Roma St Fire Dept to meet up with some of the girls he took photos of for the Firewomen's Calendar (which is being sold at the Ekka at the moment) and be interviewed by Extra (Channel 9 tv show).

In search of Mulberry Leaves!!!!

Dropped Kenz off at school and Dom and I went to the gym. Finally I made it back to my body Pump class - which I haven't been to for about 6 weeks!

Then Dom and I went grocery shopping and I had to get all our camping food as we're going away tomorrow. (It's very tricky buying your usual weekly shop and a camping shop). We also raced to Crazy Clarks to buy Dom some gloves and a Beanie as it's going to be be cold at Neurum Creek!!

Ben was racing around returning our camping fridge / freezer that didn't work and buying a new one and taking the camper trailer to get the pole box attached to it.

Kenz came home from school with some silk worms. She apparently got 10 - last night the count was at about 28!!!

Of course we don't have a mulberry tree, but I remembered the Pet shop at Great Western having some silkworms last year, so I phoned them and Ben raced out there to buy some leaves!!

I took Kenz to Numberworks and she said she felt really sick - not sure if it was nerves, or if she didnt' want to go but she was ok when she was there.

Then just packed and got everything ready to go away - it's amazing how much stuff you have to take for 2 nights - practically just as much as if you were going for five nights!!!

Another 3 days have flown by

Again just the usual Monday - Wednesday working week.

McKenzie actually started in the grade 1-2 Choir at school on Tuesday and she really enjoyed it - we may have a new Kylie Minogue on our hands!!!

Catch up with the Maguire's

We had a quieter morning, this morning with me just getting things ready for the week and then in the afternoon we went over to Shane and Micaela's place at Kedron.

Ben and I took our cameras and took some photos for them and Micaela made us a wonderful curry for dinner.

Here's some photos that I took...

What the!!

We had gone to sleep and at 12.45am Ben's mobile rings. Ben didn't get to it quick enough and all that he saw was "no caller id - private no." and before it even went onto Ben's voicemail, MY mobile started ringing.

At 1am (after a few drinks) I thought the worst had happened. My heart was pounding and I answered my phoned and it was our bloody security mob that monitors our house alarm ringing to tell us that

our batteries were flat on 2 zones in the studio and needed to be replaced!!

I could have killed her - seriously who rings at that time of night and to top it off she had already phoned home and woke up Rod & Mary by leaving a message on our answering machine, had left a message on Ben's mobile and then proceeding to ring me on my mobile!!

So needless to say we will be calling them today and giving them a mouthful!!!!

We finally got back to sleep after that, and woke up at 7.30am. We checked out at 9am and met up with a group from the wedding for Breakfast at the Maleny Pub.

We got home about 11.30am to let Rod and Mary go home (probably to have a sleep since they kept getting woken during the night)!!!!

Maleny Wedding

Today Ben and I headed up to Maleny to shoot Nathan and Adele's wedding.

Rod & Mary (Ben's parents) kindly offered to mind the kids for the night, so we're going to stay up at Maleny Views Cottage resort. This is also where the ceremony is being held and then we're just walking down to The Terrace of Maleny Restaurant.

We arrived about 12.30pm and were trying for find somewhere local to have some lunch, but they were either expensive restaurants or not open, so we had to fly down to Maleny town centre for a hamburger.

We raced back to start shooting at 2pm, but the girls were about 20 minutes late, but we still managed to get some nice with the girls before going to the ceremony to meet the boys.

The ceremony was lovely - they got married in a balinese gazebo and then we took some photos around the property before going to Mary Caincross drive to take some location shots. I think I like taking location shots the most. It was starting to get quite cool around 5.30pm, so we headed back the reception, took the mock cake photo and venue shot, dumped the camera gear in our room and raced back to join in the reception.

We had a lovely meal and a table of great (young - ok our age) people. There were about 11 or 12 at our table. We all finished up around 10.30pm and then headed back to our cabins.

The cabins were very nice with a spa bath and fireplace. It wasn't too cold but the winds were full on, there were even reports of damaging winds!!!