The Alternative

38.

38 and counting.

Two more years before I hit the big 4-0! Life gets to be so boring at 38.


I mean, what is there to do? How much fun can you really have?





And at 38 your looks have just gone to pot.



And you lose all sense of playfulness in your late 30's.



And you're not likely to make new friends at 38. You're pretty much set with your old ones.


Life, seriously, is just no fun anymore.

But I suppose it's better than the alternative.

Happy Birthday to me!


Making the most of each and every year,

A

A Happy Happy Halloween

Number of plates of food eaten between the 3 Cavanagh children on Halloween.......1/3.

Number of pieces of candy eaten between the 3 Cavanagh children on Halloween........697. And 1/2.

Blue Morpho Butterfly Wings - 2 hrs to make...total wear time, 5 minutes. Only to be found again during cleanup.




The Tooth Fairy




Those wings lasted about 20 minutes. Also only to be found again during cleanup.

Then there was Commander Cody from Star Wars. The force was with him. The force of feet funk.


That was the only photo I was able to obtain of the allusive Commander Cody. He's a sly one.

The crowd:



Me in the crowd:


I realized the other day that if anything should ever happen to me, my children will never really know what I looked like. I'm always the photographer in the photographer/photographed relationship. I like to be in charge.

Sorry. Didn't mean to get all heavy and serious. Of course nothing will be happening to me anytime soon. No sirree. I'm here for the duration.

If only to make Jason miserable.

Speaking of...here's Jason and a friend camping out beside the "blue cooler". Hmmmm...wonder just what kind of goodies were in the "blue cooler"? I can't imagine.


And to finish it off, I'll leave you with this. The stars from the upcoming movie...

Scooby Doo 3...Case of the missing wings.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!!!

Scaring the bejeezus out of people everywhere,
Halloween or not,
A

The Chook Yard

Ok, so I haven't gotten to the video repair yet. I'll get to it, no worries. Just be patient. You demanding fans, you.

But I do have these for you!!!!!


And this:


How many preschools in the states have you seen with live chooks (chickens) and peacocks (or something peacock-ish) running through the yard. The children are not allowed to chase them and they are a bit shy. But the kids collect the eggs and sell them for about $4 AUD a dozen. They store them here:


And yes, since I'm on the pre-schoold board , I'm making an executive decison to paint the fridge during the year end parent working bee.

And since we're all about Gracie today, we have this:



And no, she hasn't been mistreated in any way. She just bonked her head.

And we have this. The Gracie version of a rally cap...only we're not really cheering for a comeback. We just like it this way.



Don't hate us because we're cool. And gorgeous. We can't really help ourselves.

And just because we can't leave it as a Grace-o-rama post:


Thanks Grammy for the Halloween socks.

And speaking of Halloween. 100 hotdogs for the neighborhood party ordered and picked up. 75 goodie bags stuffed and ready to distribute to neighborhood kids. Big bowl of American candy sitting on the counter waiting for trick-or-treat (thanks Debbie). 1 tooth fairy costume complete. 1 blue morpho butterfly costume complete. 1 comander Cody costume and gun ordered and received.

Stay tuned for "Halloween with the Cavanaghs" coming up soon.


Chook chaser and primo chook photographer,
A

Technical Difficulties

Ok, just checked the last post and realized we are having a few technical difficulties with the videos. Unfortunately I won't be able to make any corrections tonight. Too, too tired. Here's how my day went:

6:30 Up to fry bacon.

9:30 Whole family to church where Cole participated in his Reconciliation Commitment Mass.

10:45 Visited overcrowded (i.e. smelly) grocery store with entire family so that we could spend $125 only to purchase crap that won't last through tomorrow.

11:45 Home to unpack groceries, feed family, wrap presents and wipe sweat from armpits (it must be 120 outside!).

12:45 Arrive 15 minutes late to 6 yr old's bowling birthday party with 5 (count them - 5) kids in tow, myself and my neighbor. All transported illegally by strapping 7 people into a 6 person vehicle.

1:00 Argue with son (yet again) - "No, you cannot have money to play video games. Bowl like the rest of the children. Don't make me take you home!".

1:15 - 2:30 Help to reign in chaos as 21 (count them - 21) 5 and 6 year old girls bowl. All attempts unsuccessful.

2:30 Thank you God we're leaving.

2:35 Wrench left ankle and right (bad) knee in parking lot.

3:00 Ice Knee

3:30 Clean kitchen. Keep cleaning kitchen. Keep on cleaning kitchen.

4:00 Cut Jason's hair.

4:30 Take a little more off Jason's hair.

5:00 Cut Cole's hair.

5:05 Threaten Cole with loss of life or loss of all hair if he doesn't shush the crying.

5:30 Take a little more off Jason's hair.

6:00 Make scrambled dogs (had a craving).

6:30 Clean kitchen....again.

7:00 Read with kids.

7:30 Kids in bed.

7:35 Make homemade Carrot Bread...because I'm an idiot.

8:00 While Carrot Bread is baking make homemade biscuits for breakfast...because I'm an even bigger idiot.

9:00 Make last swipe in kitchen...again. Bag and wrap biscuits and bread.

9:15 Hop online to surf mindlessly.

9:45 Notice something missing. Fix glass of wine.

10:00 Check blog and notice technical difficulties but have no capacity to think logically as is necessary for repair of said difficulties. Just too, too tired.

There you have it in a nutshell. My day.

Come on....don't lie. You feel like you need a drink now too, don't you?

Drivin' people to drink all across the world,
A

All She Wants To Do Is Dance

It's dance recital weekend!!! Along with the start of T-Ball and Rookie Ball, things have been a bit crazy to say the least. Brady was a Starfish in the Octopus Garden program.

Unfortunately, the dance studio didn't think that our $185 in tickets for the three scheduled programs was enough. Nope, not enough. They needed to supplement by selling DVDs. If the dance studio is selling DVDs, that means no photos or videotaping is allowed. Therefore, no pics of Brady except these:



And then there are these of Grace. Her program was during the day. A smaller production (although just as long). Photos and videos allowed.

Gracie's beautification:






Gracie's class demonstration, shown before the dance of the "Butterflies":




And more dance class:



Even more dance class:




Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you the Dance of the Butterflies. Drumroll please............




Please note that since Gracie had to go to the toilet and wasn't returned to the Dance of the Butterflies until right at the end, the dance seems a bit shorter than it actually was.

Aaahhh, the call of nature.

A

PS - I'll post Brady's $50 five minutes of fame when DVDs are released. It's stunning. Just stunning.

Puttin' the Filth in Filthy

A few things about me:

• I love dirty children. Dirty children = Happy children. Dirty bodies and faces mean they've played hard and eaten well. They've had an overall good day.

• I am one of those people that believes my husband is just as much their parent as I am therefore has the right to do things his way without too much questioning or redirection from me. Meaning, I won't give him a hard time when he uses the same water to bathe all three children instead of changing it out in between.

• I haven't scrubbed the grout between my bathroom floor tiles in over a year.

All that said, Alice Springs is a dry, dusty and grungy place. We live in a desert. It's expected. My kids take full advantage of the dirt by rolling in it, smearing it from head to toe and throwing it on top of the nearest head. They take pride in their work.

And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Who's the unlucky kid that got to be number three in that line-up?"

Good Afternoooooooon Ms. Padget

How cute is that?

A

Back to the Same Old Same Old

We're back! Well, actually we've been back for a bit. Just trying to settle in to the school routine again. Back to homework, spelling words, set bedtimes and bright mornings with Mom screaming "I swear if I have to tell you to brush your teeth again, I'm going to beat the life out of you!" Empty threats of course. But they make me feel better.

We're gearing up for Halloween. The kids have all decided on their costumes. Cole is going to be some Star Wars character. The least he could have done was picked the Star Wars guy that he dressed as last year. That would have saved us some money. But nooooo, he had to go be a different Star Wars guy. Kids.

The girls are going to be the Tooth Fairy (Gracie) and a Blue Morpho Butterfly (Brady). And of course I did that thing that makes Moms everywhere kick themselves 2 weeks down the road...I said "I can make those".

And why, why, why do I have to have a child that must be a Blue Morpho Butterfly? Not just any old butterfly? You're sure Brady? A Blue Morpho? "Yes Mom, a Blue Morpho like on Diego that lives in a cave and has brown wings on the back and blue wings on the front and can't fly when it gets cold."

Know what you want and want what you know. That's what we say here in the Cavanagh household.

Jason and I won't be dressing up this year. It would be really difficult to top last years costumes. We were that cool. But I think I might draw a big scary face on my melon knee. How gross is that?!?! I've got Halloween in my blood. I have the best ideas.

We're hosting our "2nd Annual Neighborhood Halloween Gathering" as we're calling it. Luckily there isn't much we have to do to prepare. Note to self: Must order 100 hotdogs. Be on the lookout for pics from that one.

In the meantime I'll leave you with these photos taken by the kids' new camera while we were on our trip:

From Kids NZ2

From Kids NZ2

From Kids NZ2

Darn it they're creative little things aren't they?  Note:  You are not allowed to disagree with me on the perfection or imperfection of my children.  Or on anything else for that matter!

Love to all,

A

No More Campervan

Woohoo!

We're here in Christchurch. We came in mid-day yesterday after a beautiful ride thru Arthur's Pass. It was very foggy and there was a lot of low cloud coverage. It meant that we didn't get to see the full beauty of the pass. But it was still gorgeous as you can see from the photos, and it cleared a bit toward the end.

We dropped the campervan at the Apollo store. I noticed that those people picking up looked a bit perkier, happier and all around less haggard than those of us dropping off. Just sayin. Boy was that thing gross. Jason and I weren't sad to see it go.

Since we've missed posting last few batches of photos, you guys are getting three slide shows below.

The first starts with our visit to the Hukawai glacier center in Franz Josef Glacier. We read all about how glaciers are formed, the different types of local animals and a bit on Maori (native NZ) stories of how the glacier came about. The seaside town of Hokitika was next.

And the kids asked if Grandpa could build one of these



I told them we would ask.

Then we drove on to Shantytown - gold mining town from the late 1800's where we panned for gold. We got some too. Man we Cavanagh's are cool. Shhh...don't tell the kids that every pan had a bit a gold in it.

Jason was quite naughty



Then on to the Greymouth holiday park. We topped the day off watching the sunset on the beach.



This vacationing sure is hard work!

Yesterday we traveled through Arthur's Pass to Christchurch - those pics are in the second slideshow.



Today's pics are in the third. Not as many. The Antartic Center was a hit. Check out the kids in the snow room.



We hit a really, really great Korean restaurant to top it off. I was irritated with Jason for picking it at first because I just knew the kids would hate it. But they actually had fun, and ate (even if only a little). Didn't really matter because by the time they brought all the little bowls I was hooked. We left stuffed. Thinking about going back tomorrow.

Enjoy! And don't worry about us, we're having a blast.
A

Me and My Window...Again

It's raining. A lot. Even if we wanted to stop for photos (which we don't because it means we'll make it to our next stop at 5 1/2 as opposed to 5 hours), we don't want to get wet. It's cold in New Zealand. Cold and wet don't go well together. Cold and coffee...that works. Wet and sunny...that works (preferably with a margarita). Cold and wet...a no go.

So lots of window shots. But if you get past those, you'll get some people shots. And some really dirty, wet, crossing the road sheep shots. And then there are the lamb shots. They're everywhere. I want to bring them home with me.

I don't care where we retire as long as I can have sheep. I've decided. Nope, not gonna change my mind.

And just in case you're wondering, we're in Franz Josef Glacier now. The last few pics are of the glacier. Don't know what's in store for tomorrow. We'll figure that out when the time comes.

Love to all,
A

Jet Boats and Window Shots

Did you think we fell off the face of the earth….or the side of a mountain? Sorry, the past couple of nights we’ve either been too exhausted to pull out the laptop or they’ve wanted our firstborn for internet service. Since we’re fond of Cole, we decided to wait until the next stop.

We made it to Queenstown. Much smaller town than expected. But we had a blast. We rode the gondola, the luge , the jet boat and Jason bungie jumped!




How much excitement can a family fit into 1 ½ days? The Cavanaghs do it right!!! Jason said the bungie was the best back pop he’d had in ages – better than the chiropractor. The kids did the bungie trampoline. Mom did neither. The real bungie was way too scary. The baby bungie…well let’s just say that Mom couldn’t handle standing in line with all the 5 year olds. The jet boat was some kind of fun! We froze our butts off and loved every 360 degree turn. Since we couldn’t take pics (too fast and wet) you should google Shotover Jet Boats to get the full picture.

We left Queenstown and headed to Te Anau (pronounced Tea Anow). 2 ½ hour drive but we made it just in time for the Glowworm Cave tour. We caught the big boat, docked, ventured far underground into a cave with waterfalls in it, rode the little boat quietly in full darkness (so as to not startle the glowworms) just to see about 100 or so tiny pinprick size green lights overhead. Anti-climactic to say the least. But we still had fun.

We were disappointed to find out that the road to Milford Sound (which was to be our adventure for today) was closed due to rock slips/slides. If we wanted to go on the cruise we had planned, we would have had to pay $125 per person to be airlifted in. A no go. So we headed on to Wanaka. It’s situated on Lake Wanaka (or Lake Wannahockaloogie as we like to call it). Gorgeous town.

Visited Puzzling World on the way in and had a complete blast. The kids didn’t want to leave.



As for all of the car ride/window pics…I want ya’ll to enjoy the ride with us. And if I asked to pull over every time the urge to photograph hit me, Jason might kill me.

Coming soon….what I love most about New Zealand. Here’s a hint…they’re tiny and fuzzy, they bounce around their Mommies all cute-like in the fields, and they taste like lamb chops.

Off to see glaciers tomorrow!
Love to all!
The Five Travellers

PS - if the slide shows don't show up, I'll try to link them later.

Dunedin's done it!

Bringing this guy home with me...



Now Jason really, really wants to retire here. And I don't blame him. There's nothing that's not pretty about this place. Even the ugly parts are pretty. Dunedin (pronounced with the long e sound)was unbelievable! As all New Zealand seems to be, it's very hilly. Made me think of San Fransisco...not that I've ever been.

We started the day off with the drive in from Timaru, arriving sometime around lunch. The holiday park where we stayed was very nice with a great kid's play area and heated pool, so that made the munchkins happy. We then went trekking around town in search of stuff. Fortunately for you, the batteries for our camera weren't charged so we were only able to get a few pictures. Otherwise this batch would have been just too much. It also means we missed a few good shots.

Pictured are the Railway Station, Cadbury World and the bar where we ate lunch. We were going to do a late tour of the brewery and dinner at The Ale House but decided we were too tired. Of course the kids loved Cadbury World. Just one big chocolate-fest. The girl running the tour gave extra candy bars to each person in the group who asked a question. It didn't take long for our kids to catch on. Jason and I didn't think we would ever make it out of there.

Check out these fashion statements:




This morning we got up and drove the Otaga Peninsula out to the edge of nowhere. There we took a tour with Natures Wonders on an eight wheel ATV.



We got some great shots of seals, birds and the sea. We were able to see some endangered Yellow Eyed Penguins but they were too far away to take pics. Our tour guide was one of the family owners who have been doing this for generations. They are working to fence in their 500+ acres of land to maintain a predator free zone for all of the wildlife. It was stunning and so far the most enjoyable thing we've done.

Next came Larnach Castle, also on the Peninsula.



Beautiful but the inside is museum-like. Made it a little tougher with the kids.

Then we drove 4 1/2 hours to Queenstown. Here's what it looked like on part of the drive.



We finally made it to the campsite after a treacherous drive on Gorge Road. A name that's perfect for the crazy ass road we had to travel to get here...in the rain...in the dark. What is it with this country's love of one-lane roads that hang off the side of mountains? It's been raining all day so the grounds are soaked and squishy. Jason says we get to sleep in tomorrow. Woo-hoo! Mr. Timekeeper has had us going full out this entire trip! But that's ok, we love him and we've had fun.

Will write more tomorrow. Got a 24 hour internet account!

By the way, just got through eating 2 of these



Perky Nanas. New Zealand banana candy bars. Angie's new favorite food. But the correct name would have been "Perky Naners". It's a southern thing.

Lindy, I'm gonna send you a box. You'll love these things.

No longer Bertha Bad Belly.
Love to all,
Nana (Naner) Girl

No, seriously......

Excuse me while I go throw up…again. Whale watching on very rough seas with a severe seasickness warning. Just say NO!!!

This was one of the most anticipated parts of the trip for us. Unfortunately the beauty and fun of it pale when you are seasick, and you’re taking care of two other seasickers, and people are tossing their seasick cookies in barf bags left and right. The good news is we saw 4 whales. At least most people saw four whales. Some of us only saw 1 and ½. I missed the tail on the first when he dove because I was on my way to the upper deck, to get a better look. He was close too. With the third, I made it just in time to see and photograph the tail – but he was far, far away. Fortunately Jason and Brady were able to get some good shots while the rest of us hung our heads low and moaned in agony.

Cole, Grace and I started feeling sick soon after our first sighting. Let me tell you. That’s one bad, inescapable feeling! By the end of the trip we were just praying to make it off without actually having to use the bags. And Cole was literally green. No exaggeration.

Jason and Brady were quite the perky pair. Lucky for us. It means we got some of our money’s worth!

All the kids zonked towards the end of our three hour tour. Most of us sick grownups just sat around wishing we could sleep like them.

Check out the bag under Cole’s chin. He fell asleep like that.



One gorgeous five hour drive later and here we are in Timaru. Not much going on here, so bright and early tomorrow we hit the road to Dunedin. More cool stuff to do there that thankfully doesn’t involve a boat!

By the way, Jason says we’re going to retire here. He’s checking out land prices.

Will write more later!
Yours truly,
Bertha Bad Belly

Excuse me while I go throw up!

Odd title for a “We’re Here” post. Well, I’m all about giving you guys the real nitty gritty. I’m not sugar coating a thing. Nope. I want you to feel the good and the bad with us. So here it is…

Good: We had a smooth flight from Alice Springs to Sydney and drive to hotel (very short).

Bad: The first restaurant we chose for dinner in Sydney had no kids menu, a very busy happy hour and a Barcardi poster with two chicks touching tongues. We split quicker than most people can say “tongue touch” but not before Brady and Grace noticed and made a few choice comments.

Good: We actually made the airport shuttle on time, got seats (they thought it would be full) and arrived close to 2 hours early at the airport to get checked in and eat breakfast (they have a Krispie Kreme in the international terminal – woohoo!)

Bad: Missed the Krispie Kremes and almost missed our flight because Qantas couldn’t figure out how to process an entire family on government orders.

Good: We did make the flight to New Zealand.

Bad: To make said flight, we had to run full speed to the gate, screaming like mad men while they announced all five of our names over the loud speaker. Then we had to endure the “looks” from fellow passengers who actually made it on time. To top it all off, our very hungry children were rewarded for their sprinting prowess with breakfast an hour later consisting of cold bread, scrambled eggs with green flecks and beans.

Good: New Zealand is one gorgeous place.

Bad: Apollo took about an hour to process our campervan. By 3:30 when we drove out, everyone was starving and grumpy. Didn’t get to shop for groceries. Ever try to park a 6 Berth campervan?

Good: Campervans are way cool. Ours is even cooler because we're in it.

Bad: A campervan smells after a few hours with a stressed family of five who have been eating junk…well, who have just been eating anything for a couple of days. You can see how they lose their luster!

Good: We made it safe and sound!


After we picked up the wheels, we headed out to Kaikoura. It’s about a 3 hour drive. Since we weren’t going to arrive until after dark and we weren’t quite sure how to hook up the electricity on the campervan, we didn’t stop to take photos. But never fear! I would never forget you, my loyal fan base of 3, maybe 4 people. I took all of these photos through the window just to give you an idea of the beauty of the place. With the exception, of course, of the first few where the kids decided to take photos of each other in the hotel room last night.

You will notice that there is a break between the last few pictures where it suddenly goes from light out to dark, blurry and on the sea. That’s because in-between I couldn’t unclench my jaw or my fists enough to even consider taking pics. We drove up and down some of the most beautiful mountainsides…….with narrow winding roads and absolutely no guardrail. I feared for our lives. But my man of all men got us here safely…despite my bitching and constant warnings to slow down.

But, as I told Jason, if either Lindy or Cheryl were with us, we probably would have needed to have an ambulance meet us in Kaikoura! No offense ladies, but I pride myself on the fact that I was less of a wreck than the two of you would have been…kind of.

And just think – we get to drive it all over again tomorrow!!!!

Excuse me while I go throw up.
A

IOU...

Photos from the big 0.6. - Brady's birthday. Photos from the OLSH Fete (carnival). Stories of Gracie throwing up and Cole and Brady getting awards in school. I owe you stories of nits and embarrassing neighbor moments. I owe you explanations of "fair dinkum", Brady's use of the word "proper", and Grace's use of the word "cross". I owe you video of a bunch of Australian kids (with some American kids mixed in) singing a catchy little tune that goes "Sing, Sing, La, La, La, La" that I swear will be stuck in your head for a week. And stories (designed to make you feel sorry for me and say "Wow that Angie sure is great!") that involve me organizing affore mentioned carnival and preschool raffle, toting as many as 7 different children back and forth to school every day, babysitting for friends, attending RCIA classes and being all around Super Mom and wife!

I owe you all these things because I suck and haven't posted anything lately. But you aren't going to get them. At least not yet. Because we're leaving Alice Springs tomorrow!

Well, not for good or anything. Just for a couple of weeks. And we're not going across state line. We're not going to the Redneck Riviera. We're not even going to Cancun. We're going to a whole country!!!!!! (well at least the south island)

New Zealand!!!!!!! Yay for us!

After I got over the coronary from the cost associated with a two week trip to New Zealand, I was able to plan our itinerary. Since it will take too long to type it all in, I decided to just scan in my notes. This way you can all follow us around on Google Earth!




Note:
19th - O/N in Sydney
30th - O/N in Christchurch
1st - O/N in Christchurch
2nd - O/N in Sydney
3rd - O/N in Sydney
4th - Home

O/N = Overnight

Taking the laptop and camera (with cord this time). May be able to post and put pics up as we go. Be sure to check back.

Love you guys!!!!
A

Friiiiday!!!

Well, Saturday now. But these were taken on Friday. Brady was all smiles.



Gracie didn't like the multi-grain toast. She decided it was better to go hungry than to eat it. Even if it was slathered with butter and jam. Oh, and it's jam here. Not jelly. Jelly is gelatin.



And Cole was sick.



Since I returned home from Adelaide 2 weeks ago, I've had 1 (count it with me...1) day when all 3 kids have been in school. That was Thursday. Oh what a sweet, short-lived moment in time. I miss that good old day.

A friend of mine left this on our doorstep.



In her note, she told me to "bathe the kids in it". And when it stings, I'll just tell them to stop being wimps. That means it's working!