What a smart little boy...

Today we went with Amy and Mitchell to get Alfie kitted out with his outfit for their wedding in a months time. Regular bloggers know that Amy and Mitchell are our neighbors and now great friends. They've asked Alfie to be their Page Boy and carry the rings on a cushion!!!
Note to self need to practice carrying a small cushion with Alfie during next few weeks!



As you can see (apologies for poor quality pictures, they were taken from phone!) he looked quite fetching in his vest (Australian for waistcoat!) and shirt. The bow tie also stayed on which was both pleasing and surprising!



We are really looking forward to the big day and are confident that Alfie will do them proud. If his dancing effort here tonight was anything to go by he should prove to be quite entertaining! Whilst he was trying on the outfits I couldn't quite place who he looked like, until now...

Famous Bond Villian Nick-Nack?...


Everyones favourite Penguin Pingu?....


Steven Hendry?....

Priceless...

From SBS News Australia...

A major British tabloid newspaper has paraded billboards around London and Sydney gloating about Britain's gold medal success over Australia at the Beijing Olympics, throwing down the gauntlet for London 2012. Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper hired trucks to drive the billboards through central London and Sydney streets as Britain celebrated its haul of 19 gold medals compared to Australia's 14.



A billboard gloating over Britain's medal tally sits outside Sydney's Opera House. Photo taken from The Sun's website

Emblazoned across an image of a massive red, white and blue Union flag were the words, "Where the bloody hell were you?" and the gold medal tallies for the sporting rivals.
The message mimicked the controversial logo used by Australian tourism chiefs in an attempt to lure visitors Down Under.

nICE Cream...

Alfie is developing into someone you just don't want to share your food with!...

The Dudley Boys are happy...

The football season is nearing its conclusion and while the league table shows Dudley at the top there is still more work to be done. In Australia most sports seem to be settled with end of season finals. The team at the top at the end of the season are crowned Minor Premiers and then go forward to the finals with the next three.

# Club P W D L F A Pt
1 Dudley 14 9 1 4 38 15 28
2 Stockton 14 9 1 4 24 18 28
3 Valentine 14 8 3 3 34 20 27
4 Garden Suburb 14 7 2 5 36 16 23
5 South Wallsend 14 6 3 5 38 21 21
6 Argenton 14 6 3 5 28 19 21
7 Cooks Hill 14 2 3 9 27 56 9
8 Kahibah 14 1 0 13 11 71 3

We had our semi final today with a game against Stockton. I was a pretty close affair with a single goal in each half for each team. This was followed by extra time and penalties. I've not got the best of records from the spot and so kept a very low profile when it was decided who would take one! However with six penalties taken and the scores still tied I could hide no longer so it was up to me to put the ball in from 12 yards. My kick crashed off the bar and bounced on the the line, luckily for me the following Stockton player also missed giving Dudley and me a lifeline! We manged to score our eighth and they missed again!... so that was it Dudley through the Grand Final in two weeks. We will either play Garden Suburb (... they beat Valentine) or Stockton who play again next week.

Its been quite a good season although I have missed a number of games due to games with my school team and some unlucky injuries. Still its great to make the Grand Final. I'll keep you posted...

A sad farewell....

The hardest part of having your immediate family with you for four weeks is always going to be the farewell when you live on the other side of the world. This year mum's trip was different as she had to travel when she had school holidays which didn't coincide with ours. Therefore Beth and I spent much of the time while she was here working.... she did however have a wonderful time getting to know Alfie better and we did have some great family time. I was lucky enough to be granted two days leave so that we could spend a couple of days together down in Sydney.

On Wednesday we traveled down and found the hotel we had booked, much better than last years - no bemused looks and "Well can't he sleep with you?" when we asked for the cot we'd requested! We were quite central this time and so we started off with a picnic in the park. At was at this point we noticed how much attention Alfie was getting from Japanese tourists. Beth and I think that Alfie is cute (Don't all parents!?!) but with cuteness and the unusual to them blonde hair he's on to a winner. On the Wednesday he had his picture taken with at least three different Japanese girls! On one occasion he was cuddled and kissed - I did try to steal some of the limelight for similar treatment but it was obvious that they were only interested in him! He's quite the celebrity!

After the public appearance in the park it was down to Darling Harbour to visit the new Sydney Wildlife Centre. It was a great attraction with lots of Australian wildlife to see and touch. It was quite quiet and so we managed to get a good look at the cute, the cuddly and the downright dangerous! Alfie was quite taken by the butterflies, Grandma less so!!!!

I was pleased to see Hairy Nosed Wombats (....my favorite animal!) while we all managed to get hands on with a python! After the animal experience it was time to think about something to eat again but an increasingly tired Alfie put pay to that - he'd had a long day. Back in the hotel I managed to go out to hunt and gather as the restaurant was closed. I returned sometime latter to find a very worried Beth and Grandma! Later with the novelty of Mummy, Daddy and Grandma all lying in the darkness of the same room Alfie was always going to find it hard to sleep, so it was daddy to the rescue, stroller out and five laps of the block, much to be amusement of people waiting for a bus.

In the morning it was down for breakfast. It was free for Alfie although if they had seen what he would eat they might have charged him double. Breakfast also provided further opportunities to wave at Japanese people!!!

We then packed up the car and drove down to a very windy Bondi Beach. We quite like a TV show here called Bondi Rescue and so it was good to see where all the action takes place. Mum managed to climb the Lifeguard tower is scenes not seen since Pamela Anderson hung up her red swimsuit! ;0) In the shop Grandma picked up a T Shirt signed by Kerbox, Maxi and Hoppo (... Aussies will know these bronzed lifeguards!).

Then it was off for a tearful farewell. Mum missed out on a aisle seat on her way to Singapore but was upgraded to the upper deck en route to London, so she should arrive in some comfort! It was very sad to see her go, the house feels awfully empty tonight... so we are starting to save our pennies for a trip back home!

Updates...

We've continued to be very busy over the last month or so with Mum here and with us both working full time. Hope to have something non Olympic orientated for all you non sporting Alfie fans soon! ;0)


... Alfie reacts to yet another excuse as to why Great Britain out performed Australia in the Olympics.

Oh how we laughed...

We have certainly enjoyed this Olympics more than most as for just this once we've had something to crow about. My wave of optimism washed through about three weeks ago and led me to publicly state that the down trodden sporting flops that we are would take more medals than the Aussies. The swimming had me worried before the cyclists and sailors got things moving... we pipped them by several golds and a single medal overall. So no Australia clobber for me while I'm on duty this week! ;0)

I'm already looking forward to 2012 after seeing the double decker do its thing, although we might have our work cut out to go better than Beijing many ways in four years time. Maybe we should through some lottery cash at relay running... (a rare disappointment!)

So I'm making hay while the sun shines and celebrating getting one over the Aussies... just this once... I'm making no promises about the next Ashes series however!

Anyone want to talk Olympics?...

It's getting increasingly difficult to find an Aussie who wants to talk about the Olympics this week! With no swimming to crow about and my predicted Gold Rush in the velodrome coming to fruition the staff room TV hasn't even been switched on. I'm now faced with the usual double a side record on repeat, featuring "With sixty odd million people you should be beating us!" and the number one hit "But look how much money you spent!"

The TV coverage has been nothing short of a disgrace with Aussie broadcasters only showing events where Australian athletes feature and anything without a Great British athlete as a last resort. Thank goodness for the live updates on the BBC website!

There have also been a lot of column inches given over to diagnosing where Great Britain got it right... mixed in with the usual rubbish about how us POMS don't wash etc... yadda yadda yadda. Take a look at this recent article from the Australian newspaper, which is a little like the Times...

NOT again! And so soon. Opening the paper to find the Poms ahead of Australia on the gold medal tally was reliving a nightmare.It had that same heavy, groggy feeling of suddenly waking on the couch during that fateful early morning in 2005 to find Australia had lost the Ashes.

How could it happen, we wondered in 2005? This useless bunch of pub cricketers who had been the butt of so many Australian jokes and thrashings over almost two decades had taken what was ours... Now it's happening at the Olympics. Having told many a Pom "on ya bike" during this sustained and glorious era, it's been galling to find they've taken the advice so literally.

Going into yesterday's competition England had four gold medals on the cycling track (...Now Seven!) and Australia none (....Still none!). So it's time for survival mode again. Just like in '05, ignore any text messages and phone calls when the number starts +44, have the finger carefully poised over the message erase button and open those emails very carefully.

At work, avoid the water cooler. You don't realise how many Poms inhabit the office until they actually win something.Years can go by with barely a mumble and then suddenly there they are, raising their heads and their voices, lingering in small, rowdy groups like they're in the pub and greeting you like a long lost loser. It's amazing how quickly the downtrodden forget their place in the world.

So another amazing day for Great Britain in the velodrome. Does anyone else think that the ridiculously high fuel prices have anything to do with why we're now so brilliant on a bike?

Go Team GB....

In a case of not knowing when to keep my mouth shut I managed to get myself into something of a foolish bet at school over whether GB or Australia will do best in this years Olympic Games. I was encouraged after reading an article on the BBC sport website! The loser of the bet will spend a whole week wearing the colours of the victorious nation. While the swimming events were on last week an impressive array of Australian themed clothing started to accumulate. However after an impressive display particularly in the Velodrome over the weekend I can hold my head up high in the morning. While we are currently in third place with Australia in fifth based on Golds I actually need GB to claim five medals to make up the total needed to avoid ritual humiliation. Come on GB!

A Busy Weekend...

We've had a pretty busy weekend here in the Land of Oz. On Saturday morning my Under Nine football team played their last game of the season. We had a season of mixed results (losing as many as we won!) and a cup run which can be considered a positive one for a team that hadn't won for three years.

It was then back to Newcastle for a must win game for Dudley Redhead in the afternoon. We managed to win our Saturday game 4-2 after going behind twice. That set up the possibility of becoming Minor Premiers for winning the league. In the afternoon we caught up with Matt and Sharron for a bite to eat and to look at the pictures and video from their Fiji holiday ... have to say it looked amazing! We need to start saving the pennies... sorry cents!

On Sunday morning, another where Alfie slept until 8:30am (How lucky are we?) we took a trip into town and spent some time on the beach. Alfie was as keen as ever to get wet but we managed to keep him on dry land.

In the afternoon it was back to the soccer pitch for our last game which we had to win. We managed to win 2-0 and so a new trophy will be making an appearance soon ... Beth is delighted she loves them!!! I also managed to pick up a very sore, throbbing and now black big toe. I managed to play most of the second half with it, but it could be enough to keep me out of the Finals which are two weeks away. Not had much luck with injuries this season, broken rib and now I think the toe has gone too. I'm getting too old for all this I think!

Artistic Flair...

After the epic room paint of some four weeks ago Beth and I have managed to get some of the pictures that have been packed away since we arrived in Australia on the walls. Including some pieces given to us by some special people back home.

The first is a photograph of a camper roof rack and its painted roof. We had this one mounted on board, its a great image taken by our good buddy JP. Its not the only picture we've got up of his either... we've also got a Sennen Cove sunset. Both are beautiful and the little picture on here doesn't do the real things justice.


... the second is a canvas sent out by JP for my birthday. Its a stenciled print of our very own Beryl (.... that reminds me must replace seatbelt bolt today came loose!) He sure is a talented guy even the cooler on the top is the right colour!



The third is a picture given to us by Lloyd and Lou for our Wedding. We managed to get the print here in one piece which is more than can be said for the glass in the frame which we needed to replace. Still it looks great now....

New Shoes...

Alfie's feet seem to be growing at an amazing rate, although the rest of his body seems to be keeping up with the pace. We had his feet measured last week and were shocked to find that Big Foot is now size 7!

Beth managed to pick him up a pair of joggers (... trainers in most of the English speaking world!) which are actually better than any pair I currently own! The local shopping center have been giving out local groups $25 gift vouchers so we went for a more expensive pair and effectively got them half price!



He seems quite taken with them (... probably cos they fit!) and when they are not being worn they can be seen being pushed around in the play stroller. It seems that the stroller rides are reserved for the important things in his life. In addition to the new shoes a piece of toast, a biscuit and his trains have all been rewarded with this special treatment this week!

Sunday with friends...

On Sunday we invited a whole heap of people around for a traditional English BBQ. You know the sort ... move everything you might need outside, sit around wearing jumpers with the odd beer or two, watch the rain clouds roll in, make a dash for the living room, light grill and start cooking inside! Well all but the last bit of that was true as Ross and I with no thought for our own comfort braved the wind and the rain to cook food for everyone... ;0)

With the BBQ low on gas everything took an age to cook and the so the nibbles went down well. There were some opportunist nibblers who quickly realised that inside the nibbles were within grasp. All the boys seemed to eat their own body weight in snacks with the exception of an increasingly mobile Noah!... not long to go Ross and Sara until everything in your house is more than 3ft from the floor!



It was great to catch up with everyone again and also to have the Murdoch's around (I work with Ross at school!). Ross made quite an impression on the kids who allowed him to play with the train set... according to the many parents in attendance he is most welcome to come again! I also managed to get some valuable brewing advice from Dave, although the idea that he was only invited to give this advice is wide of the mark... he also got the invite so he could bring some brew of his own to share. Which he did! ;0) Check out Dave and Marianne's Blogspot.

Sing Star(s)...

Alfie managed to find the Singstar microphones this evening and treated us to a number of his favorites. I'm not sure about the need to put the whole microphone in his mouth and the backing singing wasn't much cop! ;0) But it was certainly entertaining...



... Alfie also seems to be most amused by the Olympic diving!

I can stick my tongue out ....

I guess the life of a fifteen month year old is a journey of constant discovery. This week we have been treated (...subjected to!) the Lions roar and today sticking his tongue out...

Lollypop Larrikins...

Yes you've guessed more pictures of people enjoying themselves! ;0)Beth, Grandma, Amy and Alfie all went to Lollipops indoor play center today. Alfie enjoyed himself almost as much as the adults!

Beth's plan to follow Alfie wherever he went came to grief!...



... for concerned Blog readers Beth was released with a little brute force and is recovering well at home! ;0)

Stroller Stealing...

As you can see from the previous post much of the day for Alfie, mum and Beth has been spent down on the sea front enjoying the sea air and the sun. Rather cruelly photographic evidence of good times was text to me while I sat in a classroom marking books at lunchtime! However I shouldn't moan too much as it is apparent that work colleagues are subjected to similar teases - ain't that right Ross!

While on the beach Alfie spotted Jacob's stroller and decided to help himself. Here is Alfie's guide to all toddlers out there for how to get into a stroller yourself...

1, Find a stroller. Climb onto the footrest remembering to hold on tight.


2, Should the rail prevent safe seating, move to the side for better access, avoid falling head first into stroller.


3, Should you fall headfirst into stroller DO NOT PANIC. Remain calm you are almost there, a watchful Grandma is useful at this point.


4. Simply swivel body into position. Sit up straight, take satisfaction in your work, take in the views.

Pushy Grandma...

Grandma lies sleeping on the sofa as I type this after spending much of the day pushing his lordship around the sea front...

Alfie Month by Month...

The Alfie month by month slideshow has been updated...

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Get your own

A Sunny Saturday...

Some nice pictures...





... and a short video of Alfie eventually going down the slide!

Feeding the ducks/your face....

With Beth down in the Big Smoke enjoying herself on a Hen Weekend, it has been left to me to stay at home with a sick Alfie and mum to entertain. We had hoped to all go down together but after our journey home with a grizzly coughing Alfie late on Tuesday night we decided against it. So Mitchell I'm sorry to miss your Bucks (Stag!) Weekend!... maybe next time.... no... another time - oh you know what I mean!

This morning it was off to Blackbutt Reserve to feed the animals. Alfie seemed quite interested in the animals showing no fear when confronted by a Swan (Can they really break your arm?) or Emu!!! It became quite apparent that he enjoyed watching the ducks while stuffing his face with the bread that had been intended for them. There were a lot of bemused and hungry Ducks hanging around!

... Its a duck! Quack Quack!


... Oh some bread!


... "chomp chomp chomp!" Mind those fingers!


... don't feed the animals!

Surfs up in Surf City...

Theres been a nice bit of Winter swell pushing through this week. Here's someone much braver than me enjoying themselves at our favourite beach...