The Great Wynyard Bird Hunter

Squealy decided on our latest Sydney trip that he wanted to catch a bird. Any old pigeon or ibis would do. He wasn't being particularly picky.









He tried all kinds of tactics. Sneaking, running, stalking, chucking his ball at them and even offering choc chip cookies.

NOTHING worked. He got pretty upset and frustrated.






When asked why he wanted to catch a bird, I was completely surprised by his answer. "I want to eat one for dinner!"

5 year old logic ;)

Sydney

Melbourne Cup day saw String Bean, Mal and I flying to Sydney for a whirlwind trip to see the Pead and shop either side. hehehe managed to score cheapy flights with Virgin. Loved flying Virgin, nice and new.

The staff were also really friendly and went out of their way to be nice to String Bean.

Was so hot in the city: 37 degrees. Lots of lovely dresses, ridiculously high heels and feathery head gear. Melbourne Cup is taken very seriously in the big city. Walked past the massive TAB marquee at Martin Place which was packed. Didn't bet, too busy shopping.

Was a relaxed and easy day. So much better than driving and trying to park the car in the city.

I Guess Someone Missed Me.

String Bean and Emylie on the Train from Epping.

String Bean needed to visit her Pead, so it meant another trip to Sydney. Obviously Husband Deluxe missed me as he bought me a gorgeous bunch of flowers. They included my favourite: Oriental Lilies, they always remind me of our wedding day. Was lovely to come home to a bunch of beautiful fresh flowers. Was completely shattered of course....girly weekends away will do that to you.

On the way into the city, Michelle and I were under strict instructions that we going shopping for girly stuff. "Like shoes, clothes and makeup!" from Miss E. We did end up buying some stuff but the lolly shop at Epping on our trip home was actually the highlight for the girls.

The appointments went well. The Pead was actually running on time...yay! We didn't get lost much and the girls kept up with our frantic window shopping :-) All good really. Now if I didn't have to pay the Pead I probably could have afforded the $280 pair of Campers I liked....*sob*

Sydney...Take 2

String Bean had some more testing done in Sydney this week. The lovely Speech Therapist who tested her had a lucky dip for her to pick from for working so hard. She choose this crystal tree and a set of stamper markers. So today was the day to watch the tree grow, and did it grow!

Only took a little while for some crystals to begin forming on the tree. There was much excitement in the house from all three children when they realised that the 'Christmas Tree' was fully grown!


















Also while in Sydney we decided to stop off at Roselands to grab some dinner and give String Bean a chance to run around. We were all set to take her to a park but Sydney was so, so cold on Monday it wasn't funny. Who would have thought? So we were well and truly caught out, wearing summer gear. When we got there we were so pleased to find one of those big tramps with the harnesses. So we let her have a go. She just loved it and pushed it to the limit of course. Going as high as possible. The spotter could tell she was a dare devil and was flinging her up as high and as fast as he could. Was like a jolly jumper for big kids!

More art....

Sydney Harbour Bridge illustration.

String Bean's class have been undertaking a unit of enquiry on the construction of buildings. She came home with a special lead pencil, art paper and a laminated photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Once again, I am amazed by how far she has come and so grateful that the many hours spent on OT are bearing fruit. It's starting to feel like we are getting somewhere.

Sydney

Well we went up and had a great run. We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Potts Point. Sounds snobby but the hotel was just above Kings Cross Station! We have stayed at the Cross numerous times and have always loved it. Easy to get to and lots of cheap eats in the area. The hotel had 120 car parking spaces and ultimately that was it's biggest draw card. We didn't want to pay for parking in the city all day on the Monday, while at our appointment. The hotel itself was lovely and we were very impressed with it's level of inclusions.

Monday went as well as can be expected. We caught the train into Wynyard Station and the building we were after was directly across the street! The appointment with Dr Rory McCarthy was quite an eye opener. He stated within 5 minutes that String Bean was as sharp as a tack. Testing went well and there were no real surprises there. High IQ, low performance, easily distracted etc.




After the testing we have a clear plan of attack and a good idea of where to go from here. Certain things that we just assumed were the right thing to do, would clearly backfire for her. Given how anxious I was about the testing, the reality was quite different. Rory put me at ease straight away and was able to expand on my limited knowledge of the subject.

We all enjoyed our mini break up to Sydney and it looks like we'll be doing so every 6 months for awhile.

Testing

We'll be off next weekend just the three of us to get some further testing done on String Bean. She is very excited by the thought of the three of us having a holiday in Sydney. So much so that she just had to draw a picture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Not sure how much fun we are actually going to have, as the testing takes from 9am-4.30pm, but we are going to try.

I am so proud of how well she is going. Her ability to draw is just amazing. I especially love the little cars going across the bridge. They are all 'Wacky Races' apparently!