Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Of blog buddy playdates, jumping pillows and ruffled baby butts

I don't often get together with other bloggers, but that is really quite silly because they're a lot of fun. And don't get cranky if you talk to them while tweeting.

or taking photos of eh-veh-ree-thing.

Like what I packed to keep Abby afloat during the two-hour drive, the date, a trip to Ikea and the two-hour drive home...


She had avocado sandwich on rye, banana, apple, Cheerio/Frosted Mini Wheats/sultana mix, Honey Graham crackers, an wholegrain apple fruit bar and vegan banana bread.



And apparently it was imperative she travel with her Care Bear and a random pair of pants.


The drive down was largely uneventful, she slept, I sang and we made it only 10 minutes late thanks to an ill-timed bathroom break.

We met the lovely Christie from Fig and Cherry, and her daughter. She is just about the cutest little poppet you've ever seen. True story.

We played at the Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast, which looks a hell of a lot different to when I used to live there! It was so much fun, and an excellent place for kiddos and families. I cannot wait to get back. Especially the rockpools, they were insane.




These two on the tiny seesaw were killing me. Abby kept singing "seeeeesaaaaaw" and trying to bounce up and down.

Friends! I love it.



And then she half-fell off this thing.

Which is almost as funny as when she fully fell off the one the following week when we met Mother Down Under at Mooloolaba. She flipped totally backwards and I caught one ankle as she went over. 

She got up like it weren't no thang. I tried to act casual in front of the other mothers who were probably all "OH MY GOD THAT WOMAN JUST LET HER TODDLER FLIP BACKWARDS, HOW NEGLECTFUL I WOULD TOTALLY NEVER DO THAT".


Ok, the rockpools. They were seriously cool. A little man-made riverbed-type thingy with little fountains, rockpools and waterfalls. The water would recede every so often, then refill just like the tide going in and out. 

Never mind the water was a bit nippy, Abby was in there like a shot. She was absolutely thrilled and I'll be taking her back very soon. Her dad especially would love it. I couldn't take any pictures of her splashing about in the water because I am Clumsy McClumserson and cannot afford another Canon.


Oh and the jumping pillow! I've a sneaking suspicion I loved it more than the kids did, although Abby screamed when I finally made her get off. She was having an absolute ball. 

As were two very boisterous adults using it like their own private trampoline. There may have been gratuitous making out and rolling around and I may have been rather amused and semi-wigged out.

And sadly jumping on this did not send me into labour. 



And how cute is Miss Christie, she brought a frozen veggie red curry for after the baby was born, AND  a strawberry bread-and-butter pudding simply because I told her once I liked it.

SO kind.

And it tasted exactly like I imagined. Like strawberries and custard and spicy fruit bread and utter deliciousness. There were two occasions where I ate it for breakfast. And I don't mind telling you that apart from the occasional share with the overzealous toddler, I ate the whole thing myself. And I'm not sorry.


I'm totally not scared to hang out with other bloggers now. It seems you CAN meet cool people on the internet, and not everyone is a freaky old man in overalls blogging from his mom's basement. Although, if he gave me a bread and butter pudding like this, I might consider being his friend.


28 comments:

  1. Such a fun day! Never had a blogger meet up but I imagine it would be so lovely! The water park and the jumping on thiny look awesome and the food is so lovely! I love bread and butter pudding!

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  2. Blogger meet ups are the best! Love the pictures too - thanks for sharing xx

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  3. Fun, fun in the sun! Can't wait to head back to those rockpools. Hurry up and have your baby already so that we can get hangin' ;) ps. just spotted those swing hogs in the background of one of the pics, so rude! Also, it looks like Miss P is giving Miss A the evil eye... but readers, she is totally nice, promise! Haha.

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  4. I have never actually had a blogger meet up but they look like so much fun. My husband actually built that Broadwater Parklands. I am pretty excited to take Squishy to the rock pools when she is born. I think it will be a lot of fun.

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  5. Ha sounds like you would have enjoyed our day too! Are there any bloggers near you? xx

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  6. yes I used to be very scared of them. Still am, a little bit!

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  7. I love the look on her face! Absolutely cracks me up. Those rockpools are totally calling my name...

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  8. Oh man, they're amazingly fun! If i wasn't fully dressed I would totally have frolicked xx

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  9. Looks like a fun day- cute kids, nice weather, cool setting- but is it bad that when I read "frosted mini wheats I nearly lost my mind? I LOVE mini wheats, I carry them as snacks for myself but I have NEVER seen the frosted ones & now I want them :)

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  10. That looks like such a fun day...those rock pools look amazing!
    I will have to put Broadwater on my list of places to take Toddler C.
    And Ikea being on the way home is such a bonus! The beach and then meatballs...doesn't get much better than that!

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  11. Yep, I have to get them from usafoods.com.au...

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  12. We should totally go one day! Surely Toddler C won't hate the rockpools like the beach ;-)

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  13. There is a shop I get American candy & hot sauce from, I'm going to check it out & see if they stock them because they have heaps of great stuff ( M&M pretzels=killer!). If not off to that website I go :)

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  14. Holy crap I snorted while reading this and water went into my nose. Is it really bad that the part I lost it over was the part about Abby flipping off the swingy thing? It's your fault for writing it too funny. And I thought the cute little blondie giving Abby the stink eye was funny! It looks like you had such a nice day.

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  15. I bet he will love them...he loves South Bank and it looks similar!
    Once you pop out that baby and get settled into being the mom of two, then we will make a plan! I will be happy to sit and coo over the newborn so you can get back out on that trampoline.

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  16. And this is why I need more blog friends! Just found your blog via the beetle shack and i'm loving it. So glad to have found another veggie blogger x

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  17. I love pretzel m+ms too! and hottttt sauce x

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  18. Is it bad I pissed myself laughing when she did it?! MOTY.

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  19. Ah yes please! Before the end of the year, surely x

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  20. Yes, it's way fun! It took me a couple of years to get into it though :)

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  21. How cute are the girls! Great pics :) I've always wanted to try one of those bouncy pillows, they look awesome. Like a jumping castle without walls, mayhem!

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  22. i was worried i was going to go flying off the side! I totally didn't, although the boisterous couple nearly bounced me right off :)

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  23. I've finally upgraded my internet browser and now get to leave comments! Yippeee! - I work in IT and even my work computer was saying my internet browser was not compatible with Disq :( Anyway your little one is growing so fast! I met with a fellow blogger here in Sydney once, it was the first. It was a little strange at first but it felt great to be able to talk about blogging! I'm going to Problogger conference next month in Melbourne and look forward to meeting more people from the community (and a little nervous too!)

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  24. Not that I know of... Keeping my eyes open for blog at hearings in Melbourne.

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  25. Argh Disqus. When you are bad, you are very bad! You will love Problogger! And you'll love other bloggers. Conferences are fun. Get out there and enjoy it xx

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  26. Ohh there's plenty in Melbourne! Are you a member of Digital Parents?

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  27. Nope... I'm not a parent...

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  28. Dude, neither was I when I joined! It's really just a hub for Aussie bloggers. Tons of good forums and helpful advice on blogging generally. No parent talk, I promise! The conferences are pretty cool too xx

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