They Say What They Say

It' a girl!

And of course there was drama...

I diligently drove down to the old home town after work on Thursday so that I could mind the kids on Friday while the big event happened, however it was only natural that the hospital would ring at ridiculous o'clock in the morning to inform us that they'd been inundated with unexpected admissions over night and the birthing unit was full, therefore they were putting it off for a day.

Okay, we said. Then we swore a lot, but only after the kids were out of earshot.

The BiL went to work after that, while N and I dragged around in our jimjams for a while before we went to the local shopping centre to have coffee and visit Pumpkin Patch so she could buy a coming home outfit for the new one. After that we went to K-Mart where F had an enormous tantrum after I wouldn't buy him this ridiculous toy and we all went home. Later that afternoon I managed to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in aaaages and by the time I got home F had calmed down somewhat so we went for a walk so I could vote and buy coffee. Then we drove to an electrical shop to price a Mixmaster for my mum's birthday and we had a great time looking at all the stoves and refrigerators. He did managed to persuade me to buy a Bob the Builder DVD from Big W, but it was on sale and it was one neither of us had seen before.

That night the BiL made putennesca for dinner and N and I made butterscotch self-saucing pudding. We also had red wine. We all thought we deserved it.

So, this morning rolls around and when we hadn't received a phone call by 7.30am, we all knew it was on. I somehow managed to have a shower alone, despite the machinations of two small people who wanted to join me, and the proud parents took off for the hospital, leaving me with a three and a half year old, an eighteen month old, $50 and a family pass to the local wildlife park.

We managed not to get eaten by kangaroos, but only just. And we did see some really cool echidnas, a wombat to two, a wedge-tailed eagle, various snakes and lizards and some cape barren geese. I even managed to squeeze in a coffee while the kids had their juice bottles and a fruit stick. Mind you, it was a good thing I remembered to bring some spare clothing after Z got a little too enthusiastic with her juice.

By lunchtime there was no news, but grandma came over to have sausages on the BBQ, and soon after that Z went down for her afternoon nap. F and I did the dishes than we had a little rest on the couch with The Wiggles on in the background and later on we spent some time pulling weeds from the garden path. After Z woke up we all put on our sun hats and made our way down to the lake where the ice cream tuck was doing a brisk business. Three cones later, Z has most of hers down the front of her t-shirt and F's had landed in the dirt. There was not much I could do about the t-short because I'd run out of spare clothes, but the nice lady in the ice cream truck gave us a replacement cone for free.

We toddled off the playground for a while, where Z demonstrated the reason why he nickname is "Little Miss Independent' for good reason. That kid is so fearless; she just throws herself into any challenge that comes along. F proceeds with much caution in any new situation, while Z insists on going down the tallest slide on her own even though she's only just learned how to walk. It's fun to watch but also quite scary because you just never know when the day will come when she bites off more that she can chew and I do not want to be the one to have to deal with her first broken bone.

Fortunately we were saved from having to go down the super-scary slide a second time by the BiL calling to let us know that M had arrived and everyone was doing well. I managed to drag the kids home and the BiL arrived soon after with chicken and chips for their dinner. I hung around his place for a little while longer while he ran some things up to N at the hospital. I'm home now and looking forward to not sleeping on a sofa bed tonight.

I'm trying to catch up on my flist, but I don't hold out much hope. And now it seems that Australia has a new government and a new Prime Minister. No surprise, really. The country as a whole seemed tired of the Coalition and John Howard in particular. I just wish there wasn't back-to-back election coverage on all the TV channels. There's only so much political analysis one can take after a long day of making sure one's niece and nephew don't kill themselves or each other :~\