Taronga Zoo and Dinosaurs

                                                  Muttaburrasaurus is watching us

As I have mentioned in a previous post my son is an absolute fan of dinosaurs, so when I saw the ads on tv for the dinosaurs at Taronga Zoo we knew we had to take him.

It's been about two years since we were last at the zoo. And let me tell you I was very impressed at how much had actually changed. We drove as I knew that J would be exhausted and I was not coming home on public transport with him like that. The zoo now has a multi storey car park, it cost $16 for all day parking. That's a bargain if you ask me as it costs us that just to get a train to the city.

                                                              Edmontia (I think)

The entrance has been moved, there is a much bigger shop now, and the zoo has, well to me anyway, more of a safari feel with the decorations. I won't go into a lot of detail except to say if you haven't been for a while you should go. There are even more options on tickets, they know have a family with only one child pass, it saved us some money.

Dotted around the zoo are the dinosaurs. One of them even spits water, which J thought was fantastic. Though to be honest it was probably a toss up on what he liked best, the animals or the dinosaurs. They have a partial Tyrannasaurus Rex that you can sit on as well.

                                                  Spitting at us, I can not remember what he is.

Unfortunately Taronga Zoo only has the dinosaurs there until the 3rd of February. And while there are not many days to go left it is definitely worth the trip to see them.

As expected once we got in the car to come home J passed out and snored all the way home. And let me tell you, after four hours of walking around the zoo, I was so glad we drove.

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Resolutions! What Resolutions?

Can you believe that we are already 15 days into the new year? I am having a little bit of a hard time taking it in. Every year seems to go faster than the one before it.

But this year is also has a very different start to it for me as this is the first year, for as long as I can remember, that I have not made any resolutions. After Christmas I normally always write a list of resolutions. And just like every other year I stick to them for about a month and then give up.

So with that in mind i am attempting another approach this year, I am going to set a series of goals.

My first goal is simply, I need to regain my fitness. Before I had some my son I was running 3 times a week. While i was pregnant my hyperemesis was so bad that even working was exhausting. Four years down the tract and I have not done much to improve things. This year its a must.

My second goal is twofold, to spend more time crafting and to actually manage to document what I am doing on my blog. My son is starting prep school 2 days  week this year so hopefully that will help.

My last goal is possibly my hardest and really it effects the other two. This goal is to stop procrastinating. As all you other procrastinators out there are aware this is often easier said than done. And so far I have not made much of a change yet. 

15 days into the year and I have done some crochet on one day only, and that’s more because I was at a Brown Owls group get together. So I definitely have to work a lot harder on that one.

I have other things that I want to do or start doing this year but I am not putting a big emphasis on them. If I get to them Iget to them. I work shiftwork which can be exhausting so I am taking little steps for now.

Tune Tuesday- Babyface

Hello! I have a really old song for you today. This was released in 1926 by Whispering Jack Smith. Now I know you are all wondering what made me choose this song, my grandmother Iris.

Nanna passed away on the 5th of January, she had been really sick with heart failure so it was a relief that she isn't suffering anymore. Growing up she was always singing this song to us, we had her funeral yesterday and I found out she use to sing it to her daughters as well.

Now I am not sure that this is the version that she sang as hers was a lot faster but that might just have been her adaptation of it. For approx the first 30 seconds he talks about a baby before he actually starts to sing the song.

Nanna, this is for you! We love you heaps and really miss you. XXXX

Dinosaurs

My son is an absolute dinosaur fanatic. I'm told its a phase that a lot of kids go through. But at the moment dinosaurs are slowly taking over my house.

Did you know that there is a National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra? I didn't either until we were down there last week end and I was checking out kids attractions. Let me tell you that if your child loves dinosaurs then this is the place to take them.

As you approach the building you are greeted by a herd of dinosaurs on the grounds. I wouldn't say that they are life sized but they are definitely large enough. Unfortunately due to the fact that it was so hot on the day we went we didn't get any photos of them.

When you go inside you have an education centre to the left and a large shop to the right. Upstairs is a great collection of fossils, models and information. One of the great things are the animatronic dinosaurs. These have motion detectors that set the dinosaurs moving when you get close. It's a bit startling at first.

My friends daughter was quiet scared of the whole thing and kept her hands clamped over her ears while we were upstairs. Mainly because her brother had been telling her the dinosaurs were real on they way over. She's only 3.

Once downstairs we lost the two boys in the education centre. They were completely enthralled. They had a great variety of toys and fossils that you could buy. My friend and I went a little crazy. A week later and J is still asking if he can go again.

My husbands work gives the kids a present at Xmas and the above photos are what J was given. Four new dinosaurs and only one of them is one he had, the triceratops. (In case you are wondering the white one is an iguanadon, the orange a velociraptor and the spikes one a diplodocus).

We borrowed some "Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs" books from the local library. Now J has his own bucketful of dinosaurs.

Heat!!

How hot was today? I am really not a fan of summer at all. I just can not seem to cool down, and I have eczema, which really does not like heat either. So today was awful for me. We had the air conditioner on early and have only just turned it off.

(The above photos are screen shots from my phone. If you look at the second one carefully you can see the temp hit over 42.)

I worked too, but at least the air con at work was working. It has been known to fail on hot days in the past. Driving to work was almost surreal, there was almost no traffic on the roads. But also there was no wildlife to be seen, it almost felt like a scene from a movie.

My husband has been at home with my son and our dog. They all went for a swim earlier then just stayed indoors. My poor dog was not impressed about having to go outside now.

It's still over 30 degrees. Hopefully a cool change comes soon.

Summernats

Wow, what a week. I have been away from home more than usual. It's probably the holiday season. But now we are currently in Canberra so my husband can go to the Summernats.

For those that do not know this is a big car show that happens every year. It's currently in its 25th year. My husband tells me that it hit a record this year with the number of cars entered, about 1700. And tonight it was on the news as it has set a record for the burnout with the most cars, 69 at the same time.

So now we are sitting in our hotel room, our son is finally asleep and I am playing my new toy. An iPad!

I have wanted one of these for so long. I'm so excited, though this was one of the first apps I downloaded.

Anyway I am off to surf the App Store. Have a great night everyone.

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