Monster Trucks

We went and saw the monster trucks on Saturday night at Archerfield speedway. What a huge night it was too! I've been to the speedway a few times over the years and have never seen a crowd like this one. I think almost everyone in Brisbane was there. They were totally sold out, and why not, we've never had the monster trucks here before. Well someone did mention Big Foot, back in the eighties, but that was only one truck. We got to see six!

It was loud! It was really loud! Poor little Monkey didn't know what hit him. He spent the majority of the night hanging on tight to his Dad's neck, and some of it with his beautiful eyes clamped shut, facing away from the track. Baby put earplugs in his ears, but that did little to stifle the sound of those huge V8's. Little people's ears must be so sensitive to sound compared to us older people. Angel had earplugs in too and I helped block her ears with the palms of my hands when they brought out the jet Charade and for the fireworks. Even then she still jumped a few times with the particularly loud ones.

Yes! They had a jet engine hanging out the back of a two door Charade. It was hilarious to see this huge jet engine in this tiny little car. Farout it was loud!!!

I have to say, I was expecting alot of carnage. You know, like you see in the American monster truck shows, but no, this is Australia where the monster truck sport is not huge like in the States. They have all the money to throw around on fixing their trucks, but not here. Sadly, there was NO carnage. We have to be satisfied with watching carnage on Youtube. One of the trucks did happen to roll, but I don't think it even dented it.
So, even though my destructive side wasn't completely satisfied, I had a really good night. At least I can say I've been now.

Camillias

I love camillias! I would LOVE a garden filled with camillia bushes.

These beautiful flowers come is so many different varieties and colours.

Pink, white, red.

They are whimsical, romantic, magical.

I love the way the winter sun reflects off the leaves of this gorgeous bush.

This image happened to be in with all the camillia images I googled, so I thought I'd just throw it in 'cos it's magical too.

From Blocked to Unblocked

I've had writers block for awhile now. I can't think of anything intelligent to write about and when I do, it just doesn't seem to flow as easily as it did before. It's a little bit frustrating because I really enjoy writing down my thoughts about things and sharing experiences. I find it very therapeutic and it gives a voice to my creative side.
I've just been trying to write about my weekend away,  at Tallebudgera, where we had a church camp with a guest speaker from Focus on the Family here in Brisbane. It was all about Relationship Enhancement. A most important issue in this day and age. Almost every marriage has some issue, or issues. Men and women are so very different. We think differently and do things differently and it's great to be made aware of the differences so we can all use this knowledge to understand and communicate with our partner so much better.
It was a great weekend away. We didn't have to cook, or clean up. We got to hang out with some great friends from church and got to know some aquaintances better. The kids had so much fun playing together. The beach was right at our door. The weather even improved for us. I just hope that other couples had as positive an outcome as my husband and I did. We didn't really learn anything we didn't already know, but it was a great bonding time and he and I giggled and joked our way through the sex talk. That's NOT where our marriage issues lie.
We've started this week on a very positive note and I'm sure with God's grace and some effort on my part it will continue.
Love is definately in the air!

Techno World

Technology! I find it all a little baffling. It actually hurts my brain when I have to learn how to use some new thing. I swear, the newer the technology, the thicker the instruction book. Nothing bores me more than having to sit and read instructions on how to use something. Fortunately, I am married to a man who is a techno freak. So I let him work it all out and then teach me.  Like so many men, he loves getting a new techno toy. His latest toy is an iphone. Talk about an unsociable piece of plastic(or whatever it's made from).

We were at a friends house a couple of Saturday's ago and both the guys were sitting out under the pergola doing the iphone thing. They were totally absorbed in it. Showing each other new applications, playing games, pinging friends. It was almost like I wasn't there. The lady of the house had gone out for a couple of hours so I didn't even have her to talk to. I ended up getting Mr J's laptop so I had something to do too. So there we were, the three of us, sitting around a table with our screens in front of us. Oh, and there was coffee! Mr J makes a great cuppa...because he has a great techno coffee machine!

This past weekend we went up to 'our' country house at Pomona. You all know how much I love it up there. It was a great weekend, but again, Baby and Mr N had their iphones out...alot! They actually got into trouble a couple of times from us wives for being so unsociable with us. Totally absorbed in their techno world they were. Seriously, it's boring looking at the back of an iphone.
I actually do love the techno world we live in, the fact that we can keep in contact with people we wouldn't otherwise be able to. I can send out a quick message to someone if I need to.  I can find out almost anything by googling(I love google). I can share my thoughts with the world. I can send a letter to a loved one, instantaneously. It's awesome!
Maybe I will get an iphone too, then I can join the boys in their techno world.

First Fish

My son caught his first fish yesterday! In this household, that is a big deal. My husband is a mad, keen fisherman and he has dreamed of taking his kids fishing with him for a very long time. Well, we went out in the boat today, anchored up and threw in Monkey's line. He had a bite in less than 5 mins. It was all very exciting, especially for his Dad. A very proud Dad! Monkey caught another fish with the next cast. Two fish in 10 mins. Not bad for his first time. Unfortunately for My Baby, the attention span of a 2 1/2 year old isn't very long, so the fishing part didn't last. All too soon we pulled up anchor and rode over to the beach so the kids could play in the sand and Mum could sit in the boat and read the Sunday paper in peace.

So my Baby and the kids went to explore, pump yabbies, throw in a line and play on the dunes. Angel had a turn at fishing with her pink fishing rod and caught a couple of  fish too. Those little fish ended up being a pelicans lunch.

What a fabulous morning for a very proud father. We all had fun.