Another biggie

Hi everyone, we have had some huge things going on here so let's see what we have. Nanny and Grandpa came up to Cairns on a huge ship, we had a lovely lunch with them at Yorkies Knob I was very tired but behaved myself pretty well considering.

Jazzmin and I sharing a candlelit dinner
Mummy and daddy took me to feed the ducks and we saw this huge turtle, it was as big as the ducks and covered with all sorts of muck - very exciting!
Then it was on to the playground, I wore myself out and almost fell asleep on the way home (3 blocks away)
a firetruck ride that I love in the local shopping centre, I just loooove this puppy.

Finlay invited me to his birthday party at the gymnasium. I had the BEST time, there were trampolines, and everything was padded and I loved the big long running trampoline and the big pit full of foam blocks that I could plummet into, mummy loved it too and we were so busy that mummy only got one photo when I stopped to eat.

Easter, my first one where I "got" easter bunny. I made him a little nest the night before and the next morning, I was feeling a bit sick so was a little underawed, but he left me some cool stuff including these eggs which are the same as ones I played with at Rob n Jo's - I adore them, he also left me a game with pop up eggs and rabbits, a little chicken, and a couple of little chocolate eggs which I never ended up eating.

By about 10am I had spiked a temp of 39.6 which wasn't relieved by either panadol, tepid bath, sponging or lying in the airconditioning. So after 30 mins mummy took me to the hospital, my eardrums were about to burst and that's why I had been feeling so revolting. The doctor gave me some antibiotics and I was soon back to my old self. We had planned a BBQ lunch on Sunday and when we returned from the hospital everyone had arrived. I had a great time playing with everyone but crashed out early that night.

this is Dan with some interesting head wear, "butting" Brodie at their house.

Mummy has brought me a couple of computer games to get me used to using a mouse and I am very very good at it, I can drag and drop and everything!

This is my Uncle Peter and Auntie Debbies new car

They are running both now and the recent edition of Extreme street magazine features both their cars on the cover and a very comprehensive interview inside.

Damian has been away for 2 weeks , he had an uneventfull driving trip to Bluff, and he is loving his time in Rockhampton, the people he is with are wonderful. He has done fantastically in his tests so far and is like a little kid, he loves it. He was home with us this weekend and managed to catch up with a few of our "Cairns family" he is now on his way back again. He will be back in Cairns again for the Anzac day weekend. Kylin initially had some behavioural issues once daddy went but we have sorted those and he is once again a model child. Part of what I did to help the transition was to give him some responsibility, he has a baby now called "boo boo bear" he changes his nappy, feeds, baths and rocks him to sleep. If he leaves him for any reason he asks me to watch him while he's gone. We also established some rules which we recite each morning. These are: using our listening ears, speaking nicely to each other, saying "yes mummy" when asked to do something, playing and sharing with other children, and packing up our toys. He earns stars each time he does these things and 5 stars in any one section earns 1 gold star. When he gets 5 gold stars overall, we get to go somewhere special. This has worked like a charm and already he has earned his 5 gold stars so we are going to the zoo tomorrow. This is his boo boo bear

Hope you are all happy and well, we did our April babies birthdays last post so hope all is happy and well in your world - love and boo boo hugs - Kylin, mummy and daddy. xoxoxo

Hi everyone, it's been nearly a month since we posted anything - hope you enjoyed the rest! :) Photo's are all mixed up cause I'm tired and forgot to organise them first. We have had Big ears, Danny, Caroline, Bec and Rachael staying with us for a little while. It was an absolute pleasure to have them stay, we quickly got used to having them here. It did rain quite a bit while they were here, but it just means we've got heaps more to show them when they come back ;) Damian keeps checking his rear view mirror to make sure they got through the lights and are still following us :) We all miss them heaps. "Mwa". Next up.....We have a new fav restaurant here called Salted Vue, we have had lunch there almost every Thursday since we discovered it, and are usually able to lure a few to join us. For those who came to my birthday lunch, thank you!! We had a perfect day, beautiful view and lovely company, and this is what my cake should have looked like! The cake shop gave us someone elses cake which wasn't discovered until the restaurant opened the box at desert time. However, darling Rachael came to the rescue and got the kitchen to put a candle in a desert for me. Kisses to you beautiful girl for your thoughtfulness "xxx"
We had my birthday lunch at L'unicos at Trinity Beach, they set up the table so it was almost like we were out on the balcony, looking out to sea - luscious!
Beautiful place! Great food! Fantastic afternoon!
Jaelyn poking his tongue out at Big ears.
Kylin's new favorite thing to do is dress ups, this is a cheeky little ensemble he threw together one night.
Beccy soon discovered a love for the dress up box too!
It rained and it rained and it rained, if you look hard enough through the rain, you can just see the waterfalls beside our place.
Kylin's fan mail
WOW! Under the waterfall at the Sebel in Palm Cove.

Danny coming over all "estee lauder" and painting Rachaels nails.

Lock up your eggs!

Last snuggle with boo, the girls were great about being woken at 7am each morning.

Tired as they were, Kylin soon had them giggling and cuddling him.

Tired and shagged out after a long hard play.

At A.J.Hacketts. Tony n Rachael got strapped together and did a bungy, then a jungle swing. Danny and Bec did the jungle swing. I have no photos of Danny n Bec because I was laughing so hard at Bec's screaming, hysterical and deafening, even from the ground - poor Danny. Us chickens stayed firmly on the ground and had flip top heads for what seemed like ages. Kylin loved it.

We went to the spot where we got married and then walked along the beach, Rachael found two of these, this one was still alive. Kylin wasn't too sure about it.

First morning at the BBQ breakky at the lagoon, nice way to introduce them all to Cairns.

Kylin n Damian learning to play the harmonica.

Friendly neighbourhood Kylin man.

Kylin wanted to be a baby like Jaelyn so he put a nappy on and laid down beside him to snuggle him.

That's all we have for you now, except to say Happy Birthday to our March babies:

Beccy C, Jacinta, Jo, Annette, Nick, Rob, Michael, Chris S, Chris W, Stuart, Finlay, Aimee, Suzanne, Rachael, and John C Snr.

And to get in early - Happy birthday to our April babies:

Mia, Blake, Randy, Catherine, Meg, Muriel, Anna, Sean, Lisa, Susan, Sheridan, Bindi, and Noah.

Hope you all had or have, a fantastic day! xo

We hope the rest of you are all happy and well and we'll post more to you ASAP. Love and hugs, Karen, Damian, n Kylin. xoxoxo

Busy busy busy

Hello everyone, we have lots n lots of stuff to tell you so be warned! Our computer went on a holiday and when it came back, all our Kodak pictures were gone, so we have lost quite a few good shots from Australia day etc which is a real shame. Damian has left work and is now officially a "Mr." his office had a lunch for him at the Pier to say farewell. They also brought him a fantastic digital camera and a really nice card, he will be sorely missed for lots of reasons! Australia day we went to Bindi n Dan's along with Shane, Marisol n kids, Rick n kids, mark, Libby Mat and Ryan. We decorated their patio within an inch of it's life, Dan dressed up, we had fake tattoos, lots of beer, too much food and all had a completely brilliant day. Something (or should that be someone....) happened to the gravy.... and as appetising as it looked, soon became gritty industrial waste that turned solid as it cooled. No matter, the lamb was sensational!! Bindi made a mexican dip and we needed shovels to get it all in faster, yummmmo! In other news.... Mark, as we speak, bobs unhappily out at sea. He left this week and really doesn't want to be there. He has become such a part of our everyday lives, we miss him so much and knowing he is miserable makes it harder, poor thing. We had tacos for lunch last Sunday with the usual suspects, and it was our last meal together for ages as we won't see him again until April. "snif" It is now only 13 more sleeps until we are beseiged with lusciousness, Big ears, Danny, Caroline and the girls are coming to stay and we simply cannot wait to have them all here. Our Cairns family is really looking forward to meeting them and seeing big ears again. A couple of weeks ago we got a huge new fridge, a purchase which was long overdue, for ages we have struggled with the other one and it is just too small to cope, up here we have to refrigerate a lot of stuff you might ordinarily keep in the cupboard and there was just no more room. Speaking of new white things, I had my teeth whitened recently and have also had some other work done to "fix" my dodgy smile. I am really really happy with the results! As I type I am being enveloped in the alluring waft of fresh baked bread - our dear friend Filiz gave us her bread maker when we mentioned we were thinking of buying one. It is enormous and pretty much opens the packets for you it's so easy to use. Today is our first attempt and it's looking really good so far. Now for some photographic imput.........Kylin has gone up a class at swimming and he no longer needs me in the water with him (for his lesson) there are only 3 kids and he sits on the step until it's his turn and listens to everything Miss Janet tells him. We are so proud of him, he really loves it and with Janet's guidance, has improved heaps since his first lesson. Last Saturday was gorgeous Miss Marisol's birthday. She had a lunch at the Yorkies Knob (yes that really is it's name) boat club. It was a gorgeous day, everyone just relaxed and stayed way longer than any of us thought we would. The tables were right beside the kids play area so we didn't have to worry about them they had a huge day too.

Yummy birthday cake for a yummy girl
Jazz n Aya blowing bubbles
The next day it was Aya's turn and we went to Squeekers for her party. Kylin loved the fairy bread but thankfully, gave the sausage rolls n stuff a wide berth, prefering instead to just eat sauce!

"Helping" daddy wash the car - saturated as buckets are for sitting in, standing in and tipping over one's head apparently.

Part of the area outside our ensuite that we are in the process of facelifting, I found this mask on sale and he sits perfectly on that little wall.

I know, I know, it's dark. Last night, Damian and I went to see Chris Wilson at the tanks art centre. He has never played in Cairns and I haven't seen him since I left Melbourne 8 years ago. He is an absolute master on the harp and his voice gave me goosebumps more than once. The crowd really got involved which just fed his enthusiasm even more and it was one of the best performances I have ever seen him give. I got to meet him after the show and he autographed another CD for me. He was really relaxed and friendly, and said he'd love to come back to Cairns and play again. I used to go see him and Shane every week at the local pubs and he just gets better each time.

Just one more thing, we realised that the sand that we used in Kylin's sand pit, has a warning on the bag similar to that on potting mix bags. Do not inhale dust etc etc It is actually not meant to be "played" in. This astounded me as it was sold to us specifically for the sandpit. I never thought to read the bag - it's sand! So a good lesson for us and perhaps a forewarning to you if you intend making a sandpit in the future.

Happy birthday to our Feburary babies.

Marie C, Merial, Marisol, Jessica G, Trish, Mandy D, Ernie, John H, Kimmy, and Taylah.

Hope your special day was - or will be fantastic.

Love and hugs to you all from us xoxoxo

No dreamer is too small, no dream is too big

Have you ever had a dream? A passion? A yearning for something more than where your life was at?
Damian did.
And despite the reactions he imagined, and those he knew for sure. He broke away from what was expected of him, and he chased his dream.
And so it is with great pride that I can tell you that today is Damian's last day as a full time Naval officer. (He will remain with the reserves and pick and choose jobs that interest him.)
As of the 31st of March 2008 -he will sign on with Queensland rail as a trainee train driver.
There were 48 positions advertised, and he secured one of these. There were 4,500 applicants!
When I first met Damian, he, like me, had a passion for his job, thoughroughly enjoyed what he did and looked forward to going to work. This satisfation trickled through to every part of his life and it was a pleasure to meet someone so content with thier life as I was. Then something happened, he was sent to sea a while ago, (and those in the Navy will know of the person and trip of which I speak) and that trip, I feel, broke Damian's spirit, he was under the command of a very harsh man, had very little if no sleep, and was belittled constantly, he was never quite the same after it and I am not the only one who has noticed it. His passion and drive dissappeared and he has been lost for a very long time. Once he could make anyone laugh, in any situation, that person disappeared and he became insular and very quiet and serious.
He only came alive at the computer, when he drove trains on our simulator, when he spoke of being a child at Palmwoods and watching the locos steam through. He tried to engage me in different images and sounds and panoramas he had managed to download - that was his passion now.
When the trainee jobs were advertised, it took a bit of doing, but he worked up the strength to apply, worried about people's reactions and thinking he wouldn't be good enough, with me knowing full well they were dying for people like him, (and they were).
At one point he said, what if I fail? (he really wanted this very badly) I pointed out that "failing" was wanting something and never having the guts to go for it. His application started in June, this led to being accepted stage by stage, interview by interview, and finally just before christmas, being offered a position.
He wants to drive a coal train for a while, really throw himself into it and get lots of driving under his belt, so they have given him a position in Bluff which is 170ks west of Rockhampton. His roster spans 8 weeks and in that time he gets 20 days off. His days off will never change which makes it easy for us to take advantage of cheap airfares, or train travel etc. And either he will come up to us, or we will travel down. His training will be in Rockhampton and during this time his accom. and meals are all provided. He will have 5 weeks of theory, then 4 weeks driver training (in an actual train) another 5 weeks of theory and then onto the depot to be tested and endorsed as a driver. I am fully expecting him to blitz the training and qualify in record time. I think secretly, so is he. They invited spouses to attend the last interview, and the guys who interviewed him were really lovely and blown away by his professionalism and preperation, they are really really keen for him to work for them up here and so eventually he will post back to Cairns and work from here. So we are all very excited for him and very proud of him for making this a reality. Kylin is really excited that daddy is going to drive a train, already some of the old Damian is re-appearing and it's so lovely to see.
Love and hugs to you all - Karen xoxoxo

Thunderstruck

Hi everyone, we have had heaps of amazing thunderstorms lately, mummy and I sit up on my bed at night and watch the lightening - I love it! Mummy discovered while she was video-ing the storm, that when the lightening flashes, you can see the blue sky and clouds. Picture below was taken last night, during a lightening flash - looks like day time. We were invited to the Mortimers for afternoon tea, it wasn't at all posh, we had a really lovely time.
The adults trying not to be posh.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! It's orange man!

(or a psycodelic mexican!)

Everyone loves my kisses, here's me planting a noisy one on Mark

We arrived at our BBQ to discover an asian vagrant asleep at "our" table. We set up anyway and he slept through eveyone else arriving, I kept peering under the table to see what he was doing. Rick nicknamed him "Jeff" (the wiggle who always falls asleep) Despite us yelling wake up Jeff he slept on, Jeff did finally wake up and moved away to somewhere quieter.

I spy with my little eye something beginning with "W" Yes - it's Bindi with the squishable Brodie at the lagoon.

There are heaps of trees for me to climb around here, it's a great way for mummy to get me to eat bananas, she sits me up there and I pretend I'm a monkey.

Me n Rick - who managed to avoid hail damage despite Mark's efforts.

Me n that luscerous family!

That's it for now, hope you are all happy and well and having a wonderfull start to your new year. Love and hugs and strange men in orange - Kylin xoxoxo