Granny Ivy and Nanna

Just recently we had a visit from the Hunts, Granny Ivy and Nanna Diana down from Newcastle. It was lovely to see them, especially Ivy who has turned 88 this year and is still going strong!

ANZAC day

We have wanted to take the boys to the ANZAC day dawn service for a few years now, so this morning we decided to all sacrifice a bit of sleep for the diggers, get up at 4.15am and head to the war memorial.

Its a very big ceremony here in the nations capital and this year we were lucky enough to not only be joined by Jems granny Ivy, who actually served in the 2nd world war, but also the royals - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate.

I dont really understand or necessarily agree with war, but it sure is powerful and moving to attend something that means so much to so many that have fought to protect our country. Lest we forget.

Photos from the saddle

Interstate sunrise 

Photos from the saddle

Tura Beach holiday bikes pose -

 Lovely Mandeni, just a stones throw from the Lanes new house

Its been a while, but my Camber and Rich's Anthem had a lovely romantic date together on an early morning MTB adventure in Bournda reserve

Tura Beach holiday

We just got back from a lovely few days in sunny Tura Beach with Dad and his new neighbours, the Lanes.

 Beach play a must for us inland dwellers

Morning stroll to the healand with Dad and William. Nice photography Will!

Photos from the saddle

 The last section of the Mt Ainslie climb is a lung buster, but makes for an extremely fast blitz back down!

 Sunrise over Lake Burley Griffin on a glorious Sunday morning

Pajama and Easter hat parade day!

The annual Palmerston pre school Easter hat parade and healthy breakfast pajama day. I guarantee this boy was the cutest!!

Cycling challenge # 3

Cycling challenge number 3 seemed simple when I said it to myself. A road ride from home attempting to climb 1000m in the least possible distance. Hmmmm.......did I say simple?

The closest decent hill from home is Black Mt averaging about 9% for almost 3kms, gaining 231m. I estimated I had to climb it at least 4 times, so I rounded that up to 5 to make sure I got the grand.

I ended up getting to 1000m in just 34kms. Would have been less but it takes 15kms from home till you start to ascend at all.

Total ride stats - 52.5 kms, 1365m climbed in 2 hours 43 minutes. The toughest challenge.......so far.

Strava stats: http://app.strava.com/activities/127265478

Some inspiration for this ride came from a cycling article I read not long ago about 'Everesting' a climb. This idea (apart from being ridiculously insane) involves picking one of your local hills and climbing it as many times as it takes to reach the 8,848m of the highest peak in the world, Mt Everest. The people who wrote the article chose Mt Hotham which from memory, they needed to climb at least 8 times, ouch!

To accomplish 'Everesting' Black Mt I would have to do the same challenge achieved this morning another 5 and a half times! Which is about 38 times up Canberra's highest landmark, climbing on the bike for about 20 hours straight.......Brutal!!

Sammy talk

Sam likes to say things out of the blue quite often, some things entertaining, some things annoying and some things shockingly funny. Like this mornings example -

Sam (quite literally with no lead up or prior talk on the subject, also with no emotion or attention seaking) - "Dion sometimes says what the fu@k!, and he has a spot"

- Dion's obviously been quite the kindergarten potty mouth and consequently gets placed in a quiet spot to think about what he's done.

Jem and I (trying not to spit food out and laugh, whilst still being stern) - "Oh dear Sam you know thats not the right thing to say, thats a swear word and you could get in trouble saying that, you make sure you dont repeat what Dion says when he says those things" (or something along those lines, I just remember cracking up inside!)

House update

The builders are just a few days off completion now and with council approval imminent, we are wetting our pants with excitement! Woohoo!!!

 The front, now with veranda attached

The kitchen, now with tiles and walls painted