The GrandNobles are here!

For the past two weeks we've had Andy's parents, Dave and Bunny, visiting us. It's been SO great to have two extra pairs of hands to help out with the kids. Ollie is especially loving having two more people to give him cuddles. His favourite spot at the moment has been resting on Dave's shoulder, looking around at the world.  

It's also been really nice for me to have some adult company at home during the day. I don't have many mum friends in the area and I don't think I realised how lonely I can get sometimes. Dave has been fantastic at coming on walks with me and Ollie on the days Ella is in daycare, which almost always include our favourite activity "C&C" (coffee and cake). Dave is forever amazed at the amount of quality cafés Melbourne has on offer! 

Having them around has also meant that I am able to give Ella more attention on the days she is at home, as there is someone else to play with Ollie when he is awake. She is so much better behaved when I've been able to give her some individual attention throughout the day. We have been able to get out on some "Mummy and Ella" dates and it is so nice to just be able to follow her lead and not constantly be thinking about what is happening with Ollie at the same time.  

Here's a recap of some of the things we've been up to the past two weeks.

Last week Dave, Ollie and I went to the MoMA exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibition is a collection of over 200 works from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. We took the tram there which was easy but it took about half an hour which is a bit long for a baby who doesn't want to stay in their pram! Luckily he was pretty happy sitting on my lap looking around at everyone and we had lots of people chat with us about our cutie pie baby. People love having a chat with you when you have a baby!

Once we got to the gallery we went to the café for some coffee and this amazing cronut. Dave had never heard of a cronut before but he obviously thought they were delicious! Poor Ollie looks like he'd love a bite too:

After that I disappeared to a parents room to feed Ollie, and then popped him in the carrier where he slept through the entire exhibition. There were some very famous pieces in the collection from artists such as Salvador Dali, Picasso, van Gogh, Freda Kahlo and Jackson Pollock.  

Also cool was a look at the first ever emojis:

And the interactive part at the end: write your name and date at your height on the wall:

After that we walked down to the Shrine of Remembrance, the Victorian state war memorial. It is a very impressive monument. Even though it is in the middle of the city the site is extremely peaceful. Dave spent a bit of time exploring while I found a bench outside to feed Ollie. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and a really nice way to spend the day.

Over the weekend we all went up to Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula to stay at Steve and Michelle's beach house. Bunny and I drove down late Friday morning with the kids so that we could take advantage of the nice weather. We met Michelle and her two kids there around 1pm, and Ella and Gemma had a great afternoon playing on the beach. It isn't warm enough to swim in the bay AT ALL, but that didn't stop the two girls from putting on swimsuits and splashing around in the water. (The water is probably about 13-14 degrees this time of year. I'm cold just thinking about it!)

Unfortunately the weather on Saturday was pretty cold and rainy. We ended up at an indoor playcentre which the girls loved. For dinner we went to the local RSL which is the perfect place to go with kids. They had a little play area and that night there was live music and some kiddy entertainment, including animal balloons which Ella and Gemma thought were pretty great.

Sunday the weather was a bit better so we spent the morning on the seafront at the epic Rosebud playground and walking along the pier before heading back home.

This week we took Ollie and Ella to the Children's Gallery at the Melbourne Museum for the afternoon. Ella had as much fun there as she always does, and even Ollie enjoyed looking around at the other kids playing around.

We also took Ollie for his first swim which I think he enjoyed. He actually had a very neutral expression the whole time, but I take no crying to mean that he is happy. I was also able to swim laps for the first time since Ollie was born which was FANTASTIC. Swimming in an outdoor pool is one of my favourite things about living in Australia. It still feels like a novelty to be able to do this year round as it is certainly not something I grew up doing in Canada!

We have three weeks left of Dave and Bunny and the next two are also school holidays for Andy. We have a trip to Phillip Island planned so I'm really looking forward to that, and having lots of time for the six of us to spend together.