October?

How the heck did that happen? Hang on, 2009, you are getting waaay ahead of yourself.

I vote for it still being August - anyone with me?

Thank you all for your comments about the moments made special. On Monday, there ended up being many of them.

'Salina decided she wanted to make a picnic for visiting cousins and so there were chicken and egg (separate) sandwiches, banana muffins, fruit and cordial packed up for feasting and adventures.

We met up with my brother and SIL and stole their three children for our entertainment (and gave them leave to have a few child-free hours - they looked quite lost at the concept)

We went to a new playground. New playgrounds are fantastic - no graffiti, the bits of tree are still soft fill and not hardened torture, all the pieces of equipment still work (and aren't vandalised) - and so exciting to explore.

(note to playground designers - you know those useless ladies and/or gents following your target audience around - a request for a bit more shade for them to loiter in please)

After dropping off one cousin to an appointment with her dad, we went to the Botanic Gardens ('Salina and I are still arguing the toss on it being "Botanic" or "Botanical" - signs were contradictory supporting both arguments) for the main drawcard we offer visitors - the little train that circles the gardens on random days during the holidays.

(As an aside to shake a stick at bureaucracy gone mad, apparently the State Government were making noises that the small voluntary group of train enthusiasts who lovingly restore old diesels and steam trains for this circuit of no more than 3km at a top speed of around 5 km/h and who have NEVER had an accident should adhere to the same standards as their soon-to-be-sold-off public network which would cost them about $1 million in upgrades - that is a heck of a lot of $1 train rides to flog to little children, isn't it?)

Unfortunately, we had not gambled on the day we chose being one of the random days they weren't running the trains during the holidays so we elected instead to use our legs and explore.

Note to the wise - if you are going to ramble through lush trees and look at ducks and lizards and splash in puddles and marvel at disappearing turtles, do it with a 3 year old in tow. Increases joy all around.

Of course, one of the problems with dragging children around in the tamed wilderness is the sudden of toilet needs (not to mention pregnant lady requirements) - but one of the attributes of tamed wilderness is that it is never too far to another building that might have toilets.

The best, best, BEST thing about the gardens, however, was the bit of lawn in front of the cafe when three children could run wild round and round and round for about 1.5 hours while I sat and watched!

Today, however, our special moments have consisted of "do I have to go to Vacation Care" and grumbles, as someone has seen fit to request me to type all day in their meeting.

Still, tomorrow is another day - and it is one where we aim to venture down to the Big Smoke for a very speedy catchup with an unofficial school reunion, 'Salina's dad's family, old friends and fit in the footy grand final before returning to the real world on Monday.