Port Vila

Next we headed of to Port Vila. This was a bigger semi built up islandwith great duty free shopping i got a 2 litre Baileys $28 and a 1.7 litre Midori $23. MMMmmmm.

We didn't have any tours planned so we jumped in one of the waiting vans and paid $10 each for a tour of the island. Went past the reserve bank, war memorial, the "rich" part of town where mansions mainly owned by Australians are $120,000, the court house, parliament etc.. I think you get the idea.



The roads leeft alot to be desired but Zach loved it. Sitting on the back seat in the van, no seat belt with mummy nearly hitting the roof on numerous occasions. I would have hesitated taking my 4wd on those roads.

After the tour, he dropped us in town and we did our duty free shopping and went back to the ship. Zach found $10 in the shop too and did some shopping of his own but that's another post.


This picture was taken in a cove where a school of dolphins where trapped for 8 months. Seaworld came and rescued them. This is the view from the "rich" houses.

Strange Bedfellows

The staff on board the ship where great and our cabin steward knew just how to push all the right buttons with the kids. He would make sure he said hello and goodbye everytime he saw Zach (and us!)




Some nights we would come back to our cabins and find strange creatures on our bed, all to the delight of Zach.



Zach loved them so much we couldn't pull them apart so they stayed with us the whole trip. Occasionally we would come in and they would be lying down or sitting up with our sunnies on.


The cabin looked like a slaughter house for a few days with this lamb hanging from the curtain and the bunny lost his sunnies as they where daddies new expensive Oakleys!

Mystery Island

Ok now where were we, ah yes our next port of call was Mystery Island. Mystery Island is a small Island with no inhabitants.
This heart was set up by one of the locals with the ship in the background.He was charging $2 per person to use your camera to take a picture. Bit of a scam but we rarely get a family pic so we handed over the money. We even gave him a tip!


The islanders from the neighbouring island came over and set up market stalls and sang for us. Here's Zach and I in front of some of the markets.

Was nice for all of about 20 minutes before it started pouring, but we still enjoyed it. Cannablism was only stopped 15 years ago, so we kept Zach close by!


Zach loved paddleing around in the beautiful water and playing in the sand and threw a pretty good tantrum when we had to leave in the pouring rain.

Big Boy's Bed

Well after waiting 10.5 weeks for Zach's big boys bed it finally arrived. We set it up on Saturday morning, with Zach helping with his Bob the Builder screwdriver.

His walls and bed are covered in Bob the Builder and he just loves it.



He has been sleeping in his big bed since Saturday and some mornings he just doesn't want to get out! JUST 5 MORE MINUTES MUMMY



When he wakes up he still just lays there, sometimes for an hour or so, talking and singing until mummy comes in and tells him it's time to get up.

Yummy Yummy!

While onboard we all ate soooo much food. It was just so yummy.

The day started out with pastires in our room at 7.00am, followed by a buffet brekky with everything you caould ever imgaine having for brekky.

A buffet lunch followed, again with about 6 different stations and scrumtious desserts. I'd often take some back to the room. Here's Zach enjoying some chocolate mousse cake.




Lastly was a five course dinner. Starter, Entree, Main, Dessert and Coffee. Makes my food taste really bland now.

And i wonder why i put on 3 kgs! Probably the fact that i had to try EVERYTHING!

Beating the Boredom at Sea

Every now and then on board the ship Zach would get a bit bored, as you do when your a 2 year old stuck on a big boat. We took a small suitcase of all new toys and bits and pieces which did the job most of the time. Once Zach discovered some of the fun things on the ship he would constantly ask for either the games (games arcade) or toys (daycare centre).



In the arcade Zach loved playing with the guns, but he prefered to use them as vaccuum cleaners! Too funny watching him push them along the ground making the vvvrrrrmmmm sound.

He also enjoyed playing crazy taxi!



When all else failed out came daddy's laptop for some Nemo and Shrek fixes. Gotta love technology.

Formal Night

Throughout the cruise various nights are set aside for theme nights. We had 2 formal nights, 1 Western night and 1 Island night. We didn't dress up for the western or island nights, had to bring enough stuff as it was let alone extras. We did however dress up for the first formal night. Skipped the second one as Zach decided he was overdue for a tantrum. We had some professional pics taken ($25 per photo mind you) but here are the amateur ones until i get around to scanning the professionals ones.

I think Zach managed to get the most attention all night! As we walked through the ship, everyone young and old stopped and commented on how adorable and handsome he was. Even our dinner table buddies took pics of him to take home!

Isle of Pines

Our first stop after cruising for 3 days was Isle of Pines. A small but lovely island. The rain held off for an hour or so so we went for a splash in the water.


We walked about half the length of the island. The water was a touch cold but once you were in you got used to it. Zach had a ball. He has only been to the beach once before when he was younger. He loved running into the water and the little knee high waves. Also loved it when his feet sunk into the sand and disappeared.

Gone Cruisin'

Well we are home sweet home again and life is starting to get back to normal! Back to work, daycare (and cleaning and cooking)

We cruised out of Darling Harbour on Thursday 7th September and we where at sea for 3 days. Not much sun and quite a bit of rain. Although heaps of people where sick with the rocking boat we all managed to avoid sea sickness.

Lot's of yummy food to eat. I'll update you on the island we visited over the next couple of days.

We had a nice cosy cabin and the window was more like a window seat, it was lovely sitting up there with nothing but water!

Here's a pic as we sailed out past the Opera House.

Move aside, make way for Fireman Zach

Move aside make way for Fireman Sam, well Zach in this case....

Whenever we go to Lake Gillawana we absolutely have to have a turn on the firemen Sam pole. Zach loves the fireman Sam DVD that all the EB mums and bubs gave him when he hurt his finger and for weeks he would watch it over and over. From this he developed a love of helmets, fire engines and the fireman Sam pole.

Here's a pick of him in action!

Budding Photographer

Whenever Zach is dressed up nice in new clothes I like to take some photos. It seems this has rubbed off on my cheeky little monkey and he insists on taking his camera (our broken digital camera) with him. Alot of the photos at home now have his camera in his hands but he also insists on taking photos when i am. This is the result!

Bob the Builder

Well today we went and seen Bob the Builder live. Zach was all dressed up in his new Bob T-shirt and flashing Bob runners, so he looked the part. He looked so grown up!
My reserved little man just sat on my lap taking it all in and waving to Bob in the chance that he might wave back.

Afterwards we headed to the doctors for a check up before our long awaited cruise then to McDonald's for lunch and a play.After a short play we headed home for a much needed nap after all that excitement.

Daddy's Day

What a wonderful day today was. Beautiful weather and one very happy Zachary. Seems he decided to leave the terrible two's at home for daddy's day.
The day started with Zachary "helping" daddy open all of his presents. He kept throwing them aside when they weren't of any interest to him. He knew there was chocolates somewhere and found then in the Darrell Lea Pig Out Bag.






After some cuddles we set off for Lake Gillawana with some cakes for morning tea.



Zach drove his car around to our usual spot for our picnic. After our picnic we kicked the ball around for a while then we fed the duckies.














Zach loved it, we do this regularly but today he seemed to really enjoy it. Next stop was the park. Lot's of fun sliding ands see sawing. When the weather turned we headed off to the shops to buy a new video baby monitor before heading home.

Some lunch and a 3 hour nap for Zach and he was up and ready to play again. We finished the day with ice blocks and playdoh. All in all a perfect day.

Trek

Well it looks like Nemo has been cast aside for a short while. Introducing Trek a.k.a. Shrek. Now all we hear is Trek and Donkey and the BIG gingerbread man. We love Shrek and it is a great break from Hi 5 and The Wiggles but watching it twice a day may become a bit much! Luckily we have both Shrek and Shrek 2 for a bit of variety. Bring on Shrek 3 i say.

Bideyman

Zach always wears a hat at daycare but we find it hard to get him to wear one at home. With it getting hotter and how fair he is i am determined to get him to wear one as i don't want to have to deal with a two year old with a burnt head. We went to the markets and i found a Spiderman cap which he showed some interest in so i bought it (only $3). Well he loves it, he wore it all the way home from the markets in the car, even fell asleep with it on and now when we go out it comes with us. Looks like our job of getting him to where a hat just got easier.

Zach seems to love Spiderman (Bideyman) even though he's nenver seen the comic or movie. Just has a few bits and pieces like his lounge, drink bottle, and trackies. Your friendly neighbourhood bideyman!

Swimming like a fish....like Nemo

At the moment Zach's favourite DVD is Nemo and we watch it every chance he gets. Last night we watched from start to finish 1.5 times.

Zach is going great at swimming and everytime i say it's time for swimming he says "swimming in the water (pause) like Nemo".

His swimming is really taking off. Tonight he had an assessment to see if he is ready to go upto transition 2 (no mummy in the pool yay! Doing the happy dance) but i think he needs a few more weeks yet. He is the daredevil of the class, jumping into the water before we finish songs etc. Running along the floating mat and launching himself off the side, i have to be quick to make sure he makes his way up to the surface. He's even started just dunking his face in the water for the fun of it. Going great with paddling and kicking too.

Tonight we started him swimming on a noodle by himself, he did really well, mouth just went in the water a few times. He seems to be going great, just gotta get his confidence up being away from me and then nothing will stop him. Big change from the kicking and screaming little boy only 6 weeks ago. He loves it.

Happy Birthday to Zachy

I picked Zachary up from Daycare yesterday and in his information pocket was a MacDonalds birthday party invitation from his best friend Riley. I asked him what it was and he said MacDonalds very excitedly. I explained to him that it said "Zachy please come to my Happy Birthday Party" (2 year old translation). But Zach was convinced it was his HAPPY BIRTHDAY and sang Happy Birthday Zachy all the way home. Poor little thing, he's got a long wait until his party!

The party is the day we get back from our cruise so after being deprived of his best friend and cheeseburgers for 10 days he is going to burst at the seems when we get home and he gets his fix of both!

One of those days......

Well i got to daycare on Tuesday afternoon to pick up Zach and this is what i was confronted with!

Looking at it here it doesn't look so bad but if you look closely he has a graze from the top of his forehead, down his nose all the way down to his chin.


Accident report says he was pushing around a big Tonka truck, and he must have picked up some speed and it tipped. Well his little face landed on the fake grass and slid...ouch.

Apparantley he had fallen over four times that afternoon, bopped heads with one of his best friends (so he also had a bit of an egg on his head) and then this. The forehead and chin have all but cleared up but his little button nose has scabs everywhere. Seems he hit there hardest! And with a forever runny nose it hasn't had a chance to heal. We've been puting cream on at night and it drys up by morning but that nose just starts running again when he gets up.

I'll just go and file that accident report away with the rest! Guess he had one of those days...

Zach Free Day (well sort of)

Well for all of you in the banking industry you will know that yesterday was a bank holiday! Now this is the only day each year that my husband and i get the day off together (other than planned holidays) and the daycare centre is open. So we make it a day for us!

Yesterday we indulged in Gold Class movie tickets to see Pirates of the Caribean. Well what a great movie. Lazing back in plush recliners and table service topped it off.

Now i said it was sort of Zach free, as when we weren't watching the movie we where taliking about Zach! So he was there in spirit. Can't help it. We love our little man so much (or as he corrected me the other day "not little man, little boy")

Mug Shot

Well Zachary now has his own little passport for our impending cruise around the South Pacific. He will receive quite a few stamps on our 10 night journey.

Zach didn't disappoint when asked to pose for his passport mug shot! No smile and an "I don't want to do this" face. I think he even dropped his lip. Just adorable.

Let's face it even cuites have to have a funny passport photo! (will upload photo shortly)

Accident Prone Zachary James

I have just discovered blogs and am eager to keep an updated blog for my little boy Zachary James.

Zachary was born 2 June 2004 at Liverpool Public Hospital. In his two short years he has had a few illnesses and managed to injure himself a number of times! On 14th April 2005 Zachary managed to get the chicken pox. He was very well behaved and didn't scratch. I was basically bathing him 3 times a day in Pintarsol to stop the itching and putting healing gel on his face. End result no scars!

On 4th February 2006 Zachary had the top of his left ring finger amputated. He managed to get it caught in the door of a gun safe in a shop. Surgery later that night to reattach but unfortunately it died off. A small amount of skin grew back and he is now coping remarkably well.

That brings us to 12th May 2006 when Zachary tripped at daycare and managed to fracture his foot. His big toe but halfway up his foot. 4 weeks in a back slab cast did the trick. He was running around on the cast after just week!


Well that gives you a small insight into our lives with accident prone Zachary James!