Everyday #fmy52weeksofmemories

I am falling behind here.

Everyday I struggle to find that balance between having enough down time and staying up way too late. Do I catch up with stuff or sit on my rear watching telly. Masterchef and Gogglebox wins every time. Even those are interrupted by out of bed children who 'NEED' me.

Trying to fit all the things I need to do into a certain number of hours in a day. It doesn't feel like I ever stop.

Mostly I feel I am not achieving anything, yet the opposite is true.

I write lists almost everyday to keep on top of what I want to get done. I manage to methodically cross things of the list and am actually achieving. The list usually goes in the bin and more things get added to the next list, or stacked in my brains memory stores. Stores which don't work all that well.

If I kept every day's lists and looked back over them at the end of the week, I could be quite proud at what I have managed to get done. I am seriously considering doing this.

There are things that I do every single day, that I don't write on the list, because they are automatic. I have been known to write these on the list, just for the satisfaction of crossing them off.

Drink a hot lemon drink
First thing in the morning, before I do anything, I make a drink of hot water and lemon (or lime) juice. If I don't use fresh lemons, I have a bottle of juice in the fridge.

I can't remember when I started doing this, but it's become a habit. Even when we were camping I took my bottle of lemon juice.

Feed the dog and chooks
This is one of those things I will write on the list and cross it off, just for the recognition. I am the animal feeder, hear me roar......
The dog barely raises an eyelid from his kennel as I feed him in the morning. The three chooks come running with gusto as I toss the contents of the chook bucket into the run. I get 2 eggs as my reward. One of the chooks is getting a little long in the tooth and hasn't given me an egg for ages. Maybe chicken soup will be on the list soon.

Eat breakfast
Without fail I make myself breakfast, and eat it. OK, so I forgot one day last week, I did eat something after the school run when I got home like a good little chicken.

More often than not it's porridge. Today it's left over chunky soup I made yesterday.

I have managed to get our routine down pat in the mornings that I have time to sit down to breaky. In between packing school bags and having a shower.

Washing
This is something else I have no trouble putting on the list just because, and crossing off. I am a hard working washer woman. Whether it be dishes or the washing pile of hardly worn clothes and wet towels. I cross that shit off my list bane of my existence of my list.

The bathroom, dunny and floors however are usually neglected. I should hang my head in shame. The trick is not to breathe in or look too hard at the wrong time.

Cook!
I don't mind cooking.  I actually enjoy it. I cook something everyday, so that's probably a good thing.

What really shits me off is when the kids wont eat it. I try.

Healesville Sanctuary

I really, really liked the Healesville Sanctuary. It's an Australian native animal zoo, set in bushland. It's entertaining and educational. Lot's of walking and getting close up to the animals. You can get up close and personal for an extra fee, but we didn't. It was still cool.

There's extinction fighting superheroes, and if you find yourself perched on the loo at any time, you'll hear a voice over from someone called Crap Man, informing you about the benefits of using recycled dunny paper. They really push that here.

The bird show is a must see. There's Kevin the talking bird, a Corella, and loads of other fabulous birds who do cool stuff.

Roadtrip to the footy

After reading through a few #IBOT posts last night, I got onto cooking cupcakes for the photo day/morning tea at kindy tomorrow. It's not usually a kindy day for us, I'd have rather bummed around the house than had to be there at a quarter to 9 on our 'day off'. Oh well.

While the cupcakes cooked I uploaded these photos from our weekend in Adelaide. Twas a good one, except for the bit on Mother's day on the way home, where I sat in the back squished between two car seats with my annoying darling children either side.

It was like a little holiday. Except when we got home, I felt like I really need a holiday. Alone!

We stopped in Kingston, across the road from the Big Lobster to eat our ham sandwiches. The girls ate chips.

Keeper of the stereo aka Jake

So glad my boy decided to come with us.

On our way home, Mother's Day. We stopped at the Hahndorf Farm Barn. Rubber boots
is the best footwear. You tread on a lot of poo.

Summer was fearless. I was worried the goats were going to eat her jumper off her back!

See the paper feed bag. A deer would later take it and eat it, food, paper and all! It was hilarious.

Monarto Zoo

Boxing Day we made our way home after spending christmas with Bretts family north of Adelaide. On the way back we spent a couple of hours at the Monarto Zoo, about 15 minutes out of Murray Bridge. I had a sore and puffy foot still(I got spider bitten two days before christmas), so was apprehensive, but knowing they had buses to ferry us around in made me feel better. Plus Brett had built Izzy up and she was asking when we were seeing the animals as soon as we took off from his sisters house. How could we disappoint her?!

I got as many photos as I could, we didn't take the pram in and frankly it would have been a hassle having to fold it up every time we got on a bus. We went on about four different buses, or was it five, and I was usually holding Summer trying to take one handed photos with my camera, easier said than done! 

White Rhino and baby, amazing!

This was the final fence of three to get into the carnivores section, where the lions were, triple assurance they don't escape, which is comforting, they were huge! Note the sign on the fence, it's someones idea of a joke. The volunteer guide doing the talking at the front of the bus reckons it's because the lions don't like it when the spokes get stuck in their teeth. Boom tish!

Nought to eighty kilometres per hour in three seconds. Vision of up to five kilometres. Amazing creature. Not one I would like to come across in the wild, but apparently you can have a cheetah experience and get right in their enclosure with a guide if you're brave enough.

Sitting on a bus watching another bus full of eager zoo goers. The size of the zoo grounds when you look at this is astounding. It is fantastic to see the animals have so much room to roam. I am with the firm belief that is why, as opposed to a "cage" zoo, the animals grow to such huge sizes like the lions and this american bison. The photo doesn't do justice to how massive this animal is, it was HUGE! 

Who knew there were different types of zebras? They have two varieties at the zoo. This one is the Chapmans zebra. 

Monarto currently has eighteen giraffes! They all weren't on display, they are trying to keep the boys away from the girls, they are too good at breeding, there were about nine that I could see. You could get off at the bus stops and have a look around, this was at the giraffe section, there was a walking trail that ended on a raised platform so we had a great view. 

When we made it back to the start my foot was aching so I sat with Summer in the cafe and Brett took Izzy for a short walk to see the chimpanzees. Izzy was funny, showing me how the chimps jumped around and telling me how cute the baby one was. I'm sorry I missed the baby one. We had a fantastic time, so glad we went.