Our time in Narrandera

We drove the "shorter" way to Narrandera through the National Park. It was a winding road which might have contributed to Sebastien throwing up in the back seat. A quick stop, strip and clean later and we were on our way. We were longer than we thought and ended up stopping at McDonalds in Wagga Wagga for Alex and Sebastien to have dinner and a play before the last hour of travel. We finally arrived to a lovely meal for Mummy and Daddy to enjoy with Grandma and Grandad. Throughout the trip Alex was fascinated with the operations of the car - questions flew through the air about the high and low beams and how the car worked.

We also enjoyed a lovely game of
Daddy: "Can you see the cows?" (obvious and standing on the side of the road)
Alex: "No" (being contrary)
Daddy: "Can you see the tigers?" (with an evil glint in his eye)
Alex: "No - where are they Daddy?" (suddenly keen to check out her surroundings).

We had a great time and spent our time checking out the local library (all the better to get people to read us stories), fixing the fountain - here they are admiring their work, "riding" Grandad's digger and quad bike, going to the park, and visiting a local wildlife park. Both Alex and Sebastien loved feeding the goats. The ride on the horse and cart went down well too,smooth enough for Sebastien to fall asleep - though Alex's favourite part was absolutely the lamingtons for morning tea!The location on the river made for some beautiful scenery.
We even enjoyed a cooking session with Grandma.
Different ideas of "cleaning up" afterwards.Plus there was the pool - Alex's favourite activity was "dancing" in the water (complete with synchronised swimming fake smile) and being swung around by Daddy.Sebastien was upset that he wasn't allowed to have a swim - but give him a bucket of cars and trains and he's a happy boy.We even cleaned up - never having lived somewhere with carpet makes a vaccuum cleaner something of a novelty.
Grandma wanted to take Alex and Sebastien to see her parents' graves - but obviously we needed to prepare Alex a little more. As we drove into the cemetary, an excited comment came from the back seat: "Wow, they have a really nice garden. Look at all the beautiful flowers."

Then, when faced with the two headstones, came the questions "Where's Dossie(Grandma's mother)?" "Why did she die?" "I don't want to die." among others. Sebastien meanwhile was content to wander around the cemetary trying to climb the various headstones. This experience has lead Alex to comment frequently on how old people are and wonder aloud when they will die. She's not really sure how old is "old" and we didn't even go into young people dying. Maybe we'll do better next time.

When Grandad sent Grandma, Daddy and the kids off to see the train come along the tracks, it was a good thing Mummy packed them some dessert (icecreams) as no train came. Next time we'll check the schedule :)Grandad and Grandma babysat Alex and Sebastien one morning to let Mummy and Daddy clear out some of the house items in storage. They told Mummy and Daddy that they saw a koala in the reserve - not to mention the fish and chips that they enjoyed in the park! Alex enjoyed "driving" the car.

We were lucky to see cousins Ben and Chris on the weekend as their Dad brought them up with him. It was great to see how much they've grown - especially as it's going to be a long time before we get to see them again!Before long, our time was up and we jumped in the car (now with repaired tyre, headlight and changed oil - thanks Uncle Michael and Grandad) and headed back to Canberra. But not before being pulled over by a policeman just on the edge of Narrandera for a breathalyzer test - whereupon Sebastien said "bye-bye" to the policeman and we truly were on our way to Aunty Shell and cousin Tristan's house.