2008 for better or for worse

I have included some photos of our year to date to remind us what has happened. It has been a big year with good and some bad moments.

To living life with no regrets

Goodbye Pa
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hello, Grayson again - I think I need to blog something.

What I have learned today....

I really do look good in French couture.
A lot of people in my family had leaky eyes today.
I will sit still for a period of time - provided cookies are given at regular intervals.
White pieces of paper with writing on them don't taste very nice (mummy edit - order of service)

But, seriously. Today mummy and daddy told me we were going to say goodbye to Pa for the last time. They said he's not going to be around to chase after me when I want to run around the yard anymore. And he can't do that hearing aid trick with the funny noise or do round and round the gardens with one step, two step - TICKLE me under there (usually my armpit). The last time I saw him, mummy and I fixed his sore arm. (I thought we did an excellent job) Obviously it wasn't too sore as we ran around the back yard after and he told me perhaps it wasn't the best idea to jump in the big haystack as it would go everywhere and Uncle Ron would have to clean it up.

Today I sat down, listened to someone do lots of talking and then there was this funny music with everyone standing up and singing. This was a little different to the music mummy and daddy usually listen to...
I could see a picture of Pa - and he looked very happy.
Unlike the rest of the family around me.
After the talking and singing finished we went into another room where there was lots of cake. I quickly fueled up and then took Grandma Diana for a walk. Daddy joined us soon after.

Eventually we went home. Mummy opened a bottle of "Billy Cart" champagne for Pa (mummy edit - aka Billy) and the family raised their glasses "To living life with no regrets"

I think something really important happened today, but I'm not sure I really understand.
But if that is the last time I get to see Pa, then that's sad.

I'm going to miss him.

Grayson

Vale William Brash Malcolm 26/09/1922 - 13/12/2008

William Brash Malcolm, more simply known as Pa, died suddenly today. Grayson and I only saw him 5 days ago. Pa chased G around the back yard and looked the best he has looked for quite a while, thus today's news came as quite a shock. No more "round and round the gardens", no more triple kisses goodbye and no more hearing people tell him to slow down.

Pa always said he had no regrets about his life, and felt he had lived it to its fullest. Every Saturday night, he and Nan would go out to their local club, share a bottle of wine, play some poker machines and end up coming home later than their children (or grandchildren for that matter). Every day was a day to be lived and enjoyed.

His attitude towards life is one of the best memories I will have of him. I hope that I can live life a bit more by his rules, and pass this on to Grayson as he gets older.

Godspeed Pa. We love you.

Home owners again

Yes, the deed is done, the bottle of champagne (Gosset Celebris blanc de blancs - 4 vintages in one bottle - delicious!) is just about drunk and suddenly the realisation that we can reallly hammer things into walls without asking has taken a hold.
Egad!
But on a small rant point of view - settlement nearly DIDN'T take place as one of the groups of the bank people people nearly couldn't come as they had a steak lunch to go to.

Nice.

A bleeping STEAK LUNCH instead of doing something such as turning up a settlement (of which you had several weeks notice)????

To that nasty bank person who preferred partly cooked bovine to satisfying our dreams of being seriously in debt .....

GRRRRRRRR

A Perfect Storm

Captain G
Originally uploaded by b boy.

This is a tale of what happens when mummy and daddy have a free weekend off, and decide to go out on a big boat. With several of their friends. And a lot of cheese. But only one bottle of champagne....
(Don't worry, it gets a bit more exciting than not having enough champagne to drink!)

It was a beautiful sunny morning when we (4 families in 2 boats) set out for a day on the Broadwater. I was kitted out in the appropriate boating gear for an adventurous toddler who can't yet swim.... and even got to charter the boat for a bit. We stopped off South Stradbroke Island for a paddle and a jump in the waves, then hopped back into the big boat. Emma and Sarah tried to swim all the way back to the big boat with their mummy, but needed rescuing (or at least a pick me up) by their daddy as there was a bit of wash from some other big boats which made things a little tricky.

So there we all were. Sitting around the Riviera. Eating much cheese and bread with meat products and the occasional side serving of salad (BLECH! SALAD!!!!) when....
The mummies brought out CAKE!
Hurrah!
But then they brought out some fruit too....
BOO!
And told all the kids - no fruit, no cake!
How does a Grayson respond when told he needs to eat fruit before cake???
WAAAAAAAAH!
Just kidding - I pretended to have some fruit and instead quickly grabbed one of the cakes before anyone could stop me!
MWAH!

Suddenly, several of the mummy and daddy's mobile phones started to ring. I could only hear snippets of the conversation.
50 knot winds
Get back into the marina - NOW
There is black on the bom radar - we haven't seen that much black in years....

The seven kids were kept on the big boat and we were ushered downstairs with a Peppa Pig DVD and lifejackets in place. Two of the daddy's took the smaller boat and the rest stayed on the big boat, which went full throttle back to Sanctuary Cove.

I was getting a bit bored with Peppa (well, I do get to watch it at home) so I came upstairs to be with mummy and daddy. I got LOTS of snuggly mummy cuddles and saw lots of big dark clouds and bright flashes of light. Fortunately by the time the rain really started pelting down we were well up the river heading back to the cove. Everything was REALLY wet, but this just made it more interesting....

So to summarise the day - mummy and daddy went out on a big boat with a group of friends. Unfortunately they happened to pick a day when one of the biggest storms to hit South East QLD in years occurred. Fortunately we all arrived safely home. And still had a home to go to - unlike some of mummy's patients :(

Fireman G

Fireman G
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well the mother unit keeps telling me I need to be careful around fires and all that sort of stuff. Now I have my own FIRETRUCK I can hopefully be USEFUL in the event of something nasty like that happening.
The firetruck was a late birthday present from Mama Diana but presents are always very much appreciated in the Grayson household. Presents or cake (or champagne - mummy and daddy edit) I am trying to set a new trend by wearing matching PJs!

Other news to tell? Well, it looks like mummy and daddy will have to rein in their champagne buying habits a little bit as we have bought the unit we have been renting for the last year and a half. Well, the contract is just about unconditional.
So what exactly does this mean for me?
Well, I finally get my name up on my room's door again, and my dotti stickers are up on the mirrored doors AND the parents are talking about converting the spare bedroom into my playroom so they can reclaim their lounge room again.
Yeah mum and dad - I love your optimism with that.
After all, Christmas is just around the corner - MWAH!

Grayson turns.... CAKE! No... TWO! No.... TWO CAKE

Cake number 1
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well, for the past few weeks, mummy and daddy have been asking me "Grayson, how old are you going to be this birthday?"
Now, whenever I hear the word BIRTHDAY, the next word that comes naturally to me is CAKE!
So I try and say...."Cake! Cake! Cake! CAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!" Then I do a little dance and this seems to make everybody laugh.
It is all about keeping people happy you see.
So last weekend, I threw a little soiree at chez cook. We had balloons, pinatas and lots of colourful lanterns hanging off the walls.
Mummy and daddy had their friends over to drink some bubbly stuff, whilst I had my friends over and we ate lots of CAKE!
As you can see, Daddy really came through this year - not that I didn't appreciate last year's pirate ship. But this cake was a bit more technically challenging owing to him having to work with three colours of fondant, not to mention having to do some detailed work making Ferrari badges and such. The black wheels were made entirely of black fondant icing - which I found out about after picking one up and taking a large chunk out of with my teeth....
Fortunately Daddy managed to cut me a piece of real cake (and some for everyone else too)!
On Tuesday (the actual birthday) I had a cake made with more fondant icing and race cars on top which I took to day care and then in the evening we had this delightful chocolate and raspberry concoction which went down very quickly, as all the grown ups ate all of their pieces (I had to act fast to get mine and another piece down).
Mummy and Daddy bought me a lovely train set and I also got a table to put the train on too. I got lots of cars and books and even some items of clothing too!
All up it was quite a satisfying birthday week. Three cakes, 2 pinatas (because mummy internet shops and gets impatient when things don't arrive), two parties and several bottles of champagne for mummies and daddies (mummy and daddy monster edit - We opened a bottle of 2000 Dom Perignon at 3pm to celebrate our favourite little monster's day of birth).
But the main question is.... what on earth is daddy going to make for me next year???

Sydney trip Sept 08

Penguin
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hey, guess who again. This time blogging from the Qantas lounge. The parents seem to take me here a lot!

Today I had lots of fun. We went on boat ride around the harbour and also got to go to the zoo! Wow, that was really cool. I got to see lions and tigers (roarrrr!) and elephants, giraffes and funny black and white stripey horses. But I really liked the penguins and tried to take this one home. Daddy said he wouldn't fit in the luggage though on the way home :(

Mummy bought me a cuddly lion to make up for it :)

I was a bit tired and had to take a nap but mummy and daddy had this pram for me (not my usual one) but mummy said something about the best 12 dollars they spent today.

Oh well time to go now. I have a plane to catch.

Bondi

Bondi
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hey there everyone, Grayson monster here again. This time reporting from Bondi beach!

The mother unit had to go to some work thing in Sydney so she took daddy and me to keep her company. I really think she took me for company and daddy to look after me :)

Anyway, while mummy was at her boring work thing, daddy took me to the beach. It was a very nice beach with lots of sand and not many people. I found this boat thing which I quite liked but it was too heavy to get into the water though. Daddy and I built sandcastles and then went to have a snack at the beach cafe.

After a mid-day nap we found a toy boat exhibition at the boat museum next to where we are staying. It was quite fun and mummy found us there after she finished work.

I can't wait to see what daddy will find for me to do tomorrow but I am sure it will be exhausting for him chasing me around :)

Father's day!

Father's day at Ikea
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hey they everyone.... Mr G here again.

Well yesterday was father's day (daddy tries to tell me that everyday is father's day but mummy tells me not to listen to daddy..... she says that a lot actually!)

Daddy has been talking a lot about going fishing so I thought that I should help him out and get him a nice new fishing stick. I'm not sure why he needs it as I never see anyone else with one down at the fish shop when they get their fish! Anyway he seemed to like it (even though he didn't get to unwrap it because mummy didn't cover it in colourful paper :(

Later we went to a really big shop called icky or something so mummy could get more things to put her clothes in (she does seem to have a lot of clothes!). It was really fun because I got to push the trolly around and I hardly never ran into anyone. Well what do they expect...it was heavy and I am only little, so they should have gotten out of my way! After yelling a few choice words at them (just like mummy does when we are in the car) they seemed to let me through.

We also went to see Pa because he was in hospital again. I seem to be visiting people in hospital a lot lately. Oh well I don't mind and it seems to make them cheer up.

Bye for now, must get off to day care and I get to go in daddy's BIG car today......or is that mummy's car.....I can't remember :)

River Fire 2008

River Fire
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson Monster here again, Raagghhh!

or should I say - Oh my.... BLEEEEEEEEEEP (Grayson! potty mouth!!!)

Here I was, frazzled, fractured - barely coping with father away for a little soujourn in club mater (mummy note - pneumonia, meep) when the pre-mentioned mother unit takes me up to see him one Saturday evening.

There were several unusual features about this.
Mummy going out on a Saturday night (hee hee hee)
Me going out on a Saturday night (well, I am still underage!)
It took us nearly an hour and a half to get from New Farm to South Brisbane (not to mention daddy was driving and getting a bit narky at taxi drivers pushing in front of him, police women not allowing him to do a u-turn and eventually using the AWESOME power of the X5 to go off road in a not quite entirely legal fashion but which did enable us to get going in the right direction)

But getting back to ME

We were sitting out on the Mater Private balcony when suddenly there was this horrific WHOOOOOSH and a plane flew right overhead AND the plane was on FIRE!
Now, mummy keeps warning me about the dangers of fire and heat - particularly as they end up making her do much more work so I was RATHER terrified that the big whooshing thing might hurt us...
When suddenly all these OTHER things started going off.

And kept going...

And going...

I must confess - I MAY have decompensated a bit - gesturing to the parental units to get their you know whats back inside. Eventually they got the hint and went back inside. Then outside again. Then inside. Then outside...etc etc
Mummy bundled me up and took me back to our big car where we enjoyed the delights that only a turbo engine can offer and drove home. I snuggled into mummy that night and rewarded her by getting up at 6am on Sunday morning....

But it is all okay now in the Grayson household. Daddy is back home. Mummy is not on call. And I do believe there are some tasty treats currently cooking in the oven (aka dinner)

Mummy and Daddy seem to be very happy drinking some celebratory bubbles. I need to work out how to procure some of these celebratory welcome home bubbles for myself - although a nice glass of milk squishey might just do the trick.

Later...

G

Grayson knows boats!

More PFD
Originally uploaded by b boy.

What a jam packed weekend I have had - where does a Grayson begin?

On Saturday, mummy and daddy got up relatively early (for a weekend anyway) No attempts at sleep ins today - not that they ever really succeed at doing that as I tend to wake them up by blowing a big raspberry on whatever body part I can get access to (Mummy and Daddy edit - usually the most tickly parts).
We then got into the big car (aka MUMMY'S CAR - mummy told me I had to say that) and drove to a place where there were lots of BOATS. I like boats. But even better still - we were able to board one of the boats! Then Emma and Sarah (along with their mummy and daddy) hopped on board too - and then the boat started and we were driving off!
YIPPPPPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emma and Sarah's daddy was driving at first - and we started going pretty fast. This was great fun - I had to wear my PFD at all times except when I was inside the cabin but even then I didn't really want to take it off. We went up and down the Brisbane river as the weather wasn't so good out on the bay (I don't really know what any of this means - I am just repeating what I heard my father say).
The mummies on the boat made some nice cheese snacks with fruit for all of us. I pretended to be interested in the berries but I was just holding out for the cheese. I tried to be good but I was so hungry - I picked up the blue cheese whilst mummy wasn't looking and put it all in my mouth.
YUM
I was STILL hungry after this - so I grabbed the brie and ate all that too.
YUMMY

I don't think the girls were too happy with me eating all the cheese....

After this I was a bit tired - and had a nice nap for an hour. I woke up just in time for dessert. I was a bit full from all the cheese to have lunch, but there is ALWAYS room for cake!

After lunch and coffee (the daddies took the small boat over to Watt to pick up some take away flat whites - I won't mention how they flooded the engine and only checked to see if there was any petrol in the tank after they had drifted 50 or so metres away from the big boat. Mummy also said to mention they didn't have any oars to paddle with either) - Daddy started the boat up again. I joined him at the top of the boat and sat in the first mate's spot. We went really fast for a while there! All too soon our boat ride was at an end. Hopefully we can do it again soon hmmm daddy? (hint hint hint)

After cleaning up at home we went off to see Great Grandma Bugs. She was in the hospital connected to all these monitors and looked like she needed some groovy grover Grayson cheering up. I started running in and out of her room, but mummy and daddy soon put a stop to that by shutting the door.
Boo.
I then asked Bugs if she had any pikies - as she is pretty good at providing me with pikies at a moments notice. Unfortunately because she is stuck to all these machines Bugs explained to me that she couldn't make any pikies!
NOOOOOOO!
Memo to Grayson self - need to find a way to get Bugs out of there!
She sounded very sad so I started playing peek-a-boo with the curtain and giving her my cheeky grin (which usually works on most people). All too soon we had to say goodbye - I gave Bugs a big cuggle and kiss (after my nose was wiped), then blew her a few more kisses as we left.
GET WELL SOON BUGS!

Today Mummy and I went to see Wendy and Steve for lunch (Daddy wasn't feeling so well - I may have given him a sore throat/head cold) - I had lots of yummy food to eat and tested out the child safety in their home (it was pretty good - not too much I could find to break, really!) Mummy and I then went out to her work so she could do something or other - I may have demonstrated to a few people exactly how far a small collection of sultanas can spread when thrown on a hospital's floor (insert innocent look here)...
Tonight, Jenn came over and we had dinner, cuddles and (best of all) CAKE! Aunty Jenn knows how to keep the Grayson monster happy...

Bring on next week!

G

Picnic lunch

Picnic
Originally uploaded by b boy.

It has been quite nice weather of late in Brisbane so we decided to make the most of it and take the new car for a spin up to Springbrook for a picnic lunch. I can't remember the last time I went to Springbrook but it has been awhile. Grayson invited grandma and great grandma who mostly complained about the driving on the way up and down the mountain :)

Grayson had a very satisfying chicken bread roll and then went off for a run around the picnic grounds.

Sunday afternoon down at Portside

New book
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Brisbane is currently hosting the oldest active sea-faring ship, the MV Doulos. As Grayson is a big boat fan we thought we should go take a look. We had lunch at Chez Laila with the Jenkins' before exploring the world's largest floating library. Mind you, most of the books are of the "we are trying to convert the world's less enlightened peoples to become god fearing disciples" variety. Greg found a book explaining how the dinosaurs became extinct because they couldn't fit on the ark!!!

The most impressive thing about this boat however is not the number of books it houses but that it was built only 2 years after the Titanic and was obviously made a little more durable :)

So what do you do on the world's biggest floating bookstore? Buy a book of course and Grayson picked this one all about a aeroplane (go figure....he could have picked one about a boat!). He obviously couldn't wait to get home to read it so he plonked himself down on the deck of the boat and started reading it.

A fun day was had by all........

Grayson and Pa

Grayson and Pa
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hey there again - G blogging (although it is getting a bit late). I have had QUITE a busy few weeks.

Where do I begin!

A few weeks ago this strange brown thing arrived - it looked like a much bigger version of my little piano (and it was much louder). Mummy seemed quite pleased and daddy keeps telling me to stop trying to scratch it/run into it/climb onto it - but it is really nice to climb up on as it makes lots of noises...

Soon after another strange brown thing arrived - mummy and daddy both seemed quite pleased (parental edit - our new couch). I found that one could climb up onto it too (tick) and it was nice and soft (double tick) and equally very good for bouncing around on - although I keep being told I shouldn't do that...

:(

Mummy and Daddy BOTH stayed home last Monday - although I still had to go to day care. I arrived home with my grandparents to find the parental units a little bit tipsy after consuming a bottle of something at a very nice restaurant (Montrachet).
I was a bit POOKY as I wasn't allowed to go (mummy and daddy - seriously, taking danger mouse who can't sit still to a very nice french restaurant with no room to roam???). Mummy and Daddy made up for it that evening when Great Grandma (nanny), Uncle Ron and Grandma and Grandpa all came over to give mummy and nanny stuff wrapped in paper. They made me hand out the paper wrapped things, but I got pretty sick and tired of that quickly when I realised that none of the paper was for me!
(I did manage to nearly sneak into the chocolates however)
Unfortunately Great Grandpa had to go to hospital the Friday before for a tune up (or so I keep hearing). Mummy, Daddy and I visited him when he was in this nice place with a tv which had a lot of wires coming out of it and being attached to Pa (mummy and daddy - coronary care).
As you can see by the photo - Pa came out at the end of the week, so mummy and I went around to see him. I showed off my groovy grover Grayson dancing skills and ran around and around their place (wearing out Uncle Ron - hee hee hee). I tried feeding Nanny some of my pikey but she didn't seem to be too keen at being force fed pre-chewed pikeys. (I thought it was going to make things a bit easier for her to digest! Really!)

I also saw all of Daddy's relatives this week - we went down the coast on Sunday, then Nan and Gramps came up on Tuesday night. This was good as I got to eat CAKE! (I nearly missed out - after having milk squishey and getting into my PJs - I suddenly noted a delightful chocolate concoction being plattered and heated - YIPPEEEEEEE!)

But the BEST part of the week was....
my NEW CAR!
Yes, I am now the proud owner of a BMW racing car - it is blue and white and I like to drive it out of our unit, down the lift and put it into mummy's car (which also happens to be new, and strangely she got it at the same time as I got mine....hmmm). Mummy has finally started driving her car as daddy reluctantly relinquished the keys.
Poor Daddy - no X5 driving for you!

And I haven't even mentioned the new iphones in our house...Maybe later!

G

Mac Lover

Apple loving
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson seems to have worked out what the laptop is all about. It is what he watches his DVD's on, listens to itunes so he can dance and looks at photos (mostly of himself)! Today we found G on the couch with my mac. He had climbed up, sat down and pulled the computer onto his lap. He even managed not to pull out the magsafe power cord. Not that it would be a problem as he can plug it back in himself.

Grayson's other great love (apart from mac's) this week seems to be pikies. Not the nomadic gypsies of the UK variety but the cooked by great-grandmother kind. As soon as he sees her coming down the hallway with tuperware container in hand, he says pikey, pikey, pikey.....until you give him one. And if you seem to be a bit slow in meeting his demands he might even throw in a "Pleeease!" for good measure. How can you resist that :)

Comfort food

Muffin Man
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Hello again from Grayson, blogging because it makes some sort of weird sense in this crazy mixed up world we live in.
Why crazy you may ask?
Well, in the past week....

The unit we are renting was put on the market.
We are hopefully going to buy it.
But this means mummy and daddy need to be more fiscally responsible (I think this means they can't buy champagne all the time anymore)
Daddy seems a bit sad about this bit...
But it is EXCITING isn't it? We get to stay here for as long as we can manage the mortgage repayments!

Then this big brown wooden thing arrived and is in our living room.
It makes nice noises (well, depends who is playing it)
Daddy says it is mummy's birthday present - he had it brought up from Grandmas!
I like trying to play it then push the lid down upon my fingers - this seems to disturb the parent units so they put a key into it to lock it up...
BOO

So after a week of trying to budget, Daddy decided to make chocolate cupcakes with icing on them. Mummy brought out some berries to eat too but I wasn't going to be distracted by berries...
Not when there are CUPCAKES to be eaten
(although they only let me have one owing to the mess I proved I could make)

Next week - a new couch? a new car? a signed contract on our unit?

Or all three....

to be continued

Love
G

Grayson platter

Grayson platter
Originally uploaded by b boy.

We went to the Science Centre at the Queensland Museum on the weekend. It was fun for the big kids as well as Grayson. So many buttons to press and places to run around, he loved it.

Here he has made a tasty looking Grayson platter out of himself.

Check out some of the other things he got up to on Flickr.

Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster
Originally uploaded by b boy

A Grayson's work is never done. Here I am making cookies for the family - gingerbread cookies to be exact! I may have had a bit of help from the mother unit whilst the father unit cowered in the corning crying "..but the house was only cleaned YESTERDAY.."
Wisely after cutting out the teddy's and gingerbread men shapes I feigned sleepiness and got promptly whisked off to bed.
MWAH! I am good.
Now, off to eat some COOKIES

Spaghetti

Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson loves spaghetti! Daddy doesn't as he is the one who has to bath him afterwards :(

Note we changed him out of his good shirt and put him in his spaghetti shirt. This followed a nice day at the River Café with the Jenkins' and then some fun play time in the State Library's kids' section.

Fun was had by all!

A bit of rain.....

Ann Street
Originally uploaded by b boy.

It rained a bit this morning in Brisbane. As you can see Ann street is completely covered in water and traffic had to make their way through in the centre lane (which was the shallowest part of the road). I was starting to wish we had the X5 as it gradually became deeper! But all was ok in the end :)

It was interesting seeing the wake from the traffic causing waves lapping at the buildings on the side of the road......not something you see here everyday.

I hope some is getting into the dams!

Bean bag boy

Bean bag
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson seems to have acquired an armchair all of his own. Here he is enjoying watching the never ending Shaun the Sheep on DVD hence the very intent look on his face :)

Well it is quite a cold and grey day today so some indoor DVD watching is allowed I suppose!

Boat spotting

Boat spotting
Originally uploaded by b boy.

We stopped at a small park at Hamilton on the river on the way home from kindy yesterday. Lots of boats and on kingsford smith drive on the other side of the park there were lots of trucks and buses to spot. With a chorus of "car...bus....truck...boat" he didn't know which way to look!

Double trike (double trouble)

Double trike
Originally uploaded by b boy.

As you can see G is getting back in the swing of things at day care after being absent for a month. He seems to like the trikes. Just about every time I take him to kindy, as I am leaving he is riding a trike and when I come to pick him up ....... he is riding a trike. They assure me he does other things during the day but I want to see evidence of this :)

This particular trike is built for two and is a bit big for Grayson but that doesn't stop him from struggling up the inclines with it!

Matt by popular demand

What can I say.  The story has spread far and wide and all want to see the evidence so here it is......Matt at my 40th, armed and dangerous with my sabré and a defenseless bottle of Taittinger NV.

What Daddy gets up to while I am away....

Hmmm... Looks as if the parental units got up to some mischief whilst I was at my grandparents house.

When are they going to learn that I AM THE MISCHIEF MAKER!

Need to go away and plot a bit

G

The holiday is over...

Hello....

A rather tired and FRAGILE Grayson completing the final holiday blog entry on behalf of the family. I will explain the fragile bit later.

We departed London in one of those nicely refurbished British Airways planes. I got to lie down and when I awoke we only had 3 hours or so to go! Mummy and Daddy seemed pretty happy about all of this for some reason. We arrived in Bangkok and it was REALLY hot - I was in my long sleeved pyjamas and worked up quite a sweat until mummy changed me into some shorts and a shirt. She and daddy had a shower so when they got back they smelt nice and fresh (apparently I smell nice all the time so I don't need such frequent washing - hee hee hee)

Daddy and I had some lovely little tartlets with green stuff on them (mummy edit - lime). I took a big bite out of the green stuff -ooh hoo hooooo! Made my eyes water.

We got back onto the plane eventually after I managed to make all the airline security girls smile at me and try and hold my hand. I waved bye bye to them  - this seemed to make them giggle a bit...

Grayson's got moves

As for the Bangkok to Sydney leg of the trip - I may have been a little over-excited and didn't seem to sleep much (mummy and daddy edit - any). Daddy and mummy may have been a little cross after all of this, so on arrival in Sydney I tried to cheer them up by giving them a new nappy to change...

Ok, I may have been pushing the boundaries a little bit here - but can I just add that at this point I wasn't feeling too well (although mummy and daddy didn't seem to be as attuned to my needs as usual).

Hmm

Daddy managed to get his sabre through customs - I think the customs person was pretty impressed with the size of it and didn't end up charging any extra for the 7th bottle of champagne we had (those parents of mine did spend a while in those champagne shops).

Once we got through customs, the next stop was coffee at the Qantas club lounge in Sydney. Mummy stuck me in some fresh clothes and put some shoes on me - which was a good thing as it meant I could run around a bit more.

Even though I wasn't feeling well....

So when daddy picked me up - telling me we needed to board the plane in 5 minutes - what was a Grayson supposed to do???

I may have cried

I may have put on the sad face

I may have puked up all over daddy and my cow and half our carry on luggage and left a big splotch on the qantas club floor (which may have caused a little concern amongst the suit wearing set)

I may have kept crying

And daddy looked pretty mad

Mummy picked me up - took off my now messy clothes and put some fresh ones on. Daddy went to the wash room to clean himself up a bit - and then bought a new shirt from one of the shops

Daddy still really wasn't speaking to me

So mummy and I went to have a look at the planes landing in the airport. Eventually we got onto the plane, which promptly took off. I had a bit of water and then went off to sleep on mummy's nice soft lap.

The next thing I knew, I woke up feeling REALLY sick and vomited all over mummy whilst she was sitting in her nice business class seat.  

She may have also been about to partake of a fairly attractive appearing omelette....

A nice lady came over to help and gave mummy some warm wet towels to clean me up with. I felt pretty sad at this time. 

Fortunately mummy has mad organising skills  - well at least when it comes to packing for a puking toddler so she had another pair of PJs to put me into.

Daddy started giving me some cuddles so mummy could clean herself up a bit. Aaaaah. Daddy isn't mad at me any more.

(Smart mother was wearing black, apparently she does this so it hides the stains AND is slimming at the same time - Useless bit of Grayson information there)

We got off the plane last as I still was feeling very meepy. I puked a few more times walking up the ramp and that was how I greeted my grandparents (who had nicely agreed to pick me up from the airport).  Fortunately they were just glad to see me and mummy and daddy, so they didn't seem to mind that I wasn't looking my best...

Eventually we arrived home and I got to see all my toys and things again. This made me pretty happy. Mummy tried to give me some more stuff to drink but I kept being sick. 

Then I got a rash

And was a bit lethargic (well, so the parents say - but.... HELLOOOOO! JET LAG!)

So I got taken up to the Wesley emergency centre.

And had a blood test

(insert whimper)

And a big injection of antibiotic in case it was something nasty

(insert big WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH here - it was bleeping INTRAMUSCULAR people!)

And then I got taken home - had a bath, felt heaps better and went off to sleep.

I may have woken the parental units up at 1am - but after a quick drink I went back to sleep.

It was the father unit who awoke mummy and I at 4am - he sounded like me, except in stereo!

Mummy blames the Heathrow noodles - well, she is hoping it is food poisoning and not something she can catch as she has to go to work this afternoon.

Silly optimistic mummy!

NO FREAKING INTERNET ACCESS!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAGH

Until now that is - hence I am able to blog away to my little heart's content. And do I have a lot to tell!

Yes, it is the Grayson monster - once again blogging - from inside the British Airways lounge at Heathrow, which thankfully has wifi access (although it is a bit slow, hence the lack of photographic evidence).

So, the (sort of) short version of what we have been up to since last I blogged....

Tuesday - we drove for another bleeping long time to a place called Jumieges. (near Rouen - which is where some person called Joan was burnt to death or something - a pity she didn't know mummy as she might have been able to save her). Daddy was getting very tired and mummy was directing him. I have quickly learnt this is a recipe for disaster. All we had to do was cross the river when....

There was no bridge to cross the river

Only a car boat - which didn't seem to be going anywhere

And happened to be on the other side of the river anyway

After much naughty words from daddy's mouth we found ANOTHER way to get to Jumieges

Only to find we had no hot water

Or anywhere to eat except a really dodgy pizza place

And the bottle opener broke so the parents couldn't drink the bottle of vino they had bought at the dodgy pizza place....

And this WAS meant to have been a 5 star or so place to stay

But I digress

Wednesday - the NEXT morning, we got up really early and left Jumieges for CDG airport. We had a PLANE to catch!

To VENICE!

(Fortunately we got to the airport really quickly due to Daddy breaking many speeding rules - or so mummy says...)

And we caught a BOAT which went REALLY REALLY FAST!!!

All the way to this place with LOTS of boats and water!

At this point I may have got very excited and run around the boat making whooping noises.

Mummy tried to calm me down but when I get going..... there is NO STOPPING ME!!!

At some stage in the next 24-48 hours a very TRAGIC event occurred - I lost teddy. 

Lets take a moment or two to remember him....

(but just between you and me, I think mummy and daddy are more sad than me - Teddy gets to stay in Europe ALL the time)

Venice was ok - lots of tourists in the first couple of places we went, with a recurring theme of shop with glass (mostly Chinese - or so the authentic glass guys said), shop with masks, shop with jewellery, shop with gelati (I LIKE GELATI!!! These shops were ok). Mummy and Daddy got suckered in to going to Murano island with a hotel trip and it seemed like they were going to keep us there in the one shop for quite a while until I started doing my annoyed whiny Grayson act (I am getting quite good at these) and miraculously a boat appeared!

After this, mummy and daddy read their Guide to Venice book and got with the programme!

Mummy has asked me not to mention how she had to get daddy to use the tone with the glass people to refund all the money she spent on 6 shot glasses and how they did take the glasses back (because my daddy rules!) - although I do believe she hasn't seen exact confirmation of this....

But I am not mentioning that am I

hee hee

Our last full day in Venice was the nicest as we got away from all the touristy things. Daddy took lots of really nice photos - including a lot of people's washing....

Weird, my father is...

Anyway - we flew back to Paris on Saturday and caught up with Mick, Ailsa and Sophie. We were treated to the perfect Parisienne welcome - bread, cheese, pate and champagne. Once again I didn't get to taste any...

So I may have demonstrated to them what happens when meat is included in a baby-toddler's diet...

Oops

Sadly we farewelled the Doyle's and drove out to this place with LOTS of green things and more bottles of that bubbly stuff mummy and daddy seem to like...

I think Daddy will want to blog about our two days in champagne which included him buying 6 bottles of the stuff, coming back to our very nice suite with an autographed bottle of champagne AND finally succeeding in attaining a sabré!

Now, if only we can get it into the country!

Hopefully getting onto our flight to Bangkok soon

G

Mont St Michel vs Grayson

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! After a relatively long drive today (mummy note - about 4 or so hours) we ended up at this place which has the best thing in the whole wide world....

STEPS!!!

Yes, lots of them. There were steps (3 flights) to get to our hotel room. This may have worn out Daddy a little bit....

And then after we dropped our bags off we went up more and more and more steps all the way to the top of this great big building with lots of high ceilings and rooms which made great echos. Especially when I went GAAAAAAAAAAAAARRKK!!! 

At this point mummy tried to tell me to be quiet as we were in a house of God or something like that. 

Hmmm. Nobody tries to tell Grayson to be quiet!

Lots more noises which made echoes followed at this point. 

Eventually we got to the top of the whatever it was we were climbing and I got to run around a LOT and jump off steps into puddles of water...

This was great fun...

Although mummy didn't seem to think so, particularly as she had to pick me up on some occasions and got white stuff on her black pants.

:O

Anyway, we eventually had to come back down - although this wasn't quite as much fun as climbing up and I kept turning round and going back the other way....

 

This may have frustrated daddy and mummy a little bit. Although I don't know why - it may have been because I wouldn't sit still whilst daddy was trying to take photos of me so most of them ended up being blurry!

Eventually we got back to shop level, and stopped for some crepes and waffles. I got to pick my own option and shared some with teddy too. 

Teddy likes waffles. Although they do tend to make his nose a bit powdery white!

After this, we went to a nice restaurant where I got to eat some mussels and prawns and then the good stuff arrived - SCALLOPS! Mummy and daddy tried to hide them from me as I am a voracious scallop eater, but their attempts were futile and I managed to polish off half of theirs each.

Hee hee hee - that means I got a WHOLE serve of scallops.

After a delicious meal, bottle of squishey and a few more mummy and daddy cuddles, I retired to bed - a tad fatigued after a day of much stair climbing, running around and keeping those parents in line.

Cheesecake munching on the cheesecake munching on the....

G explores a Paris Park
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Damn you .....Paul. That song is stuck in my head now!

And I'm only 18 months - I'm not ALLOWED to have cheesecake, unless it accidently crosses my path

Although this hasn't happened....YET

It is our final night in Paris. We farewelled ....Paul earlier in the evening. I got to have lots of fun with him, Mummy and Daddy today. He played some more muppet show DVDs this morning including that BLEEP song. He DID do lots of funny dances with me though, so that made up for the whole taunting small innocent appearing children with delicious dessert options thing.

I did say innocent APPEARING didn't I?

I had my usual mid morning nap after which we set off for the park as it was another beautiful spring day in Paris. When we got there I noticed that I was the ONLY one wearing a hat (even though I was the youngest - probably). None of those French kids wear hats! I felt a bit self conscious, even though I was trying to be very stylish in my small Paul shirt (it is a kind of uncle tribute shirt - hee hee hee, not saying you look like a monkey or anything ...Paul!). I made a fairly weak attempt at removing the hat but mummy kept shoving back onto my head.
So I gave in - I do have a family history of melanocytic lesions after all!

We walked over to this big building (crossing over a bridge to get to it) where there were a LOT of people with cameras. We seemed to fit right in because we had quite a few cameras too. Fortunately mummy's camera stopped working as she hadn't recharged her battery. This enabled me to benefit with lots of mummy cuddles and attention.

The three of us caught the train back to our apartment. Paul let me climb up TWO flights of stairs to our place - which was very exciting but a little tiring. Mick, Ailsa and Sophie visited us - so the parental units cracked open a bottle of champagne (again - sigh). Daddy said he wants to enjoy champagne every day he is in France - WHERE IS MY CHAMPAGNE HMMMM?
(The parental units try to fool me with squishey and water options, but I think there is something extra special about this champagne stuff.)

The rest of the evening has been spent packing - and trying to keep me away from the suitcases....

Don't know why that would be

:D

Tomorrow - Mont St MIchel!

PS. Miss you Paul

Love, Grayson

Paris by night

Paris by night
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well, I am telling this story second hand as by the time these photos were taken Daddy and I were sound asleep.
Yesterday was a bit of a quiet day for us monsters - I slept in until 9am

(mummy and daddy: YIPPEEEEE!)

Daddy was a bit worn out from all our gallivanting around so he and I had a nice long morning nap in between Paul and Mummy watching the muppet show and Hairspray...

Not too sure about that Hairspray thing Paul....

In the afternoon, we tried to find a place to eat - but everywhere seemed to be SHUT! Eventually we found a place that was open but they took AGES to serve us, so in the end mummy and daddy had a glass of champagne only and no food. Good thing smart sensible uncle stayed sober - well, I think he feels he has been getting enough practice in the champagne drinking stakes (apparently his champagne tolerance has gone up to TWO glasses)

Hee hee hee - I'm sure he didn't want me to tell anyone that.

Anyway, Mick Ailsa and Sophie came over and I got to show off my toys and demonstrate how high an 18 month old can reach. I then noticed mummy and daddy getting dressed up - hmmmm.
Daddy left. Then Paul....
And THEN Mummy!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Ailsa managed to distract me fairly quickly with a nice blue car and I must confess I promptly forgot about the parent units until they returned an hour or so later.

With Godiva chocolate dipped strawberries...

(Mick came back with some champagne and other food products but seriously, I was NOT paying attention to these)

CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!

I quickly grabbed one before the bigger people realised - and would have been able to eat a second in quick succession except mummy heard me eating too loudly (and I may have dropped a piece of chocolate onto the floor - which made a bit of a clunk)...
And to think mummy thought I wouldn't be interested as I don't like strawberries that much!

WRONG Mummy! WRONG!

As it happened, I snuck another strawberry when the others weren't looking (and would have gone for the chocolate raspberry tarts but they seemed to snapped up pretty quickly)

Boo!

Mummy and Ailsa went out to get some Thai take-out as the parents and Paul decided dinners out weren't such a good idea (was it something I said???)

Mummy arrived home to find a very sad daddy and slightly embarrassed Grayson. Well, I may have hit my head against the bedroom wall whilst Daddy was trying to put me off to sleep which hurt a LOT and I may have cried a bit and I may have...um.... cried so much that I ended up vomiting all my dinner and that nice squishey over daddy and the bedsheets....

Bad Grayson...

Eventually I did get to sleep with Daddy while mummy and Paul went out to take some photos of Paris by night. That tower thing looks quite nice doesn't it. Must try and stay awake to see it tonight - but it is sometimes not that easy to do as the sun doesn't set until after 9pm here!

Grayson walking through the park

Water feature
Originally uploaded by b boy.

And dancing in the dark....

But more of that later.

Today, mummy and Paul took me for a bit of a walk around Le Marais. We stopped at this little shop on the way which had LOTS of toys and some nice French clothes. As I was giving mummy my best I'm CUTE look she bought me a small blue car AND a very smart blue jacket, which will be very useful when it rains.
Pity we live in a drought area

But it was still a very nice thought and I gave her a big cuddle as I like to show my appreciation (and butter her up for next time!)

We stopped by this museum which had all these colourful pipes outside. There were lots of people around and lots of cafes too. I was getting a bit sleepy so the next thing I knew we were sitting down and mummy and Paul looked like they were having lunch.

WITHOUT ME??????

What did I do?

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!

Hee hee hee. That got their attention. And I ended up with a very nice bottle of french squishey and some of mummy's lunch (rice with this beautiful sauce, and chicken, and..... AAAAH)

We went back to see how Daddy was going. Mick, Ailsa and Sophie had arrived by this time so we went out for a walk. Unsurprisingly this walk involved going to a bottle shop to look for champagne.
This is Daddy's thing at the moment.
Mummy is very supportive of Daddy in this quest - or at least she tries to be...
I suspect mummy would like to spend money on other things

Like clothes for me!

So as luck would have it, we went to a very nice french department store and had a lovely afternoon tea at the top of the building. This had a great view of Paris and LOTS of room for me to run around. Which I promptly did of course!

After wearing out mummy, daddy and Paul + demonstrating to Uncle Mick why he needs to appreciate the non-mobile baby state we went to a shop with lots of little people clothes!

I got a very nice pair of pants with matching vest - mummy says I will grow into these (well, with all this brioche I am eating, it won't be long). She couldn't help herself and bought me the matching jacket too!
Daddy just shook his head and went back to the bottle shop to buy the '96 Krug.

We said farewell to Sophie's family and walked back to our apartment via this lovely garden with lots of flowers and boats and a HUGE spider. I showed mummy, daddy and Paul how I like to jump into puddles of water.
This wasn't received with as much appreciation as I thought it would be...

Eventually we got back to our apartment - I was given some dinner and squishey and then bundled up so the bigger people could go out for their dinner.
I wasn't too impressed by being excluded from the big people's dinner so at the restaurant I ran up and down this really tight narrow staircase. Daddy and Uncle Paul took turns at accompanying me. Surprisingly the dinner seemed to be really quick - with NO dessert!

We got back to the apartment after stopping off for some ice-cream.

And then I FINALLY went to sleep

MWAH!

Grayson does Versailles

G on the move pt 2
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Yes I have been a bit TARDY with the updates of late but I am getting used to the strange language (not to mention I am sleeping in until 8am or so!) and the even stranger bread options
Today we went to this big place with HEAPS of room for me to run around. Mick and Sophie came along too - but she had to stay in her pram.
Not me though....
I got to climb up a LOT of stairs and run around this room with all these sparkly lights and mirrors on the wall. I wanted to jump onto this big bed with funny looking white feathers on the top but mummy and daddy had to stop me.

GRRRR. I DON"T LIKE BEING STOPPED!!!

Anyway, to make it up to me, they let me run all the way down the gardens at this place from the very top to the bottom. And I wasn't the LEAST bit tired.
In fact, I had a bit more of a run around until the parental units stuck me back in MY pram muttering something about getting too close to the water...

Boo!

After a while in the pram the gentle rocking motion did make me a little bit snoozy so I had a nap, only to be woken up by some older children as we were walking through this big garden. There were lots of small houses and fishies in the pond, but I wasn't allowed out....

:(

Daddy was a bit tired after all this so we jumped in a funny bus (which they kept calling a train - PLEASE, I know what a train is!)

We ended up going to a restaurant with Mick and Sophie at the end of the day. I was getting a bit grumpy as they wouldn't let me run around so the nice waiter gave me some bright coloured straws to play with.

In order to keep the parents in line I managed to do a bit of a whoopsy on the crowded train on the way back to our apartment...

Hee hee hee

That got them tending to my needs VERY quickly (although SSU said that the smell could have been mistaken for some french cheese....)

Grayson vs Louvre

Catching breath
Originally uploaded by b boy.

It was a bit of a cloudy day today, so we decided to spend some time at the Louvre. I found the day a little bit frustrating as mummy and daddy wouldn't let me run around too much (something about priceless artifacts or something)
We got to see a really big room with lots of people in it and some smallish painting which everyone wanted to take a photo of, then got to see a few other interesting things (such as a person made entirely of thumb tacks). Ouch.
I went off to sleep again, and when I woke up I found the parental units polishing off what seemed to be a very nice lunch.
I put on my best sad face so they shared their desserts with me.

YES!

Then the cute French lady gave me a big kiss when we left the restaurant...

Go Grayson! Go Grayson!

Unfortunately for the parental units, sugar for me = hyperactive Grayson so I needed to run around this big open space which had lots of steps....

I may have worn the mother unit out a bit.

Hee hee hee

We've had a night in tonight, so I am off to bed - Versailles tomorrow (hopefully!)

PS.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTY RILEY!!!! 

Love Grayson

Daddy hits the big 4-0

Palais royale
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson letting the news out of the bag.... Well, mummy says it is the main reason we are over here!
Today we went out exploring again - going to this lovely garden, then this place which had all these black and white posts to jump all over. I got to eat some really nice sweet bread called brioche and after a lot of running around I got really sleepy and decided to have a bit of a nap.
Mummy and Daddy apparently saw this really tall structure whilst I was napping, and to make things worse, they took pictures of me whilst I was catching some ZZZZZ.
After all of this I woke up to find myself in a creperie, where I promptly tried to demolish all the table cloths (they were made of shiny green paper - WHAT FUN!) and eat everyone else's crepes.
Insert innocent Grayson look here....
Mummy and smart sensible uncle (who I like to call Paw - amongst other things) took me to a park, where I got to play with some other kids who spoke in a funny language (not Klingon like me - or so mummy says). One nasty little boy wouldn't let me climb up the steps to slide down the slippery dip, so mummy picked me up, put me at the top and I got to have a slide! (HA! Nasty little boy - MY mummy is sneaky!)
After this, I went home, had some nice food and a drink - then noticed the parental units and SSU were getting dressed up....
And I WASN'T
Then this other strange female person arrived....
And then daddy and mummy kissed me goodbye.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I may not have been on best Grayson behaviour but seriously! These parents take me away from ALL my usual toys, my day care and my wheely bug to a place where the day is night and I am having to wear these different nappies and I don't get to sleep in our nice king size bed and .....

(breathe Grayson... focus.... breathe...)

I perhaps should have handled the situation a little better....

But eventually I was too tired to complain any more, so I went off to sleep. When I woke up - mummy and daddy were in bed with me and all was ok again in the Grayson world.

(Mummy and Daddy edit: We went off to L'Angle du Falbourg for a lovely degustation dinner during which we drank copious quantities of champagne to accompany delightful food. Mummy nearly fell asleep at the table but Daddy managed to keep the Cook flag flying by declaring he needed more champagne!)

A Grayson in Paris

Catching the metro
Originally uploaded by b boy.

I thought I would miss all the cool trains in London but they have equally cool trains here on something called the metro! I get really excited when I see them arrive and do the raising my hands in the air (whilst going woot woot woot) - which seems to be very amusing to all the people around me.
It seems to be a very kissy kissy city here, as strange women keep wanting to pinch my cheeks and kiss me too (I try not to make mummy too jealous).
The four of us arrived in Paris on Monday, settled in to our apartment (near this great big place called the Louvre) and then walked around exploring our neighbourhood.
Daddy had arranged for us to meet Uncle Mick and Aunty Ailsa later on that day - not to mention their tres jolie/belle daughter Sophie. I tried to do my usual moves on her but she didn't seem to be too interested... Hmmm. Memo to self, don't give the gifts TOO early - then I don't have a back-up plan.
But I digress....
After demonstrating to Uncle Mick what he needs to do to baby-proof a home (hee hee hee) I partook of some squishey and went off to sleep. I woke up a few hours later to find myself in a strange bed - naturally as I am a creature of habit I was a bit disturbed by all of this , and made my displeasure known. This elicited the correct response and I was bundled up and taken back to our apartment (via le metro)

Its good to keep the parents in line....

Meanwhile...At St Pancras - Attempting to leave England

Meanwhile...At St Pancras
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Noooooooo.... You can't make me.
I like it here
The floors are ever so shiny, they make really nice chips and I am starting to enjoy the fresh red faced look

I don't want to leeeeeeeeeeeave

Farewell thee London!

But we love our danger mouse
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Grayson again, blogging whilst the parents finish packing for Paris.

Well, we ended up having a rather busy final few days in this cold and windy city. Mummy and Daddy took me to meet Carole and Tom (who have known mummy before she discovered half heads of foils and valrhona chocolate) in South Kensington. Paul came along too. I think he has been getting a substantial education this week regarding the needs of the Grayson - hopefully he has been taking notes and will use them for a sensible practical application very very soon

Hint hint (Uncle) Paul - I LIKE TOYS!

Where was I? Hmmm - lunch with friends. It was quite noisy with all the other kids around - I struggled to make myself appealing to the older woman wearing the "Wear Pink so the boys will blink" top (mummy's note - she was about 5 years old) - although she was the one who came up to ME first. Paul seemed to be taking a lot of photos of me, but then I turned around and realised I was merely being used as a ploy to photograph the unusual looking thing behind me.

Nice try ....Paul!

Carole and Tom took us to Harrods where Daddy bought a scarf to stop him turning blue. They then said goodbye and left us to our own devices, which included finding our way back to the hotel using the underground. (Daddy and Paul had to carry me up and down these really long moving stairs - GREAT fun!)

Arriving back at the hotel, mummy and daddy started getting dressed up. Paul tried to distract me with Trotro and Shawn the sheep. This may have fooled me for a few minutes but soon the penny dropped - MUMMY AND DADDY WERE GOING OUT WITHOUT ME! I tried to put on a sad face but Paul IS rather fun - and I ended up having lots of fun with all my basic needs for squishey and food being met. When I woke up, mummy and daddy were there again so all was well in the world.

Today, Paul, Mummy and myself went out to the Tate Britain. Daddy needed a bit of a rest so we let him lie in bed all day and watch DVDs....this did sound like quite a bit of fun really. I may have been in a bit of a mischievious mood and kept trying to run away from mummy and Paul (well, it keeps them fit)

The other important job we had to do today was to buy some more nappies for me as the supply was dwindling. We got home late, a bit tired so I tried to cheer everyone up by showing them how I could fit into our new suitcase (well nearly). After a few photo ops, Paul said goodbye and daddy ordered some room service tea.

Veges, bread, gnocchi and squishey and I do believe I am off to bed

Tomorrow - I get another stamp in my passport!

Day 2 of Bath and its surrounds - Stonehenge

Stonehenge meets Grayson
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Thanks for the break mummy, I'm ok to start blogging again.

Well, this one will be short and sweet, because it seemed we spent more time in the car than out.
The weather people had predicted it was going to be cold - and they didn't disappoint..
Grey skies, wind chill and not to mention what this did to my complexion. I am 18 months old now. Rosy red cheeks and a pink nose look great on a baby, but I'm a BIG boy now.

Sheeesh. Pass the moisturiser.

We left our nice warm room in Bath and got into the car. I may have fallen asleep for a bit. I woke up and we were STILL driving. After some milk and banana stick we arrived at this great big clump of rocks.

Daddy didn't seem to keen to get out of the car, but mummy told him we should give it a go (and that he should dress more appropriately for the weather - hee hee hee, see I do listen!) After a quick dash to the entrance we walked through a tunnel and got closer to the rocks. Teddy and I thought this was great fun, but Daddy started going a bit blue. Mummy let me walk around for a little bit but it was quite WINDY and I found that the best I could do was shuffle about. In the end, we raced back to the souvenir shop where they had HEATING and so we all warmed up a bit.

Daddy was particularly appreciative of this and after a quick bite to eat, we hopped into the car and drove back to London. Smart sensible uncle came over for champagne and canapes. I got to have some too - YUMMY! The canapes I mean - none of mummy and daddy's special medicine for a few (mummy and daddy note - 16.5) years yet.

Boo

The Bath Experience

Royal Crescent, Bath
Originally uploaded by b boy.

We said farewell (for a brief moment) to our London hotel and set off to Bath, to try the waters and see what all the fuss was about. Ben had a few issues with the car hire people (suddenly realising that "computer says no" is not an exaggerated phenomenon) and had to get a crash course in inserting a UK baby seat.
Fortunately he seems to have mad skills - so it ended up ok in the end.
We took the M4 out to Bath, perplexed by the lack of speed limit signs and a little concerned about all the speed cameras. In the end we slowed down to whatever the locals seemed to be doing, and hopefully we will arrive back home without a nasty ticket.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Bath, so after leaving our bags at the hotel we went for a walk around the town. A meal at Loch Fyne gave us the fishy sustenance we needed to attempt the Roman Baths with a very active, non-sleepy toddler.

Who wanted to jump into the water...
Despite wearing two jumpers and a long coat....

Fortunately we also have mad parenting skills - well, at least when it comes to grabbing Grayson Danger Mouse when he decides he needs to fly into moderate sized expanses of water.
We quickly departed the Baths after trying the water (BLECH) - warm, sulphur flavoured soda water essentially, in a attempt to find dryer pastures.

Our room at Royal Crescent was ready and we were treated to what seemed an old world English experience with butlers, maids and tea delivered on trays early in the morning. The gardens were beautiful, particularly with the late afternoon light and we made good use of them to try and wear G out a bit (success!). G found a new teddy on the bed, which got a good work-out in the cuddle stakes but was able to be left behind without too many tears (a good thing too as they cost about 22 pounds).

After a very nice dinner, during which G awoke once (as his push chair isn't the most comfortable) we went back to our room. The shutters had been closed, fresh glasses of water were placed at our bedside and the covers were turned down.

What could we do but......

zzzzzzzzzz

Grayson at Hamley's

Grayson at Hamley's
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Day 3 in London - Mummy and Daddy with ....Paul bundled me up to go on a boat ride. This was great fun - the boat had lots of spots in many different colours all over it and we got to go past that great big wheel thing again. We stopped off at a place called the Tate Modern. Had lunch and then the real fun began....
We went to this place with even MORE toys than my bedroom
And there were FIVE FLOORS of them

YIPPEEEEEE

I immediately went to the soft toy section, as they reminded me of my parents. Paul put me on this lovely horse, which I didn't want to get off because it made me an extra bit taller. Daddy was transfixed to some guy doing magic tricks whilst Mummy seemed to be racing around putting away stuffed toys that somehow or other got thrown onto the floor.

Hmmm. Wonder who could have done that.

MWAH!

It got even better when we went to the top floor where there were lots of cars and planes and things that FLEW in the air. Daddy and Paul thought the toy shop people were having a bit too much fun with all those flying things. Mummy made some comment that at least they were USING the flying things (mummy note - the remote control helicopter still sits in our storage unit, almost never used) I managed to hitch a ride in this big blue car, although I had to use my persuasive blue steel look to get the older woman out of the driver's seat.

Mummy made some comment about my similarity to Daddy, this seemed to make him smile...

After all this fun we had some tea (and I found some steps to climb up and down) then went home to the hotel for a good night's zzzzz. Off to Bath tomorrow. Not quite sure why we need to travel to go to Bath as we have a very nice Bath in our hotel room.

Strange place this.

Grayson - who seems to be slowly overcoming this jetlag thing

on the inside looking out
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well, who wouldn't want to get over the time difference when there are windows like THESE to look out? I can see all the way down to the street below with CARS and TRUCKS and stuff (such as that Parliament house thing)
Had a much better day yesterday. Smart sensible uncle eventually came over and we went to Westminster abbey. This was pretty interesting. Lots of flags and other shiny colourful stuff. Mummy and Daddy had to stop me climbing over these things as apparently some of them were historical monuments of significance - such as Queen Elizabeth's resting place.
Whatever that means...
After this we went to St James Park, walking past a really big building with lots of gates and people around it - and shiny things outside (mummy's note - Buckingham Palace). The park was GREAT. There were ducks and pigeons and these cute little grey things that daddy called squirrels. (ALMOST as cute as teddy - but not quite). FINALLY the parental units got the hint and we had some squishey with lunch. Although I wasn't too keen about the fish cake they got me - preferring mummy's beer battered fish and chips (well, actually - I just wanted the chips). I tried to sample some of smart sensible uncle's chips too but he kept his plate a little too far out of reach.

Not to mention he kept taking my napkin.

Which I ended up taking back...

The day concluded with our going to the London Eye. I had lots of fun - staying close to the window most of the time, then running around and around, only to stop to say hello to the two cute older women who kept checking me out. (mummy note - they were about five)
After all this running around I felt really tired and only got to say a quick hello to Jenny who met us up for tea. I woke up after everyone had finished eating which made me very sad, so after a quick WAAAAAH my needs for squishey and a warm bed were met. And I promptly went to sleep.

Grayson suffers from a bit of jetlag

15-04-2008
Originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Oh for goodness sake. I am seriously the BEST toddler ever (well according to everyone seated around us on a very long plane flight to London - no screaming from me, lots of sleeps and I ate all my food) and ALL I want is SLEEEEEEEEP and instead the parental units drag me out to somewhere for lunch with my smart sensible uncle (who did me the courtesy of taking this bleeping photo of me at my not so best)
GRRRRR
What is going on? It should be the middle of the night and instead the sky is blue and everyone is awake.
London is very very strange.

It got even stranger when I woke up at my usual hour this morning and instead of being greeted with a gentle light streaming through the windows it was PITCH BLACK and mummy said to go back to sleep as it was only 130am.

Egad. I never get up at 130am.
I promptly apologised and went back to sleep.

Then got up at 5am

Heh heh heh.

Groovy grover grayson

Getting down and funky with it
Originally uploaded by b boy.

RAH!

Ok, now I have your attention. ...
Grrrrayson - once again communicating to the masses via an electronic medium. And might I add it has been ALL CHAOS in the Cook household. Daddy had to go back to hospital after I or mummy (I blame the mother unit of course) gave him a nasty head cold which made him very sad and sorry (ok, he seemed to be coughing a LOT at night - WHERE IS MY BEAUTY SLEEP)

hee

But I digress...
I have been practising my Groovy moves of course

And doing trial packing

Well, we are going away in EIGHT DAYS

Whoopeeeee...... NO MORE CHILDCARE

And I get to see this Uncle Paul which mummy and daddy keep talking about (Not to mention Honorary Uncle Mick and Aunty Ailsa with this person called Sophie - editors note - Sophie is only 6 or so months old)

But did I mention the plane flight?????

And I can torture the parents for 23 hours straight


MWAH

One does need to have benefits when one is the Grayson

Sleepy bunny

Sleepy bunny
Originally uploaded by b boy.

What else is there to do after devouring easter eggs but to have a snooze? Grayson seems to have enjoyed discovering what easter is about....well at least the egg side of it!
Melinda hid chocolate eggs around the house for G to find but I think she will end up eating most of them. Any excuse to eat chocolate I think.
I put together Grayson's new bed yesterday. An F1 racing car bed. I mean that thing is seriously cool.......or at least I think so. I never had one when I was a kid :(
We are all enjoying the easter weekend together and hope to get out to the park if the rain stays away today. Happy easter everyone!!!

At the races

Checking form
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Yesterday we had a work do at the races. The idea was to refresh your CPR skills and then get drunk and lose lots of money on the horses. Well I did the first part but left before the drinking and the losing of the money. Grayson quite liked watching the horses and also helped out with the resuscitation of the dummies (see Flickr). Unfortunately Melinda couldn't be there as she was too busy saving lives at the hospital :)

Relaxing by the harbour

Relaxing by the harbour
Originally uploaded by b boy.

We are back in Brisbane now (very hot today...36 degrees) but beautiful, sunny weather. On our last full day in Sydney we took G for a swim on Bondi beach and then had lunch by the Opera House. Of course one must have a photo in front of it and also in front of the bridge (see Flickr). At the airport in the Qantas lounge, Grayson had a ball watching the planes come and go. He had a really good view from where we were. On the flight back he was the perfect boy and fell asleep before we took off and woke up after we landed. You got to love that. Unfortunately I don't think he will sleep the entire way to Europe.......well at least not without a little medical help :)

Sydney 2008

View from the room
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well here we are in Sydney again, this time with the muffin man though. Mel and I are down for a conference so Grayson has to amuse himself......well actually the grandparents are down to help out...phew!

The apartment is alright and the view, as you can see from the photo, is not too shabby. Grayson quite likes watching the monorail go by and checking out all the boats on the harbour.

Tonight we went out to a french restaurant (getting Grayson acclimatised early) and he rather seemed to enjoy my snails. So we shouldn't have any trouble on our europe trip then :)

Tomorrow there is more conference for the grownups but on Wednesday, weather permitting, we hope to take G out to Bondi or maybe out to Manly.
Hmmmmm....where did I pack his bucket and spade???

Qantas club lounge fruit toast

Qantas club lounge fruit toast
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Well after a nice long sleep (it must have been the pink pyjamas...) mummy and daddy bundled me up this morning and took me to this place. I may have been a little too helpful with the packing - I tried to take a few clothes out (mummy ALWAYS overcompensates in the garment department) but the parental units didn't seem too happy.
We seem to have settled in here for another hour or so - it pays to be prepared, and then we fly off to Sydney. Gramps and Nan are coming along too, although we won't meet them until this evening.
Hmmm. I do believe they have brought out the cheese and ham options. Excuse me, there is some consuming to be done.

G