Greetings from down under folks, I hope you all had a great Easter and are now ready to greet the impending UK summer. Queensland however is rapidly descending into winter and the temperatures have plummeted to a mere 24 degrees in Brissy - lol.
 |
| Phil and Amanda - another year older, a little bit wiser and still looking mighty fine ;-) |
So much has happened at Chez Chissell since our last update in early February and so it is hard to know where to begin. All over the Aussie summer (September to February) Phil and his friend Marcus trained in earnest for their first ever Triathlon. Luckily it was scheduled to happen locally in Raby Bay, Cleveland and so I could take the Chisslets to cheer on their daddy.
In the early hours of 28 February 2010, you may remember a devastating earthquake (8.8 on the Richter scale) hit the country of Chile. As a consequence the S.E corner of Queensland and NSW was on a major Tsunami alert. This meant the swimming element of the Triathlon was cancelled and replaced by an additional 2K run instead. Undeterred Phil ran really well and completed the Triathlon comfortably in ‘1:08’. We are so proud of him and our good friend Marcus.
 |
| Athlete 367 is good to go :-) |
 |
| One lap left to go. |
 |
| Heading over the finish line. |
 |
| Congratulations boys! xxx |
Conor also celebrated his Ninth birthday and Phil and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary on 'Chissell' Valentine’s Day.
You may remember in my last post that I told you about our dear friend Sylvia who was fighting brain cancer. Unfortunately she lost her battle on the 8th February. Just days before her 32nd Birthday. She has left a huge whole in our lives and her friendship, beauty, charisma, generosity and bravery will never be forgotten. R.I.P. our dear friend.
In March, Conor attended Scout Camp and had a fabulous time with his fellow Cub Scouts in Karingal. I cannot recommend the Scouting movement enough for inspiring the Chisslets and teaching them life skills which will serve them well as they grow up. Conor earned his Bronze Boomerang badge and his Level 2 Swimming badge this month and Olivia has been out about on day trips with the Joey Scouts too. She earned her Environmental badge this month also, which means more sewing for mum!
 |
| Conor and his one of his besties Lachlan. |
 |
| We saw this huge Goanna at the camp when we came to pick Conor up :-) |
Phil takes them both on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and has consequently been roped in as Scout Leader officially named ‘Chil’ from the story ‘Jungle Book’. Apparently Baden-Powell stipulated that Leaders in the Scouting Movement must be named after a character in the book or an indigenous animal. The Chisslets marched with the war veterans on ‘Anzac Day’ with Chil/Phil. They all looked so smart in their uniforms and made watching the Parade especially poignant for me. Ryan is chomping at the bit to join in too and so is busily wishing his life away wanting to be like his big brother and sister - lol.
Last month Phil hit the big ‘40’ and so we invited over some very dear friends to celebrate his momentous milestone lol. Wonderfully, Penny (his mum) flew out over the Easter holidays which made Phil’s birthday extra special.
 |
| The birthday boy opening his cards and presents. |
 |
| The Chisslets were dismayed by some of daddy's cards :-) |
 |
| Ryan having a great time eating at the Lighthouse Restaurant with his Granny. |
 |
| Happy '40' Birthday daddy :-) xxxxxxxxxxx |
 |
| Masterchef Simon and his lovely ladies Alison and Jess xxxx |
 |
| Boogie buddies...................! |
 |
| Peter and Vesna xxx |
 |
| Lucia has 'Disco Fever'............! |
 |
| Karaoke Time...................! |
 |
| Happy birthday Phil xxxxxxxx |
It was lovely to see Penny again and to watch the Chisslets re-connecting with their granny. We had some lovely trips out and about and the time flew by all too quickly.
 |
| Penny and Ryan bonding in their own special way - lol. |
 |
| Penny helping Conor prepare for Cub Scouts at the Scout Den. |
 |
| Coffee and Cake time in Cleveland. |
 |
| Penny and Olivia fighting Storm Troopers with the force on the Playstation - lol. |
 |
| The Chisslets having fun with their rainbow rock lollies :-) |
 |
| Time for a refreshing coffee at this lovely French style Cafe. |
 |
| Penny pottering around some lovely boutiques at the town of Montville within the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. |
 |
| Picnic time on Bribie Island. |
 |
| A spectular sunset and view of the Glass House Mountains from Bribie Island. |
 |
| Having supper on the patio. |
Unfortunately the volcano in Iceland decided to belch during her overnight flight back to the UK and so she had a shock to discover that her onward flight from Singapore was cancelled. Singapore Air great took great care of her, which was a huge relief. They quickly transported her from the airport to the lovely Fullerton Hotel and covered all her costs during her stay (a week) in Singapore. ‘Singapore Air’ are a class act!
 |
| The Chisslets saying goodbye to Granny at Brisbane Airport. |
Olivia participated in the annual Cross Country event again, a far cry from the wet dreary days that we all had in Blighty eh?
 |
| Olivia about to begin the race. |
 |
| Ryan is very proud of his big sister! |
We did something a bit different last weekend lol. Brisbane City council have built a new and very impressive (non-pedestrian) dual carriageway bridge alongside the original ‘Gateway Bridge’ which connects the South to the North side of Brisbane. Apparently it is a bit of an Aussie tradition to invite the public to walk across them (for one day only). So we took the Chisslets for a stroll over the bridge which was bedecked with food tents, TV and Radio crews, entertainers and some celebratory art work gifted by local schools. The walk across was good fun and far more exhausting than cruising across in the car - lol. Coincidentally it was also the 26th anniversary of the opening of original bridge and many of the people attending this event, had walked across the original bridge as little children. Perhaps the Chisslets will do the same in the future?
 |
| The Chisslets walking across the new Gateway Bridge |
Thank you for all the lovely gifts and cards for my birthday earlier in the month. I am blessed to have such a great family and dear, enduring friends. I have been smothered in the lurgy for the last month (I am on my second lot of antibiotics) and so I was not up to doing very much for my actual birthday. It was ‘Mothers Day’ over here too, which means there is a mixture of beautiful cards with such lovely messages dotted all over Chez Chissell.
A couple of months ago I was persuaded to join the P and C Association (PTA) at the school and I was voted in as 'Secretary' on the Executive Committee. I now have a good understanding of Aussie Employment Laws, Small Business regulations, Federal and local Education policies and of course Playground Politics - lol. It is quite exciting despite being an unexpectedly ‘huge’ obligation without pay. Hence the delay in blogging and neglecting Facebook recently – sorry.
I will leave you with some photographs of the Chisslets excitedly picking some ripened oranges (for the very first time) off their tree in the garden. We had fruit salad for pudding and never had an orange tasted so sweet and juicy :-)
Congratulations to those of you who are celebrating a recent promotion :-) and to those of you with impending birthdays - including my little sister who's life will soon be beginning lol and gorgeous George who will be the ripe old age of '1'! A big Chissell hug to those of you who are going through a period of transition in your lives and fingers crossed for a decent summer (or winter) for everyone. xxx
Take care folks and do not forget to drop us a line and tell us all your news too.
With much love and affection, Mr and Mrs C xxx
.jpg)
