The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 1 Oct to 3 Oct

1st October, Sunday
Today dawned clear the bright! Time to take photos!

What a View! Can we retire here?


Isolated Beach


Fat Seals Basking in the Sun... Opps, sorry, uncanny resemblence there!



Which is prettier? Flowers or me?










We had a hearty breakfast of Bacon, Ham, and Eggs.. yummy! The rest of the day was just spent lounging around, walking the beach and sleeping.... what a way to go! The chefs cooked up a storm in the kitchen and lunch was BBQ (yummy! Where else can you have a BBQ in the searing sun!) with dinner being Spagetti with homemade sauce.... this is begining to sound like a food tour!

We blew up Shannon's mini bathtub and she had a blast in there... it helps that the bathroom had strong heat lights which chased away the evening chill... heaven!

Huh? What you doing? This is RA you know?



Need another Yoda for Star Wars?
















2nd Oct, Monday
We headed to Busselton Jetty today and sat out on the sun to have ice cream. Shannon got her first taste of ice cream.... I sneaked some in between her fruit salad yougurt!


Hmmm, Fruit yogurt tastes so funny, 1 spoon sweet, 1 spoon sour!








We also ventured the 1KM jetty walk! Can you imgaine, a jetty that stretches out 1km, the 2nd longest in the world! The wind was blowing hard too! At the end, there was a small underwater aquarium with colourful corals and fish.

Lifting 'weights' along a very loooong walk down the jetty

Colourful coral everywhere












In the evening, we gathered by the family room and watched TV, chatted and made friendship bands... haven't made one in 10 over years, but I'm glad to say mine turned out pretty well :) Really mellowed out.....!


New Buddies












We ended the night with toasting gooey marshmallows in front of the fireplace with sticks which Paul picked up from the bush after a short rambling walk in the night. Everyone had fun poking fun at Angie for turning up her nose at the 'disgusting green sticks' which we used to stick the marshies with... that said, it was yummy!





3rd October, Tuesday (By Shannon)
After many hot hot sunny days, and cooooolllllld nights, Mummy and Daddy suddenly announced to me during bathtime that it was time to leave this little beach house... what, just when I am starting to have fun and not waking everyone up with my night howls?

What to do except take more photos to say goodbye!

Look, I adopted a whole new family! Looks like me, right?




The whole Jim Gang, well, except Quintin who's holding the camera!




Goodbye, Capeview!













we stopped by Mandurah on our way back to Perth, and I dunno much except I wass wailing my heart out for my milk feed! After that was settled, (mummy and daddy settled for a quick stop by a lakeside park) all three of them tucked into fish and chips and clam chowder at Ciserello's while I could only sit and look and drool... selfish pigs!

Satisfied look of contentment after lunch for all of us

The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 28 Sep to 30 Sep

After 3 whole days of physically recovering from the Perth trip, decided to get off my butt and start updating Shannon's Blog on our Perth Trip... with abit of help from Shannon of course...

28th September, Thursday night
We packed and crammed all our luggage into two 21 inch suitcases 1 haverpack, and 1 baby bag... some 'Cannot afford not to bring' items....
1) Inflatable mini pool for Shannon's baths
2) Her intensive moisturing creams
3) Her toys! Stacks and stacks of it!
4) Her nail cutter
5) BOTH her smelly teddy bears
6) Baby jar food
It got to the point that we were so overwhelmed by what to bring!

Shannon was a good gal all the way till we got to the airplane. She flirted shamelessly with all the elderly Australians and Europeans boarding the plane, stretching out her hands to them and playing peekaboo with them. All of them were charmed by her smiley face UNTIL...! The plane started taxi-ing down the runway. I had to buckle her on my lap, and it was then that she became a MONSTER! She started crying, and crying became wailing, and wailing became screaming... imagine Mal's and my hot and red faces and the pained silence surrounding us during takeoff. The little minx then decided to drop asleep once the plane hit the skies.... and from there on, it was sleep, wake up, cry, sleep, wake up, cry, sleep, wake up, cry...
all the way to Perth.

Service on the flight? Welllll, it was okie I guess, but not what I would call good... I think most airlines dun have the standards of being baby friendly yet, no baby food was offered to us, and once Shannon fell asleep, I felt that the sterwardess should have gotten us our dinner rather than wait in line? By the time our food was served, Baby was up and crying again!


29th September, Friday
After reaching Perth, and being greeted by Eileen, we headed off to the collect the rental car. Though we had asked for a Sedan, it became a Hatch.... hmmm, wonder how we gonna fit 3 suitcases and a pram into the boot?


30th September, Saturday
Today was a fenzy of packing again! We packed the bare minimum to bring to Peppermint grove Beach! Doesn't it sound so charming? Peppermint Grove Beach! Decided to forsake the pram coz we had a hard time squeezing everything into the boot.

We met Angie, Paul and Quintin at their house and it was off for a 2 hour drive! By the time we reached, it was nearly dark, but the house was cozy and welcoming.... boy, was it COLD! Brrrrrrr!

Shannon on the way to Busselton.... Huhhh? Who woke me up from my nap?





Our little family out for a evening stroll... BRRRRRRR!




Look at the Gorgeous Sunset! And the Strong Wind!









See our home away from home! http://www.capeviewcottage.com/

Family room









The kitchen where Eileen and Angie whipped up wholesome and fanastic food... also the place where the famous dishwasher which got Angie's Thumbs Up is stored!





Our place of zzzzz... thanks goodness for the King size bed and warm covers... looks out to the ocean.. hmmmm...





Dining table to seat 8... we had lots of fun lunches and dinners at that table, chitchatting in front of the fireplace.

This Is How You Tame A Tigger

Today was a tiring but fun day... we went to Anita's house to meet 15 other babies... wooahhhh! The energy level was super high, imagine 16 8month old babies put together with a loadful of toys and playmats... not to say a tableful full of delicious snacks for the mommies and daddies!

Shannon had loads of fun, and she skipped her noon nap in favour of playing, playing and more playing... hmmm, what did she do today? Played with loads of toys, learned how to tame a Tigger, rode a yellow rubber Pony, sat in a jumparoo and bounced around, got her feet painted PINK! Sounds like tons of fun right?

Photos says it all....

GETTING READY FOR THE HOT GROUP DATE!
So Mommy, do I look nice enough for the gathering?

Huh? What dun match? My hairband not nice? Maybe I should have worn the other one? Can we go home and change?














HOW TO TAME A TIGGER
First you grab the Tigger by its eyebrows...

Then you pull it's mouth wide open...

Then you shake the head reallllllly HARD! There, that's how you tame a Tigger!














FUN WITH 380 BALLS!
What do you mean time's up??? I just got in only! Have to pay again???









IN THE JUMPAROO
Hmm, I wonder if this Jumparoo can bounce me home...?









FOOTPRINT SOUVENIR
Shannon's little footprints... at 8 months 3 weeks old!

SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style

By Shannon:

Hummmf! fuming mad.... Mommy submitted my cutie passport photo to the Smile 2006 project, you know the one in preparation for the IMF meetings? I gave a demure smiley face for that precious photo, and mommy submitted it in. I had expected that the organisers of the project to pounce on it and pick it as one of the smiley faces welcoming the delegates when they arrive, who can resist such a angelic face right?But nooooooo! They choose to pick other people instead.... hmmmf! They really dun know a good picture when they see one!

See how demure and angelic I looked! This took so many hours of practise to get right!


So, who says that Smile 2006 can be the only project around town? I'm starting my own SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style, and this time, nobody can say that my picture's not in!

SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style

Another Level Higher.. Or In This Case, Lower

We lowered Shannon's cot today again... after the fiasco the last round we did it, it was with a little more than anxious nerves today when we did it....

But anyways, the deed was finally done, and so today, Shannon reached another level higher, or in this case, lower :).

hmmm, this is yummy!

BURP, that was a good dinner!



Hey you! The blue one... get over here!

Mommy, they're not listening to me!

When Did My Desk Become A Leg Stretching Machine?

By Shannon:

Hmmm, something tells me that Mommy and Daddy is obsessed with my height, or lack of it...

You know my work desk? The colourful one with such alot of stuff on it? Which shows how busy I am at times pressing the 'keyboard keys' and answering the ever ringing phone?

My Work Desk, Busy right?












Well, Mommy and Daddy raised the height of my work desk today... as if I don't have enough things to do already, like whacking the rolling toys or trying to pull the darn string off the silly turtle!

Now, I am standing on tip-toe, whilst trying to turnaround to kapo at all the things hapening around me. This is frustrating... since when did my desk become a leg stretching machine???

See how comfy I was before the height raising a.k.a leg strething excerise...

Just right!

The leg stretching machine at work...eehhhh!

Me Crawl??? Are you out of your mind????

Today afternoon, we attended the Tumbletots trail class kindly arranged by Sophia. Thanks to her hard work, we met up with some of the other Jan'06 mommies like...

1) SL and Charmaine
2) Cindy and Lucas
3) Chillies and Zaxier
4) Florence and Melody
5) Sunny and Ying Xin

Well well well, what a small world.... Mal discovered that he's NOT one of the oldest daddies in our gang... he met up with not one, but TWO of his Uni school mates, HA! So much for whining about not having kakis with common interets at the mommies' gathering...!

Shannon enjoyed the singing and actions very much, which was evident in the way she furiously chewed her little fingers.

But when it came to the excerise time, she balked at many activities, and iterally sat down and howled at the tummy/crawling excerise! We could clearly see what was going through her mind at that time, "Me Crawl??? Are you out of your MIND???"

That aside, she enjoyed the trampoline, and the rubber slide, though the rope swing gave her the creeps and she couldn't really decide whether to enjoy it or wail at it.


See me bounce, bounce, bounce away... on my bouncy trampoline.... ladalalalada...


Superwoman Shannon saving the day, pushing the heavy red cylinder away! Eh, actually, am being rolled around by it...

Fish for lunch, anyone?

I'll whack you if you say I look like a boy!



Fish for lunch, anyone?

Botanic CLOSE UP!

by Shannon

More pics of my hommies during the secret love trst..


See, make sure you delete all my sms messages to you after you receive them, like this... can't let Kirsten see mah?



One last hug before kirsten comes.... oops, we're caught red-handed!



*Eveil Grin* Finally, it's out in the open... he has to choose, either me or her!

Shannon's Secret Love Affair - 'San Jiao Lian Ai'

I bought Shannon to Botanic Gardens again today afternoon. The day didn't start out promising though, it was hazy and cloudy. We were really uncertain whether to go or not! this prompted MSN messages and SMSes flying around with a qn on everyone's mind, is it gonna rain???

Anyway, by 1pm, the skies were lifting so we just bit the bullet and went ahead. Anita with Tabitha, Wendy with Ethan, Val with Kirsten, and Celine with Edgar rounded up our group for the day.

Shannon had a great time! By some cosmic forces at work, she was in a SUPERB mood... by now, I think you should know that Shannon's SMILE switch is pertuately OFF whenever she is out, but today was a wonderful surprise.

She was chatty and smiley and downright KAPO!


Hmm, maybe her upbeat mood had something to do with the few stolen moments she got to share with Ethan before Kirsten's arrival, she even had a chance to snap a few shots cuddling up together, much to Tabitha's embrassement.. the poor little Tabitha pretended that she didn't see anything and concentrated on her toys.











Afterwhich, the rest showed up and group of babies had a merry time snatching toys, hair and westling each other to the ground...


Here, Mommy, look at me!



Look everyone, it was THIS BIG!



Hey, Ethan, this is interesting! Ethan? Ethan? Huh?



I really dunno Aunty Wendy, one moment he was sitting up, the next moment, he fell asleep!



We ended the day with Wendy sending us to the visitor centre to wait for Mal to pick us up, and dinner at Pasta Fresca (Thanks Wendy for waiting for us, even though your hubby was ready for you to pick him up!)

The View up here is GOOD!

By Shannon:

Hmmm, seems like there's alot I don't know about my body yet.... Mommy and Daddy keep making me do funny things, like placing me on my tummy and asking me to kick kick.. what is that, man? I HATE tummy time, HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT! Everytime they ambush me and plop me on my tummy, I'll give them a half-hearted attempt at reaching for the stupid toys they dangle in front of me, and then..., I slyly turn to the side, and tadaaaaaa! I'm on my back... hee hee...

Anyway, new game of the day, using those two funny long stumpy limbs to stand... see how well I'm standing? What can I say, the View up here is GOOD! But I have heard insidious whispering going around between Daddy and Mummy that they plan to ... lower XXX (dunno wat).... XXX level XXX...(dunno wat)... cot ... dun fall XXX (dunno wat) out and crack...XXX (dunno wat) skull... hmm, better see what they are up to this weekend.


Opps, caught in the act!


Okay, give you a BIGGGG SMILE!


Come closer, see the view from up here!

$3??? You sure?

Today, we met up with the rest of the mummies at Suntec.... supposedly for window shopping, when in fact, I was there secretly to shop for a birthday present for Mal.

The plot has seen been unraveled though, since I spilled the beans self righteously after my dear hubby nagged at me for bringing Shannon to crowded places... So much for being a nice wife!

Anyways, Sarah Mae and Sandra met up with us too, and we saw that Sarah Mae is still as chatty as ever! Such a Smiley happy baby! She seems to have taken a shine to Elijah, and vice versa!

Haha, that left a opening for Ethan to get close to Shannon again... the two were buddy buddy, hugging each other, and busy whacking each other with their fists... Shannon was a big bully again, and pulled Ethan's hair, ohmigosh, so sorry, Wendy and Ethan! When will the girl ever learn? Come to think abotu it, WHERE DID she learn that from?... Hmmm...

We went to check out a tip off from Christine my neighbour, about a Carters' sale at SUntec, and true enough, clothes galore! It was more for boys though, and lots of long sleeves and thick clothing... but I managed to get 2 thick pyjamas and 2 sweater suits for Shannon's Perth trip, as well as a cutie pair of bermudas and a dress romper, all for a mere $20!

Ewwwww, after all of it was over, I regret not buying more! Hmmm, Mal's eyes popping out after this realisation...

Eight Months! As in 8!

Shannon turned 8 months today! How time flies... looking back at all her skinny newborn photos, and laughing at some super silly ones, we realise that our little one is changing day by day!

Well, it be may concidental that I chose to buy a loadful of toys for her today, but still Happy 8th month, darling Shannon!

Mai Tu liao! Hurry, just Grab and talk later!

Talk about the auntie syndrome coming out of us when we become mummies! I've was 'infected' by it when a few of us mummies decided to go to the Mattel Toy fair yesterday...

CHAOS! That was the word to describe it! We arrived about 15min after it opened, and it was a mad house! Thank goodness Sophia and HB were there and already established a FORTRESS of toys which they hastily grabbed! If not, we would probably go hooe empty handed...

After spending about 3 hours there, I realised that in this game, if you snooze, you lose pal! So the name of the game is, Mai Tu liao! Just Grab and talk later... hahaha....

That said and done, we came out pretty victorious! My stolen bargains....:
1) FP Kick and Whirl Carnival
2) FP Popz On Circus
3) Winnie the Pooh
4) FP Rolls a ball
5) Sesame Street pop out
6) Elmo teaching and learning machine
7) FP Musical and Learning Chair (Star Buy! Thanks for Sophia and HB *Muack!*
8) FP Drop a Ball machine

Oops, after all the raving, I realised that not a word has been said that these are all for darling Shannon.... mummy's sorry, Shannon, of coz it's all for you... Mummy's.... just going through what you have... and having a little of fun doing it...!

Shopping Again! What's wrong with you people??

Bought Shannon out today to Forum to meet Wendy and Rena.... and of coz Ethan and Elijah....

Managed to get EB cereal for her and can't wait to try it out....

Haha, Shannon had a good time talking to Ethan today, sitting in their high chairs, and smacking each other faces with their chubby fists...oww!

Elijah fussed a little in his pram before Rena bought him over, and oops, Ethan decided that threes's a crowd and retreated to spend time with his mommy.

I am a Mighty Lioness - hear me ROARRRRR!

Well, what can I say? Our princess decided to play punk with us, and woke up from 2am in the morning, wailing away.... milk was eagerly consumed, but instead of going back to sleep like a little guai baby that she normally is, Shannon decided to stay awake and wail, and play and wail and play.... all the way till 5am.... attempts to smoothe her failed, and the pacificer was tossed around like a tennis ball.

The mightly lioness Shannon finally decided she had enough at 5am and dozed off, leaving both Mal and me totally zonked out and none the wiser... oh boy! I'm not looking forward to tonight if this was just a preview!


Hmmm, this mummy here is still thinkng whether both of us are in good enough form to go out and meet Auntie Rena, Auntie Wendy and Sumo and Ethan in the afternoon, after the big drama in the night...

What's A Swan???

By Shannon:

Mummy bought me to Botanic Gardens today, yippee...! It was only my 3rd time there, but it was fun! Coz Auntie Rena with my dearest Elijah, Auntie Wendy and Ethan, Aunty Val and Kirsten went along too... and I met another new friend today, baby Ian with Auntie Alice!


Mummy drove over to Auntie Rena's house to pick Elijah and her up... and Elijah was good company throughout the drive to the Bontanic Gardens.... hmm, had a serious discussion with him over toys, see us having chatting with each other?

I had a good time playing with my kakis.... except I was a bully and pulled Elijah's hair hard! Got a scolding from mummy for being a mean bully... sorry Elijah!! Promise I'll be good the next time... dun be angry ok?

We piniced near the swam lake, and mummy bought me to see the swans... what's a swan har? First time I ever saw those white things...

I was super tired but am raring to go again! Please mummy??



Mommy and Me!