Ferry to Manly

Louka wanted to go for a ferry ride to the beach today, so Manly it was. I eventually got her out of the flat without a menagerie of soft toys. We just missed a ferry so I bought her an ice-cream ― her first in a cone ― to fill in time. By the time we arrived it was lunch time and we found a fish-and-chip shop near the wharf and got lunch to eat on the beach.


We stayed on the harbour beach the whole time. First we had a little paddle. The water was clear and glassy-smooth, and at first felt ice-cold. We found a few mussel and cockle shells and a school of small fish, then chased a little flathead that kept trying to bury itself in the sand.

Then Louka wanted to play in the sand. She kept sending me down from the dry sand to the water to collect bucketfuls to wet the sand, fill holes and dissolve castles. Then she lay down and rolled in the sand. There was sand on her face and in her hair as well as all over her body. I took her down to the sea to rinse off, then she lay in the sand again. Eventually I decided we'd been in the sun long enough and found a (cold) shower and washed us both, then a café for afternoon tea before heading back on the ferry.

We arrived home after 5 o'clock, but Louka showed no sign of wanting a nap. Perhaps those days are over?

A long way to the park

Today the mothers group went to a park at Wahroongah. It seemed a long way to drive to a park, and there wasn't a lot of parking available either (we were lucky and got a 2 hour spot right outside the gate). It was nice and shady there, though the swings were in the sun.

First thing I noticed was that all the other mums who turned up were dressed to match! I felt a bit out of it not wearing a black singlet top. Even little Max had the uniform.


After playing on the rest of the equipment we all gravitated to the sandpit. I was sitting there chatting when I noticed Louka wasn't there. Eventually I saw her right at the far end of the park, playing with a little girl on the double seesaw. This girl would have been maybe 2 ― a lot smaller than Louka. Louka introduced her as "my friend", and later when she was upset gave her a big hug. It was a shame to have to leave when our 2 hours parking was up.

Bake bread

After yesterday's effort (though in fact Louka didn't eat it), she wanted to bake again. This time I suggested bread.

First she tipped the flour into the bowl and mixed it around by hand (and by foot, leg and tummy, it seemed from the evidence). Then she mixed in the yeast, salt, water and maple syrup and stirred it all up. I started the kneading to get it into a homogeneous mix, then handed it over for her to squish and squash and squeeze, and tear and roll and make things from. Then she rolled it into a ball, buttered the bowl and put it in to rise.


When it was ready, she buttered two of her cake tins and put in the dough - in little pieces. Oh well, it might make pull-aparts. She then decorated one loaf with poppy seeds and the other with sesame seeds.


They looked pretty good when they came out of the oven, and the one we took for a picnic tasted pretty good too (fresh bread always does, doesn't it?). Overall, it was good fun, but there was a lot of waiting for the bread to rise and Louka got a bit bored. Maybe we should stick to cake and biscuits for a while.

Bake a cake

This morning Louka wanted to bake a cake. We went to the park first, for mothers group, then when we got home she watched Play School. However, when that was over, she reverted to wanting to bake a cake.

I looked through an old children's cookbook I had as a child, and found a basic cake recipe in a very small quantity (for fairy cakes). I washed and Louka wiped the cake tins she'd received from the mothers group birthday party. Then I showed her how to butter the insides of the tins (and finished it off for her), and measured out the ingredients, and she mixed them. We decided to add a little pink food colouring and some frozen raspberries for fun. Then she spooned the mixture into the tin (and I finished it off for her).

She put on the oven mitts and very carefully put the tin in the oven. It took a lot longer to cook as a single cake, but eventually, out it came, and it looked pretty good!

Jungle

Yesterday I bought Louka a baby doll - one like I used to have, with a soft body and eyes that shut when she lies down. Louka is very fond of her, feeding her, dressing her, taking her for walks, taking her to bed. And her name, after trying out a few alternatives, is Jungle.

Birthday celebration no. 3

This one for the mothers group. We held it in a nice shady, but not too popular park, and we all brought a plate (well ours was just a plastic bag) and a gift for one child. It's worked well every time.

Here's the food:


There were balloons:


and party hats:


Waiting for presents:


and opening presents:


Waiting for cake:



but I didn't end up getting one of eating the cake. We'd had to hurry things on a bit as rain was threatening, and the breeze made it impossible to light the candles on the cake, but some of the kids kindly pretended to blow them out anyway.

One incident marred the day a little for us: In her excitement Louka ran full-tilt into the pole for the swings. She now has a huge lump on her forehead, which should make a terrific bruise.

Birthday celebration no. 2

This one wasn't just for Louka, it was also for my dad and me. However, Louka did get most of the presents. She had been saying she didn't want any presents, or cupcakes, and that she would throw them away, but in fact she seemed quite pleased to get them.

Louka and I spent the morning making cupcakes: this time Louka not only placed the patty-pans, she also helped cream the butter and sugar, stir in the eggs, banana and flour, and ice the finished cakes. While they were baking I let Louka watch some Play School while I made up some ganache to ice the cakes. I should have done it beforehand, as it was still too runny to do a neat job. Never mind, it looked nice and shiny and they tasted great.


At my parents' place I topped them with candles and little dinosaurs from the museum. Thicker icing would have helped.


As usual, my parents prepared a delicious barbecue and my dad's traditional Jewish cheesecake. The three birthday people helped blow out the candles. Louka's big present was a ride-on toy (her "new car") that unfortunately needed to be assembled but came with no instructions. I should have checked. She also loved the paints and drawing book.

Artist