Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Well, it's more that a lovely sunny Monday when I have the kids in daycare when Sunday was rainy will get me down. The back up plan for us when it rains is Scitech in City West. Again you get a unlimited annual pass ($40 for an adult, under 3's free) and although my kids are a touch young for it they still enjoy some aspects. There is a sections for the littlies and they enjoy seeing the big kids and the funny mirrors and bright colours.

I need some space

I seem to be spending a lot of time cruising internet real estate sites recently. Our 3x1.5 seems nowhere big enough to contain two teens, a roving toddler and two adults who occasionally want a little space and quiet. Our house was built ~100 years ago though and I keep thinking that families at the time would have likely had just as many people in the same space (if not more...). Maybe it's just how we use the space. It's so tempting just to go to IKEA and spend a huge amount of money on some new innovative storage solutions but I think a large amount of the problem is the amount of stuff we have. I suspect that the avearge child had substantially less 'stuff' 100 years ago. Even in my generation we also just spent a lot more time outside.

At least we have a yard though, half the mums at playgroup only have courtyards. I don't know how you deal with a energetic toddler in doors all day without resorting to looping Elmo DVDs. At least with the summer weather starting we'll be spending a lot more time at parks and the beach and less time at home in each others hair.

Eating for less

We eat a lot around here. Between a breastfeeding mum, a hard working dad, a very hungry toddler, and two teenaged girls we can consume a lot of food (especially meat) in one sitting. This is my recipe for red lentil soup which is very filling and healthy;

Serves ~6, costs $7 per pot
1 can tomatoes 800g
I bag 500g red lentils
onion/garlic
basil from the garden
two tsp paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp stock powder
Any spare veggies in the fridge

Heat oil in large soup pan. Fry onion or garlic in the oil. Add two litres of boiling water from the kettle. Add the vegetable stock. Add the lentils. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the basil/paprika etc to taste. Add any extra vegetables (spinach is very nice). Cook for 20 minutes.

Serve with toast or crusty bread. Yummy. Any spare is nice as a reheated lunch at work.

The bookworm devours books

My 14 year old stepdaughter is a mad keen reader. She can devour the largest books in the twilight series in 12 hours (albeit by reading until 3am). I try and encourage it was much as possible - reading anything is big step up on spending hours on facebook. But it can get very expensive when you buy the latest book at $25 each so I've started buying online.

For the latest title I was mainly heading to book depository as the free worldwide shipping and excellent uk exchange rate made the latest twilight book ~$13 delivered. I have just discovered booko.com.au though, which compares book depository with other sites like angus and robertsons, dymocks and amazon to give you the cheapest overall price (including shipping). I even used booko for my husbands uni text books and got them for $15 less than the uni shop was charging. Definitely worth looking at the next time you need to buy books!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

It was so lovely to finally have some sunshine this weekend. We took the opportunity to pack an afternoon picnic and headed to the zoo after the bear-cubs nap. The Perth zoo is a really great location for young families and it was obvious today that a lot of familes had the same idea as us.

We arrived at 230pm in South Perth. Unfortunately our usually parking spot at Robinson Reserve seems to have become paid parking since we last visited which was a touch annoying. But luckily parking is always easy to come by. Bear-cub (aged 2.5yo) particularly enjoys the primates and meerkats. I love to sit and look at the elephants and my husband really likes the big cats (tigers and lions). We had one of my stepchildren (the bookworm aged 14yo) who while not a huge animal fan likes to chase bearcub over the wide lawns and thought the sunbears where "pretty cool".

I really like the zoo cafe setup which lets me get a decent coffee and plonk down on the lawned area to let the kids run wild. I head there mid week sometimes with one of the playgroup mums and it's a great way to actually have a coffee with a girlfriend while the kids aren't climbing you. Be somewhat warned though, the coffee tends to be scaldingly hot.

The zoo is a great low budget outing as we ask for annual passes as a Christmas gift ($60 for adults and $35 for children) and we get annual passes which give unlimited free entries. It makes much less of a big deal when my toddler has a tantrum half way and I have to leave early. I usually go once a week during summer so it works out very cheaply and we tend to head out there whenever weekend funds are low. Anyway, at $1.50 an hour the parking isn't too hideously priced.

My recommendation is to head out once and pay to get in. Wander around and see if you think you'd come back once every 3 months - if so you can sign up for the zoo membership at the end and get you entrance fee refunded. And the remember the membership gets you 10% off at the cafe. Otherwise, remember that Wednesdays during the school week are adults at childrens prices.