Day Twenty Three of Chicklet Holiday

Well, we've had another great day and there are only two sleeps left before Chicklet meets up with her Mama and they head home.

We did some more work on our caves today. We should have them finished by tomorrow afternoon and that will make five amazing caves in 3.5 weeks.

There were two phone calls from Mama and a 40 minute Skype call with Dad to talk about the alligator experience.

There was a sad event that Adoring Husband and I did everything in our power to hide from Chicklet. SEB (Someone Else's Bird) took poorly this morning and by about 3pm this afternoon she had passed from this earth.

AH tried in vain to help her, but we found her on the floor of the cage, just sitting - I knew there was something wrong when she didn't hiss at me. SEB has always behaved aggressively towards me and has always loved AH who today, tried to give her water with a dropper and attempted to feed her, but she wasn't interested in any of it.

She died peacefully in her nesting box and we have avoided telling Chicklet. We wonder if she will say anything tomorrow because she always goes outside to say hello to SEB. I'm not ashamed to say that if we can avoid having the death talk with her we will! We just need to get through the next 36 hours.

*cue the sound of a chicken clucking here*

Not much else to report so here are some progress photos of our caves (Chicklet even made her own spider web with bag tie wire so that she could thread one of my spider charms onto it on the inside wall of her cave!

Here is Chicklet's ...

 Here is mine ...

Chicklet became a little annoyed that AH always commented on how nice my cave was and never commented on hers, so we had to remedy that situation quickly.

Anyway, it's almost midnight, so I'm off to bed. But first ...

A couple of days ago, Adoring Husband asked me the question "What do you reckon was the biggest selling one hit wonder of all time?"

After some brief research, the answer is "Macarene" by Los Del Rio in 1996 OR "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners OR "Gangnam Style" by Psy who made $25million from this one song alone and received over 1 BILLION views on his Youtube video!

Nite all.

 

Day Twenty Two of Chicklet Holiday

What a day!

Six hours of driving and three hours at Wildlife HQ.

It was a perfect weather day, the temperature just right, clear skies and sunshine. Great for jeans and sneakers and we actually had an easy start to the day and a good run to our destination with very little traffic.

We were the only passengers on the little train that took us from the Big Pineapple down the hill to Wildlife HQ where we found our way to the office and booked the Crocodile experience which actually turned out to be an alligator experience!

A young man brought the alligator out immediately and this is what happened ...

... incredibly, I forgot my camera (I know right?!) so we paid for a photo to be taken and I took a few pics with my phone.

Chicklet was over the moon. The alligator was much bigger and much heavier than she expected. It's name was Mississippi and we are so happy to have been there to witness her joy in this first time experience.

The next favourite creature of the day was the Green Iguana ...

We spent a lot of time with Iggy haha, but did not get to touch him.

She got to touch a koala, sheep, goats and an alpaca gave her a big wet sloppy kiss across her face. She made friends with a massive emu that followed us across the field (scared the crap out of me) and she thought it was GREAT! She loved the chickens, or 'chickadoodles' as she called them and we took our time going through the reptile exhibit.

I can't believe we were there for three hours. It felt like much less.

Even the drive home went quickly and we drove into our driveway well before 5pm.

There was plenty of time to make a light dinner, take a long bath, enjoy some cuddle and chat time, and for good measure I added a short back massage with some essential oils (which seemed to hype Chicklet up, rather than relax her!).

She fell asleep quickly, and even though the day was incident free and a lot of fun, I feel like it took a lot out of her and it took a lot of fancy footwork to prevent a meltdown tonight.

Tomorrow will be telling but we will be gentle.

Three more sleeps.

I stumbled across a video yesterday.

Remember this????



I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Day Twenty One of Chicklet Holiday

Today, we decided to take a couple of small foam boxes and create our own dragon caves with our own ideas .. to finish off our holiday together with a bang.

Much to Chicklet's shock and dismay, I decided to create a Hippie Rainbow Dragon Cave! The cave so far ...

She's been telling me for a couple of days that this idea is really bad because dragons don't do rainbows and colour, that dragons are dark and for all the ideas in the world, why did I pick this one?

"Really Bozzy Wozzy? I don't think your cave is going to be very good. Are you sure you want to do rainbows? It's just not going to look real."

But I could tell, as I worked on my Hippie Rainbow Dragon Cave, that she was impressed and just a little envious of my beautiful dragon cave! She has even introduced colour to her own cave and keeps coming up with ideas for me haha!

Very slowly, but very cleverly, she is working on her own cave and she tells me that "Even though there are Halloween-related items and parts in the cave, it's NOT a Halloween Dragon cave!"

I must say that creating my Hippie Rainbow cave has been very therapeutic today and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time outside being creative.

We didn't do much else today.

Chicklet was very happy to spend ten minutes with the dogs on her bed before sleep time - it was her second favourite thing about today.

Tomorrow, we plan on heading south to the Sunny Coast so that Chicklet can receive her birthday present of holding a crocodile! I haven't told her yet because Poppy Bluebarry's back has been touch and go and I'm worried that he won't be able to manage the drive. Fingers crossed we can make it happen.

Now I'm off to bed. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to sleep undisturbed tonight?

Nite all.

Day Twenty of Chicklet Holiday

The new game today ...

1. Chicklet: If there was a tornado, what would you choose to help you out?

a) A fire breathing dragon
b) A speedy dragon
c) A weather changing dragon
d) A shield
e) A sword

Me: A weather changing dragon

2. Me: If you were lost in the desert and you came across a truck giving away water or lemonade, tomato or lemon, which two would you choose?

Chicklet: Water and Lemon

3. Chicklet: If you were trapped in a dungeon, who would you want to help show you a way out?

a) A skeleton
b) A bat
c) A spider
d) A lizard on fire
e) An immortal dragon living in a nearby volcano

Me: An immortal dragon living in a nearby volcano (no brainer really)

4. Me: If you were going to a dragon birthday party, what would you take as a gift?

Chicklet: Dragon snacks of course! And maybe a gift card (lol)

5. Chicklet: If you were a character in a book that you couldn't escape from, what character would you be?

Me: Bella from Breaking Dawn

Chicklet: Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon

6. Me: If you could take six creature friends to the dragon party, who would you take?

Chicklet: Dragon, Velociraptor, Crocodile, Lizard, T-Rex and a Snake

... and so the game went on.

Crazy how difficult it is to think of questions like that!

Here is the little tuft of hair that Chicklet now has after her run in with the GOO ...

Time now for me to sleep.

Nite all.

Day Nineteen of Chicklet Holiday

Ok, so just to quickly correct my 'dinosaurs are fictional' message in yesterday's blog post ... you know, I'm under a lot of pressure and the responsibility is weighing upon me ... not just being a babysitting grandmother, but also as a blogger LOL.

Forgive me.

Today was a much better day and our moods were much lighter - although I was incredibly tired after being woken up three times during the night. I expected a rough night after such a volatile day and I made sure we took it easy today.

We did some work on the cave, played on the iPad, and made firm friends with Jack, the psychotic dog.

Who knew such a friendship would form?

She calls him 'Little Buddy'.

We ate lots of nourishing fresh food.

Chicklet made up a game - we had to tell a joke or a riddle that had some kind of food in it and if the other person laughed, we both had to eat whatever food the joke was about.

The food that she has talked about disliking the most while she's been here is tomato, so I made lots of tomato jokes.

1. Why did the tomato blush? Because she saw the salad dressing
2. How do you fix a broken tomato? Tomato paste
3. Why is a tomato round and red? Because if it was long and green and skinny, it would be a bean
4. What is red and goes up and down? A tomato in an elevator

She didn't 'get' them, but giggled anyway.

The food that I have talked about disliking the most is sugar, so she made up a riddle about sugar.

What did the lemon say to the sugar?

The look on her face when she asked the question was priceless.

Aside from her peanut butter (which contains sugar), and despite pleading with me every time she enters a shop, she hasn't had any sugar since she arrived and obviously the thought of getting some sugar as a result of me laughing at this joke was sending her brain into a flutter.

Her eyes were wide and sparkling and the giggling smile as she asked the question sent me into hysterical laughter - you know the uncontrollable giggles that give you cramps in your ribs and tears in your eyes?

She laughed out loud and squealed "I haven't even told you the punch line yet!! Why are you laughing??"

I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even answer her!

Finally, I settled down and said "If you were clever, you could have told me the punch line while I was laughing so hard and you would have won!"

She looked at me with disappointed realisation. "Ok. I'm going to ask you again."

That same excited look came on her face as she asked me "What did the lemon say to the sugar?"

It triggered the giggles again - and what made my giggles even worse, was knowing that I had just tipped her off at how to win this riddling competition and that made my giggles even more uncontrollable.

Her answer was "I am healthier than you are."

NOT even funny!! But she caught me mid giggle and I just couldn't stop!!

She won.

Excitedly, she declared "I know exactly the sugar that you have to eat and we will go to the shop tomorrow to get it!!"

So I took her jar of peanut butter out of the pantry and declared right back "Peanut butter has sugar in it! Watch this!!" I took a teaspoon and scooped a little out of the jar and ate it. "There!! I've eaten sugar! Ha ha!"

She was left speechless and look of shock and disappointment was almost enough to set me off again.

She was surprisingly accepting though.

We had fun in the bath and I used Epsom salts and essential oils called 'calm and secure' to hopefully assist her to sleep through the night. Time will tell.

It's now 11pm so I'm off to bed to catch a couple of hours sleep before I hear the little whisper next to my ear "Excuse me BozzyWozzy"

Nite all.

Day Eighteen of Chicklet Holiday

Today was a tough day for me.

Chicklet and I both lost patience with each other a few times and locked horns.

A long walk to the beach and an hour long swim soothed the savage beast (aka Chicklet) and I took some time out afterwards, leaving her in Poppy Bluebarry's care, while I visited the shop and tended to some business.

By the end of the day, we were both exhausted and she slept easily - as will I, as soon as I finish this post.

We did a little work on the Fire Dragon Cave, walked the thirty minutes (at Chicklet's request) to the beach and spent an hour swimming and chasing crabs. We played some iPad games and we ate a lot of fresh healthy food.

It was a long and relaxed cuddle time before sleep, so we ended the day well, with love and calm.

Tomorrow, as discussed at bed time, there will be more caving and swimming. They are her two favourite things to do.

Some time this week, maybe Thursday or Friday, we'll be crocodile hunting, so that she can enjoy her late birthday present from us and actually get to hold a real live crocodile. The crocodile is her favourite creature. Dragons and dinosaurs are her favourite fictional creatures.

Only seven sleeps left of this holiday and we still have a lot to fit in, including filling and burying a time capsule, painting an owl, holding a crocodile and finishing off all of our caves.

I feel that I will need a holiday at the end of Chicklet's holiday!

Nite all.

Day Seventeen of Chicklet Holiday

Much less drama today than yesterday!

Chicklet came into our room at about 5.30am and climbed into bed with me, snuggling right in and falling asleep.

I have been setting my alarm for 5am and taking her iPad into the bedroom so that when she wakes up, she can keep herself amused while we can sleep until a reasonable hour. I forgot to set the alarm this morning, which is why she came into the room, but once in our bed, she slept until after 6am and then took her iPad into the room herself.

(If I leave her iPad in her room, she wakes at stupid o'clock, which could be 2am or 4am and then plays on the iPad all night.)

I could hear her outside talking with Poppy for quite some time before she returned to the bedroom with him and our breakfasts at around 8am.

We stayed there until 9.30am because then she began harassing me to make a start on the Fire Dragon cave. She was very excited about the Fire Dragon cave and had a million ideas!

For two hours we sat outside and began the creation.

We made five clay dragons. These are two of them ...

We lined the floor of the cave with shiny red lava.

We hung skeletons on the wall and at the front entrance of the cave.

We made two volcanos for the roof of the cave, one with flowing lava and one with an exploding eruption of lava.

We hung a dragonfly from the ceiling.

We put dragon and skull stickers all over the walls.

We strategically placed red gems all over the floor.

Instead of a 'waterfall', we created a 'firefall' at the front entrance.

We made a nest with red, orange and yellow straw and placed it inside a tinselly ring of fire.

We found the perfect container to use as a chest full of treasure and then spent some time going through my beads to find fiery red and orange jewel-looking beads to put with our plastic coins as the dragon's treasure.

We stopped for lunch.

We did some more after lunch.

As I began to prepare dinner, she asked if we could do some more and when I replied "No more today. We can do some more tomorrow.", she declared "Awww but we've hardly done anything on the cave today!"

Ugh!

We went for a quick late afternoon walk so that I could show her our lagoon across the road.

Chicklet ate a big dinner of boiled egg and veg and dessert before enjoying a fun bath time complete with fishing rod and plastic fish.

We had a long cuddle and talk time and it seemed that the closer we got to sleep time, the more energy she was generating! I had to use my cross grandma voice to get her to settle down, but she fell asleep within three minutes of that, so she was obviously tired ... probably overtired.

I'm feeling all done in.

Poppy Bluebarry did a lot of stuff around the house today, pushing his sore back to the limit, so I'm expecting extra caring duties in the next couple of days.

Now it's 11pm and I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Day Sixteen of Chicklet Holiday

Seven year old child + goo + Poppy Bluebarry = Fail!!

I worked this morning so Poppy and Chicklet drove into The Bay to get the items from our list that we missed on Friday because of the public holiday.

The story goes that Chicklet picked up an elastic band off the floor of Go Natural and left the shop with it - then had a meltdown because she needed to return it!!

I had a great morning at the shop and had a steady stream of customers through the door all day. Everyone was happy and chatty but I think the gale force conditions outside probably kept a few people at home.

Half an hour before closing, I received a phone call from Poppy Bluebarry to find out what time I was closing. When I told him, he explained to me that there was a BIG problem with Chicklet, that she had been playing with the 'goo' and got it stuck on her forehead and all through her hair.

They tried wetting it under the shower to no avail and he had already cut some of the hair at the front to remove some goo, but decided to stop because she'd have ended up with no hair at the front of her head if he kept going.

The 'goo' is a black blob of cold pliable jelly type substance that has a mind of it's own. We have kept it in it's container thus far, but sometimes we place it on the kitchen bench to see how far it will spread overnight (it spreads a long way on a flat surface) and it's fun to play with, but is very sticky on certain surfaces, such as cloth and skin.

It says on the outside of the container 'Keep away from skin and eyes'

So Chicklet had put it on her forehead and while she was attempting to peel it off, her hair stuck to some of it. The harder she tried to remove it, the more hair attached itself and the goo itself stuck like glue to her forehead, so by the time she got to the shop, it was a complete disaster!

She hid behind Poppy's legs as they came into the shop and I was serving a customer at the time, so they shuffled their way into the back room and waited until I'd finished.

I snuck into the training room and Chicklet looked at me and whispered "I'm sorry"

On closer inspection, it really was a disaster. Her entire forehead and the whole front section of her hair above her forehead was completely matted together with goo.

I felt like it might be an impossible task and that we'd require a trip to the hair dresser to cut all of her beautiful long hair. I was imagining Vegan Chickie's horrified face when she saw the result. I wondered how long we would have to endure crying and squirming and complaining and shrieking as I attempted the impossible!

God, I wish I'd taken photos!! I never think of these things until after the fact.

My first thought was Eucalyptus Oil, which I used successfully on her forehead. I wasn't sure that it would work on her hair, so I decided to try soap and water first - all that did was bring all the goo together into a giant smooth flat lump, still stuck in the hair.

I lay her down in the bathtub and splashed eucalyptus oil all over the goo and began massaging it through her hair, hoping against all hope that something good would happen. Miraculously, within seconds, the goo literally disintegrated in my hands.

Within three minutes, there was absolutely no evidence that anything had ever happened EXCEPT for that small area where AH had cut the hair! Now she has a tiny tuft of short hair front and centre.

I claimed "Goo Removal" as my super power and told my little family that they were VERY LUCKY to have a Bozzy Wozzy to save the day!!

From there I cooked lunch and dinner at the same time.

We cleared the outdoor table ready to start on the Fire Dragon Cave tomorrow.

Chicklet had some quiet time in her room while I watched some football.

We released some dragon eggs into a jug of water which (apparently) will grow into tiny water dragons. We'll see.

I finished preparing dinner and afterwards, Chicklet and I had a longer than usual cuddle and chat time before she fell asleep.

What a day! I'm done!

Nite all.    

Day Fifteen of Chicklet Holiday

It was the usual start to the day with breakfast in bed and iPad games.

We showered and dressed and headed into The Bay at about 10am but two of the shops that we wanted to visit were closed due to the public holiday - their Facebook pages said they were open, but unfortunately they were not.

Adoring Husband had to visit my favourite shop (Office Works) for SES business, so Chicklet and I went for a browse and picked up a few things to help build our Fire Dragon Cave which we will begin on Sunday.

Stocklands was the next destination and we bought some new clothes for Chicklet in Best and Less, then we bought some shoes and slippers at Spend Less Shoes.

A few weeks ago I bought a teal top at full price and it's so comfortable, I wanted to get it in all the colours - pink, lime, orange and red - unfortunately the only colour they had left in my size was the orange, but the up side is that it was half price!

We visited Heaps Discounts and picked up a bag full of crafty things to help with the dragon cave while AH bought us a couple of take away coffees from the coffee shop.

Our final stop, much to Chicklet's dismay, was the supermarket for just a few items

It was about 1.20pm by the time we headed home. Chicklet was 'over' the shopping trip and was very happy to be finished walking and sitting in the car. She did incredibly well considering we didn't stop for lunch, so her energy levels were running low.

As soon as we got home, I threw together a quick lunch for her and she gobbled it down while I unpacked the shopping and then asked for more.

After lunch, we added some final touches to the Sea Serpent cave and then had a long early bath playing with the fishing game that Poppy Bluebarry got for Chicklet yesterday.

AH was kind enough to offer his babysitting services so that I could attend the club tonight.  I whipped together some dinner and dessert and got myself dressed for my first Friday at the Club for three weeks and they dropped me at the club for a three hour hiatus from caring duties.

It was a nice evening even though I was a loser at all the club activities.

I arrived home to discover that Chicklet had disappeared and I had to 'pretend search' the house until she giggled loud enough for me to find her.

We had some cuddle time before she fell asleep by 8.30pm.

It's almost 11pm and I'll be working tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Day Fourteen of Chicklet Holiday

It's been a fabulously great day.

Chicklet was quite late coming into my bedroom this morning - after 8am - and quietly sat eating her breakfast and sharing with me, all the stuff that she'd learned in the new Minecraft update this morning.

She was incredibly happy and calm and loving.

We got out of bed, dressed and did some work on our Sea Serpent cave before I had to get ready for work.

She followed Poppy Bluebarry around the garden for a while and they both came inside to sit in the recliner chairs and play with their iPads side by side.

I made her a quick lunch and issued Poppy with all the necessary instructions for while I was at work.

It was nice to pedal to work on the trike and I checked the mail before making my way to The Happy Abode.

The Motivator was supposed to have the afternoon off, but we talked and talked and talked and caught up with business news and personal news, as well as ordering some stock together and she didn't leave until after 3pm.

That was when Poppy and Chicklet walked in the door and they stayed while I spent about an hour with one customer who almost bought out the shop!

A gentleman entered the shop earlier today looking to buy a gift for his wife who was at home while he came away on a fishing trip. He selected one of my Tawny Frogmouth photos, which was pretty exciting for me!

I also decided to take in to the shop, some of the bracelets and earrings that I've made. They've been packaged away for a couple of years and I found them yesterday, so I thought I'd pop them in the shop to see if they sell.

Within an hour, I had sold one!

Poppy and Chicklet had been down to the beach for an hour before visiting me in the shop and they brought the signs and flags inside and helped close. He decided to buy her a surprise because she had been such a delight all afternoon. She chose a fishing rod with some plastic fish to play with in the bath.

She did try to con him into buying some lollies or some soft drink but he said "If Bozzy Wozzy gives you the ok, I'll buy them for you". She knew better than to even ask me haha, so she chose the toy instead. We played with it in the bath this evening and she decided that it was her favourite part of the day.

Every night at cuddle time, we talk about our best and worst parts of the day. Fishing with me in the bath was her favourite part of today.

Tomorrow is a public holiday so the shop won't be open, and we plan on driving into The Bay to restock our craft supplies so that we can create the Fire Dragon Cave next week. I'll open the shop on Saturday and spend the entire half day there.

I cooked up a nice curried chicken for Adoring Husband's dinner, a big plate of boiled egg and raw veg/salad for Chicklet and a big mug of chicken bone broth for myself.

I can't believe it's already 10.30pm.

Need sleep.

Nite all.

Day Thirteen of Chicklet Holiday

More of the same.

Except Chicklet spent some time with Poppy Bluebarry this afternoon showing him how Minecraft works on her iPad. He showed the perfect amount of interest and asked all the right questions, keeping her happy while I did some chores around the house.

She had started the day quite manic and I felt like she might be on the verge of a meltdown. Somehow, we were able to make it to the beach by lunch time without incident. Thank goodness for the beach and the calming influence of water.

Chicklet LOVES water. Our beach, on an outgoing or incoming tide, is perfect for her because the water is only about two feet deep, it's clean and clear and calm, so that she can do exactly as she likes and I don't have to worry about her being dumped by waves or getting dragged out by a rip.

It was windy and cold on the beach today. We spent an hour walking through the water trying to find the warm patches. She remained submerged except for her head to stay out of the wind ... but eventually she had to walk across the beach to the car ... funnily enough she thought that walking in my shadow, out of the sun, would keep her warm haha. Go figure.

When we got to the car, we found this little (or rather large actually) gem ...

It's a pity that I didn't have my camera with me because he was a beautiful specimen.

We went grocery shopping and then returned home for a quick lunch, some quiet time, her Minecraft class with Poppy and some more work on the Sea Serpent cave ... this cave seems to be ongoing! Every time I believe we are finished, Chicklet comes up with a new idea!

I'll be working tomorrow afternoon so I'd best get some sleep ... it's almost 11.30pm ... again!

Nite all.

Day Twelve of Chicklet Holiday

Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday, much to Chicklet's joy.

Breakfast in bed with me and a couple of devices playing with dragons.

We had to walk to the beach today because Poppy Bluebarry was on SES duties until well after lunch, so we took the shortest route to the water and then walked right along the river path until we reached the sacred beach.

I was excited to be able to show her the two Tawny Frogmouths in the tree near the Seat of Knowledge. She has never seen owls or Tawnies 'in person' before, so she was pretty impressed.

I named all the birds that we passed and talked about the sort of food that they eat and how and where they nest. She seemed fairly interested.

By the time we reached the beach, she couldn't get undressed quickly enough and became a crocodile for the next hour. While I strolled back and forth along the shore in knee deep water, she crawled on all fours loving every second of playing in the icy salty liquid.

The only way that I could lure her out of the water, was to entice her into the shallower puddles that are scattered along the beach.

Poppy Bluebarry picked us up around 1pm and I carried a shivering little Chicklet wrapped in a towel to the car so that we could return home and stand under a warm shower to thaw out.

We ate a very large lunch with heaps of salad veggies, a boiled egg and an apple, had an hour of quiet time and then spent an hour working on the Sea Serpent cave ...

Mama phoned us from the border of Croatia this evening as she waited for their tour bus driver to sort out some problem with paperwork. She's certainly getting around!

Poppy Bluebarry has hurt his back again ... overdoing it in the back garden, so we have to try and be gentle with him for a while.

It's almost 10.30pm so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.