Happy Birthday Buddha
Trip Start
Sep 16, 2011
1
207
290
Trip End
Nov 20, 2011
Southport, Queensland, Australia
Sunday, May 6, 2012
It’s a straight forward journey and Noah does some award winning parking.
We are in the museum and we find the dinosaurs. Elwood shows a passing interest in the skeleton of the muttaburrasaurus and then sees a bit of a dinosaur themed play area. Elwood velcros on a tail, finds himself a nest, and collects various fun fur 'dinosaur eggs’ for his nest. He is happy and could play here all day with what is essentially a bean bag and some cushions. This is not why we came. We let him play for a while and then we continue.
We wander through the marine mammals and see massive turtles. It is themed so it feels like you are underwater. Woody is hilarious and acts like he is swimming the whole time.
Next we go to a Queensland themed exhibit where we see all manner of local snakes and spiders, it’s all very reassuring – as you can imagine.
We head upstairs where there are many dead and stuffed things on display. There are also lots of preying mantis’ which are very much alive. But, Woody is 3 and he is here for the dinosaurs so we head off in search of more prehistoric fun.
And we find it. Outside there are 2 massive dinosaurs and lots of little interactive exhibits and a short dinosaur movie. That’s what Woody was after. He loves it. The highlight? Picking the nose of a stegosaurus. Boys, huh?
We then head over to Southbank. It is the most beautiful day in the history of beautiful days. We wander through a festival celebrating Buddha’s Birthday. I am massively ignorant on all things Buddha related so I have turned to google for this bit of Buddha-ness... ‘The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.’ I love this because I pride myself on keeping my heart above my head. Another Buddha quote which I have found and liked is; ‘A jug fills drop by drop’.
At the festival there seems to be lots of places and lots of different ways to make wishes. And there are lots of beautiful areas which look like shrines and quiet places to reflect and worship. These areas are serene but have the opposite effect on me, or any Mum of a 3 year old, they make me tense. I watch Woody like a hawk and make sure he does not jump on someone’s back as they kneel in prayer. That would be bad.
We grab a couple of Hare Krishna Vegetarian feasts and walk along the river front and find a patch of grass by the lagoon to feast. It is just gorgeous – the view, the atmosphere and the food.
Noah and Woody have a swim. The sun is warm but the water is icy. The fellas swim for quite a while but we make Elwood get out when he cannot stop shaking. We dry him and take him for ice-cream. It’s what Buddha would have wanted.
The ice-cream is stonkingly good. Woody is very happy with his big chocolately mess and I had a flavour I have not had since I left Australia (mocha almond fudge for the ice-cream enthusiasts) and it tasted just as good as it did in my memory. Excellent.
The fellas head to the playground and Mum and I wander around the markets. Good stuff.
We head back to the car and make our way home. We were expecting Woody to sleep but he talks and asks questions for the entire journey. He makes it clear he wants me to go out tonight. he says I should go to a hotel for dinner so he can stay home with Grandma because she lets him do things that I don't. he says they want to watch movies and eat chippies for dinner. It is super funny, and I can see Mum wondering if Woody is going to get her in trouble!
We swing by McDonalds and get some caffeine. Mum passes Noah $20 for the coffees and he loses it before he has got to the window the pay. Mum and I cannot believe it. He does not know where he put it and he has lost $20 within 1 minute of being given it. It’s a gift!
We get our coffees and they taste crap. Blah.
Woody doses off and wakes when I try and put him to bed. Mum attempts to slink off for a sleep but Woody wants to lie with her. Mum says that is fine so long as he is quiet. He says he will be quiet, right after she reads him a story.
Meanwhile, I slink off and go to sleep without anyone noticing. Ha!
Noah and Woody play Lego, the mothership snoozes and so do I. This is a proper Sunday. Noah gets a positive email from the design agency guy he met in Atlanta with some work. he was on our list to contact so we are chuffed.
When I wake have a corker of a headache that seems to magically disappear with peanut butter on toast and coffee. Fab.
I kind of sloth about and then I make Woody some dinner, he has a bath, and goes to bed.
Mum and I watch Biggest Loser and Woody gets back up. He says he is hungry. So he eats a sandwich and watches Masterchef with us. He is running rings around us.
Noah makes us toasties for dinner and manages to get Woody back to sleep. We watch Touch and blog.
And that is us for today.
A terrific day in almost every way. We still have not managed to generate one mega plan of attack on what the future has in store for us. We need to find the willpower to do this tonight.
With this in mind, we return to Buddha for inspiration.
"What we think, we become."
Sleep tight. x
