Park fun in Sydney

While away on holiday, we discovered a great park in Sydney, down at Newington Armoury, loved by all my kids, including the big one 😉

It has a large playground with a variety of things to swing, climb and slide, and a new addition since our last visit – a water park! At the water park area there is a sandpit, and an area filled with water fountains that regularly change. As we didn’t know about the water park, so were quite unprepared, our daughter ended up going in with just her undies on, and trying on many occasions to wear less than that.

My mother and grandmother came down to meet us, and, differing from the other play area, there is a lot of places to sit, and even a little cafe/kiosk. So while the older women in the family had a coffee hit, our daughter sucked down an ice block… An outing enjoyed by everyone in our family, especially our daughter, who didn't want to leave.

Christmas Shopping

Babywearing helps with the crowds while trying to get your Christmas shopping done.

We are in Sydney at the moment, and with a toddler who likes to explore and crowds bigger than we are used to, baby wearing is incredibly handy (even with baby instead of trying to maneuver a pram through the crowds and tight places).

Ballina Daddy even pulled out the ring sling when we were out. Ring slings are really handy for short, quick trips. And are generally small enough to roll up and put in your bag when not in use.

Wrapsody Bali Breeze

My Wrapsody Bali Breeze arrived from Karri Tree Lane last weekend as we left to go camping, so I have only just had the chance to wash it and start the “breaking in” process. This design is called ‘Lily’ and I purchased it in the smallest size I could, size B (apparently A isn’t being produced any more) and is roughly 4.6m long (which would be a size 6 in other woven wrap size terms). It arrived in a cute little bag, with a small booklet of carry instructions and a DVD.

I’m loving the double hammock carry at the moment (and its different variations), especially as I seem to be constantly busy of late! So when BabyBoy started being unsettled, on to the back he went.

The Bali Breeze is a woven wrap made from a gauze type cotton and hand dyed in Bali. I bought this to use through summer, as it gets quite hot and humid here, and the gauze makes it understandably airy. As it is gauze, I have heard it can become quite diggy, which I had noticed when I had tried it out while camping using a Front Wrap Cross Carry (FWCC), but this was unwashed, and possibly not the best wrap job I have done. Today, while using a double hammock carry, although a little bit “scratchy” due to the gauze, I didn’t find it any more diggy than some of the attempts I have tried with other wraps. I am still a novice wrapper, so some carries I attempt still can become a bit diggy after a while, especially as BabyBoy is around 9kg.

The Bali Breeze features a pocket at the end of one end of the wrap (the wrap is sewn together to form a pocket), where you could store a phone, wallet and/or keys, if you were able to tie it in to a good position. You could also use it as a way to store your wrap within itself.

The carry I did today was called a double hammock, where I tied it at the shoulder (DH-TAS) and tied it using a slip knot. Slip knots are handy to use when you may need to retighten and/or loosen. Being a bit of a noob wrapper still, this comes in handy, as you can start to feel your wrap job becoming uncomfortable, and allows for easy adjustment.

While looking for a information on tying at the shoulder, I found a video that shows pretty much what I did to use this carry. It is called Double Hammock Tied at Shoulder or Knotless.

Ballina Farmers Markets

Sunday mornings, down by the river, by Missingham Bridge, you can find Ballina’s little farmers’ markets. While it doesn’t have some of the delicious goodies you can find at Byron’s farmers’ markets, it is still a great place to go pick up your fruit & veg, honey, macadamias, some fresh cut flowers, some potted plants and there is even a home made food stall who is featured in the 10 year anniversary of Byron Bay’s Famers’ Markets’ cookbook.

We usually head down as a family, with Miss2 insisting on choosing all of our purchases. The stall owners are lovely, usually offering Miss2 some lovely fruit to sample, or some other treats they have, including her new favourite treat, dried bananas.

Today, I headed out early, as BabyBoy woke ready for action early, and everyone else was snoozing. So we snuck out and got all our shopping done and brought home breakfast. While it was a lot more peaceful and quicker than having Miss2 with us, it wasn’t nearly as much fun or social. We were able to go in and out quickly, but I missed being able to teach her how to pick which produce would suit us best and why, missed her opinion on what she thought we should eat for the week, but didn’t miss the use of the eyes on the back of my head 😉

The markets start early, somewhere between 6 and 7, and go until they are either sold out, or until about 11am, depending on the stall. If you are organised, and it was a nice day, you could incorporate your trip with a splash in the waves or sandcastle making over the sand dune behind the markets on the sandy beach front of the river.

Thursday Twilight Markets

Not really a good photo as it was a baby wearing appreciation of toddler and Natibaby Dino shot (only wrap she asks to get in to without prompting), but was taken down at Fawcett Park on Richmond River in Ballina at the Twilight Markets.

Toddler dino wrap love at the Twilight Markets

The Twilight Markets take place on Thursdays between 4-8pm during daylight savings. It started last year, and I’m glad it’s back this year, as it is a lovely thing to do on a sunny afternoon, usually followed by a play at the playground (for miss2) and snacking on the yummy food I picked up at the markets.

Yesterday, they also had a lovely lady creating balloon sculptures for the kiddies, it definitely drew a crowd and made for some happy kids, unless it popped like Miss2’s, who promptly had a meltdown for half an hour due to a lack of day time napping. 😦 By the time we had calmed down and got back there she had finished up and gone home, so I suggest getting there early if you want to get one for the kiddies.

Some of the market stalls include: fresh produce, dumplings, crepes, fresh pasta, honey and beeswax, drinks, make up, clothing, wooden furniture, and some arty gift ideas. I’ve noticed though, that if the weather is iffy or wet, it’s mainly just food stalls that you’ll find, including fresh produce.