OK, I'm running a bit late again this week. Again. It's been a busy weekend as Andy's next trip has been brought forward a couple of days, so this is his last weekend at home before flying back to Australia again. This time it's for three weeks - his longest since Isobel was born - so there's a bit to do around the house before then.

The family room transformation is finally complete. Gone are the shelves of CDs and DVDs that Isobel loved raking through, relocated upstairs on the landing outside our bedroom. In it's place is a shelving unit of brightly coloured plastic buckets to store all her toys - they still mostly get scattered all over the carpet, but at least I can pack them away during her naps or after bedtime. The hifi and speakers are out in the front room again, as Andy was getting a little nervous about Isobel chewing on the speaker cases! The only reminder of the 'before'-state of the room is the big TV, which we can't relocate as there's only one cable outlet in the house. We've also had to stuff a couple of pillows in the gaps behind the TV stand, as there are still lots of power cables in behind that we don't want her chewing on.

Andy spent some time getting the yards in shape - the front and back yards have been mown again, although at this time of year it only lasts about a week before they start to look raggy again. He also did the overhaul on the pressure washer, and sprayed all the winter moss and debris off the driveway so it's nice and clean again (that sounds so decadent given the water restrictions at home, but you can't clean the driveways here any other way!). He bought a different spray head for the pressure washer which was much better than the 'included' fitting, so it only took about a third the time as the last attempt.

Isobel is still having great fun, especially now she's effectively taken over the family room! She loves being outdoors, and had lots of fun watching Andy play a game of cricket on Friday with a few other guys from the office. We travelled down to the oval in Renton where they were playing, and spread out a picnic rug for Isobel to roam around on. It's been too wet in our backyard before now to take Isobel outside, so it was her first experience of crawling around on grass - she looked very surprised at first with the spongey texture, but was soon off exploring. We managed to find a little 'Speedo' sunhat for her, and slathered her in sunscreen as she has Andy's fair colouring. Of course I completely forgot to put any sort of sunscreen on, so my upper arm is nicely cooked and will peel horribly later in the week .

Another netball game on Saturday, filling in for Tubi who is still nursing an injured ankle after our trip to Whistler over Easter. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping in Bellevue, and picked up a collapsible canopy for the backyard so we can have some shade during summer. We're lucky to have some tall trees to provide shade during the late afternoon, but otherwise there's very little cover in the backyard. It's big enough to cover the inflatable pool we got a few weeks ago, so we'll be able to take Isobel for a paddle without worrying about the sun too much.

After the shopping, we popped into the icecream shop for a treat before heading home. Isobel saw something that looked like food, and started reaching out to share - my icecream was offlimits because it had some chopped nuts in it, so Andy let her chew on the straw for his milkshake. Chew chew chew chew ... pause ... suck suck!! Suddenly she looked surprised, let go of the cup and opened her mouth a little - she'd managed to get some of the milkshake through the straw!! We were both flabbergasted, but the look on Isobel's face was priceless ... as was Andy's, when he realised he now had to share the rest of his milkshake!! Smart kid, that one .