My first born turned 14 years old on Tuesday the first! I am such a blessed mama!
In the morning we woke, wished our boy a happy day, gave him his birthday cards and gifts, and I read him his birth story….
We camped close enough to Melbourne so that we could take Elki into the city to celebrate his special day.
After breakfast we took him out to spend his birthday money; he had planned his spending and knew what he wanted, and then we went out for a seriously delicious vegan lunch at Lord of the Fries, and dropped in to Smith and Deli for takeaway vegan birthday donuts.
That night we sang Happy Birthday by candlelight and torchlight and he ate his Birthday donut (Amazingly yummy!)
The next day we embarked on another big day; the Melbourne museum.
There was some initial frantic, rushing to see what came next; the dinosaur walk an exciting start, and the flying pterosaurs (especially Quetzalcoatl) sparking a lot of interest.
Elki was in awe of the giant squid in the underwater gallery.
The bug gallery was super interesting, we saw dung beetles with life sized elephant poo, gorgeous stick insects, and tiny, tiny wood insects but Anusha was very trepidatious about seeing any spiders so we walked on to the Wild gallery to see the animals.
Animals are what she is drawn to and most interested in. Even though we all found the stuffed animals rather unnerving, we tried out the interactive computers to find out the names of animals we didn’t know.
We had a wander around the Children’s gallery,
The textural feel of this a favourite of all the children.
The different visible levels and layers of the forest gallery were quite beautiful. The children looked into the core of a dead tree to see what lived inside,
and saw fish swimming under the water of a creek.
The Aboriginal cultural gallery was fascinating for us all: Anusha listened to the different languages of the varying Aboriginal countries and Aboriginal names for some Australian animals; telling me the name for Echidna and asking me to listen.
Elki spent time finding out the names and uses of some Aboriginal hand tools and weapons,
And we all learned about Aboriginal toys. I absolutely loved the breasts and baby toy!
After wandering the Aboriginal gallery and Te Pacifica gallery, with it’s awesome boats and masks that Elki showed me and thought were awesome, (interestingly, the masks were made in an area of New Guinea close to where Scott spent the first five years of his life) we had a look around the Melbourne gallery.
Anusha and I were fascinated by this construction of an old Melbourne house. Elki found the old weapons most appealing.
We then made our way outside for a picnic; Elki happening across a blunderbuss, a favourite of his!
After lunch and a rest in the shade we made our way back in and looked around the Mind and body gallery.
We were all getting a bit weary but before leaving we checked out the Dynamic Earth gallery and it was a definite favourite!
After Elki and I had looked at each of the globes of Earth in formation and were dazzled by the crystals, we all found each other in the movie theatre. The 3D volcano movie was amazing, Elki exclaiming in delight; “it was like surfing the lava!” Anusha and I loved it and felt slightly sick and overwhelmed all at the same time. But definitely a great way to end our visit.
The following day we recovered and Elki enjoyed his new birthday purchases; Lego, Yu gi oh cards, which he tried out with his Dad and sister, and a set of the Heroes of Olympus books.
I’ve now been a mama for about two fifths of my life and I am dearly looking forward to sharing another fifth with this beautiful boy.
Birdies in their nest 