beach, gyms, parties, and restaurants.

This is Nana's final full weekend before she returns to Europe, and it happened to be a very busy one! On Friday Rich took Raf to his Music Together class, which was not altogether a great success, but late Friday afternoon, with sunny skies and a not too cold wind, we took Raf and the dogs to the beach for a walk. Everyone was worn out with so much running around!

After a good night's sleep we began Saturday with Rafi's gymnastics class. Well, I have to admit that I was dreading this class after last week's harrowing hour but he ended up having a super, super fun time. Mind you he didn't pay much attention to what the other kids were doing (no need to worry, at the moment, that he's a 'follower'!!) but he really loved some of the stations, especially the ones involving bars and swinging. He really is a little monkey. And, the foam pit he was dying to dive into last week, was part of another station - so he was quite happy about being able to jump into there!

After a pretty tiring class Raf took a brief nap and then we were off to his friend Sawyer's 2nd birthday party! We had a lovely time with Sawyer's family and it was great that Raf got to hang out with his old pal from his nursery school. Sawyer is such a sweetheart and, like Raf, loves to dance! Raf was very excited to get his party package, which included a beautiful balloon, a truck, and a lollipop! Believe it or not, Raf hasn't had a lollipop before and when he got into the car he was excited to try it. He really did enjoy it!

VERY sadly Raf's balloon escaped when we went to meet mum and Rich at the store. Raf was devastated as he watched the balloon drift away and I felt so sad for him as he didn't really understand why I couldn't get it back. Poor little boy.

Raf was so bushed when we returned home. He did some painting (he is really into working on his art, at the moment) and then had another good night's sleep. Today, we had an old friend of the family visit with his lovely partner. They took all of us to Federal Jacks for a nice pub lunch and, again, I was almost dreading it as it's not that relaxing taking Raf to a pub. But, what a patient boy he was. He did some colouring, played with his trains, and did a lot of 'chin chins' with his apple juice drink.

We were very proud of him for making it through the entire meal with no screaming! last time we were there, Rich and I could barely keep him in his seat. Mind you, the fries helped! Just as we were readying to leave, Raf suddenly got up and gave Rich's coat to him and then gathered his coat and declared to everyone, "bye bye". He was certainly ready to leave!

A busy weekend, but a lovely few days.