August 12 - I've Exhausted Myself

  I feel utterly drained today and I really have no one to blame but myself.  I didn't sleep well last night, I've been going to bed late and rising early for a week solid and today I attempted to get my nephew good and tuckered out and succeeded but only by tuckering myself out too.  I got up early today to shower and start on yesterday's blog before my nephew got dropped off.  After he was dropped off I finished my blog while Mr Smart tried in vain to do some study to the tune of Futurama and my nephew giving a blow-by-blow commentary of his playing with my Lego.  Luckily it didn't take me too long and we were soon getting ready to go elephant hunting.
  Mr Smart needed to study today so we set off first to drop him home then continued on into the city pausing only to get petrol.  You may note at this point, I'd not thought to eat breakfast yet.  We parked at the Federation Square car park again and I told my nephew that there was a playground nearby (on Birrarung Marr) and that we could have a little play before we started the hunt.  He was delighted with this and as usual proceeded straight to the equipment most likely to result in a serious injury.  I jest of course, but he is bloody fearless.  Climbing walls, rope ladders, steep inclines, he cares not!  But he didn't have a long play as he got distracted by nearby elephants that Mr Smart and I saw yesterday.
  I realised I was a bit hungry then so we ambled down to Swanston Street.  My nephew wanted 'Chickie Nuggets' which is his way of saying McDonald's.  I walked into McDonald's, I ordered 3 Chicken McNuggets, received them and walked away.  I can't tell you how enticing the smell of the Filet o' Fish sauce hanging in the air was.  It took a will of steel not to fold, but I managed to walk out with nothing for myself.

  My nephew kept asking "Why can't we sit down?" as we walked out of Maccas and further up the street.  We went into Subway, which actually delighted him because they have tall bar stools in the window which he could sit on to eat while I ordered my own lunch.  I ordered a six inch meatball sub on wholegrain bread with old English cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and one squirt of honey mustard sauce and a 500ml bottle of orange juice.  I know I'm not supposed to have juice but today was one of those odd occasions where I just really wanted something that wasn't water.
  I also got my nephew a chocolate milk to supplement the meagreness of three chicken nuggets.  He's not a big eater so I tend to just spoil him rotten as he's not with me terribly often.  He did ask for a Subway cookie as we were leaving but I said no as there were already two Freddos, the large kind, in my bag that he'd picked out earlier when I got petrol.  I let him have one after his lunch and we saved the other for when we got home "if he was good", ahh bribery and corruption.
  After our respective meals we walked back to the corner of Swanston and Flinders to cross over to our first new elephants!  As we walked down we passed some of those horse and carriage rides.  He asked if we could go on one but at $60 for 15 minutes, I said no.  He did however get to pat one of the horses, Joe.

  My nephew was a bit miffed that he wasn't allowed to climb on these wonderful elephants, so I did get a great look out of him when I let him sit on Larry La Trobe, a sturdy little bronze sculpture in City Square.
  I won't go into a detailed list of our hunt but we did grab a City Circle tram from Flinders Street to Spring Street at some point which he thought was wonderful.  He likes public transport.  I've taken him on the trains previously but this was his first tram.  We had to stand but he found his balance very well.
  We were on our feet for about three hours altogether and he was a very well behaved little trooper.  I did have to carry him on my shoulders a couple of times, and at 14kg that's no light load, but I came out of it relatively well.
  To see all ten of the Mali's we found today, click here and look for August 12.
  From about the 7th Mali our ventures were interspersed with demands that we return to the playground so since it was so close to the car park he got his wish and had a grand time before we headed home.  I had planned to drop in at my place on the way to dropping him at home but he was asleep within about 20 minutes of us leaving so I didn't want to stop until I got him home.
  It's true to say that by this point in the weekend I was well and truly tired.  I had made plans with Captain Cupcake to watch a movie tonight but I rescheduled it rather than be poor company (thank you Captain Cupcake for understanding). 
  I decided to rest up at Bertie's before attempting the trip home and in recognition of my dutiful care and entertainment of her son for the day, Bertie rewarded me with a pedicure and a calf massage.  A calf massage is not something I've ever really desired before but carrying the little bugger up the incline on Lansdowne Street really put some strain on them!  I nearly fell asleep more than once during my pedicure and Bertie invited me to stay for dinner rather than rush off and worry about cooking something myself, so I did.

  Dinner was sausages, scalloped potatoes and steamed veggies.  It was a pleasant change, and the first potatoes I've had in a couple of months as far as I can recall, though I find that rather surprising!  And I must say, on taking my post-meal blood sugar reading, potatoes and/or sausage may very well be the devil.  My reading was 8.4!  That's the highest post-meal reading I've had this whole time.  I dread to think what it will still be at in the morning!
  All that said and done, I would recommend walking the city with a three year old to anyone.  The jaded scales fall from your eyes when you take the time to see what they see and attempt to answer all that is asked.
  Jess