Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail!

Alrighty, we will be working backwards on this post cause i stuffed up the order on the photos, but as the title suggests, there will be a monorail feature later on.




So as you know, we are dog-sitting at the moment while my parents are away, and last night we decided to take Comet for a spin in the car, which was something he used to LOVE when he was young and sprightly - alas, at the old age of 16, he looked more like this....





Don't let that miserable face fool you. He had a rockin time, pink towel and all. Except for when we opened the windows and he attempted to get up close to the breeze, but his bones failed to support him - so that was the end of that.

Jo, driving me and Comet to get pizza. You can see his all-time favourite restaurant in the background.

On Thursday, i babysat Jack and discovered a new weight-loss phenomenon - pushing a pram on a hot day. Try it folks. Don't let the litres of sweat pouring down your face deter you. You'll have arms of steel within two weeks, money back guaranteed.

With a whole afternoon ahead of us, and with Jack's current love of Thomas the tank engine and all things locomotive-related, i decided it was time for a milestone - his very first trip on the monorail (cause Lord knows I'm not tackling the Sydney underground alone). It was an extremely entertaining experience for me - perhaps not so for our fellow passengers, whom Jack authoritatively told to "sit down" at any opportunity. They were also treated to a thrilling rendition of Happy Birthday to You, at the top of his lungs (I mean hello, that's the way it's meant to be sung). Those particular people got off at the next stop, which was fine with us cause we didn't like them anyway. Anyone who doesn't appreciate beautiful music gets automatic points knocked off by Jack, and rightly so i say.

He also enjoyed telling the doors to close so we could be on our way at every stop, and laughed his head off as we sped up around the bends. Predictably, as soon as we got off he was demanding "more choo choo train!" So we met up with my friend Leah and headed up for another couple of loops, and I may be a sucker but let me tell you, the joy on his face was worth the 5 bucks. What does the train do, i asked him. "Toot toot!" his little voice rang out, as we waved to the people below us who couldn't possibly be having as much fun as we were. Leah was christened Lilo by Jack, and after the monorail we made our way to Hyde Park for some ball-throwing fun. At first she tried to get down on his level so that it would be easier for him to throw to her, but this kid doesn't take short cuts. "Up Lilo!" he said, refusing to throw until she was standing at full height (and that's pretty damn tall, let me tell you).

At the end of the day, I had to laugh. "Guess who's coming!" i said - " Mummy!" He immediately frowned and hung his head, as if he knew the fun was about to end. It's the plight of parents everywhere I'm afraid, which is why being the awesome Godmother is really the better job for me. And anyway, she's a sucker too. She took him on the monorail one more time before they went home. Here are some pictures from our adventures:

Jack, ready to catch.


This throw really took it out of him

Fun times in the wind for me.

Lilo and Jack

Jack on the monorail (refused to sit in the pram mind you)

Me and Jack on the mono, taken by a friendly lady who stood up to do it properly, and was immediately told by Jack to sit down. (She got off the next stop too).