Happy Birthday my dear wife!

This weekend (Sunday) was my gorgeous wife's birthday.
I've been buying pressies for her for weeks, and giving some of them to her leading up to her birthday (I'm hopeless at waiting until the day!). Though I did leave the largest until the day.

So Pauline ended up with some digital scales for the kitchen, a ceramic hair-straightener, a latte coffee set, and a George Foreman Grill.

EBay is excellent to pick-up some good bargains, particularly if you aren't in a hurry and plan in advance. You'll notice I got some very good bargains.. which meant I could stretch the dollar further and get more stuff for her. All items were brand new, and shipped/packed extremely well.

I'm happy to say so far everyone I've dealt with on E-Bay have been sensational.

Pauline's happy with the pressies which is the main thing!

On Saturday night we had dinner at Pauline's folks home, and had a fantastic meal made by her Mum. She even spoilt Pauline by baking a and making some very yummy chocolate mousse!


Pauline wanted to go to the Melbourne Zoo for her Birthday, and she was lucky... as the weather was perfect for it.
We headed off at around 11:00am (Yeah we slept in!).
We stopped at Subway on the way, and picked up a 6-inch Sub each for lunch, and brought some bottled water and some fruit.


The monkeys were good, though many of them were either hiding, sleeping or out of plain sight. Being around midday I imagine that they had decided to take a midday nap.
These two were most of lively of the lot. It looked like we were their entertainment, with them perched in front of the viewing platform watching the various people come past.











This is probably one of the best photos. You can get up nice and close to thousands of Butterflies in the Butterfly House.
The butterflies fly around you, and if you're lucky will perch on your head, shoulders or hands. We spent ages in there just watching the various butterflies with their rich colours and patterns.




Pauline demanded I take a shot of the sign. She found the phrase "Platypusary" quite humorous. I must admit it does sound rather funny.
The platypus inside was quite interesting, and it's set up so you can see above and below water.
The platypus is an animal unique to Australia and quite interesting. They are worth reading up on...particularly if you've never seen or heard of them.

We also saw the lion's. We were perfectly located in front of one of their drinking containers when one came past from a drink.
It was quite funny as the lion sneezed prior to taking a drink, and I watched as about twenty people jumped back in fright. I think they forgot there was a fence between them and us!

My most favourite exhibit was the seals. You can view them from above and below.
We timed our visit perfectly as the zoo keepers came in and fed them as well as played with each of the seals whilst we were there. They are remarkable animals and quite intelligent. On such a warm day I was a little envious of them jumping and swimming around!

We headed home shortly after and got home around 3pm.

At 6:00pm, we have Paul and Susan (with their two kids) come over to see Pauline for her birthday.
We had some birthday cake after singing after Pauline blew out the candles.
It was good to see our former next-door neighbours, and we had a chat and caught up.
We all headed out for a bite to eat at LaPorchetta around 7:30pm.

We each had pizza (yummy!) and then called it a night (was getting late for the kids around 9pm). Pauline and I headed to the cinema, but there was nothing we wanted to see... so we headed off home and finished the night with a McDonald's McFlurry (it was Pauline's birthday after all!).

So an action packed day, and lots of fun.

I hope you had a fantastic day Pauline... cause you deserve it.