Back to School

Well Isabella started GRADE ONE today!!!

She is such a big girl now.

Camping .... errr, well sort of!

Over the Australia Day long weekend we ventured down to Wonthaggi as we do every year. Again, we went with the Finch and the Bradley families. This year however, we didn't take the tent or the campervan but decided it was time to lash out and book the cabin! As much as we love camping it was just so much easier with 2 kids and a baby to have a self-contained cabin. Wise choice - made packing and unpacking SOOOOOO much better too! The drive down didn't start off too good as Isabella had terrible travel sickness. Poor love spent most of the way throwing up into a bag. She was so brave though. Fraser also had a bad case of conjunctivitis which hit him pretty bad. His little eyes looked so sore and he often woke with both eyes gunked shut. Alex however, tough as nails! :) We had such a great time and dare I say it, quite relaxing!



Our cabins were a mere 25 meters away from the pool so that was a big hit. The kids spent a lot of time in the pool which made them happy. Fraser's first 'real' experience in a pool too. He had attempted to go in a friend's pool a couple of weeks ago but it was fair too cold for him and only got as far as his toes! But he really loved the warm water and was quite happy to float around in his seat. He even went under which he didn't mind either. Alex spent most of the time floating around talking to her invisible friends and practicing her swimming!




And Bella had a ball with Matilda, Georgia and Michaela!



Saturday night saw us have our traditional Australia Day dinner with all of our families plus Amanda's Mum and husband and a few friends. The boys spent all of Saturday out on the bay fishing. They got such a great haul for our dinner! On Sunday, Moon had arranged some helicopter flights at Phillip Island for us all - THANKS MOON!! It was so much fun. Rick and I have already been in army helicopters but the kids were so excited to go this time. It was great fun and they loved having the headphones on and talking to each other through the microphones. It was a bit of an overcast day but still got to see such beautiful views of Phillip Island and the surrounding area.
After our flights we headed to the chocolate factory that we have been meaning to go to for several years now. We had lunch at the cafe and then went and bought some chocolate. MMMMmmm yes well you all know how I feel about chocolate.






We also took the kids to see the wind farm - another thing we have been meaning to do for years. I find them quite spectacular and so much friendlier than ugly power stations. I got a bit excited though when I found a information box that had some education flyers inside. The box looked like a clue box from the Amazing Race so me being me, pretended to be on the Amazing Race and had a bit of fun! Ok, must have been the sea air that did it to me! :)





Anyway, another successful camping trip. Actually, Emma did remind me that we really should stop calling it camping - as it was so far from camping it was not funny! All the happy snaps can be seen HERE.

Fairies in the Park... again!

Well it was blogged back in Jan06 when I took Isabella to the Fitzroy Gardens to see the Fairy Panto. 2 years later we were back! But this time the whole family in tow! We spent the day in the city with the Unwins (Scott, Lisa, Brihny and Bailey) and we all had such a great day. I love being in town this time of year - especially when the Australian Open is on as there is just so much to do. We caught the train in which is half the adventure for the kids. Then we went by tram to the Gardens (another adventure in itself - interesting with a pram!) The kids watched the Fairy show and sung and danced and had fun. We had a stroll around the gardens and explored all sorts of things... the fairy tree was again a hit.







After that we went and had lunch and then went to the Shrine of Remembrance. The children were fascinated with this place and we spent a few hours explaining the eternal flame, all the statues to them and touring inside the shrine. Isabella and Brihny (6) didn't stop asking questions the whole time and really showed an interest. It was great for Rick too who had never actually been inside.






We then went to the Royal Botanical Gardens and explored the Ian Potter Garden. What a fun place!! The kids thought it was the bee's knees - a playground with nothing but nature to have fun in. We stayed here until it closed but the kids didn't want to leave. They had a lot of adventures here.





We met my sister Raelene and her boyfriend at the garden cafe and we all had coffee and a chat. Then we walked all the way back to Flinder's street station - stopping at the infamous flower clock and the water-wall at the museum. All the things I remember doing as a kid :)




The kids were exhausted - as were we!

It's a girl thing......

Just wanted to share some great photos of my girls in their element today. They had so much fun with their makeup - and had even more fun when I let them loose on me!










And here are some funny shots taken a few days ago.... happy times :)











And a nice one of the kids to finish up on......

Bella's Party

Today was Isabella's 6th birthday party!

She had so much fun with her friends roller skating! Most of the children hadn't been skating before so it was a new adventure. For some of the Mums and Dads it was a case of 'getting back into the grooooove'!! I had so much fun too - and we were all going so well until the very last 30 seconds of the session where Donna and I ended up on our bums! It was hilarious - I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up :)






But more importantly Isabella had a great day. She can't wait to have a few formal lessons to teach her the tricks of not only skating - but stopping!! Alex did a pretty good job too.. she is quite confident up and down our hallway but was a bit overwhelmed at the big rink. Thankfully they had a hand rail all the way around that most of the kids made use of. Isabella was skating without it by the end of the session.





I made a roller skating cake at Belle's request. A bit slap-happy but it was near 40deg and we had a party the day before so it was all I could do given the circumstances. She was happy with the result though and Alex was very fast to nick all the wheels before the others could get to them ( she LOVES marshmallows!).