Eight

 On the 9th of October Poppy turned 8. She had decided she would like to go rock climbing with her friends instead of having a full blown birthday party (phew!) and it was the perfect activity for my active girl.

The day before her birthday she met with six of her friends at our local PCYC where they giggled, rock climbed, jumped on the trampolines and did gymnastics. It was the perfect catch up as it was the end of the two week school holidays and all the girls were missing each other.

On the morning of her actual birthday Poppy had asked to go to McDonald's for breakfast, as she had never been for breakfast before, so all the children were very excited. She got the hot cakes and a juice and won two free sundaes on the Monopoly promotion stickers, so it looks like another trip to Macca's is to be had in the next few weeks before they run out. 

The 9th was a Sunday and also the day we go to a friends place to watch the Bathurst car race every year, there is always lots of our friends and children to play with so it was the perfect thing to do on Poppy's birthday, one of our friends Lily turned two a few days before, so both the girls had birthday cakes to share. Lily had a great "Dory" cake and Poppy had requested a 'Pinata' cake (where you 'smash' a chocolate dome and reveal a cake covered in lollies underneath!) 

Happy Birthday my gorgeous girl, I hope the year ahead is your best yet.

xx

Lately...

We are in the first week of the term three school holidays. I can't believe the year has gone so fast! We are always so busy, so to spend the last few days of holidays with family has been lovely, here is a little snap shot...

We've been baking

Alexis has been "Super meow meow"

Poppy has been watching the veggies in her little garden grow, finding worms and relocating them here and watering, so much watering.

We watched Poppy dance in the all schools dance event in the last week of school.

They've been playing nicely so far these school holidays, they even weeded the garden for hours.

Tommy and I have been meal planning, especially healthy lunches.

We flew kites.

We stocked the fridge with healthy treats. 

We've enjoyed smoothies most days.

They've explored the 'junk yard' behind our sheds.

We walked, scootered and ridden bikes.

We enjoyed family lunch dates on rainy days.

I have been loving the gorgeous Adore U range.

I've enjoyed quiet baths after the children have gone to bed.

We've walked around the Seaport, stopping for coffee and chips.

We've swam at the Aquatics centre.

And we've pulled out a few board games and old favorites. 

We've been enjoying our own company and re-exploring the town we live in, our family usually has every day booked or double booked in the holidays, so it's been really nice spending time together. 

We are getting busier this coming week, but for now, I'll enjoy the slow paced days.

Happy Holidays! x

Westbury Maze

Tom works a nine day fortnight, meaning every second Friday he has off, these Friday's are usually used for catching up around the house and going to appointments such as giving blood, doctors and the bank. 

As his last Friday off was in the school holidays we thought it was a great opportunity to head out for a little adventure with the girls (Rory was spending the day with his Gran, as he had missed out when he was sick last week).

After a few different ideas, we had seen that the Westbury maze (about 30 minutes from home), has a special on where adults are at children's prices ($7) for the month of July, so thought we would head out there for the day.

We hadn't taken the children before and the girls were so excited, when we arrived, the lovely lady told us that they had hidden 13 different objects in the maze and if the girls could find them all they would get a little prize at the end.

So with paper and pen in hand we headed off to find the middle of the maze, and the 13 objects in between.

You would think having objects through out the maze would make it a little easier to find our way, it didn't, I'm sure we walked past this dam dinosaur fifty times. 

Finally we found the middle!

It was great to see the maze from above and work out where we had been, and how to get back out again!

The ladies gave the girls a lolly pop at the end for finding all the objects, (Alexis looks stoked with hers*)

We then drove around the quaint town of Westbury and stopped at Andy's bakery and gelato for some lunch and of course some gelato!

*The sun was in her eyes, she was really excited with her lolly pop, (I promise!!)

Trevallyn Reserve

 We have been making the most of any sun we get lately, in between the rainy muddy days, we've had some mornings here and there, that have been perfect crisp Winters morning, the kind that make you want to get out and enjoy them.

So on Sunday when the sun was shining, we headed to a local reserve to collect some sticks for the fire and get some fresh air and exercise at the same time.

We left early enough in the morning so that we could still catch a few Kangaroo's hoping about and the bush was very still, the children soon found a huge fallen tree to climb on and plenty of bits and pieces to put in their own little collection bags, while I gathered some sticks.

The reserve is home to the Trevallyn Dam and with all the rain we've had about lately, it was great to see all the water pouring over.

We then found the children's favorite tree, it's really bushy on the outside but perfect for climbing when you get underneath, they spent about an hour up in the tree chatting and playing.

We then sat on one of the many tables and had a picnic lunch, there are plenty of electric bbq's in the area which I often forget about, but we will have to remember and use more often.

It was a great way to spend the morning, and to make the most of the day before the rain started again.

What are you up to these school holidays?

xx