Back to the crochet soon I hope

Until then it's been a mad whirl around here during the last few weeks of the school holidays then back to school.  I haven't even been taking that many photos even though we seem to have been doing plenty.

So I'll quickly let you know just a smidgeon of what we've been up to.

First of all, there is this.....

 

 

 

 

 We bought it in mid January from a friend who hardly ever used it so it's in really good condition.  Hubby's been out a couple of times and has taken the kids as well but we decided that the engine needed a service before we used it anymore.  That is happening as I write so we may even go fishing after school today.

 

There have also been plenty more zoo trips and why not.  It's an amazing place, the kids love it, we have the passes and it keeps us entertained for a couple of hours at a time.

 

 

 

 Little Miss R has been really enjoying cooking and baking more.

 

 

 

That has slowed down a bit now that school has started and also since our lounge room air conditioner died late last week.  Believe me when it's in the 30 celcius and really humid, no air conditioning in our lounge room is not pleasant.  It's a room that faces full west and pretty well doesn't get air. 

 

 Unfortunately it's not getting looked at for another week and we've got some mid 30 celcius days coming up.  Eeek!  Luckily the bedrooms have air conditioning.

 

Master M got a new bike for his birthday so we've been tearing up the tarmac on that.

 

 

 

 

There have also been outings and picnics which have involved plenty of driving (always lots of driving when hubby takes us on picnics).  In fact we did nearly 500 kilometres on Saturday when we went on a jaunt.

 

Somehow our picnics and outings nearly always involve creeks and rock throwing.  This one is Emu Creek near the town of Blackbutt and is really low right now.  Boy do we need some good rain.

 

 

 

And of course school has started.  I thought things would slow down a bit once the kids went back but that hasn't happened as yet.  Last week I was trying to catch up on things that I didn't get the chance to do on the holidays.

 

 

 

 So hopefully I'll get the chance to do some crochet and finish Master M's blanket.  I'm over two thirds of the way there, I just need to find some time to actually sit down for a time and get it done.  Perhaps I'll hide away in my air conditioned bedroom later in the week when it's hot and I won't want to be anywhere near my oven of a lounge room. 

 

That sounds like a plan!

 

xx Susan

 

 

 



Master M is 9 already!

...and it happended over a week ago.  I can't believe how these school holidays seem to be flying past.

My boy now has only one year left in single digits.  Oh time, please slow down a little so I can treasure and cherish these days. 

 

 I know that every stage in their lives brings something different to love but knowing that one of my children still has one digit to their age makes me still feel like I'm Mummy and not just Mum. 

 

I had a little twinge the other day when I realised that I had written just that,  Mum and not Mummy in Master M's birthday card.  I mourned that a little (just privately as I didn't want anyone to think I was too ridiculous).

 

 

 

 

 

But time (and the day) moves on and I'm happy to say that Master M had a wonderful day.

 

The poor mite usually misses out on birthday parties with school friends because he's born in early January when everyone's in the middle of their summer holidays and are often away.  I know he gets upset about it sometimes which certainly pulls on the heart strings.

 

This birthday I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for us.  We're usually a picnic loving family so for me to take them to an indoor play area was nearly like taking them to space. 

 

The cousins came along for the fun too and getting these two great mates to take a serious photo was nearly impossible...

 

 

...I tried. I really did.

 

 

I took them to The Big Boing which is basically an indoor trampoline place.  I had never heard of it but then it's not somewhere that I would usually go or take the kids so I somehow seem to filter all of that information out.

 

We found out about it by word of mouth and since then I've been surprised at the amount of people that know about it.  I'm beginning to think that I often live on another planet!

 

 

 

There's plenty of things for the kids to play on in their hour long session.  Trampolines are the main thing though which is why the place is called The Big Boing.

 

The kids loved bouncing from once side to the other then bouncing off the wall trampolines and then bouncing back to the other side.  The energy!!

 

 

 

There was a big pillow thing that they could bounce onto and a basket ball section where they could practice their slam dunking.  The even had an area to play dodge ball which seemed to be a great deal of fun.

 

 

 

The blur below is Little Miss R bouncing off one of the side trampolines.

 

 

 

There was even a mini game of soccer which didn't really last long because all they really wanted to do was bounce.

 

 

 

One hour and four hot, knackered and happy kids later, we headed off to lunch.  Master M's choice so it was McDonalds of course.

 

 

It was a pretty quiet trip home with Master M falling asleep in the car then putting himself to bed as soon as we got home.

 

We had to wake him up when some guests arrived so he could have his cake.

 

 

 

The VERY rich chocolate cake made by Little Miss R for her brother.  It sunk a bit in the middle and there were a couple of issues while making it but she did a great job.  I had to help with melting the chocolate as it's in not only the icing but the cake too (I told you it was rich).

 

So Happy 9th Birthday Master M.  I hope you had a wonderful day and have fun riding your new bike.

 

xx Mummy  :)

 



Little Miss R cooks

Little Miss R received a cookbook for Christmas and has all of a sudden shown an interest in doing things in the kitchen.

 

That's making actual things, not just the usual scoffing of food from the pantry or fridge and it certainly hasn't included the cleaning up part of it yet either (we're working on that one!)

 

 

 

 

 So far she has made Coconut Rice which was quite delicious and I think inspired her to try more things because it was so easy.

 

 

 

 

She also made Master M a chocolate cake for his birthday.  You will get to see that one in another blog post as we've been quite busy here that I haven't had much of a chance (or inclination at times) to upload the photos.

 

 

 

Our favourite recipe by far at the moment is for Mum's Lemon Biscotti.  It's not my recipe but the name of the one in the book and let me tell you that they are more-ish, scrumptious and just plain delicious.

 

 

 

They have been an absolute hit with the whole family.  Yes, that includes Master M who has a bit of an aversion to lemon flavoured anything.

 

I'm thinking that another batch will be baked over the next few days.

 

 

xx Susan

 



This is so much fun Mum!

As usual we did a quick trip to the zoo yesterday afternoon.  It was pretty hot and about 3pm I told the kids to grab their togs (swimmers) and towels and off we went.

 

Swimming at the zoo is not a usual thing, mainly because the only water areas are filled with crocodiles and that's certainly not tempting to dip your toe in the water no matter how hot it is.

 

This January though they have a big waterslide so we popped up there to cool off for an hour or so.

 

 

 

 

It was so much bigger than I had expected with 3 slides to choose from.

 

 

 

The kids didn't have the jitters at all at being high up.  They just sat down and off they went.

 

 

 

It was a pretty quick trip to the bottom where they slid along with a splash.

 

 

 

Master M wasn't to be outdone either.

 

 

 

He wasn't too impressed at getting water in his eyes and up his nose but it didn't stop him from going on it again..and again...and again...and again........

 

 

It was a pretty steep climb up the back of it where they had to wait patiently in line until they were allowed up 2 at a time to stop it getting congested at the top.

 

 

 

The zebra's, giraffes and rhino's didn't seem too impressed with their new neighbour.  Perhaps they thought it was some new exhibit with the humans on display!

 

 

 

I can see us having plenty of fun with this over the next few weeks.

 

xx Susan



Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2017.  If you saw the New Year in then I hope you had a wonderful evening.

 

We went to hubby's cousin's place for a barbeque which was a really lovely night.  (Thanks B and M!)

 

It had also been another really hot day so the kidlettes were happy to jump straight in the pool as soon as we arrived.

 

 

 

 

I lamented my lack of togs as the pool looked so inviting.  At least I had a nice shady spot to sit in and watch the fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the evening progressed all the little ones started to get pretty tired and dropped off to sleep one by one so the sparklers and glow sticks came out early for their celebration.

 

 

Master M stayed up for his first New Years which he was pretty chuffed about.  I think the fact that he was hanging out with Teen J playing on the PlayStation had a lot to do with it!

 

 

 

The first day of January was pretty hot again so it was a day of lazing about with the air conditioners on and dozing a bit to catch up on lost sleep.

 

There was a water fight to cool things down of course.  The kidlettes ganging up against their dad and having a very loud happy time.

 

 

 

Lets hope 2017 has many wonderful things in store.

 

xx Susan