Celebration Day!

I can't believe that it's now over a week since Master M finished Primary school.  It's certainly the end of an era because my kids were 5th generation at that school and you don't hear or see that in many places anymore.

They have a bit of a tradition at the school that the graduating class gets to enjoy a special Celebration Day to finish of the year and as a fun farewell day before they head off to High school.

It's always held at Kings Beach in Caloundra and they get to play some games on the grassy areas, play in the fountains and swim in the pool.

The day was hot and sunny, but then that's about all it's been around here for months now.  Hats and sunscreen were a must and the kids had a great time being out of the classroom with their mates.

I think the pool was the most popular activity for the kids, followed closely by playing in the fountains as it gave them a chance to cool off.

I looked on with envy as they all enjoyed the pool but didn't have my togs with me.

Luckily the other fun part of the day is a special lunch at the Surf Club that the school organises every year.

The air conditioning was perfect and the view from my chair was pretty good too.....

There were also class parties to be enjoyed and cupcakes were requested as the dish of choice.  I really don't enjoy decorating cakes so I try to make things look as festive as possible with as little effort as possible.

I believe they were all inhaled relatively quickly :)

It's also been the only baking I've done in the lead up to Christmas so far.  It's been too hot and I really haven't felt like doing much in the kitchen at all but Miss R is nagging regularly requesting me to make the gingerbread muffins with cream cheese icing that I've been making the last few years so I believe I may be making some over the weekend.

I might make a double batch as they freeze really well and I can get the baking done on one day then put my feet up in front of the air conditioner while watching cricket and scoffing muffins.  Sounds like a plan!

I hope you are all enjoying a calm lead up to the holidays or you are at least able to find some calm in the frazzled moments.

Enjoy!

xx Susan

Adventure Day Camp

On the school holidays Miss R got the chance to take part in an Adventure Day Camp, an event organised by the Autism Treehouse.  It's the first time we've attended any of their events and her paediatrician recommended them. 

 As soon as I read about this Day camp I KNEW my girl would want to go.  She loves this kind of thing, especially doing ropes courses and we were lucky there were still places left. 

Master M spent the day with a relative as this isn't something he would enjoy and he wouldn't have coped with a full day out watching his sister.  So he had a special day with my Uncle which meant Miss R and I could fully enjoy our day.

First up our group went to the archery range.

I know Miss R loved archery when she tried it on a school camp so she was pretty excited about doing it again.  

I had never tried it before and when they said that the parents and carers could have a go I jumped at the chance.  I can't believe how much I enjoyed it.  In fact I enjoyed it so much I'm looking into local archery ranges so I can have another go.

The next thing our group did was the Possum Launch or something along those lines.  It involved one child being hooked up and 10 children (huskies) being hooked up to the other end of the rope.  The faster the 10 kids ran up the track, the quicker and higher the child at the other end was launched into the air.

I'm glad I was on the ground but Miss R loved it.

The thing she loved most, by far, and what she waited until the end of the day for was the ropes course.  She LOVES doing these and has no fear of heights.

The ropes course starts off about ladder height and works it way between trees and platforms getting higher and higher as you continue on.

Eventually you reach the last platform where you get hooked onto a zipline and hurtle back to solid ground.  The next photo is probably my favourite photo of the whole day by far and not because it's spectacular or anything as it's not really.

I love the way my girl is standing.  She always stands in the 'stork' pose, especially when she's comfortable and here she is, high up in a tree on a tiny platform waiting for her turn on the zipline.   

She's standing casual in her stork pose and not even holding onto a rope while chatting to one of the crew helping the kids out for the day.  LOVE IT!

It really was a fantastic day and we weren't even at the car before she was asking when we could do it again so it looks like I'll be researching ropes courses around the area as well.

Have a great week everyone.

xx Susan

A quick trip to the Zoo

The first Sunday of the school holidays dawned clear and gorgeous.  It really was one of those perfect winter's days that scream at you to get outside and enjoy it.  We answered the call.

We were still in lazy weekend, holiday mode so we didn't want to go to far.  The unanimous decision was to go to the zoo.  We haven't been in about 6 months which is a bit unlike us and needed to renew our annual passes first but they are so worth it if you live only a few kilometres away like we do.

This visit wasn't about seeing all the animals which may seem a bit odd considering it is a zoo.  Having said that, you can't go anywhere without seeing animals of some kind and I couldn't walk past one of the koala enclosures without taking the next photo.  It cracked me up.

It looks like how I'm feeling of a morning these school holidays.  (Too much cricket and Wimbledon is on which means ALL night here Downunder).

What we really came to the zoo for was the obstacle course which they have had over the winter school holidays for the last 3 to 4 years.

The kids love climbing, sliding, going under and going through all the inflatable sections of the course.

I love the fact that they're wearing themselves out while I find a nice shady spot, spread out the picnic blanket and crochet away for awhile.

Since we were last here they've added a big bouncing pillow so the kids had to try that out for a bit as well.

Then it was time to enjoy an ice-cream while watching the water fountains which no one was in at the time as it was a bit too chilly.  Once the weather warms up it gets really popular as you'll see from one of our other visits in this post.

Another thing I love about the zoo is the water stations.  There are a few of them around the site and you can refill your water bottles with cold water for free.

It's the little things like this that can help families save a bit as we know how expensive outings can get, especially when you're on holiday.  Even after running around on a short visit we usually need to fill the water bottles up.

Another thing I love is that there are seats everywhere around the zoo so there's plenty of spots to stop for a bit of a rest.  Lots of them have a carving of an animal on them and the little baby crocodile kept me company while the kids played on the jumping pillow.

It may seem like we were there for ages but in fact it was a little over 2 1/2 hours from when we left home to when we drove back in.  A perfect little afternoon jaunt.

For my new readers who haven't followed me for long, we live only 3 kilometres from Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter.  We've been coming to the zoo since the kids were babies so they've pretty well grown up going there.

Since the zoo is really spread out, we always purchase an annual pass and rarely stay more than 2 - 3 hours as longer than that can make the kids a bit too tired and cranky.  We usually pick one or two sections that we're going to go to that day, then have a bit of a play in the fun areas before heading home.

If you want to see more of our zoo adventures over the years, click on Australia Zoo section on the side bar or click here.

xx Susan

School holiday - Week 1

We didn't really have any plans for the first week of the school holidays this September.  Well Miss R had one special day planned but the rest of the time we intended to go with the flow and meander along. 

 We've really enjoyed mixing in a few outings with plenty of at home time.  There has been sleepovers at Grandparents places as well and it's just been a lovely balance of things.

  As I type I'm looking out the window to the lovely dark, drizzly, rainy Sunday morning and listening to the thunder rumbling around.  I love days that start like this, especially when I can potter about at home and don't need to be anywhere.  It's the perfect ending to our week.

The first weekend of the holidays saw us go on an expedition to various seafood markets around the Sunshine Coast as hubby was on a mission to buy a decent quantity of mullet so he and his cousin could go fishing.  That meant a stop off at a playground and lunch for us at one of the fish markets in Mooloolaba.

Hubby and his cousin did head out for a fish and brought back some lovely parrot fish (don't know it's true name).  They went about 20 miles off shore from Mooloolaba in his cousin's boat as our little tinny is made more for the rivers and estuaries.

The fish was delicious by the way.

We also went visiting while the boys sorted boat fishing things out.  The kids had fun with their cousins (2nd or 3rd cousins, I can never remember how to work it out - easier to just say cousins).

The pool was the most fun part though.  I still think it's a bit to cool to go for a swim at this time of year but the kids don't seem to worry about that.

I did mention that Miss R had a special day planned.  Well she went off to the Zoo for one of their Zookeeper for a Day programs.  She joined in one of the Zookeeper Extreme programs (for 11-15 year olds) nearly 2 years ago and loved it.  She really wanted to do the Extreme Reptile program and  got the opportunity to join in these holidays.

They only do two of the Reptile experiences a year.  One in the Easter school holidays and one in the September school holidays because that's the best weather around here for the reptiles.  There are only 10 places in each group so if you want to experience the Reptile program you need to book in quick because there are only 20 places each year.

I've been doing some crochet too of course.  I'm working on a shoulder bag which I've been itching to start for awhile but had decided that it would be a school holiday project so I was very good and waited until this week to begin.  I'm really loving how it's coming together.

There has also been a little cooking.  Not as much as some school holidays as I've been very lethargic in my kitchen duties lately.

Miss R loves lemon butter and wanted to make some.  Luckily we have a microwave lemon butter recipe that is really quick and easy and makes one jar full so she made that.  It's a great project for her.

I don't know where I got the recipe for this from originally as it was scribbled on a bit of paper so I'm sorry if I've stepped on any toes publishing this but here goes:

Microwave Lemon Butter

Zest and juice of one lemon

1/2 cup of caster sugar

75 grams butter

2 eggs

Place juice, zest and sugar in a microwave safe jug (1 litre) or bowl.  Whisk in the eggs then add the butter (I like to cube the butter).  Cover with a lid or cling wrap and microwave on High (800w) for 3 minutes, giving it a good whisk after each minute. (Best to do it in one minute bursts)  Cool slightly and pour into a jar.  Enjoy!

We didn't have a fresh lemon handy so we used bottled lemon juice which works well although I think that you can taste the difference between fresh and bottled.  Miss R and hubby can't seem to tell though.  If using bottled you can use 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup.  We used 1/4 and it's quite thick but still very lemony.  We also have a 1100w microwave so we cooked it on Medium/High.

Oh and make sure you give it a good whisk each time otherwise you get egg white chunks through it.

I hope you have all been having a wonderful week.  We're heading a little further south to northern New South Wales this coming week and intend to enjoy a bit of a rare family trip away.  

xx Susan

Aunty Rob's and plenty of dogs

We've had a bit happening around here lately.

My father-in-law went to hospital about a week and a half ago in Grafton (New South Wales) and ended up being flown up to one of the Gold Coast Hospitals.

He's had a pacemaker put in since then so there's been a bit of driving around the countryside to see him and get him settled and looked after.  Lovely hubby has had to take some time off work to do most of that for his father.

In the meantime, we've had ANZAC Day and Little Miss R marched with her school as she has done since she was in Prep.  This was her first year marching with the High School and she was proud to wear family members service medals again.  (This time my Uncle's medals).

It was also the most gorgeous of Autumn days for the march and the service which was really lovely for everyone.

On the weekend we took my father-in-law over to his sister's to help him recover from his operation.  

We haven't been to Aunty Rob's in more than a year and the kidlettes had been asking us for awhile when we could go over again.  This provided the perfect opportunity for us which made the kids ecstatic, especially as there's still 6 puppies over there which they were desperate to see.

There was the usual pigs and cows and plenty of chickens.

......and dogs.  Lots of dogs.  Augie's getting on a bit now and is finding all the extra dogs on the farm a bit much so he keeps hiding under the back stairs to get away from them all.

Aunty Rob has 4 dogs and then there's my father-in-laws 2 dogs which are having a holiday with him.

Don't forget the 6 puppies though...

...they were the biggest hit over the weekend.

If Little Miss R was missing, we knew exactly where to find her.

The puppies kept trying to eat her hair and then they kept trying to all get on her when she sat down with them.  She yelled at her brother to help her so he lifted her hair out of the way! 

She still had to deal with the puppies.

There was some helping out around the place too which was thoroughly enjoyed and a nice change from computers and xbox playing at home.

Another night away would have been lovely but school needs to be attended (although I'm sure the kids would be happy to have a day off).  Lets hope it won't be as long until our next trip over there.

In the meantime, I've come home armed with a really amazing Moussaka recipe and an incredible pumpkin pie recipe.  I'm happy.

xx Susan

January

Can you believe that January is already behind us?  Wow.  I can't say that it has gone fast because it seems forever ago that we were celebrating Christmas and the New Year. 

We've been busy though and life has been pretty full for a lot of January which meant that the days continued to roll on with their usual regularity.  Then I woke up one morning and realised that it was February.

 

January consisted of quite a bit of family time as lovely hubby took a little time off work which was really nice.

 

We went out for a picnic but took the boat instead of the car. 

 

 

 

That meant that hubby could do some fishing once he dropped the kids and I off at the northern tip of Bribie Island (Caloundra end).  We walked across the tip to the beach on what was a really beautiful day for the first day of the year.  (Yes, this was WAY back on January 1st).

 

 

 

  

 The kids had a great time cooling off in the surf...

 

 

 

...and watching the ships head into the port of Brisbane. 

 

It certainly wasn't a bad way to start the year.

 

 

Little Miss R's best mate came to stay for a few days so we went swimming and a zoo trip and a few other things to keep them occupied. 

 

Master W moved away mid last year and this is only the second time they've caught up since then.  They were pretty excited (understatement :) )

 

 

 

 

We also celebrated a 10th birthday.  I can't believe I no longer have any children with a single digit age now.

 

 

 

There were more trips to the beach while Dad was home too.  This time late in the afternoon on a really hot summers day to cool off.

 

 

Then we just had to have fish and chips at the beach before heading home.

 



 

 

The kids and I had a couple of outings of our own, usually when we had appointments or needed to get school supplies.

 

We treated ourselves to Churros from here which were very much a hit.

 

(I can't seem to get the link to work today.  It was San Churro café at Sunshine Plaza shopping centre in Maroochydore)

 

 

It was lovely to spend some time with the kids doing something a bit different and having fun.

 

 

 

 

It wasn't all about food though.  There's also a new project on the go with colours picked by Little Miss R for her blanket she's been harassing me to make for more than 6 months!

 

(more on this another day)

 

 

 

 The biggest news came from the very end of January when a new school year started.  Little Miss R is no longer Little and will probably be referred to as Miss R now that she has started high school.

 

Yes my girl is now Grade 7 and off to high school.  Eeeek!

(She's loving it so far by the way)

 

Hoping you are all enjoying your start to 2018.

 

xx Susan