The end of our holiday

As holidays come to a close you seem to be torn in two.  I know I always am and that's because I want the holiday to continue but I'm also looking forward to getting home.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I'm sure I'm not the only one but when you're living in the moment it seems that no-one else feels like you do.

We had some fantastic days boating, kayaking, reading, crocheting (not as much as I'd like though), relaxing and just having a fantastic time.

For me it was being able to go to the toilet in peace because I had other's to help so I didn't hear the work 'mummy' screamed every 10 seconds.  I'm sure other mother's with young children know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.  Anyone who doesn't know, NEVER underestimate that one small luxury!

Even though the fishing wasn't great, we did manage to get some redclaw into the pots.

The storms and rain may have put a bit of a dampener on the holiday but it was so good to get away for awhile that I don't even really mind that.

Christmas is the next big thing for us, then Master M's fourth birthday in early January but I'm sure I'll be thinking of campfires and sunsets over the lake for awhile to come yet........

Our days were spent....

....teaching the kidlettes how to kayak.  They were spent fishing, reading, wandering around the campsite and basically being disconnected from all modern conveniences.

There were storms every day which is to be expected in Queensland in the lead up until Christmas.

I loved to head out early in the morning for a relaxing kayak myself before having to start the day.  It was so lovely watching the sun rise above the trees, look back at our campsite...........and know that I had about an hour to myself with no kids!!!!!!!!

We did go for a drive to the other side of the dam to the lookout one day as well as along the same side of the dam we were on and checked out some of the other campsites for future reference.

It was lucky we did because we spied some people we knew.  In fact there was a whole group of people camped together from Little Miss R's class at school so one afternoon I kayaked my girl around to their camp so she could play with a whole group of her school friends while I chatted to all the mum's.  We all thought it was hilarious that we all camped at the same dam and  Little Miss R just loved being able to play with her friends.

Unfortunately all holidays come to an end and we had to start thinking about packing up and going home.

More of that next time though.

xx Susan

The bulk of our holiday

Lake Boondooma or Boondooma Dam is where we went for our holiday this time.  It's about an hour's drive west of either Kingaroy or Murgon in Queenland and a freshwater fishing and redclaw dam for those that love those pastimes.

For us it meant 5 days away from it all with family and the chance to catch some fish or redclaw if we were lucky.

The whole 5 nights away consisted of me, my two kids, my parents and my nephew J.  Hubby Shane missed the first night because of work but was there all the other nights and my Uncle I was there the first night as he towed the boat for us, then went home and returned the last night to help us pack up the final day and tow the boat home.

We had storms almost every day so after our Cania Gorge trip (see side bar for more on that trip), I'm really getting used to camping in torrential rain.

Camping on the side of a dam meant that the water would really run down through the camp into the dam.   Most things got wet but thank goodness our trusty camper trailer withstood the rain and everything inside stayed dry.

The fish weren't really biting but we did get some redclaw in the pots and more than anything just enjoyed our time together away as a family.

We had campfires (thanks to Nana the campfire goddess) with marshmallows, as well as fun times going out to check the pots with daddy and poppy in the boat.

Once the kids realised they could have fun in the kayak then the entertainment really kicked up for them.

Nephew J (whose now 7) was pretty competent in the kayak so we let him paddle on his own but the other two little ones we tied a rope to the kayak so we could pull them back in if needed.

The kids did all have such a fantastic time and I have to say one of the miracles of our time away was the relationship between my Nephew J and my daughter Little Miss R.

These two have NEVER got on.  Nephew J is the older by 13 months and doesn't like girls.  He has also never got along with his cousin (Little Miss R).  In fact we had all decided that they would have a love/hate relationship for the rest of their lives because all they have ever done is fought.

After two days camping they were inseperable!  They got on so well and did everything together including sitting in the same chair.  No matter if it was dinner, colouring in or whatever activity they did, they just HAD to sit in the same chair snuggled up together.

They played together so well that all the adults who had watched their relationship for the last 6 years were in utter awe and on more than one occasion found ourselves in that giggly 'I can't believe it' attitude.

It will be interesting to see how their relationship changes now we're back home in our normal environment.  Will they continue to hate each other or will the holiday have changed their attitudes.  Time will only tell.....

xx Susan

The first day of our holiday...

....and I'm really starting to wonder why we wanted to go.

It's pouring rain, I have two kids fighting and I've had to do all the packing myself because hubby is away working and will be meeting us at the dam.

By 8am we're ready to go so I strap the kids into the car and we head around to my parents place to hook up the camper trailer and head off.

Before we go though there has been a change of plans.  My parents had origanlly decided to camp in a tent and tow the boat.  It's now pouring rain and we all decided it would be better if they took the caravan and my Uncle would come with us to tow the boat.

Just over two hours later after a bit of a reshuffle, we actally left.

It's a 4 hour drive give or take depending on the way you go, how many toilet stops your six year old needs and how many tantrums your 3 year old has.  I could write about the trip itself in a whole looooooong blog post but that would be just whinging and you don't really want to hear about it....trust me,  you really don't.

We finally got there (even though I was tempted to turn around a few times and go home), and got set up under dark and rainy looking skies.  Thank goodness the rain held off while we set up!  (Well I think it did, my brain really doesn't let me remember that far back unless I have photos of the actual moment).

After the basics were done, we enjoyed our first night in our new 'home' for 5 days with dinner, a brief wander around the area near us, then early bed for the night.

The next morning Daddy arrived for breakfast and then it was birthday cake time for morning tea as it was his birthday a few days before and we hadn't seen him because he was at work.

The day was spent going out in the boat, putting redclaw pots out, doing some fishing, plenty of relaxing and then there was an uninvited visitor......

...this goanna was pretty thirsty and had run down to the dam for a drink then nearly ran though our campsite while trying to get away from the pesky birds that squarked and pecked at him the whole time. 

Talk about exciting times for the kids!! Not much beats a goanna and noisy birds for entertainment.

Will write about the next few days soon.

xx Susan

A taste of holidays

Five days away with no electicity.

That means 5 days with campfires, lots of space for kids to run.....

...a 98% full dam for kids to swim, boat and kayak in....

...and plenty of rain, storms, steamy weather (it is summer after all), and just some plain family fun.

5 days with no mobile phone reception, no internet, no electricity.

It was absolute bliss even if the fish weren't biting.

There will be more soon once I'm a bit more organised.  Hopefully that will be before Christmas!

love to all

xx Susie

Off to.......

.......Boondooma Dam near Murgon tomorrow for 5 days.  Lets hope it's relaxing and lots of fish and red claw will be caught.

I'm in desperate need of a break (more so from my kids but that's not likely to happen in the next week) but will have a lovely time with hubby, kids, my parents and my nephew as well as any other family members who may turn up during that time.

I'm longing for help with the kids and some time to sit, relax, do some crochet and be able to complete a sentence or even half a thought without getting interrupted with a loud, wailing MUMMY!

See you all soon and hopefully I'll be so relaxed and recharged I'll be able to get back into normal blogging.

xx Susie

A morning at the beach

I love living so close to the beach.

Sunday dawned clear and HOT and by 7.30am I decided that we really needed to get out of the house so off to the beach it was.

Did I say it was HOT.  By 8am it was 30 degrees cel so Happy Valley and the crashing waves was the perfect spot for a play to cool down.

There were lots of families and surfers out and about enjoying the gorgeous day and cooling down too.

After about an hour playing in the waves we headed up to the playground in the park at Happy Valley in Caloundra for more play.

It's such a great playground with a sunshade over the ship, swings, a fortress and other great play things for the kids.

The fact that the playground is right next to the beach is such a bonus.

By just after 10am we were done for the day and it was starting to heat up a bit more so we decided to have some ice-cream before heading home.

I know there are plenty of ice-cream places in Caloundra but we headed to McDonalds for the kids first ever sundae and of course another play on the playground there.

The sundae's were voted "Delicious", the morning was "so much fun", and I drove two very happy and tired children home and not even half the day had gone by.

I wish I could say that they were deliciously tired and were fantastic for the rest of the day and even though my boy was asleep by 5.30pm that night, it wasn't quite an incident free day.

While I was washing up in the afternoon my darling boy got hold of some green paint and proceeded to paint my car, the house, the garage doors and himself (legs, arms, shirt, shorts, hair...).  Thank goodness it was water paint and came off easily.

The school holidays start soon so I think there'll be more outings to the beach on the cards.

Susan xx

Saturday

Things are starting to get a little easier but then hubby's been home so that always helps.  He left to go back to work this morning so we'll see how we go for the next 4 or 5 days.

Today we went to Nan and Poppy's for a bit of a play for awhile.  The kidlettes always LOVE going around there and I don't mind having a chat either.

One of their favourite things to play on is the pot plant stand.  It's great to sit on and zoom around the verandah.

Picking carrots from Nana's garden is always a treat too.  My two love carrots so Nana usually has some growing so they can pick them, wash them and chomp on them bugs bunny style while they're playing.

Once we got home then the kidlettes had some play time and I got to do a bit more of the blanket I'm re-doing.  It's been slow progress making this one with everything else that's been going on (mainly Master M and his disasters).

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

xx Susan

A frustrating time

Hello all!

It's been a little while since I last posted and the main reason for that is frustration.

My darling son has been quite a hand full lately and I haven't been coping very well.

It seems he needs CONSTANT supervision or he will destroy or break something so it's been quite an interesting time in our household lately.

While I was washing up he covered himself in a tub of nappy cream (as well as painted the lounge, coffee table and floor)....

He also thought he was Pro Hart and painted the carpet in our lounge room with tomato sauce.

He broke the door to the toilet and trapped his sister in there.  I had to take the door off to get my hysterical girl out.

He keeps leaving taps running and tries to flood the house.

This is only scratching the surface of what my darling man has been doing lately.  Hopefully this is a very short phase as it's all pretty exhausting too.

Normal blogging will return soon......I hope.

xx Susan

A day at the beach

Well a morning it was not a full day and you couldn't get a more gorgeous day than today.

Little Miss R's prep class went on an excursion to the beach and everyone was so excited about it, especially when they all turned up at school in their togs (swimmers, bathers, whatever you all call them).

We met down at Kings Beach in Caloundra on this most gorgeous of days.

Here they all come.......

After a quick snack it was off to the beach to build sandcastles.  We all split up into groups and each child had a small crab that they got to hide somewhere in their sandcastle.

 

There were plenty of supervised visits to the water to fill buckets with water and to collect shells to decorate our castles.

There were some fantastic castles made by the kids (with a little help from parents).  The one below is Little Miss R's group's castle.

Even a pyramid made it's way onto the beach!

The most popular kind of castle by far was one surrounded by a moat.  They all had these I think and lots of water went into trying to fill the moats up but to no avail, it kept sinking straight into the sand.  Not to be deterred, the kids just went and got more water.

Once the castles were built and all the crabs found then it was up to the fountain for some very wet fun. 

The kids had an absolute ball here but then why wouldn't they?  It's SO MUCH better than being at school.

Then what better way to top a morning off at the beach but with an ice block!

I have to say I was a bit apprehensive about going to the beach with a class full of children as I don't cope half the time with my own two but there were so many parent helpers and we all had an absolute ball. 

Once the bus left to go back to school I did enjoy a lovely leisurely lunch in one of the beachside cafes and a much needed coffee. 

xx Susan

Life's true delights

My chocoholic son has discovered Tim Tam's.

.....and so the love affair begins.

You know summer is nearly here when....

...you have your first coffee in the morning BEFORE the school run.

Some people start the day with coffee so won't see why this is a problem for me.  I start mine with tea.

However, now it's getting lighter earlier in the morning, my darling son is deciding that 4.30 - 5am is a good time to be awake. 

So my first cup of tea is made very early in the day and by the time about 7.30 am comes around, I'm getting desperate for my mid-morning coffee.

I think that I really need to get much darker curtains for his room.

xx Susan

Seven down, Zero to go!!

Yippee!!!!!!

I've finished all 7 blankets and it's only taken me 10 full months.

Back in January I decided to make a throw rug for each of my nieces and nephews for Christmas this year.  I gave myself the year to do it and after many ta-dah moments throughout the year, I give you the final blanket.

This one is for older Master J and this one suits him a lot more than one of the previous blankets I made that I thought of giving to him.  It's a bit of a retro ripple blanket with a picot edge.

The edge gave me a bit of grief actually because I was running out of the green yarn. In fact I got nearly three quarters of the way through twice when I realised I didn't have enough so it all had to come undone and I had to think of some other finishing edge.

I'm not as happy with this little picot edge as some of the others but it does look good and most importantly, I just had enough yarn to finish it.  Yay!

I just love all the ripples.  In fact, I really love making ripple blankets so I know this won't be the last one I make.

Would you like to see all 7 blankets piled up?  Of course you would.  Here they are.....

Lots of work and sometimes frustration but also a hell of a lot of fun to make.

What to do now?

Well I really do have to admit that I'm re-doing one of the blankets.  It was the first one I made and is the black, white and red speckled blanket. 

The original is quite small and I really stuffed the border up.  When I say really stuffed it up, I mean REALLY stuffed it up and it can't be fixed.  The easiest thing to do is remake the blanket and I can pull the other one apart when I have some more time.

So even though I'm re-doing one of them, I really have finished all 7 so I'm very proud of myself.

Then I'll be trying a pretty huge project.  I want to make a blanket for my bed and I want to try some hexagons.  I already know exactly what I'll be doing and what colours to use but I just need to get them first.  I'll definately keep you posted on that one.

Hope you all have a great week.

xxx Susan

A fluffy penguin

Little Miss R received a penguin present for her birthday and I told her we had to wait for the weekend to do it.

First of all you have to get all the flat cardboard pieces out of the box and build the penguin.

Then you have to pour the special solution that comes with the penguin into the plastic bowl at the base.

After a couple of hours, the penguins body starts to sprout funny fluffy white crystal stuff.

After another hour or so, the white fluffy stuff has really grown.

Then after most of the day you have a really fluffy baby penguin.

It was pretty cool the way it worked and the kids loved watching it grow.

The only problem is that I now have powdery, white crystals all over my table.  At least it wipes off easily.

xx Susan