After sleeping in for ages, we finally made it to Mum and Dad's from the motel just around the corner about 9.30 to find everyone else up and running... not surprising when you have kids who wake at 6 a.m.! Thankfully we were spared the early wake up call, and arrived for a toast breakfast - my gorgeous guy had some of my mum's muesli - he and she have bonded really nicely to my delight - and Bodhi (looking very cute in his thick red sleeping suit and beanie) and Zara going for a swing, one after the other.
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| Snug as a bug in a swinging rug! |
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| Zara enjoying her mum givinh her a swing (she may looked pained but has this habit at the moment of saying 'Cheese!' when you go to take a picture with so much concentration she looks like she's not smiling! LOL) |
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| Isn't my nephew the cutest thing ever? (Apart, naturally from my eevr so cute niece, natch) |
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| Zara not wanting to leave the swing |
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| I gave Zara the charity bears I have bought over the last year and she loved them! |
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| Bodhi getting his teeth brushed.... yes, cute too. |
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| Bodhi encouraging Dad to start up his people mover! |
Trying to beat the impending rain, Helen took Zara, my gorgeous guy and I to the Macadamia Castle - I have a season's pass now! - at Knockrow to see the animals which Zara just adores. They have chickens wandering through the grounds, little chicks sheltering under a heat lamp in a hut you can reach into as long as you don't manhandle or hold the chicks, alpacas, calves, snakes (thankfully not roaming free!), a mouse & rat house (they become snake feed eventually poor things), rabbits -Zara got to hold one and loved it! - and a train and putt-putt golf course....so kid heaven! We had a ball wandering around, seeing how much Zara enjoyed herself, and once joined by everyone else a hour or so later, my guy, my brother and my brother in law Shayne and I all joined in a fun game of putt putt golf that started off badly for me, and ended with my brother hitting 12 on one hole. Too much fun!
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| Mother hen and her chicks...boy could they move when they saw feed! |
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| They are quite tame and Mother hen ate out of Helen's hand quite happily |
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| Zara delicately throwing the feed at the chooks! LOL |
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| My guy petting the calves...so soft! |
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| The chicks loved the sun lamp on what was a very cold day |
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| Zara loves swings and twisting around as she swings back and forth... extreme swinging! |
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| Checking out the snakes.... Zara isn't squeamish! |
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| She was so excited to hold the rabbit! |
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| She loved holding him... the delight was contagious! |
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| The calves were really affectionate and so soft to touch |
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| Zara pulling her Cheese! face.... I love it! |
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| Zara loves putt putt gold... but her idea of playing it is to use the club like a snooker cue and then drop the ball directly into the hole, like so... |
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| My gorgeous guy was brilliant at putt putt! |
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| I less so, scoring 8 shots on one hole! |
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| My gorgeous guy celebrates another hole in one! |
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| Steve putts through the archway...harder than it looks! |
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| Zara joins us for one of the holes |
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| Yet more putt putt success....how does he do it?! |
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| My score stopped rising so frenetically when my gorgeous guy showed the right grip and stance and learnt that more power is not always the best option! |
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| My gorgeous guy and I loved the sign! (Steve is mimicking the baboon behaviour of picking my hair for nits!) |
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| Zara riding the train! |
It started to rain so we headed indoors for lunch, and some chutney sampling! The lady makes it nearby and it's all natural ingredients and delicious! We ended up buying some for Mum and ourselves, and enjoying a fun lunch undercover on the verandah.
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| All rugged up for the cold rainy weather |
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| Lovely shot of Bodhi and his mum, Rachel |
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| Family portrait |
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| We don't do McDonalds so it amused us that the cafe sounded eerily like one of those outlets! |
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| Zara and her mum, Helen, enjoying lunch |
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| Bodhi loves to clap as people sing and even dances a little jig at times |
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| Mum singing along and clapping with him while Dad watches |
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| I am holding Bodhi as he enthusiastically claps away |
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| The Castle Burger was delish!! Macadamias in the beef patty....yummo! |
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| Zara loved her lollipop and another train ride! |
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| Two roosters competing to see who has the loudest call |
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| It stopped raining long enouigh after lunch for Rachel and Michael to take a quick walk around the petting zoo |
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| My gorgeous guy got cow licked - calf saliva all over his leeve. NOICE. |
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| I love guinea pigs - reminds me of Goldie that I had when I was little |
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| It was very COOL fun today - so cold but we had a ball even so! (I loved Mum's scarf which was so warm!) |
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| Bodhi and Zara go for a ride - Bodhi wasn't happy when it ended! |
Then we headed back home to the warmth and preparations for the big birthday dinner that night (celebrating Rachel's 33rd birthday on 8th June, and early celebration of Zara and Bodhi's birthdays in July when they'll turn 2 and I respectively). My gorgeous guy, Helen & I did most of the work, banishing Mum from the kitchen, and making honey joys (corn flakes in honey and then baked in teh oven), white & milk chocolate crackles, mini-quiches, lolly and Cheezel trees, fairy bread.... the works! We had a ball doing it all together, everyone had fun eating it, wearing the party hats and unwrapping the gifts. A great night!
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| They love riding in Dad's contraptions! |
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| Zara's passenger, Bodhi loves any kind of forward momentum! |
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| Zara attacks the opening of her present with zeal |
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| ....and yet still manages to be quite dainty about it |
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| She loves Elmo and spent the rest of the weekend making fake food for us! When she came to serve it out, she'd say "Hot, hot"...very cute |
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| 'Cheese!' |
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| Loving the whole Elmo thing right there |
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| Mum loves her CD (a late birthday gift from April) - got her Gurrumul's new CD |
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| Behold the spread! I had trouble sleeping that night, largely due to the resulting sugar rush, but partly due to the idiot drunk bogans who took up most of the motel's rooms and decided that a LOUD conversation at midnight right outside the room was just what we needed. |
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| Mum made us lolly and Cheezel trees as children for our birthday parties and so I brought up two we had made for Fair Day one year and we re-created the birthday party vibe of old |
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| The three creators take a pictorial bow |
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| The whole family! |
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| Nanna eating her fill at the table |
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| The cupcakes, which functioned as the birthday cake, looked wonderful with the cute icing figures on top....to break gender biases, I put sports ones on the pink cupcakes, and dolls on the blue ones |
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| Rachel is laughing as she blows out the candles as I kept missing her blowing them out and this was her 3rd or 4th go! |
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| rachel helps Bodhi to unwrap his gift |
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| A Licorice tip truck! He loves their toys! |
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| Proud uncles with Bodhi, his gifts and his card |
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| Yeah I got arty with this one! |
1 Comments:
Andrew, looks like you had a great time. Love the photos! Reb
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