I still think it's strange and wonderful to have Christmas on the beach

Merry Christmas at the end of ours in the Southern Hemisphere, 

to the start of yours if you're in the North. :) 

10 Days... (part 2)

Wow, it's been so long since I wrote the first bit,
and never got back to finishing the rest. 

So here's the rest:

Day 2: River cruise in Strahan - so windy! 

Meeting the captain was pretty cool

(Day 3 lots of driving)

Day 4: Rainy day at Cradle Mtn meant indoor games 

and all day in jammies,

...long snuggly sleeps,

...lots and lots of reading,

...and then watching the snow fall in the morning when we woke!

Day 5: A walk around Dove Lake was not doable for these troops and that weather, but we did walk around a little bit, and even if we couldn't see the mountain, it was beautiful!

Day 6: Next stop Stanley. Highlight for Laura was this gorgeous cat who hung around our campervan waiting for cuddles, even ready right outside the door when we woke in the morning!

Beautiful views from on top of the Nut

Girl posing, boys wrestling.

Look we're in Penguin, and there's the penguin!

Not all fun and games on the road...

Day 7: Chocolate factory, amazing toy and collectibles shop, and super good fun at an amusing hedge maze named Tasmazia and the Village of Lower Crackpot. Hours of fun!

We stopped at cool places, saw lots of stuff. But what's really cool is to make your own game of falling out of your chair when we stop on the side of the road to have a picnic.

Day 8: Caves!

This was a huge highlight for the kids. They were beautiful caves. 

All the photos would mean little when you haven't seen it, I'll just choose two. 

It was so fun to see the kids so completely interested the whole time.

Day 9: Platypus, Echidnas, Seahorses, and mining for gold! Hands down the best was the echidnas walking all around us like little people with attitude. Interestingly, they're relatives of the platypus and not the porcupine or hedgehog as commonly assumed.

Stones into the water. Simple pleasures.

Rock and stick constructions. Simple, yet elaborately constructed in their minds, 

with purpose for every space. Hours of focused fun.

Day 10: Final day started with the chairlift in Launceston, the highlight being
the littlest being instantly keen to feed the peacocks, with the others
following her lead. She has no fear of animals, this one.
We ended with a 3 hours drive home and a whole heap of time
unloading the motorhome into our van, and then the van into the house.
Not for the faint of heart.
Collapsing into bed happy for our trip around the state, and glad to be home.

 Goodbye home on wheels! We have grown a little bit attached, but we must say goodbye.
See you again.
Maybe. :)

2 years and knowing it

We hit 2 with a bang with this girl. Had her first proper big tantrum on the morning of her birthday, in public of course. Here we go! It's okay, I've seen one other willful girl through this age (not including myself). Hopefully we can outlast this one as well. :)

In addition to her feisty-ness, she's a playful, musical, happy soul, and at each stage we have thoroughly enjoyed her. Feeling very thankful for these 2 years that started so suddenly, where people wondered if they had missed me being pregnant (as if that's possible), and I marveled at the little child entrusted to us. Happy birthday miss C, we love how you sing happy birthday, love BIG stars, and how you love all things living, and stuffed!!

10 Days on the Island (part 1)

So we did this trek around our state. Changed the plan a bit as we went along because - all that DRIVING! It was too much for the kids, especially the youngest who decided she would only be happy with her dummy in her mouth whenever we would give in to that. And if you know me, you know I do not like to give in. But for the sake of everyone it had to be done. It HAD to be done. 

Picked them up from school in this baby and we headed out.

Here's the crew when we first started out. 

First night fun with headlamps! Way cooler than using regular lights. 

And even though the first 2 days of driving was hard,
I found all these pictures on the camera that the kids had taken.
So there's evidence that it wasn't all crying from miss C,
she did have good times, and there was even fun to be had making origami! 

 

Singing... "up above the world so high". 

And stopping for a little bushwalk.

So basically when you're 1, you spend way more time
strapped into something than not. 

Fortunately she gave in and fell asleep.

Enjoying the little things. 

Our fearless leader. 

Seriously, who wouldn't follow this guy anywhere he would take them?! :) 

Finally getting to walk! 

Preparing for invaders... (this is apparently the shooting position Grandpa!) 

More to come. Too many photos to sort through...