Beach, at last

We have a rule in our house that we attempt to get to the beach at least twice per summer, but so far we haven't even managed one. So we took the plunge, packed the tent and headed down to Lake Tabourie caravan park for the Australia Day long weekend,  joining Susie, Patrick, Josh & Mia for the last couple of days of their week-long holiday.

We arrived late on Friday night, so the first order of business on Saturday morning was to head to the beach. The main feature of this beach is an island, connected by a sandbar to the main beach, meaning one can find a beach facing almost any direction. We started on the most sheltered option, but soon graduated to the medium-sized waves.

Ella joined Josh in the surf to reacquaint herself with her boogie board, while Katy (no longer scared by waves) swam in the shallows and played in the sand. The highlight of the morning was finding waves that suited both parents and kids, meaning that we could catch waves side-by-side (see photo of Ella racing Nat to the shore).

This caravan park was pretty well-endowed with kids facilities. (It was, by the way, crammed full of family campers -- many of whom had tents larger than our house; some included microwaves, fridges or TVs in their repertoire of furnishings.) But on the plus side we discovered a BMX track (again, mainly an Ella+ aged activity):

 

There were multiple playgrounds, tennis, art & crafts and not one but two jumping pillows -- fun for the whole family:

 

Both families were pretty exhausted by the end of Saturday but, undeterred, we headed out for more of the same on Sunday. This time, the waves had picked up enough that boogie boarding wasn't an option, but we still spent a good few hours at the beach before Susie & family headed home.

We stayed an extra night, giving us the chance for a proper fish'n'chips at Ulladulla, give our tent a thorough rain-test in some fairly solid storms on Sunday night and a final Monday morning swim at Merry Beach (surf even higher this time) on the way home.

Rock Climbing

Ever since she could crawl Ella has demonstrated a capacity and inclination to climb (much to our consternation). For some time I've been promising that Auntie Susie, the legendary adventuress, would teach her some proper rock climbing, and that promise has finally come home to roost.

Last weekend, on a scorching hot summers afternoon, we all headed out to an oversized tin shed in Mitchell to try climbing. Mia and Josh came to climb as well; Katy sat on a couch with Mum reading books and documenting the activity with photos. Turns out Josh is somewhat of an expert, and he made it to the top several times. Mia also has some experience and could get about halfway up the wall, while Ella, spurred on by her cousin, managed something similar.

So, climbing was fun. Just as fun is swinging on the rope while pushing off the wall and abseiling back down again. I think it could become a regular activity ...

New Year's Break

2013 began for us as a family at Thredbo although I don't think any of us really made it to midnight! We had Aoife, Cath and Eoin join us the next day. Based in an apartment in the heart of the village we spent a few days exploring Kosciuszko National Park.

The bobsled rides were a real hit.

We combined Merritts Nature Walk with the Meadows Nature Trail which at times was quite testing for all involved however the girls did really well completing the hilly 4kms in just over 2 hours.

The weather was perfect, even hot at times so much so that we had takeaway pizza one evening!

The big girls were excited to take the chairlift to the to. After a short break for morning tea they spotted in the distance several patches of snow! Next thing we knew, energy levels were revived and we were off to build a snowman!

That afternoon, while the adults took turns to bike or run from Dead Horse Gap, the girls took the opportunity to swim and play in the Thredbo River!

All in all a very relaxing and enjoyable way to start a year that is going to be full of many changes and adventures!

Veruca Salt

Just prior to Christmas, we began to read to Ella (and Katy) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A few chapters on the first night had her enthralled in this novel. It has also proved to be a great talking point especially regarding behaviours and emotions. For us when Ella is being rude, selfish or shouting we refer to her as Veruca Salt, the overindulged, selfish, spoilt girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who won one of the golden tickets but met her fate with the squirrels by being a 'bad' nut. Unfortunately for us, over the past few weeks Veruca has made regular appearances in our house and is definitely testing the parent and sister boundaries. Once spending several time out minutes in her room, Veruca often disappears and luckily Ella returns.

Today however was a great day with no visits from Veruca. Ella and Andy spent most of the morning at Little A's in very hot conditions. With Ginnindera Athletic Club visiting, there was no more practising it was the real deal with timing and distances recorded for all the under 6's. Ella competed in 5 events - 50m, 100m and 200m races followed by long jump and for the first time discus. Needless to say, she enjoyed the paddling pool when she got home jumping straight in clothes and all!

Post Christmas Activities

Christmas was special this year as the girls had both sets of grandparents present. Grandad and Nana arrived a few days prior to Christmas and spent just over a week with us before they returned to scorching Perth. The girls love doing craft with Nana - so out came several of the xmas gifts which allowed Andy and I some time to do other house related jobs! In fact Andy, with apprentice Grandad in tow, completed nearly all of his summer tasks over two days. For the previous two years Andy's summer task list has taken him at least 6 months to do! I suppose it helps when  the list doesn't include deck building.

The other wonderful thing about having extra help around was that Andy and I could actually go for our (almost) annual run together! We had intended on going to see a movie too but didn't quite have enough time for that.

One small problem however with having both grandparents over at the same time was that our car isn't big enough to fit everyone in. We did manage a few trips out thanks to borrowing other Nana's car or riding bikes. Firstly we had a relaxing dinner at Edgars Inn.

Over the weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather to head to Cotter Bend for a picnic. Taking our bathers, we ventured into the Murumbidgee river to cool off.

We christened our new (thanks Uncle Daryl and Aunty Michelle!) and very big paddling pool. It will be very handy with the hot weather forecast.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Nana and Grandad. We are hoping to see them again before going on our exciting trip to the UK in April.