Queenscliff Dec 2010

The week after school finished we decided to do a 'girls trip' away with the Barnes' (including the little boys). There was no one around and even though we were all a little tired (and grumpy) it was a lovely couple of days away to kick start the holidays.

The kids were very excited to be taking their Aunties boogie boards to the beach for the first time. Abi tried to catch a few waves despite it being freezing cold both in and out of the water. As always, we found a playground to play on and then back at 'the big 4' we all enjoyed playing on the bouncy pillow.

Having a bounce on the bouncy pillow.


Abi's favourite position, upside down or spinning around.

Angus doing the crazy man dance

Emily at the playground

The kids carrying the boogie boards to the beach, perhaps they are a little smaller than Kellie, Lisa and Sarah were when they used them!

Emily making a sand angel.

Abi surfing the big waves!

Christmas tree decorating 2010

We all too turns to decorate the tree, Dad did the lights and kids decorated until they got bored and Mum finished it off. Pretty much the same as last year!

The local wildlife

Here are some photos taken from around our house of some local inhabitants.

Our resident turtle that we then took down to the river and released back into 'the wild'. />A dragon fly down by the vegie garden.
Our kookaburra, a recent regular we can see from our deck.



A praying mantis (?) who we found in a bucket and let go into the garden.

Some monkey's released from the zoo for a while

We're camping in the rain!

So in bright sunshine we headed off to Warburton for a camping long weekend. Shorts and t-shirts was the dress code and all seemed fine - surely the weather forecast was going to be wrong! Unfortunately for us the weather forecast was not wrong and we did indeed receive gail force winds and pouring rain on Saturday. We managed to baton down the hatches for the night but when we woke and there were puddles inside the tent (coming up from the floor rather than a leaking roof line) we decided it may be time to pack up shop and head home. The kids had a fantastic time regardless and even though it wasn't really long enough the grown ups had a 'relaxing' (as much as you can camping with young children) time too.




Emily on the trail along the river.



Angus having to run after the girls on bikes.

Angus and Daddy trying to get the kite up in the air (note: shorts and t-shirts)

Emily after her mud bath.

This is the way we wash our kids on a cold and frosty morning...

Lloyd in his wet weather gear.

The Walkers and Joys enjoying the muddy puddles.

Abi and Tyler enjoying a brief moment of sunshine.

Happy 7th B'day Abigail

Abi had a wonderful 7th b'day celebrated by an old fashioned home party with pass the parcel, a treasure hunt, parachute games and of course some craft (as well as some Lux soap sensory time!). As dressing up is still a big part of play at our house it was only fitting to have a dress up party. There were some great costumes ranging from policeman, rock stars, spider man and of course princesses, fairies and queens. So with the party over all that is left is to find space for the multitude of presents and figure out how to deal with the attitude of a big 7 yr old!

Random Photos

Just a few random shots from around the place.

The kids were very excited about their tall tower that was bigger than Daddy.

Emily and the dinosaurs.

Angus in a big bed

Back at the start of August Angus made the leap (literally) from cot to big bed... and after only a few nights he even started to sleep in it rather than on the floor!

Big beds are always more fun with friends!

Angus has become quite fond of his b'ball and it has made the move into the new big bed too.

Long weekend in the Western District

We decided to take a mid term long weekend and make the trip back to the Western District for some fresh country air. We all felt really at home at both Janna and Kate's farms and it was just nice to be back home, seeing the Grampians and enjoying time with old friends.

Doing circle work in Kate's paddocks. The kids were fascinated by the sheep "getting a hair cut".

Em and Angus having a bonding moment.

The 3 kids at "Cloven Hills".

Gotta love climbing trees in the country!

It got pretty cold once the rain came down and we had to walk back through the cold paddocks. Lucky Dad was there to save the day.

The normal state of walking with our family - Abi in the front and the others wandering behind.

Abi's photo of us heading towards the creek at Janna's.

Abi's photo of the kids - "We love jumping in muddle puddles" and there were lots of them at Janna's farm!

Birthday bowling

The Pike family August b'days were celebrated with some good old fashioned family fun at the bowling alley and then cake and coffee back at our house. The kids did better than most of the adults and I don't think it had anything to do with the bumpers and ramp that they got to use!