The Ipswich Show!

So every year Ipswich has it's own "show" - aka a carnival/fair type thing.  The showgrounds are only about a block away from our house (right next to the Uni) so we could see things getting set up!  Originally we had no plans on going, but then we though "What the heck? We might as well go at least once while we're here!!!"  We just managed to just get the early-bird tickets by about 20 minutes!  Yay for saving $5 hahaha!  It was Charlie's first fair so of course I had to try and take lots of pictures!

Ok this is a HORRIBLE picture!  I tried to get the whole "WELCOME TO YOUR SHOW" in there but it just wasn't happening... almost though!

I was sad the monster truck show was on Sunday - that would have been fun!

So at the Show there were a bunch of competitions!  For pumpkins, baking, livestock, etc... it reminded me of some southern states county fair or something from the movies....

Charlie didn't last long!

The Krazy Kars!  They are all built up with bars over the top and then they drive up these ramps at angles trying to see how many times they can flip!  It was fun to watch and one even caught fire!  So exciting

Charlie likes to be standing at all times

Demolition Derby!  For those of you who don't know (and I didn't know before this) a demolition derby is where people enter their (specially painted) beat up cars, they all park in a circle facing outwards, they put one empty car in the middle and then everyone reverses into that car, smashing it!  Then they proceed to drive around (in reverse) and smash into each other and the last car running WINS!  It's quite entertaining actually.  And FYI they drive backwards so the engine doesn't get damaged and therefore they can move longer.  We saw cars driving around on rims, with totally smashed in backsides (and smashed in every-side really) and it was just craziness!

There were also some BMX riders (I think that's what they're called?) who went off ramps and did cool tricks like flips and stuff - it was hard to get a good picture of!

I really wanted to get Charlie this toy for some reason...  It reminds me of home!  (we have one there) and it was also like the cheapest thing there.... I think he likes it, but will probably like it more when he gets older!

All-in-all I'd say it was a great time!  One thing we didn't get pictures of were of the fireworks!  They are quite spectacular actually and they were Charlie's first fireworks.....and he slept right through them... which is actually probably a good thing because they probably would have scared him!

This 'n That

Well things have been very low-key since our trip and there isn't much to report on!

As usual I'm going to be lazy and let the pictures do the talking!

Charlie and I went for a walk at Limestone Park!  After we left I noticed there were some dark clouds headed our way - as we rounded a bend I could see this massive wall of water headed our way!  I ran for a shelter (that was unfortunately in the direction the rain was coming)  We got soaked and Charlie loved it!  Even after being in the shelter we were still getting wet because the water was coming pretty much horizontally!

Eggless cookie dough is the BEST THING EVER!  I made 3 kinds - PB choc chip, regular choc chip and oatmeal choc chip.  We rolled them into balls and put them in the freezer.... so good!

I felt like being creative so I got some chalkboard contact paper (which was actually so cheap at Kmart!) and cut it into this shape (by hand - I miss my cricut!) and ta-da!  A cute and functional decoration!  Its on our fridge fyi!

Last Saturday I went to a baby bazaar sale and bought Charlie some warmer clothes - this cute hoodie was only 50 cents!

Charlie likes to help his dad with his homework!

Also this week was Mothers Day!  My first one as a mom - I'm so lucky to have Charles, he is such a little sweetheart!

Charlie going to his first birthday party! (See the present he is holding?!!)

Water fun at the splash park!

Shazra is Charlies greatest admirer here in Australia!

Charlie got a slinky at the party!  He loved it and especially loved chewing on it!

 And now to finish off - some Charlie pictures!!!

Look at that form!  He's not crawling yet but I think it will happen soon!

Such a happy guy!  

Fall Mid-Semester Break (Part Three)

We checked into the Angourie Rainforest Resort and were promptly greeted with a little lizard on the couch!  It was a pretty nice place - we had our own kitchen and everything!

This was on the rainforest walk at our resort - it was mosquito-ridden!

The next morning we drove down to Angourie and went swimming in the Blue Pool (or maybe it was the Green Pool - there was one of each but no sign saying which was which!)  They were right beside the ocean, and used to be rock quarries that filled up with spring water!  

(I'm pretty sure this is the green pool)

Andrew got brave and did some cliff-jumping!

                            

I think this one is the blue pool - you can see the ocean in the background!

Exploring the tide pools

I love my boys!  

After our little jaunt to the ocean and drive around Yamba, we (well I) went for a little dip in the pool - it was COLD and I was glad we didn't try to bring Charlie in because he would not have approved!  It would have been a lot nicer if it wasn't almost dark and almost winter!

Charlie also had his 7 month birthday while we were there!  He's such a happy little guy and did quite well in the car!  We sure love him a lot and are glad he's in our family!

This is him laughing although it looks a bit like crying...

7 months!  Where did all that time go?!?

Nice patio off our room!

Charlie has discovered his feet!

I was quite spoiled while we were there - our room had a really nice jacuzzi tub and both nights we were there Andrew insisted that I take a nice long bath while he took care of Charlie!  I was very spoiled.  The next morning we headed back up north, stopping at Brunswick Heads to go for a swim in the ocean!  (While we have been to the ocean here we haven't actually been IN the ocean yet - so this was a first!)

Little pop-up tent to hide us from the sun!  Charlie loved being in there and was so happy to just wiggle all around and play with the towels!

Charlies first time in the ocean!  He thought it was a bit chilly...

We drove home the "scenic" route past Mt. Tambourine and through the back country - it was SO pretty, all hilly and green, but we didn't really have time to stop since we were chasing the sun home.  Charlie got extremely fed up of being in his car seat towards the end, so I ended up feeding him ice cream off of my spoon to try and prevent him from freaking out - 2 things I said I would never do when I had a baby - feed him of of my spoon and feed him sugar that young!  Oh well.... I'm learning that you end up doing all the things you say you won't when it comes to keeping your baby happy!!!  It was a great little get-a-way and I'm so glad we went! 

Charlie glad to be home!

                           

Fall Mid-Semester Break (Part Two)

For the second week of Andrews mid-semester break we had some fun things planned!  But again, I'm going to let pictures do most of the talking here!

Monday morning we had an Easter egg hunt for Charlie!

He found it quite fascinating

Then we headed back to Wivenhoe Dam for some more swimming and a picnic!

Charlie likes it there...

On Tuesday Andrew studied for a while then we went to a movie (it seems like we do that a lot here.... but its only $5 on Tuesdays!  How can you go wrong with a bargain like that?!?!)  We saw Spiderman 2 and it was ok - it felt like there was a bit too much packed in and there was one part in particular that I hated - if you're a girl and you've seen it then you know which part I'm talking about!

I don't have a picture from the movie but this is from the same day!  He's so funny...

Wednesday Andrew studied pretty much all day and nothing really fun happened....  I got some groceries and packed up for our little road trip the next day!

Originally during this break we were planning on going to Sydney, however when our best friends Shannon and Alex got engaged to each other we knew we had to go home for the wedding!!!  In case you didn't know, flights from Australia to Canada are EXPENSIVE, so we knew we had to forgo Sydney in order to make going home a little less expensive....  I'm a little sad about it, because it means we won't be going there while we're here, but oh well.  

I had boughten a Groupon for an accommodation for on the way home from Sydney before we knew we weren't going (obviously!) and we needed to use it!  So we planned a little 3 day 2 night excursion to the south.

We left early Thursday morning and drove to Byron Bay (the line of cars trying to get into the town was ridiculous!) where we explored a little and went up to the lighthouse.

Roadtrip!

To keep Charlie entertained on the drive I fed him banana chocolate chip muffin

Charlie was SO EXCITED to get out of the car for a little break!

Walk up to the lighthouse (there was no way we were going to pay $7 to park!)

Byron Bay Lighthouse

I got to go on a little tour up to the top!  Charlie and Andrew below

View from the top

The most easterly point of the Australian mainland

Family picture!

Charlie again so excited to get out of his carseat!

Yamba, NSW is the most livable place in Australia

We stopped there for fish and chips!

The internet is being really slow, so I'm going to have to turn this into a 3 part thing!  Stay tuned!