Spring in "The Isa"

I'm not quite sure why Mount Isa is called "The Isa" by locals... maybe I'll figure it out before our time here is over!?!  After getting home from holidays we had about a week before Andrew started back to work.  It was nice to get some stuff done around the house, and have an extra set of hands with the kids!  

Ellyria turned 3 not long after getting home - she is so amazing!  She is great with Hazel, always helping out, getting her toys and trying to make her laugh.  She definitely gets the most laughs out of Hazy!  She loves having books read to her and could listen to them all day.  My parents have started FaceTiming Elly to read her books, which is so nice when I'm busy with Hazel.  She loves popsicles and watermelon and is super smart, far beyond her age (I'm just a little biased!)

Charlie had a few weeks of kindy left upon our return and then it was a term break.  We had his birthday party the Saturday before his actual birthday, but because it was school holidays only two of his friends could make it! Their little brothers came too and with Elly and their parents it actually felt like quite a few people and I was a bit glad no more had come... We made up an obstacle course with all sorts of different things for the kids to do, had pizza and just played! Charlie is an awesome little guy, so thoughtful and clever.  He is an amazing builder, he will build with whatever he can find and he's so creative with it.  He is also very helpful to me and loves making up games with Elly to play.

It's starting to get warmer, there were a few weeks of nice spring weather and now it's just hot with highs of 38 being common.  I'm not a fan of the heat and it will be interesting to see how a full summer is this year, as opposed to us just getting the tail end last year.  I'm hoping it will be better since I'm not heavily pregnant this summer...

Hazel is now 7 months and wow that time has gone so fast!!  She is sitting and pushing herself backwards, and just a couple of days ago her first tooth popped through!  She still wants to be carried all the time and she's quite the little chunk (she LOVES food!)  She's also quite vocal testing out heaps of new sounds and it's adorable!

It's nap time!

Charlie and Elly discovered Mr. Sketch markers! They smell so good!

Charlie with some Lego Voltron Lions he built

 Charlie in Kmart showing off his transformer moves

We made gingerbread cookies and the kids did two little ones inside of big ones for "mummy inside grandmas tummy and then Hazel inside mummy tummy!"

  Also Charlie made a giant creation!

Hazel at 6 months old!  What a sweetheart!

Charlie and his buddies at his birthday party

 Hazel at playgroup with her first little hairclip!

Charlies Transformers birthday party!  I thought my little fondant Rescue Bots turned out pretty well!

For Charlies actual birthday we went over to the splash park!  He is such an awesome kid!

For Charlies birthday dinner he chose crepes!

Charlie birthday cake was vanilla with fresh raspberries and a mango compote and whipped cream!
It was super yummy 

Hazy was fascinated with the bubbles!

Oh that smile!  And happy eyes!

Hazel at 7 months!! She's getting so big so fast!

We had a fire out the back and the kids got to rest marshmallows!  

Charlie was working really hard to build Voltron out of play dough, and it kept falling apart, but he kept saying to himself "I know I can do this, I know I can" and he did!

Charlie tripped at school one morning as he was running to say bye to us, and he cracked his head - it was so loud!!  He got a huge goose egg, the picture doesn't do it justice!

Our only red capsicum that hasn't been eaten by the birds!

Elly's Third birthday and Hazels 6 month birthday! The Cahoon girls!

WE LOVE THIS GIRL!  She is amazing.

Charlie will build out of anything - in this case small size groceries
we got for spending money at the grocery store!

We bought a hammock!  It was a good deal off the buy and sell page and I was so excited!  The kids love playing in it too.  Too bad it's getting too hot to be outside now!

Charlie's school had a visit from the firetruck and the kids got to spray the hose!

Elly will fall asleep anywhere...

Hazy is slowly getting the hang of a water bottle...

Here is Voltron with all the lions joined together!

Townsville

After our time at the Big4 we drove up to Townsville, stopping at Dingo Beach on the way for a picnic.  The tide was out when we first got there, so that was fun walking around in the shallow water!  Not many shells or fish, but a few.  Andrew even found a sand dollar (which I love!) but it had something living in it so we left it alone.  The water was SUPER warm in the netted area when the tide came in, like a bathtub no jokes!

It was a fun little detour, but then it was back on the road to Townsville, so that I could go shopping and we could eat the amazing buffet breakfast at Rydges!  This time we stayed in their apartments and it was great!  The beds sucked but there was a washing machine and dryer AND washing powder (which I didn't know about when we booked so it was a very welcome surprise!) and a full furnished kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a tv with DVD player.  It was awesome, and because it's owned by Rydges we could still get the buffet breakfast package!  Charlie ate and drank so much the first morning that he barfed everywhere... we had to regulate him a bit after that hahaha!

We also spent some time at the little splash park on the esplanade and the beach.  And we got Gelato on the beach which we didn't get to do last time.  After our few days there it was a long drive home back to the middle of nowhere...  It didn't go as smoothly as on the way out (mostly because I wanted to go shopping again before we left and then we didn't end up leaving until 1:30pm and the kids were all awake...)

Dingo Beach

We ate at McDonalds a fair few times on the trip (those play parks are just so appealing!)
And Hazel tried her first french fry, much to my chagrin! 

So at Kmart in Townsville we were letting the kids look at the toys and Charlie had a full out temper tantrum because we wouldn't buy this for him.  I said we'd take a picture so we could remember what it looked like and he could ask for it for his birthday.  Unbeknownst to him I bought this toy like 2 months earlier for his birthday!   

Sandcastle building at the beach in Townsville  

Juliettes Gelato on the beach!  So delicious 

We got fish and chips on the beach for dinner our last night in TSV.  The birds went crazy swarming us and trying to get our food!  Andrew thought it was entertaining and would throw fries in the air which the birds would catch!

Before the bird attack

Charlie made a centre for his rescue bots out of paint bottles I bought! 

These two love each other so much - its adorable!

At the Magnetic Island lookout before starting the long drive home!