Holiday #2

So with Andrew working in ED and having shift work, we decided that on one of his breaks we should go on another little holiday to the coast! This time we decided not to tell the kids, so that it would be a surprise (and then they couldn't bug me about when it was time for our vacation!)  It was actually really hard to keep the secret, things almost kept popping out of my mouth!  Luckily I didn't spoil it and we woke the kids up at 4am and hit the road!  We had a couple of days in Townsville, to do some shopping and spend time at the beach, then we headed further south to Airlie Beach to the Big 4 with the 13 waterslides!  (Which is funny because literally the day before we left Elly drew me a picture of the 13 waterslides park!)  When we were in Townsville we didn't tell the kids we were going anywhere else, so when we got to the Big 4 it was another surprise!  We had a great time, and the long drives didn't even seem too bad... maybe we're getting used to living in the middle of nowhere?

Our first stop of the day had some dinosaurs at the gas station!  It was a good chance to run around!

A day or two after Charlie got his goose egg at school, Elly fell off a chair at home and got a huge bump and scratch,
(its actually still red more than a month later!) she was thrilled to have a little mermaid bandaid and wore it for a few days! 

These two LOVE swimming!!!

Hazel got her first taste of sand! YUM!

We love the warm lagoon pool!  And Hazel was a fan as well! 

The kids got worn out every day!  Elly fell asleep at dinner our last night, it was actually good she had a little
nap because Andrew took her and Charlie to see the outdoor movie after dinner!

So we woke up early to leave Airlie, and the kids didn't sleep much because the sun comes up so dang early!  I gave them some snacks, but Elly was just beside herself wanting to watch something and she was crying nonstop and then she barfed...  We were only 15 minutes or so from our first stop, and so we had to pull over on the side of the road to try and clean up the mess... well Andrew cleaned up the mess, I can't stand the smell of barf! 

Can you see her little bottom tooth?!?

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!