Wordless Wednesday - Wednesday 3rd April 2013

On Monday we took the kids to Alma Park Zoo in Dakabin, Queensland.  As an official start to kicking off the school holidays & also ending a fantasic Easter long weekend.  

It was the second time we have visited the Zoo and the kids really enjoy the laid back atmosphere and I am always astounded at how quiet it is, you literally have most exhibits to yourself both times we've been.  Thoroughly recommend it to locals and for those visiting the area. Like most places I go to, I wonder why we never got to go earlier!

Linking up to My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

Easter 2013

Well the Easter long weekend has come to an end ~ I am all chocolated out & cannot believe it's only been a few short days since the kids started school holidays and there are still 2 weeks left to occupy them {more on that later!}

 

This year we had all of the kids home for the whole of Easter (we get every second year) so it was nice to have them all wake up in one home & celebrate together.  It was the first Easter we have been at home in 4 years, so a day at home to kick back and enjoy was long overdue!  On Friday I spent the afternoon finishing off the shopping (mainly for my Mum who uses me as her personal shopper) my task was to get the kids an Easter present each but avoid chocolate, preferably slippers.  Target, however, at 2pm on Easter Eve was not cooperating size wise for slippers only & I ended up instead with a selection of slippers, coloured skinny leg jeans, hooded jumpers and flanelette Pj's plus a small chocolate side accompaniant all for $100 the lot!  Mum & the kids were most impressed. 

 

Sunday we spent the day celebrating at home, we had plans on going to the park or the beach, but the rain soon changed our minds and the kids didn't even want to go on a drive so a home day was settled upon.  The kids played up a storm and watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, they also watched Men in Black 2, but I fail to see the Easter significance in that one.  Do you know Foxtel only had Christmas movies on Easter Day????? Odd. 

 

And on Easter Monday we went to Alma Park Zoo for the day followed by a local beach for a wander, play at the park and some shell collecting. We went to Alma Park Zoo last year and the kids thought it was great, so this time when I saw a Scoopon I decided to purchase another family ticket for $34 and go along again.  This time Mr 1 was a little older so really enjoyed his day and the others enjoyed revisiting the animals and we even saw a few we missed last time such as the spotted Quolls and all of the Monkey/Orangutan area that was closed last time we went.  I got a kick out of the Monkey's, they are so funny to watch - rather amusing, but the Baboons really freaked me out, he was so person-like, it was like seeing an old man locked up in a cage (although Iv clearly never seen this in real life to compare it to) he seemed too wise the old monkey.    The food at the Zoo was even reasonable (thank goodness because I forgot to bring our lunch along!) with each of our lunches costing $5.00-$5.50 and the kids got a Fanta Slushee at the end for $3.00 each. 

 

So all in all we have had a great weekend with just the right measure of busy, fun and rest. I hope your family had a Happy Easter also!

 

Easter Long Weekend Camping.

A few weeks ago we decided we would give camping a go for the Easter long weekend, not having camped since my childhood and never having camped with children before, I knew it would either be an experience we would either love or loathe.  But it was an experience Hubby and I have been eager to embark on for the past couple of years, we just never got around to it (we always fell for the allure of hotels/houses for our past holidays instead!)  BUT I'm so glad we did give it a go, because thankfully we loved it & we're glad to have given the kids a different perspective on holidaying.  We headed to North Stradbroke Island, which is a short ferry trip off of Brisbane, Queensland - It's a gorgeous island, we fell in love with it last August when we stayed in a holiday home over there and so far to date it's my favourite holiday destination. 

Gorgeous weather for our first camping trip..

Our campsite, early morning..

We had the first night to ourselves as a family, which was nice to set up, explore and relax just the six of us and the next day we were joined by my Husband's family (they were the ones who initially invited us & had the two campsites next to ours).  We spent an enjoyable 3 days swimming at the beach, going for walks, eating yummy food and relaxing at the campsite and the kids got to enjoy time playing and fighting with their cousins ad mist all of this. 

Kids swimming at Cylinder Beach, our favourite beach, all time!

Easter Sunday was also spent on the island and the kids awoke to find the Easter Bunny had visited our tent and scattered mini crunchie eggs everywhere and left them a bag of goodies at the end of their beds.  They were rather excited. 

Carrots, Milk and Letters for the Easter Bunny

We headed back Sunday afternoon, so nice to be homeward bound - as relaxing as it is to be on holidays, it is always nice to return back home, my Brother had house/pet sit for us & as usual he'd done a terrific job and all of our pets were waiting for us, excited as ever..

So overall, we were blessed with great weather and great conditions for our first camping trip - I'll give it two thumbs up & definitely be back! 

Hubby overlooking the Headland @ Point Lookout.

One Happy Camper.. LOL

School Holidays.. *Bliss* & School Friend Gifts.

After a long and drawn out 12 weeks, we have finally reached the school holidays.  I love school holidays for their sleep in's, late breakfasts, extended PJ wearing time (particularly now it's getting cooler) and of course getting to do some wonderful activities and spending time with the kids. 

On the last day of school my Son took in a little present for each of his school friends and a chocolate bunny for his hard working teacher, I have made this a tradition each year for special occasions since he started Kindy 2 years ago and he really enjoys handing out these little gifts to his friends. 

Last year and the year before I used the little Easter marshmallow shapes and chocolate eggs, but this year I took a simpler approach and opted to use the little plastic eggs I have often seen at discount stores and we placed a chocolate egg and some easter stickers in each one, sealed them up with another easter sticker and sent them on their way :)  I also sent an additional bag of eggs for him to hand out randomly to friends (at $1 you can't go wrong.. )

My son said his friends loved them, they didn't take me all night to prepare (as these gifts often do) and it was something he could help me out with each step of the way!

Cute Chicken & Bunny Craft.

Today Indi and I tackled two Easter craft projects that I found on Bianca's blog, A Little Delightful

One involved making a hand print Easter chick & the other a cotton wool bunny.. both were a lot of fun, so cute and will make gorgeous Easter cards.  I love that you use the hand print for the chick's wings & it was so fun actually making the hand print, we used paint & tracings of his hand for each of the different chickens. 

I decided to pop some split pins into the 'wings' so the hands could move up and down also, this was an addition I added in after the photographs. Such a simple craft activity but it was a favourite in our home today xo

My take on Egg Baskets..

When I saw these on the Blog 'A Little Delightful I was super impressed and decided to give them a shot for this morning's breakfast. I had done a trial one, with one lonely egg that I had leftover in the fridge earlier in the week, but my Son turned his nose up at it (not unusual as he's not a big egg fan..)  So this morning I altered the recipe a little..

What you will need;

A muffin tray - I used a standard size.

Bread with the crusts removed, as I was feeding 6 I made all 12 so we could have 2 each.

Baking paper

Grated cheese

Ham

Eggs

Spaghetti

I started by preheating the oven to 180 degrees & then lined all of my cupcake tray with squares of baking paper. I then pushed the bread (with the crusts removed) into the baking tray to form little cups. I then placed some grated cheese into the bottom of all of these bread cups and some shaved ham.  I then made 3 with spaghetti for the non-egg lovers and the remainder with eggs.  I found I needed to remove some of the egg white as I was using XL eggs and they were overflowing the muffin tray. 

I then popped them into the preheated oven with some salt and pepper on top for 1/2 hour.

Today they were a hit.. even the spaghetti ones which tasted super yum and it goes to show how endless the possibilities are when adding ingredients.. You could try almost anything onions, tomatoes, bacon etc..