A little bush adventure

We are almost at the end of the school holidays and keeping the kids amused and occupied for two weeks has been relatively easy this time round.  We have been to the movies, had a playdate, family visits and birthdays, but mostly the kids have just played together quite nicely.  Henry and Milly have played harmoniously in a little Lego world they have created with Lego people and Sylvanian families.  Buster has even joined in on occasion, unless he's been kicked out of the group because he's pulled apart any Lego creations.

 

However, one day last week Milly said she would like to go on a bush walk.  It was a beautiful, warm autumn day and we were all keen.  We are fortunate to live near a nature reserve that has a number of walks through it, so we decided to go on a little bush adventure.  With water bottles packed, mosquito repellent applied, and our hats on, we set off.

 

 

 

We hadn't gotten far on our walk, when we realised one member of our family was lagging behind due to his legs being a little bit little.  The all important walking stick he had found earlier was weighing him down and he was getting tired.  Plus, let's face it, he just likes to be carried around every where.  So it was Michael to the rescue.

 

 

Further down the bush track we heard a rustling of leaves and for a second worried it might be a snake or lizard.  Instead we saw a small dark lump toddling through the bush and moved in closer to see what it was.  It was an echidna, and it was burrowing itself in the leaves under a tree.  We have never seen an echidna outside a zoo or animal exhibit, so to see one "in the wild" was the highlight of our walk.

 

 

 

But not everyone was happy.  Someone didn't want to be on the bush walk anymore, and we hadn't been walking more than 15 minutes.  Someone said their legs were tired and they refused to keep going.

 

After some gentle persuading, we managed to get everyone moving again and continued on.  Suddenly, Milly recognised one of the paths we had chosen to take, as she had been on a school excursion to this reserve late last year.  She became re-energised and excited because it was all feeling familiar again and she thought there might be an end to the walk in sight.

Our nature boy Henry was leading the way and spotting tiny insects everywhere he looked.  It was such a peaceful walk and we didn't see or hear another sole on our track.

And all it took was finding a colourful feather to bring a smile back to her face.

 

Mister Easter

After enduring an entire day focused around his sister and patiently waiting his turn............finally our little Mister Henry turned nine years old.  Happy Birthday Mister.

 

He couldn't wait to guess what was inside each present before ripping them open.  A tennis racket and balls, boxing gloves, a watch, Lego, clothes, money, voucher, a DVD, book and a slushy maker.



 

This was followed by the Easter egg hunt in the garden.  The trick was to find all the eggs and bunnies before the mosquitoes could find you. 

 

Then with all the family gathered it was time for a big ole cooked breakfast with hot cross buns.  We were all so stuffed no one but Buster could fit in eating any birthday cake.  But we lit the candles and sang a big Happy Birthday to Henry, Milly and Grandad Bryan who had turned another year old two weeks earlier.

Happiness turned to sadiness pretty quickly for Milly.  It was time to say farewell to Auntie Nikki who had to return to Sydney.  There were some tears but lots of lovely memories created. 

To help Milly cope with her loss of Nikki, Nanoo had a stash of more Easter eggs and we did another little hunt in the garden.  I had made some Easter egg shaped biscuits and Milly helped me colour some melted white chocolate so the kids could decorate them.  Meanwhile Henry and Corin bonded over their mutual love of assembling Lego.

 

With Nikki gone so to was her expertise in looming.  Milly YouTubed "how to" videos to try and make herself some of the more tricky rainbow bands.  Our beautiful girl cried herself to sleep that night calling out Nikki's name.

 

7th heaven

 

Happy birthday to our little poppet.  Finally the day had arrived and she was excited beyond belief.  Seven at last.  There were presents, chocolate pancakes for breakfast, and doing everything with Auntie Nikki.



 

 

 



Buster made sure he didn't miss out on any special attention.  He snuggled up to Nanna Trace and they played computer games together.

 



Later in the afternoon, Corin, Yin and Casper arrived, which signalled play time for the boys.   Michael started the chiminea and we were hoping we could sit about outside and toast some marshmallows, but the mosquitoes were so menacing he burnt off some branches and twigs instead and we stayed indoors.

 

 

 

Tracey had the latest edition of Delicious magazine with her and during the day we had been drooling over some of the featured food.  We picked out two favourites and worked together in the kitchen to create a sumptuous feed for all.

 



Caramelised onion and blue cheese flatbread.

Wine-braised chicken with roasted grapes.
 

 Nanna Trace had made some red velvet cupcakes and tiny edible rabbits.  The kids devoured them.

Once everyone was fed and the adults well lubricated, it was time for the Bartley Huckers championship to commence.  Those of you who follow our blog will know that traditionally we play for the trophy of Grandad's ashes every second Boxing Day, because that's generally when we are all together.  However, this was an exceptional time for us all to be together again, so the opportunity was not to be missed.  Grandad Bryan was the reigning champ, having won the past two championships and no one wanted to see him win again.  The first player to win two games is crowned Huckers Champion.

And who could believe it.....I won in two games back to back.  Dad had not brought the trophy with him, so we substituted the dice rolling cup for the official hand over of Champ-to-Champ photo.  Nice photobomb by Henry.  Funniest moment of the night went to Dad, who had had a few scotches and threw the dice back in the dice cup not even realising it was his hot mug of coffee.  After the dice were spooned out and dried, it was noted in the official minutes of the game that Corin was unable to roll a six after that.

A very Good Friday

Our Easter long weekend celebration plans included family staying and visiting, two birthdays, a Huckers championship, an Easter egg hunt, and plenty of food, wine and laughs.  It all started with a very Good Friday.

First to arrive were Grandad Bryan, Nanna Trace, and Auntie Nikki.  Being ever the non-traditionalists we opted for slow-cooked lamb and roasted vegetables, instead of fish for dinner.  Oh, and a glass of wine or three.

Thank goodness for Nikki.  Our hero and saviour.  Milly fixated all her being on Nikki for the whole time she was here.  She had Nikki sleep with her in her bedroom, sit with her for every meal, style her hair, play games and makeovers, lots of cuddles.........basically Milly had someone who could give her the 24/7 attention she loves for two days running.  She was soooo happy.  Thank you Nikki.  No, we really mean it.  Thank you.

Buster also enjoyed his time with his grandparents.  He demanded he had his photo taken with Nanna Trace a number of times, plus he had a lot of fun squirting plastic balls in to the back of Grandad Bryan's head.

School photos

 

Well deserved treat time

Just before school finished for the Easter holidays both Henry and Milly had to give class presentations.  We promised them if they worked hard on their presentations and rehearsed so they were well prepared, we would take them out for a special treat.

Henry's class at school had been learning about mini beasts.  He had to prepare a three minute presentation on a mini beast of his choice.  He chose a scorpion.  He made a 3D model out of Lego, as well as prepared a PowerPoint presentation that he delivered to his class .  It was the first time he would get a mark for a project and he got 29/30.  Proud as punch.

Milly's class have been learning all about new and old things.  She had to bring in an olden day object and deliver a two minute presentation.  Nanoo had a doll hiding in her cupboard called Janet that was over 130 years old, so Milly did her speech about the doll.  Her teacher told me she gave an excellent presentation.  Proud as again, considering we had spent weeks with Henry researching, helping him put together his PowerPoint, and memorising and rehearsing his speech.  By the time we'd finished Henry's project we released Milly only had two days to put something together and deliver it.  She really did exceptionally well to memorise her speech in such a short period of time.

So on to their promised special treat.  They both wanted to go to a place called Yoghurtland.  We've been there twice before and there is only outdoor seating.  Both times it rained.  Guess what?  It was raining again.  There was a new place called Crave that was at an indoor shopping centre, so I suggested that.  It took a little convincing but they do a similar style of self-serve flavoured soft-serve yoghurt/icecream with choice of toppings.  The kids verdict and ours..... Crave is the winner.  It's fresher tasting, plus they give discounts to large families.  Win win.

Garden news

Our garden is getting ready for the hoppity hopping of little bunny feet.  We have lots of nice little hiding spots for Easter eggs.

 

Why hello there. 
It was a nice surprise to see strawberries unexpectantly growing this late in the season.

A grand haul of three ripe strawberries.
 

Lemons.
 



My possum deterrent sticks seem to be doing the trick.
The sunflowers are growing.
Wish I could say the same about the beetroot and my snow peas.