Around Here

Hi. Hello. So, let's just go though my phone pictures and see what we have been up too.

At the bottom of our street there is a small trail that leads into the village. Ben has affectionately named it the jungle. He's not that far off. Often we just go down there to explore and thankfully we haven't come across any scary critters, because you know they are out there. 

At the farmer's market they have pony rides for the kids. Ben loved it and talked about it for days.

The Dave Matthews Band Toured Australia, we went to the Sydney show. It was by far the most civilized DMB show I have ever been too. It was a great concert, we also had good seats. 

Jamie also went to the Melbourne show, he had floor tickets and worked his way up to the front. Hi Dave!

Jamie and I had a fancy pants dinner at Ormeggio. It was divine.

Ice blocks on the beach.

We appear to be having an endless summer around here. We had one cold week and then it heated back up, it's been great. We are still swimming in the sea and enjoying as much outside time as we can before winter.
The kids drawing with chalk.

For Mother's day we headed down to Palm beach for a picnic which included brekkie pies and coffee. Jamie and I went out the night before and ended up being out later than we had planned, so we were both a bit out of sorts on Sunday. I told Jamie all I really wanted was for the kids to be happy and a pair of Ugg boots (can you believe I have never had a pair - I love them). Jamie managed to keep the kids happy AND cooked dinner. Annmarie also picked up a little present (soap and a bracelet) for me at the Mother's Day market they had at school and made me a card.

Ben just checking out the Woolies advert while getting his teeth brushed. Also, the electric tooth brush may just save Ben's teeth.
Cuddles.

Ben has been trying out his balance bike and at the park.

Beach. Ben is running to Jamie in the first pic and building tunnels.

More beach.

Jamie ran the Sydney half marathon and I'm breaking all sorts of rules with this picture :).

Easter

Easter day included - Easter baskets, an egg hunt, chocolate, a swim and Star Wars.

Ben would do this all day.

Easter hat parade and Annmarie and I decorating a foam egg.

Jon

At the end of March Uncle Jon and Andrea came to visit for a little over a week - it was about time!  Everyone had a great time, but the kids were over the moon. Ben likes to call him My Jon and wanted to know where he was at all times.  This picture pretty much sums up what it was like for Jon.

Some of our outings included..

A trip to the Sydney Zoo. It rained a bit, but I think the weather worked in our favor, as there were no crowds and the animals were really active. This koala jumped branches in front of us, which was pretty cool, considering they sleep like 20 hours or more a day.

Ben loved all the reptiles.

He actually really enjoyed everything.  Well, everything until we wouldn't buy him the chop chop (helicopter) from the gift shop.

Ben was a little scared of the emu, which he kept calling a dinosaur.

The emu also fancied Jon and Andrea.

The emu knew they had food.

The emu was also keen for a few selfies.

 It was a bit smitten with Andrea too.

We took them to one of our favorite beaches - Palm Beach.
Cheese.

 

We got a sitter one night and went to a restaurant in the village and then went next door to the new pub.  This way we were able to walk home. I think you would call this happy #ineedtogetoutmore.

These oysters form our night out were awesome and the following morning Jon and Andrea whipped up brekky inspired by Gordon Ramsay - yum!

Other memorable moments not pictured included: A day to the Basin where we hired stand up paddle boards, wine tasting in the hunter for Jamie, Jon and Andrea, fun dinners at home, Star Wars and Despicable Me 2 viewings, a beautiful morning at the farmers market and more I'm probably forgetting.

It was awesome. Come back!

March....

as you would say was full-on. The month started out with a overseas trip for Jamie to Japan. While it was only for four sleeps, it was the longest five days.  Jamie traveling is nothing new, so I'm not sure why it was so intense, but it was. The kids were at each other constantly, and with me.  Ben who never has any sleep issues, was not sleeping.  Nothing was going right for Annmarie and oh the drama. When Jamie got home, he heard a mouthful, it wasn't pretty. Like everything, it passed and we moved on.  However, Jamie was only home for four days and would have to leave again. This time to the US.  I prepared myself and the kids and we took things really slow, I canceled some commitments, did take away for dinner a few times and really just enjoyed March. March by far is the best month here. The weather is mild, the sea warms up, all the tourists are gone, it's just very pleasant. So we took advantage of a beautiful start to March. We spent a lot of time at the beach, did what was necessary, and made sure Ben released enough energy so he would sleep. It ended up being manageable.  Jamie came back to a beautiful sunny day and literary hours after a fourteen hour flight did the Bilgola ocean swim, which then was followed by a crazy fierce storm and a black-out.

Four days later, we had the great pleasure of having Uncle Jon and A visit us. It's been a long over due trip, one I'll write up in another post.

The month also brought great sadness with the passing of Jamie's grandfather.  More thoughts on this in another post.

Here is a look at some pictures from the month.

Puzzles. Both kids love them.

Beach time with mates.  The best.

More water time. The first pic is from last week.

Selfies with my best lil man.

From the Bilgola swim. Seriously, when we got down to the beach it was sunny and then this storm rocked in during the actual swim. Moments after I snapped these pictures we made a run for the car and buckets of rain fell, it was like a scene from a movie with everyone running for cover. Crazy.

When you ask Ben to smile. And a coffee break.

Annmarie all dressed up for Multicultural Day at school, Jamie picked this up in Japan. 

Sunset.
And this recipe, great meal to bring to someone. I like to add sweet cherry tomatoes.

xx