Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Gumboots & Gardens

 

After a very warm weekend with tops of 27 degrees Celsius, (sweltering I tell you...stop sniggering Queensland family) we're enjoying a few days of glorious soaking rain. The garden is doing a happy dance at the moment. The pear, cherry and apple trees have finished blossoming and are in leaf again. The lavender is resplendent in its vibrant purple. The wisteria, jasmine and port wine magnolias fill the warm afternoon air with their heady perfume. The banksia rose has burst into a buttery yellow cloud of blossom and the herb garden is fragrant and full. The hen house has been fox proofed and prepped for our new clucky hens arriving this weekend. Everything is alive and exciting and beautiful.

 

 
The boys spend most of their time outside, riding bikes or playing Dr Who with the neighborhood kids who inevitably find their way to our backyard after school and on the weekend. On rainy mornings Jack makes his way outside before breakfast to search for snails on the garden path, jump in muddy puddles in his gumboots and save wriggly worms from drowning in the rain. I love that he's such an inquisitive little guy and has such a soft spot for animals.
 

 

This weekend we'll be making a scarecrow, settling in our new hens and coming up with some crazy cool decorating ideas for Halloween.

I Love October!

 

xx Em

 

 

Friday, August 1, 2014

Winter Wonderland

We snuck away last weekend for a family holiday in the Snowy Mountains,

celebrating the Jackman's 3rd Birthday.

 

 

The last time we were at the snow I was 32wks pregnant with this little guy so it was really sweet to watch him playing in the snow, all grown up.

 

Sunday morning was a perfectly glorious day for a roadtrip. We took our time driving down, stopping at Gundagai for lunch and a play in the park.

 

 

Our base was Ribbonwood Cottages at Tumut. It was the perfect setup for a family with small kids like ours. A sweet, super comfortable, self contained cottage set on a 100 acre working farm.

 

 
No sooner had we set our bags down then we were tramping across the paddocks to explore the river.
 

 
And traipsing along cow trails.
 
 
After an early dinner we rugged up and headed back across the paddocks to light a campfire. A lot of fond childhood memories came flooding back as we searched for the perfect stick to toast marshmallows. We lit sparklers and tracked satellites across the night sky.
 

 

Monday morning was an early start with a drive to Selwyn snowfields first thing. The birthday boy and his big brother may or may not have been just a tad excited.

 

 
So lucky that its been a brilliant season with a really decent snowfall. The boys were booked into Snow World for the morning so we snuck off for a child free coffee before coming back to see them both rocking it in their ski lessons.
 
 
The boys were so proud of themselves and we were a little bit amazed at how quickly they'd picked it up. During lunch I realised that my credit card had fallen out of my pocket. Eeek!!! Was a tad stressed but thankfully some lovely person eventually handed it in so...crisis averted.
The afternoon was filled with snow tube rides, tobogganing, snowball fights (mostly Husband firing at us as we were being towed up the snow tube hill, yes, you're right...he's evil) and making snowmen and snow angels.
It was brilliant fun.
 
 
Can't wait to come back next year for a longer stay so we can all hit the slopes on our skis.
The boys conked out on the drive back to Tumut.
 
 
 
At sunset Jack opened his presents and after dinner we had cake.
 
 
He was so thrilled to have us sing Happy Birthday to him. He gave me a huge hug after he'd blown out the candle exclaiming, "Oh THANK YOU Mum for gedding me my ca-ake, oh THANK YOU!! So stinkin cute!
 
Tuesday morning started with a lazy sleep in, one last meander about the farm and a play at the river.
 
 
None of us really wanted to go home. Harry in particular was quite attached to the cottage, I had to giggle when he exclaimed with great passion, "I just LOVE this little cottage, it's just so ADORABLE, I never want to leave it!".
It took some convincing to get the boys into the car, with the promise that we'd come back next Autumn to see Tumut in all its splendour during the Fall Festival. We stopped for a late lunch in Yass, took a stroll about town and fell in love with a gorgeous 1920s kitchen dresser in the antique store. Long story short, it's being delivered to its new home, aka our dining room, next week.
 
The perfect end to our mini holiday.
 

 

Happy 3rd Birthday Jackman. You wonderful, energetic, vibrant little boy.

We love you to the moon and back.

 

xx Em