Museum, State Library and Southbank...

... things a Mummy has to do to keep four kids amused while Daddy works on his assignment.

One of the kids favourite things to do is go to the museum. So off we went on an adventure. The first part of the adventure was the bus ride. This is always a great way to start.

waiting for the bus

Once we arrived at our destination the first stop is always Benjamin's favourite thing, looking at the big whales in the corridor. BJ absolutely loves looking up at these huge animals and as a Mummy I love looking into his eyes as he marvels at God's creation. He always loves standing underneath them to tell us all he knows about whales.

the BIG whales

After walking through the corridor we headed over to the State Library to explore their new 'Corner'. This is a place filled with books, activities, games and children's yoga. Annie, Matt and BJ really enjoyed the arts and craft corner in which they did some beautiful pictures. Lucy loved the 'Market place' corner where she got to serve Mummy in a make believe shop.

Lucy charging Mummy a fortune for some corn!


BJ concentrating hard on his creation

After the State Library it was now time to head over to the museum for the continuation of our adventure. The kids can not get enough of this place. Matthew's favourite area is the room with all the turtles. Now that Matt is a competent reader he just loves to stop at all the stations and read as much as he can and then try and quiz Mum on his new found knowledge.

Benjamin and Matthew checking out the computer for some new facts

Annie's favourite section of the museum is the area where all the animals are life size. She loves looking at the tiny insects through the magnifying glass and comparing her size to the larger animals.

Annie, BJ, Matt and Lucy

After exploring all the different areas of the museum we ended up listening to a talk about reptiles. The kids were totally engrossed in what the man was telling them and they were also able to touch some of the animals he brought with him.

Matt and Annie patting a baby crocodile

After a wonderful time of exploring at the museum and state library it was time to wander over to Southbank for an icecream and a play on the playground before heading home to tell Daddy all about our adventure.

BJ eating his ice cream

Annie and BJ playing

All a bit too much for Lucy who fell asleep 5 mins before the bus arrived to take us home.

Uncle Doug's boat

What a great day! On Saturday we headed down to the Brisbane River to have some fun on Uncle Doug's boat. The kids were able to have a ride in the tube as well as being passengers in the boat. When it was Matt's turn he kept on asking to go faster, Benjamin asked to go slower and Annie, well she is just like Matt and wanted to go faster. Lucy, however was not having anything to do with the boat so she was very happy to sit in her stroller and watch from the sidelines. Daddy had lots of fun too and Uncle Doug made sure he went extra fast when it was Daddy's and Thomas' turn! Everyone had such a fun day and it is definitely something the kids, and Daddy would love to do again.

Holidays!!

Easter holidays at Broken Head this year was fantastic. Despite the late afternoon rain we had beautiful weather. The kids played on the beach, the boys had a surf on their boogie boards and plenty of games were played. Dinners were always a highlight with everyone in our annexe (due to the rain!) having a group dinner which ranged from a roast dinner with crepes for dessert, a Mongolian BBQ with make your own trifle, a traditional BBQ with rocky road cheesecake for dessert..... there was always plenty of food on hand. Another highlight (or should I say a bad memory) of the camping trip was all the mud due to the overnight rain we had. The kids at first enjoyed squishing around in it but after three days of the stuff, we were all over it!

Annie, Lucy and BJ digging a hole in the sand

Nick, Daddy and Matt Boogie boarding

Branden, Matt, Daddy and Annie playing one of the many games of UNO

All the kids travelling home!!

Lucy, Matt and cousin Nick

BJ and Annie

We all had such a great time camping and have come home with some great memories

*a turkey taking Lucy's piece of cake right out of her hand

*a turkey getting into the Ross' annexe and pecking holes into fly screen

* watching a goanna get into the neighbours tent

* lots and lots of boogie boarding

* Daddy and Mr Ross beating Mummy and Mrs Ross in 500 and 240!

* a turkey getting into our butter and leaving peck marks for evidence

* putting up Johnny and Sharon's NEW, never put up before, tent, in the dark

Chargers!!

Soccer season has begun for 2009. This year not only is Matthew playing but Benjamin has started playing too AND Daddy is the assistant coach. Benjamin is so excited about playing soccer and constantly counts down to Friday, as this is training day, and then 'one more sleep' til 'soccer day'! The boys are also so excited about having Dad as the assistant coach. They love Daddy being part of it all. There was one 'hiccup' on the first game day, Mummy forgot to buy Benjamin a pair of plain black soccer shorts. Oops, who would have thought I could have possibly forgetten to buy them when BJ had been counting down the days/weeks til the first game.

the 3 boys - first match

Go Chargers!

Matthew doing what he loves most - attacking the ball

BJ doing what he loves most - goal keeper

Benjamin loves playing goal keeper whenever he plays at home. So when he got the chance to play goalie 'for real' he jumped at the chance. He was so excited but also he was a bundle of nerves. He did a fantastic job as goalie for his first attempt, he did not let one goal in (a few near misses but nonetheless not one went in!)

Matthew loves half time!!

At the end of the game all the players received an encouragement award certificate. This was Benjamin's first ever certificate and he was beaming from ear to ear.

BJ receiving his certificate from 'Coach'

Matthew receiving his certificate

Once all the formalities were over and everyone was heading home this is where I found three of my cherubs....

Matt, Annie and Lucy eating the left over oranges!!

P.S. - Chargers won their first game 4-0!!

Prep morning tea

At the end of term Benjamin's class invited the parents along to see what they have been up to at school. The parents were blessed by some beautiful singing followed by a slide show of photos of all the activities the kids have been doing. Benjamin was so excited to have both Mum and Dad there to watch him. He had been counting down the sleeps until the special concert. After the concert the children were able to show Mum and Dad some of their books and artwork that was displayed around the room. There were also some activities we could do together on the verandah. After all this the school put on a lovely morning tea for the parents of hot cross buns and Easter eggs! that we could eat with our child for morning tea. It was such a lovely morning.

Benjamin singing

Benjamin (in the back row) singing

Benjamin doing some playdoh

Lucy, Benjamin and Annie

Benjamin's page about 'ME'

Benjamin's spider

Annie's first excursion

Annie had her first excursion and Mummy went along too. The excursion was to the Bunya Forest to hunt for a Bilby. Seeing as it was close to Easter, the class had to look for the Bilby who helps the Easter Bunny on Sunday mornings. The morning started off with a bus ride on a BIG coach, followed by morning tea at the forest before the special show/adventure started. The Professor came by to visit the children and to give them instructions on what to look out for and what to do. Once they were given the instructions, the class had to go looking for eggs that 'Flash Rabbit' (the naughty rabbit) had dropped and collect them all for the Bilby. Once the children collected the eggs and placed them into the basket, they made a special nest for all the forest animals to sleep in before the continued on their way. Once they put there eggs on the specific stump that the Bilby had asked them to do, the BILBY appeared all to the excitement of the children. Annie then had her photo with the Bilby and then off to have some lunch before heading back home on the BIG coach. Annie and Mummy had a great day and we had lots to tell the rest of the family when we got home!

the birthday celebrations continue!

Annie arrived home from Kindy and found a special package addressed to her. It was a birthday package from her cousins in Canberra. Annie received another tutu (a girl can never have too many tutu's) and a special present chosen by Jordyn, a toothbrush and a zebra toothbrush holder. This particular present takes pride of place in our bathroom.

Thank you

Uncle Rob, Aunty Kim, Ryan, Jakeb, Mikayla and Jordyn

love Annie xxxooo