Easter Down on the Farm ...

We've certainly developed a taste for country life over the last few months and racked up some km's in the pursuit of something new. It really brings it home to you when you drive non stop for five hours and don't even get close to leaving New South Wales! We loaded the car again to return to about 70km of where we had visited the zoo only five days earlier!

This time we'd been invited to our friend Matt's parents farm. It is 3000 acres of cattle farming land near Wellington. His parents were the perfect hosts and most welcoming of the six children (all four or under!) and the six adults that descended on them for the Easter Weekend. It really was a magical time with our friends and their family. In fact we were having so much fun that we didn't leave the farm once during our stay. Away from the computers, televisions and the other distractions of modern day life there wasn't much more to do than enjoy the weather, the country each others company and do the odd job or two around the place.



There were lots of cups of tea, farmhouse baked cakes to eat, the cattle to watch, tennis to play, tea to drink, dog to pat, grass to roll on, swings to swing on, tea to drink, wine to drink, utes to ride in, fires to start, stones to skim, food to eat, books to read at and tea to drink! It really was a special weekend with lots of laughs and memories. There were also many firsts with my first ride on a motorbike and the opportunity to climb a grain silo to secure the hatch on the top.

Dubbo Zoo ...

During the Easter break we packed up and head West to Dubbo about five hours away in the pouring rain. The Murdoch's came along too and we were all keen to erase the memory of our last attempt at a family getaway during which pretty much everything went wrong! ;0) What could possibly go wrong this time?!?!?

We were all gearing up for the trip to the zoo on the Sunday when Beth had a Gall Stone attack which see says is worse than child birth. So it was a late on Saturday night trip to Dubbo Hospital where she was given a drip and morphine. After a couple of hours it was back to the hotel to enjoy the rest of the night!!!

The Zoo in Dubbo is linked to Taronga Zoo in Sydney which is more like Longleat without the primates ripping all the accessories off your car. There are 6km of roads which take you around the park and past the huge enclosures that house the animals. You can travel in your own car, take a cart or hire bikes and helmets. We saddled up on two bikes with Alfie sitting in a seat on Beth's and Charlie trailing in the caboose on mine.



Despite the hospital trip (that's three visits to hospital whilst on Holiday since 2007! ... safer to stay at home!?)we had a great time and we feel like were definitely turning a corner as far as holidaying with the kids is concerned. So much so that we'd consider doing it again some time! ;0)

In the swing ...

With the coming of Winter comes the cooler temperatures and the Autumn days which can be some relief from the heat of Summer. This Easter we have been blessed with some lovely weather, clear blue skies and temperatures in the low twenties.

Perfect for getting out and about and enjoying the sunshine. With Alfie constantly pointing out that he is what he considers a "big boy!" it was time to upgrade on the swing. Amy and Mitchell's old tyre came in useful and is perfect companion for the tree house (Which is still to be built and is currently five months behind schedule!)

Upwardly Mobile ...

Charlie has discovered walking and there seems to be no holding him back. He seemed to realise that if wants to keep up with his big brother and his mates then crawling on all fours even at high speed wasn't cutting it! He started with a few steps and tried to go a little further each day, each attempt was followed with claps from mum and dad so he joined in!

More recently shoes have been added which provides a whole new challenge the adult equivalent of which is walking in diving boots. Most pleasing for dad however is the fact that Charlie can now combine the walk and the kick of a ball!

Saying Goodbye to Nan and Gramps ...

To illustrate the point that things have been a little crazy here of late (... No such thing as half term here!) I noticed that I hadn't posted anything since February! I had an eleven week term here which included all the fun and games of a normal term with a course a six hour drive away and camp thrown in for good measure. I also had a recurrence of my kidney infection.

We've also been busy at home too with the two boys into everything while we dash around trying to get things done. Beth has continued to work from home and pick up casual teaching work where she can. It is notoriously slow here in the first term.

We also had to adjust to not having Nan and Gramps around to help out. They both do so much while they are here and do it for so long that its something of a shock to the system when they're gone. We'll be looking to hold everything together until they hopefully return later in the year!

Charlie's Birthday...

Charlie celebrated his birthday during the blog post famine of 2011. We decided to hold it here at home and were blessed with a mostly dry but overcast day. The bouncy castle was inflated, sausages sizzled and backyard cricket broke out.

Beth worked wonders on the cake, an elephant that ... well looked like an elephant! Its amazing how quickly his first year has passed. All parents love their own kids but he really does have a lovely nature and a rapidly developing personality. At the moment Alfie has the upper hand .. it might not always be that way!!!

Yee Haa! ...

With the antenatal group comes a glut of birthdays all at the same time. As all the boys and girls turn four this year we've been gearing and dressing up for the party season.

Most recently we saddled up for Elliot's Wild West party. We had a great time with the party favourites like pass the parcel as well pin the tail on the horse!

Attention now turns to Alfie's party early next month...

Down on the Farm ...

Recently we enjoyed a wonderful weekend down on the Farm. Once owned by his Grandfather a mate at work invited us along with our families to stay on the piece that they kept in the family. Once this paddock contained nothing more than a shed to store chicken feed now after a lot of hard work there is now a barn with a fitted kitchen, a bathroom and some caravans for guests to sleep in ... what it doesn't have is running water or electricity!



We had a great time and the fact that there was no TV, phones, internet or those things that we take for granted so often were not available only added to the experience. We collected firewood, played in the sandpit, checked out the frogs in the bathroom at night, took rides on the tractor and roasted marshmallows - All under a cloudless sky!

It was really our first country experience and all just four hours from home. It's certainly made us want to branch out and experience more of what Australia has to offer as the kids get older.

Month by Month ...

Its been a while... two months to be exact. But its the holidays after eleven long weeks so time for some updates.