Mooloolaba and the Easter Show

On the Wednesday, we went to catch up with some friends from Detroit. It was great to see Michelle and her adorable girls, we went to a water play park down by the beach and had fish and chips for lunch - it doesn't get much better than that. Somehow I managed to not take any pictures, except for this one of Mackenzie playing dress-up. I don't think she'll ever get that close to being an angel again!!

On Thursday, my mum and dad took the day off work, and we went for a trip to the Sunshine Coast, to Mooloolaba, it's about an hour and a half from their house - so not too bad.

Our first stop was Underwater World.

They had some amazing exhibits, it's a really cool aquarium, and we all had a good time.

This is a car they turned into a fish tank.

The kids always love getting their picture in Shark jaws.

Here is a baby shark, with egg still attached.

Brightly coloured Sea Star.

A Sea Dragon.

And of course, the sharks.

This turtle really liked Kingy.

Inside one of the tanks was a little bubble dome, the kids crawled underneath and popped their heads up into the dome, they loved it.

Once we'd spent a couple of hours wandering through the aquarium we walked along the wharf looking at the shops and enjoying the sunshine. The were lots of picture opportunities, and the kids were all over it, it's not often I get to hear, "take a picture of me" usually I'm the one begging. Kingy as always needed to check out the teeth, a future as a dentist perhaps?

After a nice lunch we went down to the Mooloolaba beach. I hadn't packed swimsuits that morning, not sure what in the world I was thinking, as within minutes all three were soaked. Luckily my mum had brought some towels. Hunter and Mackenzie had a blast running in and out of the water. While Kingston entertained my dad, running up and down the beach and making snow angels.

They found a little pool someone had made and enjoyed waiting for the waves to come in.

After a quick shower to get the sand off, and redressing, mostly dry, we walked down to get some ice creams before it was time to go home. It was a quiet ride home after all that excitement, the kids played their DSi's and Kingston was asleep within minutes.

On Saturday it was time to go home, my parents were kind enough to drive us to Coffs Harbour, and Craig met us there, then we all spent the night, before heading home on Sunday morning. Everyone was so happy to see Craig, the kids really missed him. We took them down to the beach for the afternoon, with swimsuits this time, to help tire them out before our big drive home. After a delicious breakfast and walk through the Jetty markets, we said our goodbyes and were on our way. The drive was good, and it was nice to be home again.

Monday the 12th of April:

Craig took the day off to spend some time with the kids, they went to see the How to train your dragon movie in 3d. They all loved it. Later in the afternoon we decided we'd take the kids to the easter Show that evening. Yes, last year we said never again! It's such a money pit. But, we knew the kids would really enjoy it, and we hoped being one of the last days, and so late in the day it might not be too crowded. We were in luck!

We wondered around for a little while, then stumbled across the animal nursery. What fun for our city kids. They were able to pat a calf and a lamb.

Even feed the animals too. Kingston found them a bit overwhelming I think, but Hunter and mackenzie really enjoyed it.

This goat would not leave Hunter's side, it would butt away any others who tried to come close.

We left the nursery and continued to look around the show,then we came across the pony rides. Mackenzie decided she wanted one, and once Kingy saw her riding, he decided he'd ride too.

We grabbed some dinner and the kids got a lightsaber each, good thing since it was getting dark, and headed over to the big stadium. We had seen the Robosaurus on tv, and knew the kids were all very excited to see it. We found some nice seats on the grass, and were entertained by stunt girls riding on horses, toyota hiluxes and some Moto-X. Finally it was Robosaurus time. Don't worry, he only eats cars.

Our Big boy is 8!

How did that happen? The time is going by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that he was 4.

This is the kids at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast in November 2006.

Now all of a sudden he's 8.

Because his birthday was on good Friday this year, we had his party the week before, at Hungry Jacks like Mackenzie. It was really good, he had about 8 friends plus his brother and sister, the party host kept them entertained with games and they played tag in the playground.

Then it was food time. Kingy liked his pirate hat.

So did Mackenzie.

I had made Star Wars cupcakes instead of doing a bigger cake. They turned out pretty good.

After cake, it was almost time to go home.

Too easy!

The kids finished school on Thursday the 1st of April, and don't go back until the 20th. It worked out nice that Hunter's birthday was good Friday, it meant we all got to spend the day together. As always he was up bright and early, ready for presents.

Kingston was his little helper.

He got some new games and accessories for his DSi, clothes, a tee for t-ball and a new bike.

What a lucky boy.

Here's Kingy trying out Hunter's new hoody.

Ohhhhhhh scary!

Nana had sent a little package for him to open since they wouldn't be seeing him until Sunday.

Then it was outside to give that bike a test drive.

We spent the afternoon playing lips on the xbox. It's a fun singing game, that the kids love. Only once Kingy get's his turn with the mic, it's hard to get him to give it up.

After dinner, it was cake time, sticking with the Star Wars theme that Hunter wanted, I made a lightsaber cake. He was very happy with it.