The final Oz update

Pleased to get this finished it is like a monkey on my back. I want to get the info down because it will be good to look back on when my forgetful brain won't work properly! Plus, Mum, I know you are enjoying seeing the photos!

Tobyn is heavily into anything medievil right now. So when Steve saw that there was a medievil weekend on in the Sunshine coast while we were there it was a perfect thing to do. We weren't 100% sure of all the details but thought why not go have a look. So we packed a lunch and off we went. When we arrived it was so awesome to see people right into the spirit and Tobyn LOVED it! All day Tobyn was hanging out to have a go at archery. So the last thing we did was find the archery range. Tobyn found it pretty hard being so small and not having a lot of strength but he enjoyed it. Unfortunately they closed shortly after we paid and had to be away at a parade in 10mins so Tobyn was rushed through and didn't really get the attention he needed, but none the less he has a wonderful memory. An amazing unexpected day.


We spent one day just driving into the mountain area. We had alovely lunch in a cute little cafe and a lovely scenic drive looking at the glass house mountains. We stopped at a park forest area and looked around. It was getting dark and cold by this point so we didn't spend as long as we could have here. While we were waiting for grandad and Grandma Isaac did a little exploring and found a mini rock wall. My litte explorer didn't take long to give it a go and try and scale the wall, and he did it. Woah, Tobyn was never that adventurous!



I love this photo of Isaac on Grandads shoulders. Look at that cheeky grin, that sums him up really, very cute but full of mischief!




A photo of Tobyn at the beach just because I love it. This was one of those photos where he tried to not have a photo taken!



Tobyn held Steve Irwin in high adoration for a long time. When he died Tobyn was devastated and that was about the time we decided we would take him to Oz and Australia Zoo. Of course he would have liked to go with Steve Irwin still alive. So hwe made it and what an awesome Zoo! The keepers are so passionate, as Steve was. They know what they are talking about and are so passionate about saving wildlife. You get so up close to so many animals. Tobyn loved seeing all the crocs and especially ones Steve talks about on his shows. We were also lucky to get to see Terri and Bob, Steves father. They were taking possesion of a new truck that was donated and they were being filmed for the news. All in all another great day!




And finally we moved on, to Brisbane. We wanted to get a taste of the big city. We only had 2 nights but it was enough to get a feel for it. I would like to go back and spend more time in the big city I think there is a lot to see and do. The first night we walked around and over to the South Bank, which we thought would be awesome, but sadly mistaken it was very rundown and grubby.

People spotting was interesting! I was surprised at how dowdy most of the people were. Not much colour, pretty scruffy, a lot of people smoking and ALOT of people in general.

The final day in Oz we walked and walked and walked. We thought we'll just go over there and maybe there will be a playground. We did finally find a playground but I think we had been walking for a good 2 hours. The boys had a blast in the playground though. Yet again Isaac showing how much he wants to be like his big brother trying things he shouldn't even want to try yet.

We had dinner in a cute little authentic Irish pub. Lovely stodgy Irish food, mmm.

And then we came home. We were ready to come home! I think that it goes to show that we got the relaxation we needed to and were ready to get back to the comfort of home even if we knew it was going to be considerably colder.

It was great to get home to a clean well looked after house, thanks Fee you did a great job housesitting for us!

Whitewater world and more

We went to Dreamworld and Whitewater world again without Grandad and Grandma they had had enough of the theme parks by this stage. The weather had warmed up enough for the boys to not get too cold at the water park. Steve has been hanging out to go to a water park for so long!!! And they had a ball. I let Isaac had a quick go in the wiggles beach and he loved that too. He even went down a small water slide on his own and seemed to enjoy it. He absolutely loves the water so he was inhis element here. Check out this gorgeous photo of Tobyn and Isaac at the end of a slide.



Isaac and I left Steve and Tobyn to do there thing in the water park. I had hoped Isaac would sleep but he had other plans! Steve and Tobyn had an absolute blast. They went on everything except 2 because Tobyn was too short. Isn't it amusing that when he has his shoes on he is tall enough but without he isn't I would've thought they should adjust for that, go figure.

So moving on from all the themeparks we had done enough of that. We picked up rental cars and were more flexible. Steve, Tobyn, Isaac and I visited my Aunt and her family. It was so nice to see them again after 7 years. 2 of my cousins now have children though we only got to meet Tamika. It was awesome to see my boys get on so well with her. Tamika is 4 and Isaac ADORED her, he started saying her name shortly after we arrived and he would then go around saying 'Mika, Mika, Mika' he still says it now when he sees her photo. We wished that we could have spent more time with them but with Steves parents there as well we didn't feel like we could go back again.

We then moved onto the Sunshine Coast. We stayed in a nice apartment in Caloundra but if I were to go back again I think I would stay in Mooloolaba, the beach there was more interesting and there was alot more going on. We really enjoyed climbing on the rocks and walking on the 'squeaky' sand.

Isaac absolutely loved the sand and didn't want to leave. I love these 2 photos of him enjoying the sand and Steve potato sacking him away.





I love this photo of Isaac and I but



Look what happened a couple of seconds later, he threw sand over me and got it down my front and Steve managed to snap it LOL.



And Tobyn got to do this bouncing bungy thing something he has been dying to for ages! He loved it. He struggled to keep the momentum up but every time the guy gave him a boost and he flew into the air he had a HUGE grin!!!



OK I am going to publish this and then do the last Oz instalment then I can carry on with normal blogger activity.

3rd instalment on the Oz trip.

Movieworld yippee, a ton of fun had by all! When Tobyn was 2 and we went to movieworld his favourite character was Porky Pig, or ponky pig as he called him. This time he was one of Isaacs faves! Tobyn loved Scooby and the Gang.

But Isaacs all time fave was DONKEY and the Shrek characters. Whenever he would see donkey he would go, Donkey, donkey, donkey, very cute.



Tobyn bought himself some candy floss and gave some to Isaac, darn it, now Isaac loves candy floss too!!!




Movieworld is a great place to watch grown adults try and squish into child size rides and have a load of fun. Check out Grandad squished into the train, and it looks like Steve is having a lot more fun than Isaac!




And Grandad thouroughly enjoyed meeting Marilyn!



Gotta go tuck my big boy into bed back later with the next installment and I will try and make it the last installment!

Got the scrapping mojo!

So I have been scrapping quite a bit since I have been back from Oz, I am not sure if I am inspired or just that I have a little more time. Why do I have more time? Because I have had a 9 year old at home for the past 3 days and I can't go anywhere! So that means I get my housework out of the way early while the boys watch blue clues. I get Tobyn doing homework before lunch and play with Isaac. We all have lunch I get Isaac to bed, Tobyn does some exercise and then has some time on the computer at which time I SCRAP!!! It has been so wonderful. Here is some of my work for you to puruse. I am happy with how my scrapping is going at the moment. I am trying to have a go at new things, I have even signed up for a challenge at scrapbook essentials. I don't expect to get anything, but it will be good for the inspiration and getting 7 layouts done over 7 weeks! I gave myself a goal at the beginning of the year that I would get 52 lo's done this year, so far I have done 23, not halfway but getting there!

This layout of Tobyn I LOVE. I used junkitz which is gorgeous. I wanted to keep it very simple to highlight the photo of Tobyn which I also love, even though he isn't looking at the camera.




The next layout uses a photo I took as my 'homework' when i did Mandis photography class at scrapbook outlet. I have had the photo printed since then which was back in May. Finally I had the inspiration to put it on a layout! It is kind of feminine/christmassy colours but I love it.



This lovely girly layout is the first girly layout I have done that isn't about me!!! It was so nice to use pinks and purples! My Aunt gave me this lovely photo of my cousins daughter and I knew I had to scrap it straight away. We met her while in Oz but more on that later!



I hope you have enjoyed looking and I thank you for visiting, I love having visitors, must be my inner actress I really do like the attention LOL

Bowling and Wildlife on the Gold Coast

This was so much fun. Glow in the Dark bowling. On the day that Steve's parents were arriving we wanted to do something that just took the morning. We got the bus into Surfers and had a 'ball' LOL The shoes, ball and pins all glowed, Isaac thought it was hilarious.




Was there anything that could surpass the excitement of Tobyn getting to pat a tiger cub? Not really but we did do some other exciting things while on the Gold Coast. Steve's parents arrived on the Saturday and we had the rest of the holiday with them. It was nice to have them there if not a little challenging to cope with our differences. The day after they arrived we went to Currumbin animal sanctuary. This outing would have to rate right up near the top of our highlights! When we were in Oz 7 years ago this was one of our faves then too. 7 years later it has only improved. They had an awesome kids playground, Tobyn and Isaac would've spent the whole day in there!

As with last time the parakeets at the beginning of the day was awesome. Check out these 2 pics. Isaac was so amazing with all the animals! He didn't get frightened and was more than happy to touch them and have them come up to him!






Tobyn got to hold a baby croc and a snake. He was so chuffed just look at that face. Tobyn is not good at showing emotions but with these experiences it was hard for him not to!



Then the kangaroos! Isaac was in heaven, he absolutely loved it. He wanted to touch them all and feed them all. One of the volunteers came up to us in awe of how he was. She said that most children his size are frightened because the kangaroos are bigger than them. As for his older brother, he didn't want to feed them from his hand, he put the feed on the ground. Yep that is my OCD 9 year old, can't stand getting his hands dirty!







And the next photo is just for fun. I love that Steve and Tobyn had so much fun playing the fools!

My 1st Number 8 wired entry!

I have often looked at the number8 wired comp blog but have never got around to finishing a lo on time. Now I have DONE IT! So witholut further ado here it is...



I must get a scanner though taking a photo and resizing and trying to get it straight is a pain!

Tobyn got on Aussie TV!

It's about time I let you all in on some of our happenings on the holiday in Oz! It will take a few post sbecause there is so much to say I want to get some of it down for prosperity and memories for futures layouts!

When we arrived in Oz it was alot cooler than we expected it to be. The locals were also feeling the coolness. We had one day hanging out at the apartment and strolling along the beach. Our apartment was right on the beachfront and it was so nice to enjoy the sand and surf. The next day we went to Dreamworld. The 1st thing Tobyn wanted to do was see the tiger cubs. When we went past 1st thing the cubs weren't out so we went and spent time in wiggle world where Isaac got to meet his 1st BIG cuddly toy, Wags the Dog. Isaac was very apprehensive but did want to beep his nose.




We also spent time on the teacups and the Big Red Car ride, which Tobyn would have been happy to miss!!! Isaac however took everything in, he was so serious but so cute!



We spent $40 on sandwiches and drinks, WOAH! After lunch we thought we should go and see if the cubs were out yet and lo and behold not only were the cubs out but 7 news was there also. The reporter spotted Tobyn and asked if he would like to come in and pat the cubs as they were doinga sroty on the cold snap and wanted a child that looked rugged up. Tobyn was so chuffed but sooo serious. Everyone was trying to get him to smile but not a crack! After he came out he told us that he knew that that was a once in a life time opportunity. He knows that tigers are endangered and if people don't help then he could have touched one of the last tigers in the world. So that was why he took it all so seriously.




We were told that the article might be on the 6pm news that night so we made sure we got back to the apartment to catch it and sadly it wasn't on that evening. But the next evening we tuned into channel 7 at 6pm and it was on. So our little 9 year old got a few seconds of fame on Aussie TV!

Tomorrow I will report on the next few days of our trip, until TTFN

Not as bad as I expected!

Now I know I need to blog about our holiday so for those waiting for pics and stories, trust me they are coming soon!!! But I had to blog about today before it goes into the recesses of my mind.

For those that know me this won't come as surprising but for those just getting to know me here's a little insight into my psyche. I am relatively shy, I can put on a good front but deep down I am shy with a low self esteem. I find entering new situations with people I kind of know but only a little very hard. I think that people have pre-judged me and don't like me. This leads into today, I made myself take Isaac to the community playgroup. For months and months I have had a good excuse not to go because Isaac has slept in the morning up until now. If I took him out of his routine he was a nightmare. Well now he is no longer having an early morning sleep I can go to morning playgroups. So no more excuses!!! Gaylene has been nagging me for months, today playgroup was at her house so I thought this a good start. And of course it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I put on my smile and chatted as though I am not shy at all and everything was fine. Now I have made the first step I can continue and Isaac gets more time with children his age...

YAY ME!!!

I still feel awkward though. We live in a pretty affluent community and although we fit in financially I think people look at me and think I don't fit. I grew up in a family that had very little money. I got teased at school because of what I wore and the bike I rode and I still have hang ups about it. I do wish we didn't live in the town I grew up in. I think I would find it so much easier, even though I don't live in the same community and Tobyn doesn't go to the same school, there are a couple of girls I went to school with that have children at Tobyns school. I need to take my own advice! We told Tobyn tonight to live for today, make the most of today. I think most of the time I do I just have occasional lapses.

I am so fortunate with what I have. I have a wonderful husband who adores me, I have 2 wonderful little boys who make me laugh and scream every day! I live in a lovely home and have so many amazing experiences, I am A lucky woman!!!

THE MARATHON

I have so much to catch up on which will happen over the next few days. To start off with reporting on Steves marathon!!!

Steve has had thios goal for a few years now. His Dad ran his 1st marathon before he turned 50 so Steve said he would run his 1st marathon before he was 40! He had hoped to run the Rotorua marathon earlier in the year but when he had to go overseas for work the training schedule suffered a bit, so he had to go for his 2nd choice, Wellington in June. He grew up in Wellington and has fond memories of cycling round the bays so this was a journey back in time for him. It was a challenge to fit everything we needed to that weekend. Tobyn had his 9th b'day party on the Sat, fortunately hockey was cancelled that morning, and we had to drive to Paraparaumu on Sat night. It was a very early start on Sunday morning as he had tp have b'fast 2 hours prior to starting the run and the run started at 7.30am! He was very nervous, very unsure that he had done enough training, he was also feeling slightly under the weather which he put down to nerves but turned out to be a touch of cold. Anyway he started and looked OK after 30mins, then the boys and I drove to find a McD's for a bad b'fast, though thoroughly enjoyed by all!!! I didn't realis eit wouyld be so hard to find a McD's though, obviously I chose the wrong streets. After we had our brekky we drove around the bay and stopped on the side of the road waiting to cheer him on. When he arrived he looked pretty tired and fed up and he wasn't even at half way. But he kept plodding on. We saw him after the turn around and then I took the boys to an awesome park on the waterfront. The park was right on the run/walk route and we got to cheer Grandad and Grnadma on there 10km walk. We also saw Uncle Alan and Aunty Robyn doing the half marathon. After that we went back to the stadium to cheer him on to the finish. He looked better coming down the straight than he had earlier. Tobyn ran across the finish line with him, very cool! He was quite emotional at the end, what a huge awesome achievement!!! I take my hat off to him, I could NEVER do that!

The photos show the exhaustion and the elation plus the relaxation after!