Double Protection

There is no way this ship is going down! Charlotte is ready to go swimming with her water wings on and her floaty ring. Too bad she doesn't like to actually get wet.

Bowling Babe

We went to a ten-pin bowling birthday party today to celebrate our friend Piper-Lee's 5th birthday. Alex and Ella had a great time rolling big, heavy balls down a waxy alley. Alex scooped the win in the last frame with a strike. He beat Ella by about 2 points.

Mess? What Mess??

Friday, at Playgroup, we did a group canvas painting. The kids squirted paint onto the canvas on the ground then used their hands, feet and in some cases bottoms, to spread the paint around and make a very colourful ... mess.

Hand Painted

Ella getting right into the spirit of the idea of painting with every part of your body.

Hands Up... Or We Shoot

Charlotte and our friend Joe with spray bottles loaded with paint. This picture was taken at the beginning of the painting mayhem, before everyone was so covered in paint that we had to strip them off and hose them down.

Decorating Time

It's not December yet but the temptation to decorate the Christmas tree got too great for my mum. The kids had a great time. Alex is convinced this is the most beautiful tree in the world. I tend to agree with him.

Christmas Elves

My mum invited us over for dinner today and the kids got to decorate the Christmas Tree at her house. Some of the comments: Alex "We are the luckiest kids in the world because we get to decorate two trees - one here and one at our house"; Ella "Can I put the star on the top? Can I put the star on the top? CAN I PUT THE STAR ON THE TOP???!!!"; Charlotte "Look Nana, jingle bells"

Townsville Tourists

Today was wet, wet, wet! We decided to go to the Townsville Aquarium for the morning where we had convinced Ella that we could go underwater without getting our eyes wet. We walked through the glass tunnel and saw sharks, stingrays, a sawtooth shark and lots of Nemos and Dorys. It was lots of fun. Today is our last day in Townsville. We start the two-day journey back south tomorrow to see Bill for the first time in 4 weeks.

Turtle Treasures

Not the best lesson for my kids, I guess, but riding this turtle was a bit of fun.

Fishies, Mummy!

Charlotte was speechless. This dosn't happen often. She loved looking at all the little fishies.

Under Water Withough Getting Wet

Charlotte, Ella, Alex and Nanna making friends with a friendly grouper.

Poser on the Jumping Castle

I think Alex is a bit used to being asked to "Look at me and smile".

Ball Pit Pandamonium

This big pit full of balls was in the play area for 0-3 year olds, but Alex is never too old to hang out with his little sister (at least one of them).

More Far North Fun

Today we went to Lollipops Playland with Shannon and her two little boys, Nate and Lincoln.

Learning A New Game

Aunty Brenda taught Alex how to play Patience without using a computer. It's easier to cheat.

Playing Outside

On a warm humid day in Townsville there is nothing more fun than harassing the dog in the back yard. So that's what the kids did. Alex liked to throw the ball for the dog while everyone watched.

Sharing Cousins

This is a picture of Charlotte teaching Lincoln to share. He might need to get a second opinon about the rules of sharing, though. I'm not sure Charlotte got it right.

So Much Fun

Ella always has a smile for the camera but today her smile was extra extra big. We all had a great day playing at the lagoon at Airlie Beach. They have a great kid's pool with sand for building sandcastles! By the time we were done a lot of that sand was in the pool.

Won't Wear Swimmers

When we arrived at the pool, Charlotte refused to put on her swimmers because she didn't want to go into the water. Funny how quickly she changed her mind.

Smiles A Mile Wide

Alex had a great time splashing in the water.

Serious Business

Building sandcastles is serious business with our kids. There is planning involved, organisation or labour (mummy must help) and appropriate safety equipment must be worn. Love the new sunglasses.

She Loves Wearing Gobbles

Charlotte found these. She won't get into the pool much less put her head under water but she insists on wearing her 'gobbles' at every opportunity.

101 Things You Can Do With Chalk

Personally, I don't see the appeal but the kids had fun today 'painting' themselves with chalk.

More Pictures

After the last two blogs both Alex and Ella have gotten the drawing bug. They wanted to draw a picture for dad and here they are.

Alex's Quiz

Alex wrote this quiz today "Is the ball going to go into the hoop? Yes No" Charlotte had to take the quiz and she answered "No" which was the right answer.