Ella's 1st birthday

Ella had a lovely first birthday. Lots of kids, lots of cake and lots of attention paid to the beautiful birthday girl. Ella shares her birthday with a good friend, Harrison Wey, who also came to the party so we had TWO cakes! Harrison was three. We all had a really fun day. That was some yummy cake!

Down on the farm

My mum and dad took the kids to Uncle Joe's farm for the weekend. They had a ball. Ella got on the horse, brushed away any help and grabbed onto the saddle and mane, ready to go! Alex chased a lot of cows. He got into the chicken coop too, but one of the chooks took a flying leap at him and he decided he'd be better to torment them from outside the cage.

A weekend away

We went away for the weekend. Bill had found a great hotel at the beach and we spent four sunny days and quiet nights just taking it easy. The hotel had a fantastic roof-top balcony with bbq facilities and a big area for the kids to run around. Alex kept wanting to play cricket. Ella got astro-turf burn on her knees trying to keep up with Alex as he ran around.

Tree Schrogs

Bill, being the responsible father figure that he is, taught Alex how to climb trees on the weekend. Thankfully our son has a cautious streak and once he no longer could hold Bill's hand he would decide it was time to come down. I believe this is natural selection at work. Oh, and the 'schrogs' is how Alex says 'frogs'.

Mud Monsters

For Australia Day we went to Anjanette and Richard's place out near Ipswich. They live on the river and have quite a muddy river bank. One kid slipped over and got muddy so the others decided they wern't going to miss out on the fun. Good party clothes be damned! I think next time they will be Naked Mud Monsters. In the picture are Braeden, Lachlan, Darcy and Alex.

Sprinkles for Breakfast

The kids helped me celebrate my birthday early in the morning. We started by singing happy birthday to mummy, then to Ella, then to Alex. After breakfast Alex got the cake sprinkles out of my baking stuff and decided to start the party early. We were on a sugar high all day!

Happy Birthday to Mummy

I turned 35 and had a great day. I hung out at my mum's place with the kids and my friend Angela and her two kids. We played in the pool, ate cake and napped. What else could I ask for? And for dinner my parents came over to our place, we had Thai, ate more cake and Alex 'helped' me blow out my candles. Actually, we've been eating cake all week now. Happy Birthday to me!

Our Gorgeous Girl

What a beautiful little girl. She's 10 months old now and loves to stand up and walk while we hold her hand. She is growing up so quickly.

Fishing

He's only two years old and he already loves to fish -- Alex, that is, not Bill. Although Bill also loves to fish. Technically Bill didn't catch that fish. It was his rod, his rig and he did cast it but when the line went 'zing' the other fella on the boat grabbed the rod and reeled it in. I'm sure there was some breech in fishermen etiquete there, if they have one. That flathead was a great catch, but we never got to eat it... and that's another story.

Happy New Year

We spent a week camping at South West Rocks. We did lots of fishing, lots of swimming at the beach and lots of doing nothing in particular. Ella ate lots of sand and Alex caught two starfish. Bill caught a few fish including a huge flathead. I managed to read half a book. My New Year's Resolution is to finish that book before next Christmas!