2017 in full swing...

They say that the busier you are, the more time seems to fly. And for 2016 that could not have been more true. With three kidlets there is always someone wanting something. Always someone requiring attention. And mostly, it's Addi, which has been a challenge as we are well aware of the need to spend quality time with our two fast-growing boys! But we seem to be balancing things about right, and have enjoyed our family time - such as going to Yerrabi pond for a walk and a little picnic and, most recently, splashing about in our NEW POOL!

It's been a tumultuous start to 2017. Mum has started back at work and that means Addi has started childcare. Which has gone as well as can be expected. That is to say it has not gone very well with Addi being clearly distressed during her first few days of orientation. Plus the little rascal caught a virus and brought it back home so everybody got a lovely summer cold... So that has stressed everyone out, but hopefully this week (her third week) she should be a little more settled. Ideally Mum wouldn't have to work, and Addi wouldn't need to go to childcare, but that's modern life for you in a time with huge mortgages and Canberra's extremely high cost of living...

Addi has her first tooth, and she is standing unaided more and more - she currently thinks its so clever that she claps her hand. She's an absolute joy to have around and anyone who meets her is just so taken with her - the big brilliant blue eyes and blonde hair certainly has an effect on people!

Oh, and Happy Australia Day; Mum is working and we're all at home playing iPads, Xbox and watching Moana (a Disney movie we've all fallen in love with - probably cause it reminds us of Hawaii!)...

Christmas in Adelaide

On 19 December the family flew to Adelaide to spend Christmas with family. The 1850 Virgin flight departed slightly behind schedule, but it was the strange fact of Carter being placed three rows in front, separated from the rest of the family, that was most irritating. Luckily a nice woman swapped seats so we could all sit in a row (the Boeing 717 seating configuration is three/two).

One hour fifteen minutes later we arrived at Adelaide, picked up two large suitcases, two smaller bags, two car seats and a stroller. Yep, it was one heck of a load. Nan and Grandad were waiting (in two cars) when we arrived and it was a pleasant trip home watching an overhead storm throw down massive lightning bolts all around us!

We then had a very relaxing and enjoyable time, some days doing nothing, other days heading to the beach (Moana and Glenelg). Mum and Dad (and Addi) even got a night away at the Stamford Grand as a Christmas present.

Christmas day was a huge success - especially for the boys, who each got a new iPad Air 2 64gb. Very generous grandparents! 

All too soon it was December 26 and time to head home. Everything went smoothly (aside from the bumpy flight!), and the mighty SV6 was waiting for us in the long-stay car park to get us home in comfort.

Addi's first christmas

BIG hugs when you give iPads for christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Aloha! Our Hawaii adventure...

Aloha - such a happy sounding word, used when greeting or parting from someone - and it was well used over the past week, with even the boys saying Aloha! and Mahalo!

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-200

Our adventure began last Sunday afternoon, where we jumped into the SV6 and headed for Sydney to catch a 2120 flight to Oahu.

Luckily the flight wasn't full, and we had a row free in front of us; Mum moved there with Addi with the hope of putting Addi to sleep in the seats next to her - but this plan failed, and Mum held Addi for the entire 10 hour journey (luckily Addi slept for most of it). Linc slept in the row with Mum, and Carter took the three seats next to Dad. Nobody got a decent sleep, but the boys fared better than Mum and Dad. All too soon, it was over; okay, it felt like eternity, but that's Economy class for you.

We arrived in Oahu at 1020am Hawaii time, found our bags, passed through Customs and were onto the Shuttle Bus off to the Embassy Suites by Hilton - a beautiful 4.5 star hotel. We checked in, dumped our gear and then headed to have a look at Waikiki beach and have lunch at the local park near the US War Museum.

Waikiki Beach

Monday morning we headed to the beach and, although it was raining, had a wonderful time with the boys learning to tread water. On the way back from the beach we wandered through some of the shops in Waikiki before heading back to the hotel to shower, get changed and catch the Pink Line trolley to Ala Moana Centre (the largest open-air shopping centre in the world, and seventh largest shopping mall in the United States). Linc was thrilled to find the Tesla shop, and we went mad in Macys and the Disney Store.

Linc in a Tesla

Tuesday we hired a Dodge Grand Caravan (minivan) and headed to the North of the Island. We stopped for a crepe lunch in Hale'iwa and had a wander through the galleries, where we fell in love with the volcano photos (mounted on aluminium) by G. Brad Lewis Photography (Volcanoman). We bought two of the lava flow from Mount Kilauea flowing into the sea.

We also stopped at Turtle Beach to see the big waves (although we didn't know it was Turtle Beach at the time!) and also stopped at Waimea Beach where mad people were surfing on the biggest waves we've ever seen. We were in awe of the massive mountain range, lush with greenery and understood why Jurassic Park was filmed there - it truly was prehistoric!

Wednesday after yet another late breakfast (about 10am) we headed to Diamond Head crater to the do the climb to the summit. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but it was definitely hot enough for everyone to work up a really good sweat, and poor Linc got quite crook from the exertion. From there we went to Halona Blowhole and saw our first Green Sea Turtles! We then headed off to find Turtle Beach in the hope of seeing turtles on the beach; after some confusion over where Turtle Beach actually was, we discovered it was where we first stopped on the Tuesday to watch the big waves. And no turtles, given the waves were so huge... Then it was off to the Waikele Outlet Centre to do some lightning fast shopping given the rental car was due back by 1930hrs...! After a pretty successful shop (on Dad's side at least!) we got the rental back with five minutes to spare! Then it was off for our first of two meals at P.F. Changs - a very upmarket chinese restaurant with amazingly good food.

Waimea Beach

Big waves on Waimea Beach

Thursday Mum and Dad were up early (again) and headed to the airport, leaving all three kids with Gran and Pop (thankyou!). We had booked a flight to Hawaii (the big island), landing in Hilo where we had booked a rental car (Toyota Corolla) and a Volcano and Waterfall Extreme flight with Paradise Helicopters. When we arrived to collect the rental we were asked if we wanted an upgrade for $30USD... to a 2017 Chevrolet Camaro V8 convertible! Of course it was accepted and the excitement levels were raised about 500 per cent to think we would spend the day driving around in a Camaro and flying in a helicopter over the Hawaiian volcanos!

2017 Chevrolet Camaro RS (455bhp 8 speed paddle-shift auto)

Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent

61g lava flow entering the ocean (you can just spot the glowing lava)

Fumes mark the path of the lava tube taking lava to the ocean

Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent

Kilauea

Kilauea (cropped)

The helicopter flight was amazing, and we even flew right over the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone, which was filled with boiling lava! We also witnessed the lava flow (called 61g) entering the ocean, resulting in billowing steam and numerous explosive events as the magma made contact with the water.

After the helicopter flight we high-tailed it to Kilauea and the steam vents - again, just amazing. Unfortunately we only had about 15 minutes at Kilauea before we had to head back to the airport on the advice of the rental car people and Hawaiian airlines website which said we had to be at the airport two hours before our flight (which we are still very unsure about, as all we did was wait around till the flight, wasting time we could have spent going to the Lava Tube!) We arrived back home slightly later than scheduled and boy were the kids happy to see us (especially Addi!), and I suspect so were the grandparents!

On Friday were up a little earlier than usual, had a hearty breakfast, and headed to Waikiki beach. The water was beautiful, the weather was perfect and spending time in the sea with the family was one of the highlights of the trip - just so relaxing and so much fun! We then headed back to the hotel, showered and had some golden arches for lunch (at least it was relatively cheap!). After another spot of shopping we headed back to the hotel where the kids hit the hotel swimming pool and the adults enjoyed complimentary drinks and snacks. Then it was back to PF Changs for dinner - such good food! Oh, I should have mentioned Addi had a fever from wednesday night which we were treating with Dymadon; this fever lasted until Saturday morning, but went away just before we boarded the plane! But all in all, she coped quite well.

Diamond Head Summit

Mongoose at Diamond Head

Addi having a well earned drink after the hike up Diamond Head Summit

Saturday morning marked the end of our holiday. After an early breakfast, we got the Roberts Hawaii shuttle to the airport and waited, waited, waited to board our flight. Hard to say which flight was worse - the overnight journey, or the return day journey... try entertaining a 9 month old in a cramped seat for 10.5 hours.... Then it was back in the SV6 for a very wet and very windy drive home (all three kids slept the entire journey - even Mum had a few power naps!), getting in to Canberra just before midnight (about 2.30am Hawaii time). All in all a very successful trip, albeit an exhausting one, with nowhere near enough relaxation time and a general feeling that there was so much that we didn't get to do! Oh well, next time!

All too soon, it was time to hit the road - bye Honolulu!

A busy October!

October started off with a day-trip to the coast; we just had to get away, and picked the last Friday of the school holidays which was forecast to be fine and sunny (a little windy as it turned out, but still nice and warm!).

We had lunch at Malua Bay, before heading to Lilli Pilli to a nice little sheltered beach. The kids (and Dad) did get into the water - and had a brief (relatively unsuccessful) go on their boogie boards - but spent most of the time building sandcastles.

It was Addi's first experience on the sand and, just like the boys, didn't much like the feel of the sand on her feet!

Didn't get too many photos on the day, but that was just because we were having so much fun!

Then it was Mum's birthday and we had a lovely dinner and cake at home with just the family.

To finish the month off, we weighed Addi and it turns out she has had a huge jump going from just under the 15th percentile at 6 months to the 25th percentile at 9 months (7.695kg). She is SUCH a good eater, and still on the natural stuff too!

We continue to be a bit too addicted to Pokemon, but it has seen the family get out and about like never before; great timing as we get holiday-fit for our upcoming Hawaii adventure!

Spring is springing!

It's so easy to forget how lovely it is doing outdoors stuff when it's warm; yesterday was a beauty and we had the house wide open, and even gave the cooler a run to make sure everything still worked (remember last summer, when multiple parts failed - yeah, how could you forget...!)... Dad cleaned the deck (two inches of pollen and dust!), and it's ready for entertaining as the weather continues to warm up...

Unfortunately both boys caught a nasty bug and spent friday night spewing their guts up; Linc came good saturday, but Carter has not, waking at a very early hour of this morning with a 39.8c fever. So we haven't been out and about chasing pokemon like we normally would have - we even missed Lincoln's AFL presentation!

Addi is doing really well - particularly her eating. She just eats - anything! So different to how the boys were at her age. So needless to say she is packing on the weight and is looking very healthy!

Happy Birthday Carter!

While Carter celebrated his actual birthday by going to school (he really wanted to go, despite being off sick all week!) today was his birthday party which was at the Reptile Centre (again). But it's such a fabulous place that we are happy paying the quite reasonable $250 for the second year in a row. Plus they have improved the exhibits markedly, and there's heaps more play equipment for the kids to climb all over.

There was 11 children all up (including Linc), and Carter did really well handling the reptiles (and even a freshwater croc!) and showing them around to everyone. It was a lovely spring day at 17 degrees, not taken for granted at all considering yesterday was cold, wet and windy.

Addi was beautifully behaved for the whole time we were at the Centre; she was very calm and had heaps and heaps and heaps and heaps of smiles; everyone just fell in love with her.

Carter was stoked with how generous everyone was, and a huge thanks for the wonderful gifts - he certainly got spoiled - including a crisp new $20USD note for spending when we go to Hawaii in the next couple of months (I know right, thanks so much to a very generous gesture from the grand parents!).

Like most people on the planet at the moment, Pokemon Go is featuring quite a bit in our schedules; but we turn it into a learning experience for the kids (add/subtract numbers etc.) and it continues to get us out walking when we would normally be sitting at home in the warmth!