Delighted

This is my new favourite picture......



I can hear her delighted squeals every time I look at it.

(picture taken by aunty Em! thanks sis I Love it!)

Camping!

I have a confession. It's kind of sad.

Chad and I have been married for 9 years and we've only been camping together once. That's right, once. The reason why this is sad is because not only does he L.O.V.E camping but he is also a serious 'survivor man'. Serious as in, if a disaster hits and we have to abandon our home and take off into the bush and live, I know that we'd be fine and all of Chad's survivor skills would be put to good use.

So tonight we thought we'd remedy this 'once' thing and go camping.

But in the end......the boys are camping and the girls are at home. We DID all go to the camp site together for the first few hours, which I loved. but......let's just say Jazzy's not quite ready for the 'whole' camping experience yet.....and she really only sleeps well if she's in the solitude of her own room. I can't imagine we'd be too popular with 'the neighbors' if our baby cried all night long.

So in my mind I had all these great expectations of what our visit to the camp site would be. Playing with the boys. Roasting marshmellows. Telling stories and cuddling up in sleeping bags. Jazzy sitting happily on one of our laps by the fire.......and it was all these things......except for the part about Jazzy sitting happily on one of our laps. She couldn't get enough of exploring the area, but once it hit dark and she was no longer free to roam - our 'free spirited 'outdoorsy' little girl wasn't very happy.

So after cuddling up telling stories in our tent while Chad made a delicious dinner for us, we said our goodbyes and left the boys to do their 'boy thing' and the girls came home. I do wish I was still there.





Jazzy exploring while the boys set up......











this is my favourite pic from the afternoon......



'picking' firewood and flowers





Zahn the little marshmellow 'monster'.......he really does love these WAY too much.....







and I love this pic of Jazzy......even if she only lasted in this 'relaxed' state for about a minute!



I can't wait to go camping again - maybe next time we'll see if Jazz can stay in luxury accommodation with her aunty :) and i'll rough it with the boys. all night.

ps) I got the 50mm lens for my cameratoday! WAHOO! Now I no longer have to borrow Colins for weeks at a time :)

Wishes

There are so many things I wish for this little girl. And for my boys. There are so many things I wish for me. Sometimes I have to remind myself that more than anything else. ANYTHING. Enjoying the 'moments' and being with my kids (and my hubby) is the most important thing.

Everything else can wait.

Cherry Blossoms and Sushi

The other day I saw these......



which reminded me of this...... (taken in Japan)



and then prompted us to go here........



and eat this......



and all of these.....



We were hungry! and they tasted good. Really good!



I love zahn sneaking in the background of this pic! It completely depicts his cheeky-ness!





with flights as cheap as $179 to Japan and a friend living in Tokyo, it is SO tempting to go back. again. soon.

Orange Picking

I'm feeling very uninspired with words - but here's some pics of what we are adopting as our newest family tradition! The morning was beautiful, crisp and the light was gorgeous! So were the oranges. They were delicious! We ate 9 kilos between us in about 7 days! They were that GOOD!









Jazzy was so excited to collect her own oranges.....but.....most of them were off the ground and didn't make it into the 'purchasing bag'. You can see why :)

Friends.....part II

the other thing I love about play-days is that I get to take pictures of gorgeous kids. Kids who are willing and happy to smile for my camera.......

I love this picture!



This girl is way too beautiful for a 7 year old.

Friends.

Our kids have really GOOD friends. Good friends as in, if they could adopt them as siblings, it would be done in a heartbeat. faster if possible. They Seriously LOVE their friends! And nothing gets them more excited than spending the whole day playing with those much loved friends. the whole day.

We have a small house. and an even smaller yard. so on days when we're 'trapped' at home (because chad has to go to young mens camp) and I have 5 kids all trying to play in the same small space these are some of the things we do to keep occupied and happy.........

luckily there was a bit of 'dad' time before he left to help the kids burn off some of their excited energy.....



the favoured activity.......Wrestling on the tramp





moving on to indoor play......mosiacs anyone......this was the 'little boys' activity.



and we did lots of this!



and made pokemon trains........



used these some more......



and played a whole lot of this.



and here is a pic of the four little friends (painful to take btw - they tried to put their heads together. really they tried. :) this was best we could manage - at least they're having fun).



We love having such great friends!