We had the most wonderful time living the urban "BrisVegas" life for
a week around SouthBank back in November. After that, we headed out to the Redcliffe area (just north of Brisbane) to spend a week chilling out at my Dad's house. It was so nice to get some quiet family time... especially as Mark got to actually have a break too after studying hard the week before in training!
After our busy week in the city, with lots of outings and catch ups, it was a blissful, more peaceful time just hanging out by the beach, taking the kids on little adventures and constant swimming in my Dad's pool. Us Canberra folk have to soak up the coastal lifestyle whenever we can, right?! ;)
After the year we had, a quiet week together was just what we needed and so refreshing for us all.
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| Fish and chips on the beach is a coastal-visit must-do. As I sat with my Dad and step mum at a picnic table, we turned around to survey this perfect scene unfolding - Mark and the kids down by the water - and the dog too! Silhouettes of my beloveds, skipping rocks on the water, playing and just being together. LOVE. |
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| Grandparents who have pools? The best!!!! These kids swam in the pool at least once a day...usually three times! It was amazing to see their swimming ability completely take off, just having so much free time to jump and dive and race around the pool. Eli went from a pretty nervous swimmer to doing cannon balls and laps across the pool and back! |
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| He made a water bicycle, lol! |
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| Showing off his first lost tooth, My big boy!!! |
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| Mr Personality! |
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| I met up with a lovely friend at the most gorgeous beach side playground at Scarborough Beach! Fenced in (handy by the water to know the kids are near by!) and filled with these incredible Cottonwood trees that twined all over and were so enticing for climbing! |
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If you go to this playground, right near by there is this secret and rather magical
little door! |
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| Miles was annoyed it didn't open for him! |
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A beautiful day by the beach with our lovely friends who we haven't seen since our last beachside meet up about two years
ago! It was wonderful to see the kids playing together once more, while we got to chat up a storm! xx |
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| Ah, kids. A glorious whole ocean before them and they decided they actually wanted to go to the beachside lagoon/pool instead! However it was too far away for us to lug all the way down there, so we told them we would need to stay by the beach. After a little bit of pouting, they decided to make their own pool instead and spent a very dedicated hour digging this pretty sizable splash pool. Ha!! :) #kidsatwork # kidsatplay |
Our next holiday adventure was something a bit different for us. For some reason, Mark and I had been itching to go kayaking! So I hunted around and found
a hire place right near my Dad's and a very quiet little bay to paddle around in.
I know it looks like we were heading out to open waters (!!) but actually I wasn't too sure if the kids would really be keen on kayaking (you know... kids!) plus I was nervous about taking them out too far (paranoid mother!). So with three adults and three kids, we decided to just hire one kayak between us. A couple of adults would take a couple kids for a little paddle along the shore line, then come back and swap out after a while, while the others played and swam on the beach. It worked so well and we loved it even more than we thought we would - especially me! It was soooooooo peaceful and lovely, paddling along on the water. Next trip, I can't wait to go out again!
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| One of my favourite things to do around Redcliffe is exploring the mudflats by the bridges with the kids at lowtide. Wide open spaces for kids to run free, exploring what the tides have left behind.... it always feels a little bit magical! |
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| I don't know what these little green worm-y snake-y things were but they really creeped me out!! |
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The longest bridges in the Southern Hemisphere...2.7km long!!
The interesting thing is they have now built three bridges right next to each other, connecting Brisbane to Redcliffe! The one on the right is the newest. In the last decade I have seen this third bridge built, and the original bridge which was on the left side of the left bridge pictured has been pulled down leaving two bridges for driving in both directions. Each bridge gets a little higher than the last one too, lol. ;) #bridgetrivia |
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| Ha!! |
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| Grandpa, Kaos the Dog and our trio! |
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| A man and his dog... |
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| I have never seen a child so obsessed and connected to all manner of tools, building, machinery and 'fixing'. Miles is like a magnet to anything of the sort. So it was a dream come true to spend a happy morning perched on a ladder, going through Grandpa's treasure trove of a shed, examining all his tools. My Dad was soooo patient (and after three daughters, probably just happy to have someone show an interest - ha!). 'What's dis one???' Miles would ask - over and over and over. |
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| 'More?? What's dis one?' |
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| Note - he was not dressed to code ;) |
Brisbane, we love ya! We will be back! xx
PS You can read about our Brisbane city adventures around Southbank here...
