We were up bright eyed and bushy tailed on Thursday morning for a trip to Melbourne. We had a 6am flight so we were up at 3am. The kids slept in their clothes the night before and we were all ready to go. There's always a big risk of starting a holiday wrong with tired kids, but fortunately they were bright eyed and excited when we woke them up. We set off with 2 suitcases, the pram, 3 car seats, Maddi's carry on suitcase and a large backpack. Little Alex was a trooper and helped pull one of the suitcases into the terminal (sound effects and all!)
Our first stop was a visit to the Western Suburbs to see Mel and baby Will.
It was great to meet William and see Mel. William is a month old and is very alert and interactive already. He gave us some cute smiles, and was really happy. He seems like he is a bit of a social one already. Maddi enjoyed having a hold of William.
We then traveled on to Torquay where we stayed for two nights. We saw the Avalon Airshow in practice on the way. There was a stunt plane that was plummeting to the ground almost vertically, and just before it would hit the ground it would shoot back up. It really was quite scary to watch. Maddi kept talking about being scared for the ladies with their shopping carts. It took us a good few minutes to understand what she was talking about -She thought the air hostesses were working in the plane, with their food trolley!
Staying in the "hometel" as Maddi calls it.
Our ball boy and ball girl.
We love swimming. I think I got a bit of a workout too, as the pool was so deep that you had to keep swimming.
We did lots of sightseeing along the Great Ocean Road. The drive is picturesque, the whole way you are looking out the window enjoying the views and the drive. There are lots of nice seaside towns on the way that we stopped at. We made it as far as Apollo Bay and had fish and chips for lunch. I did get a little queasy on the way back, with all the windiness of the road.
We didn't make it to the twelve apostles but this rock formation kind of reminded me of it.
At the jetty in Lorne.
A fishermen's catch.
Alex tells me this lighthouse was used for the filming of the TV series 'Round the Twist.'
Holly and Daniel came and visited us in the evenings while we were in Torquay, so it was great to catch up with them. It's not long until they get married and we will be back again for their wedding.
On Saturday morning we had another early morning and headed to the temple. The kids were happy to walk around the temple grounds. We met up with some other members from the stake who were up for the Stake Temple Day.
Our trio outside the temple.
We then spent a bit of time at Chadstone shopping centre, and found some scrumptious foods.
The kids had their face painted. Little Alex had his face painted as Batman.
We spent the afternoon at a park with Perry and Loretta, and got to meet Willow. She is such a beautiful little girl- So placid and content. We went out to a very popular Chinese dumpling restaurant for tea, and Willow slept peacefully the whole time. She looked beautiful in her blessing dress for the blessing day. It was a lovely blessing and great to be able to witness it. After Willow's blessing we had a barbeque with Perry and Loretta's friends and family. The kids enjoyed playing with Loretta's nieces and got to meet some relatives. Maddi was very proud to tell people that Willow was her cousin (she is Willow's 3rd cousin).
We went out for dinner to a Korean barbeque restaurant. It was so delicious, and such a good cultural experience for the kids. Linc ate and ate ate that night, which I was very pleased about. He is turning into such a foodie now and ate more than the kids did that night. It was an all you can eat buffet, so we got stuck into some kim chi which is one of our favourite Korean sides. The meats were so tender and full of flavour.
Our last day came by and we went to the Lindt shop for some sweets. I couldn't resist a salted caramel macaroon, which I really shouldn't of had because of Linc's dairy allergy. We did pay for it later..... but it was worth it! Maddi declared that it was her new favourite biscuit.
We turned our Phil and Ted double into a triple! So much easier than carting Linc in the frontpack.
We returned home last night, tired but happy to be home. Linc really doesn't cope that well in other beds, so it will be good for him to get back to the norm. Our holiday was great-We got to catch up with friends, see some beautiful sites, eat nice foods, shop and attend the temple. What more could you really want in a holiday. It was a good balance between city and country. Hopefully the kids remember it in years to come. I wish I took more photos of the trip, but you can only do so much with kids. Sometimes it was nice just to enjoy the moment and not worry about anything else other than spending time with the family.
Maddi got to meet her Great, Great Auntie Ann.
On Saturday they went to the zoo and Maddi traveled on a train for the first time.
She also traveled on a 'fairy' (ferry) to get to the Taronga Zoo.
And at the zoo she traveled on "the thing that travels, along the power lines" (the chairlift). When she described it to me later on, I knew what she was talking about.
She said that they watched a seal show.
I was envious that they had Chinese Dumplings for tea.
Auntie Gina made Maddi's favourite breakfast-Fruit salad.
Maddi has told us bits and pieces about the trip. She liked Damien's thing in the car that spoke to him when he drove. She told us how she vommited on Auntie Gina's deck, and all the other times she vommited. Thanks Damien for cleaning that mess up! She got to go shopping, went to church and best of all she got to spend lots of time with Auntie Gina, Damien, Moppy and Poppy. Auntie Gina spoiled her heaps. She was away for two nights, and we weren't worried at all about her, as we knew she was in good care. Maddi is very well adjusted. I asked he if she missed us while she was away and she whispered into my ear, " just Lincoln." She came home with lots of gifts from Auntie Gina, Moppy and Poppy.
