Day 4- Dreamworld

On the Monday we headed to Dreamworld for a day of fun and thrills. We measured the kids height while we waited for entry into the fun park.

Maddi-100cm +
Alex 98cm.

Linc waiting outside the gates. It will be a few years before he can go any rides with the slow rate of growth that he is taking.

We purchased a dual pass into White Water World and Dreamworld and the plan was to enter into White Water World in the afternoon. That's the reason why the kids are wearing their bathers underneath. The day was so action packed at Dreamworld that we never made it into White Water World. We got some great photos on the rides. Auntie Gina took a lot of the photos that are in this post. Thanks for snapping away all day Gina.

The first ride we went on was a rapids ride. Little Alex surprised us and was a little bit scared the first time, and he had tears welling up in his eyes.

The second time he went with Poppy and enjoyed it much more.

The log ride was a hit with the kids. The kids love swings so it didn't come as a surprise to see grins and smiles on their faces of pure enjoyment when the rides would drop. I think Maddi and Alex will be on the Giant Drop when they are tall enough.

We enjoyed looking at the animals.


The cars were a hit
We met up with some favourite characters. Maddi is a big fan of Dora. The kids only just watched an episode of Diego for the first time while we were away.


Stopping for lunch
There are only a few times that I have seen Alex look 'green,' and this was one of them. Eating lunch before this ride was a bad idea!


Finishing off with a relaxing train ride

What an action packed day we had. We left close to closing time.

It was our night to cook. We made lamb souvlakis with chargrilled vegetables, with an assortment of dips.

Brise and Gina got the chocolate fountain going for dessert. The kids were fast asleep while this was happening and missed out. I'm sure they would of loved it!

Day 3

The kids were up bright and early on Sunday morning and we headed to Broadbeach Beach with the other early risers in the house.

It was a gorgeous day.
We found some great parks near the waterfront.



The kids went digging for treasure and found some 'gold' on the Gold Coast (Poppy had slipped some coins into the sand).

Little Alex loves chasing birds and chased the birds up the sand dunes. Our walk along the beach came to an end as we had to stop him from following the seagulls near the road.

Maddi was proud to show her 'gold' to Auntie Gina when we returned back to the house.

Becc and others cooked a delicious brunch for us all.


These two cuties were ready for church.

Becc and Brise prepared pizzas for us for tea using the wood fired pizza oven.

They were delicious!

Day 2- Saturday

The next morning we got up early for another trip to the temple. We got another beautiful day, so it wasn't hard to get up early. The kids were up bright and early also, and I got this photo of Little Alex and William together. Little Alex loves babies and loves his cousin William.

It was my first trip to the Brisbane Temple and it was just as I had pictured it to be. A very beautiful and sacred place.


Gina and Damien looked after all 4 kids to allow us to go to the temple for the morning, it was pretty impressive that they looked after 4 kids, 4 and under. The kids had a great time with them. Thanks Gina and Damien.

Auntie Gina had a play with her camera. Little Alex was confused when he was told there was a shark in Auntie Gina's lens.

Maddi was occupied with colouring in.

After the temple we went back to the hotel to take the kids to the temple.


We spent the afternoon strolling around Southbank, looking at the markets and had lunch at Nando's.





Then we headed to the Gold Coast. Maddi was very excited to see some of the theme parks on the drive.

We arrived at our Broadbeach home, our home for the next 7 nights. Our hire car was bright green so it made it easy to find during the week.


We settled in, and some of the group went and did the grocery shopping. Ness and I stayed at home and went for a swim with the kids.


The house had everything that we needed and more, and we took advantage of using the barbeque for tea. The kids settled in well into their new room.

Day 1 of the holiday

The First leg of the trip Hobart to Sydney. We stayed at Moppy and Poppy's the night before to be ready for the trip. When we left Hobart it was 10 degrees and raining. Maddi was occupied on the plane with her activity pack, eating lunch and enjoyed watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Ness' I Pod. The kids were still getting over colds, so we kept them chewing on lollies during take off and landing. They both complained of sore ears and Maddi blamed the lollies as the cause of her sore ears. It hasn't stopped her from eating more!

Little Alex had the window seat.


First time on a plane for Linc.

Little Alex fell asleep upon landing in Sydney. We were met by these guys in Sydney.

Little Alex loved watching the planes. He is all into doing forward rolls at the moment. Auntie Gina took him for a walk around the airport and he let go of Auntie Gina's hand to do a forward roll. Auntie Gina took this photo of him absorbed in watching the planes.

The next leg of the trip was Sydney to Brisbane. The plane was a lot bigger than the previous one.

Qantas got us to Brisbane on time, and we were met by Poppy who was already in Brisbane during the week for work. Queensland welcomed us with sunshine and warmth. We settled into the Quest Bridgewater for the night. The kids were happy to be off the plane and excited to be there. Linc only had 3 hours sleep the night before, but was still happy.

Auntie Gina took this great photo of Linc. If only we all looked this good after a bad night!

We shared an apartment with Becc, Brise and William. We had a view of the Brisbane River from our room.


We went to a local fish and chip place for tea. It wasn't your average fish and chip place. It had good quality fish and a good choice of salads which made you feel a little healthier.


Becc, Brise, Alex and I headed to the Brisbane Temple after tea. It's always inevitable to see someone you know there, and at the temple we bumped into Lanai and Gavin there and also the Gilkes family. We had a lovely evening there and it was great that our baby sitters had managed to get Maddi and Alex in bed and asleep. We have real trouble at home getting them to stay in bed.