Sovereign Hill - Ballarat, Jan 2011.

We spent a day at Ballarat with Danny and Fiona. Danny and Shane went fishing for the day and Fiona, me and the kids went to Sovereign Hill. It is a very interesting place to visit as it has a gold mine and the whole place is set up how life used to be in the olden days.
Hailey loves the horses.

There were people walking around dressed as if it were 100 years ago.

The carriage ride was alot of fun.

In the carriage.

The red coats marching by.

We left the gold panning till last as we know what H and B are like around water. You are meant to pan for gold at the edge but both of them couldnt resist getting in and it didnt take long for Ben to be laying down in all the muddy water. Here he has a big spade used for digging up the dirt.

Here is Hailey having a go at panning. It is surprisingly hard to do and after a long time, I managed to find a sliver so we then put it in a glass jar and took it home.

We then headed back to the hotel and went into the pool. Fiona let the kids have a swim around but I wasnt game to get in as the water was icy cold! They werent in there for long.

Then we headed to our hotel room and the kids jumped in the spa bath to warm up. It was surprisingly large with four beds! It was a very nice place to stay.

After falling asleep during dinner, Hailey and Ben couldnt make the walk back to our unit so Daddy carried them. Two exhausted kids

Our 6th Wedding Anniversary!

On 15th January 2011, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. How quickly time passes!
We went on a dinner cruise along the Yarra river and enjoyed a six course dinner! It was a really great night. It was so peaceful on the river but also beautiful seeing all the lights of the city.






The food was very good. This mousse has to be the best food I have ever tasted!

We laughed alot at the surprisingly bare cheese platter though. Lucky we werent hungry after all those courses!

Sydney - after Christmas.

We came across one of those big bouncy trampolines in a shopping centre and Hailey had a go. She went up so high in the air and loved it!

Ben was very pleased to find a Thomas train.

Shane had a go at Bill's air rifle and had alot of fun shooting targets. It was very hard dragging him away from that!

We spent a morning in the city. We took the train in, walked around and then caught a ferry across the harbour. It was great seeing all the sights.

The dogs had fun in Sydney too. Terra caught up with some old friends...

And pretty Isla posed for some photos.

Christmas 2010

It all started with the long drive up to Sydney. The kids were surprisingly good about it all and managed to keep entertained. The stickers were a favourite!

We had a few stops to break up the trip. Here is Shane and Hailey in the big submarine at Holbrook.

Didnt take too long for this to happen...

But we arrived and enjoyed a great Christmas Day at Bill and Juliets house. After lunch all the children ran around the yard under the sprinklers and had alot of fun.

There are 4 boys in their family so lots of fantastic boys toys. Ben was particularly taken with the motorbike.

Lots of fun with cousins and water.

The following day we had lunch at Ros and Steves house. Here is the kids table.

Some of the family (Ben was asleep).

Hailey with her beautiful cousin Bronwyn. They had such a great time together. Bronnie has 4 brothers so enjoys having a little girl to play with sometimes!!

Happy kids with their lovely cousins Sophie and Olivia.

Haileys Kinder Christmas Concert Dec 2010

Hailey had her last day of 3yr old Kinder at Benwerrin Preschool in December. Its a great Kinder and she has had a wonderful year with her teachers Chi and Sarah.
For the Christmas concert, the class performed several songs they had learnt through the year. They were all so cute and sang so beautifully.

Then they had a big morning tea together.




And Ben tried his first ever piece of fairy bread! He loved it.


Santa came and gave them all icy poles then it was time to say goodbye. Here is Hailey with her lovely teacher Chi.

The teachers made up a special poster for each child with photos they had taken throughout the year of them doing different activities. So nice.