Christmas Day

Here we are opening up our present on Christmas Morning. Michael and Laura stayed overnight to watch Oliver as this was our first Christmas together. Well, all of us in the same country as the same time! LOL. You can see the mass of discarded paper on the floor and Oliver went around handing out everyone's present to them - he also helped open the presents!

Dad got a golf putting thingy and so Oliver and Dad were playing golf. Don't ask me why Oliver had no trousers on - I cannot remember!

They're at it again. I'm not sure how Oliver managed to get dad's club and dad, Oliver's club?! They were having loads of fun anyway. LOL.

Oliver with another present - this one is his! It is a track for his Thomas set mum started for him. With this set, the trains run on batteries so Oliver will sit there and play telling everyone he is the fat controller! LOL

Here I am opening up a present - a DVD, got a few of those this year. Rob and I tend to focus on Oliver and give each other a couple of gifts each. It is so much fun seeing Oliver's face light up when he opens his gifts.

Speaking of him opening up a gift.

Now, there is a story behind this dinner. Are you ready for it..... Mum was up half the night being ill (she usually cooks Christmas lunch, with us helping), but she came down stairs to open up the gifts and then had to go back to bed (I think we told her to go), so seeing as Rob is the next best cook, he put Christmas lunch together. Obviously, we helped out where he wanted us to but he did a great job. Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you, the oven died only a few hours earlier!! Oh yes, we thought Christmas lunch was completely off the menu! Michael managed to fix the wiring and all was good - phew! By the time lunch went on the table, mum was feeling much better (we think she was faking it! LOL) so she joined us and managed to eat too.

Here is Oliver eating and his 'yorkshire puddings' which he cannot go without when having a roast. He just loves them.......and tomato sauce.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas wherever you are.

Photo with Santa

Oliver was so excited to be having his photo with Santa this year.

We went to Narellan Town Centre with Karen and her two kids, Hannah & Kaitlyn as they were having photos too.

I think if Oliver was allowed to jump the queue, he would have but I kept having to tell him he had to wait his turn like everybody else.

This 'Santa' was brilliant. He was very friendly and has such a great smile. He was chatting to Oliver and all the other kids before the photo was taken and Oliver just loved it. This is Oliver at his best with a whopping great big smile to match! Love it!

Hunter Valley - Highlights

Hunter Valley Escape - Day 1

Very last minute we decided to go to the Hunter Valley for 4 days as a mini holiday!

We stayed at the Eaglereach Wilderness Resort in Vacy. We arrived very late in the afternoon around 5pm so we unpacked and then went to get some dinner.

This is our cabin. A mini home away from home! It has 2 bedrooms on the ground floor and 2 more on the top floor. 2 toilets a bath room and mini laundry plus a kitchen and dinning area.


Here is the kitchen - small and basic but just what you need.

It had a flat screen TV, DVD and stereo to keep you amused so here is Oliver watching Kung Fu Panda.

Rob said he had to take this picture of me to prove I do housework! How rude! The floor as pretty dusty so I swept daily as the dust was coming in from under the doors.

This is the view of the Barrington Tops from our balcony out the back! Pretty spectacular!

I would recommend this place to anyone wanting a weekend or week away with no phone (mobile coverage isn't great), or just to relax and unwind.

Oliver's 4th Birthday

Here is the birthday boy! Happy 4th Birthday my baby.

Opening up his presents was so much fun. There was paper everywhere.

As you can see, there are more Thomas The Tank Engine sets! Somehow, I don't think he will outgrow these - there will always be that little place in his heart for them no matter how old he is!

Here I am helping him or am I playing trains with him?! LOL

He is so proud of his trains and loves them. Look at that smile on his face he is so excited he got new sets to play with.

Wow, another new set to play with. Oh, his t-shirt says - Innocent Until Proven Guilty!

It was a treat for lunch - McDonald's! He had to bring along Busy Bee James to play with while he was eating, then it was onto the play area with some other children that happened to be there.

Time for a juice first.

Oliver's 4th Birthday Party

This year we went to Lollipop Playland & Cafe for Oliver's party. Too much hassle and clearing up to have it at home!

They have a dedicated room for eating the party food and cake and once you are done, the kids get to go back and play.

Here is the birthday boy sitting on his throne! LOL He didn't like sitting there so he ended up moving and sitting next to Hannah.

Here comes the food! There was plenty of it too so you know who helped themselves to the left overs!

Some of the parents enjoying themselves - can you see where my Dad is standing, he is leaning on the food cart!! LOL My brother has the video camera capturing all the going's on of the day.

Mmmmm, cake time! Believe it or not, I made this cake! Oh yes I did!!! LOL

We bought Oliver 2 new pieces for his Thomas The Tank Engine set and they are on the cake - the Fat Controller in his car and the brand new train called Stanley. He was so excited.
Food time is over, now it is time to play and play they kids did - for hours!!

Funny thing is, we were lucky to be here at all today. Oliver woke up and was not well. He managed to go back to sleep for an hour or two and then with the click of your finger he was back to his normal self. I have no idea what is was but we ended up changing the party time from 11am to 2pm so all we well in the end. Thank goodness.

Liz & Mark's Wedding

Sasha and Katie are two of the people I used to live with when I moved to the UK back in 2000. It was great to catch up with them again.

How spectacular is that view (not of me!). It was a little overcast and according to the photographer, the best kind of day to take photos. The red dress I bought especially for the wedding and it is a size 10! Woo hoo.

I had to borrow the wrap as it was a little chilly outside. I didn't have anything appropriate to wear as it was in our container.

One of the rare occasions Rob and I have a photo together. It was a little strange not to have Oliver with us as where ever we go, he goes! LOL. Nanny and Poppy were in charge of getting Oliver to sleep tonight.

Liz and her Dad walking towards the groom (Mark). I also lived with Liz and Mark in the UK. We had such a great time together.

The happy couple saying their vows.

Congratulations Lix & Mark. I'm so happy I was apart of your special day! xxx

Light Up Camden

Have a look at Oliver - chatting the girl up! LOL. He cannot just sit there and enjoy the ride, he has to talk to whoever is near.

One of his favourites things to be on is the jumpy castle or dinosaur in this case. He just runs from side to side with the other kids, laughing away.





We managed to eat at the pub restaurant. I have no idea what Oliver is doing here! LOL




On the tea cups, sharing his cup with 2 girls!

Pre-School for Oliver

OMG - how does time fly like it does??

We took Oliver to a pre-school today to have a look around as he will be going next year and then big school (kindergarten) the year after. I must tell you that this has come around far toooo quickly for my liking! LOL Anyway, we already know good things about this pre-school as our friends twins go there but we wanted to have a look around and ask any questions we had.

Naturally, Oliver helped himself to they toys and was playing while we were chatting away. Then, when it was time to leave, Oliver didn't want to. LOL He was upset and wanted to go back again tomorrow! He wasn't impressed that we said it was next year.

Halloween

I decided to have a halloween party the week after we arrived so Oliver could meet and play with my friends kids and also so Rob and I could get together with them. Kind of an all in one go thing. Much easier than having to do something every week plus as we are staying at mum & dad's house, it is a little different.


I made these halloween cards for the kids from Oliver. I think they were a hit.

This was such fun (and hard work) to make. I bought some colouring from the supermarket so I really was limited in what colour everything was going to be. I borrowed a cake book from Karen and went to work.

Everyone loved my spider cake and it was the very first time I have ever made a cake like this. As Oliver is older now, I think I will do something each year for his birthday - that is until he starts telling me "he is too old for 'kids' cakes mum". Please let that be a few years away!! *sob*

Australia

Sorry, no photos of us landing in Sydney. We actually thought that we went back to the UK because is it sooooo freezing cold. Either that or we bought the English weather with us. Apparently, it is the coldest October day in 60-odd years. Oh great, thanks for the welcome Sydney. LOL

We got in early and my parents were no where to be seen! They thought we would be a while coming through customs and getting our baggage but we sailed through nicely. We waited for them to arrive outside and froze to death. It was really windy so that made it feel colder.

We are glad to be back on Australian soil again but we hope the weather is better tomorrow! LOL.

Bye, Bye UK

Oh yes, we are on our way to Sydney, Australia!! Woo hoo!

This is Oliver watching some television on the plane. He had a pretty good flight over with the television keeping him occupied for quite a bit of the journey. Thanks goodness! LOL

Speak to you on the other side!

Moving - Day 3

We are spending the next few days clearing and cleaning up the remainder of the house. We are leaving the shelves and couch so whoever uses our house can either use them or put them in the garage for storage.

We needed to keep Oliver occupied so we bought our laptop and a few of his DVDs with us. he parked himself on the couch and made himself comfortable.

This is our hotel room. The hotel has a pool and spa so Rob and Oliver enjoyed a couple of swims.

Bath time for Oliver. He certainly loves his time in the bath - especially the bubbles.

Oh, it was all too much for him! LOL