Day 90 - CRAB, CRAB, CRAB

Happy Easter! Maddie woke up this morning to a bunny looking at her, an Easter egg trail and an Easter egg hunt inside, before another one outside around the 'Canuki' and more presents. Can you say spoilt? She is at such an awesome age and was so excited by the egg hunts and Easter idea this year, I really enjoyed the day too.

Apparently before we arrived Karyn tumbled down the hill that went from their homes to ours, so everytime someone went near that hill it was guaranteed that someone would yell out 'CRAB CRAB CRAB' as that was determined the best way to walk down the hill. The one time I was on my own and walked down the hill I caught myself saying it. Maddie is crab walking down the hill to show me her new teddy bunny that she got today.

Day 89 - Luck

Gosh, Stress!! Today I dragged Maddie, Karyn and Auntie Nic into what has to be the busiest little town on earth today. Bermagui is about 10 minutes drive from the caravan park that we are staying in, and it seems like everyone on earth must be in the area this weekend. After shopping in a very busy little supermarket and chemist I went to the car with Maddie while the others went to the bakery. I packed the car, popped Maddie in and went to hop in the front seat when I realised I had no idea where my wallet was. After unpacking every single bag, turning the car contents upside down I found it sitting on the tail gate steppy thing. I was so lucky that I checked that I had it before I drove off, and also lucky that any of the many people walking behind the car didn't take it

Day 88 - Fishing

Maddie is loving being down here and having so much time outside at the jumping pillow, parks and beaches. All of the 4 girls went on the see-saw while Maddie sung the see-saw song and the boys went out fishing. Maddie is crazy about the idea of fishing pretending to do it with a ribbon off the sides of a chair at home an awful lot. Today she actually woke up from her nap wheeling in an imaginary line with a fish on the end and said fishing fishing fishing, it was hilarious. Luckily for her Poppy took the boat down with him so she could go out on the water and go fishing for real. Using the net they managed to scoop up some jellyfish which met with Maddie's fishing standards and she talked about it for the rest of the afternoon. She looks right at home on the boat as it got ready to go out on the water.

Day 87 - Fog

Fog!! Why doesn't it photograph better? I mean seriously! I am peeved that this photo didnt turn out better, as you totally can't see the crazy fog that we drove through between Nimitable and Bemboka. We are headed down to Wallagal Lake for the Easter break, staying in a cabin while Mark, Karyn, Auntie Nic and Uncle Gary 'Camp'. I say Camp that way as Mark and karyn are in a lovely motor home and the others are in an awesome camping trailer. I would totally go camping if either of those methods of bedding/kitchen/power/running water were available.

Day 86 - Screenshot

I should be packing and getting the house ready for us to go away tomorrow, but instead I am surfing the deals direct app to see what else they sell. We bought some new cupboards and a mat for the shed a few days ago to start putting everything back together and I was pretty pleased with the experience. Just for the record I do NOT like this bed.

Day 85 - Vegetable Soup Face

Nawww, what a cutie pie! Maddie and I cooked Vegetable Soup again for lunch today, I like it, she doesn't, but still tries a piece of every vegie and smushes it into her face in the process, before deciding that she doesnt like it.

Day 84 - Colours

We are still trying to choose a colour for the outside of our house. STILL!!! I just think the ones we have liked so far are too dark, but Nathan likes them dark. So now I have renewed my obsession with Pinterest and am searching for colours that I like. They really need to expand that category for me!

Day 83 - Desperation

So Maddie isnt sleeping, pretty much at all. Nathan and I are exhausted and fast losing our patience, We have tried pretty much everything that we can think of now, short of drugging her anyway. Im sure it is just a phase and retailiation for us going away but gosh it is hard.
The stretcher bed of Mum's was a hit on the day we first tried it (Thursday) with her going to sleep straight away for both her day nap and her big sleep, pity it is pretty much just together for decoration now though. This is how I finally got Maddie back to sleep at dark-o'clock after battling her for 2 hours.

Day 82 - Pyjama's

How cute are these PJ's! Maddie saw them tightly packed into the middle of the rack at Target and just had to have them. Now she doesnt like to take them off. Charlie Bear seems to be Maddie's favourite show, she giggles so hard watching it, which makes Nathan and I laugh too. Its such a shame that they grow up so fast and all these things that she loves and finds funny now, changes so quickly.

Day 81 - Creepy

Shopping today, how creepy is this mask! I can not belive how much Maddie loves Woody at the moment. I do wish she had chosen a different mask though, this one really looks wrong on her.

Day 80 - Toy Story Cuddles

Toy Story is Maddie's favourite thing at the moment, she snuggles up with Nathan on the couch and watches it before bed. While we were in QLD Nathan took Maddie through the toy isle where she shouted out "My Woody, I need my Woody" so natually she got one. She sleeps with him every night, I couldnt resist taking this shot tonight.

Day 79 - Back to Swimming

The look on Penguin Maddie says it all, She did not want to go swimming, didnt behave for much of the class and most definitely did not want to get out of the shower, to get dry and dresses. KIDS!

Day 78 - Inspired

It seemed like every house we went to in Queensland had tiles throughout the house and I loved it. I imagine they would probably be quite cold to walk on in winter though, but I loved how clean and bright they seemed. So now that I am home I am looking at tiles that we might like in our house, everwhere except the bedrooms. There are way too many to choose from and too many different sizes and styles too.

Day 77 - On The Road Again

Everytime we go on a reasonable drive I get Donkey singing 'On The Road Again' in my head, it really is quite annoying as it stays in my head for AGES! Anyway, another long day driving today, I thought to spice it up I Would take hourly photos of my view, only to discover every damn photo looks exactly the same!! BORING! Have I mentioned its a really long drive?!

I managed to get a fairly decent gouge in my finger deflecting Nathan's hand at one point, boy does that man have girly finger nails! AND OUCH! I'm pretty sure that once that happened I demanded that Nathan turn the car around and drop me off at the Brisbane Airport. He refused of course, and didnt even offer to leave me at the nearest one. I suppose New Castle to Sydney is probably a waste of a flight and the planes would be way too small and bumpy anyway.







Apple Maps let us down in New Castle, the parks it wanted to take us to, where just open expanses of grass, near busy roads, not really somewhere you would take your wild 2.5 year old to. By pure fluke we found this pretty park and stopped for half an hour for Maddie to have a play and escape the car for a while.








She sure did seem happy after her play, she thought having two dummies in her mouth at the same time was super funny and kept herself entertained until we were almost in Sydney. She did so well sitting in the car for two full days, I am pretty impressed with just how well she coped, I could maybe learn a thing or two from her.

Day 76 - A LONG Drive Home

We left Nathan's Nan's place today to start the crazy long drive home, I so should have had Nathan drop us off at the airport. I had already directed us in the wrong direction once before we were across the border and into NSW. Our first pit stop was just outside the QLD border so we could eat some lunch. The rest area was so green and pretty and had an enclosed park, not that we stopped for long enough to let Maddie play. It was a shame that the rest stop was switched to porta-loo's while they upgrade the roads, they were steamy hot and gross inside.

A little further down the road we came across the Macadamia Castle and just had to stop. With Maddie's love of Castles and my love of Macadamia's it was a no brainer. I wonder how well the castle will run when the highway bypasses it. The Macadamia's were so tasty I want to go back for more, pity its such a long drive!

Maddie had a bit of a nap, nothing worth being excited by, but it did mean less time to try keep her entertained. Most of the time we have been away she has sat in her car seat like this, it doesnt look comfortable to us and it certainly doesnt bode well for poo's. It cant be too bad though if she can fall asleep like it, and its nice that there is something to catch her head when it falls forward. There is definitely a flaw in childseats, when kids go to sleep there is nothing to support their little necks.









I had hoped to take Maddie to the Big Banana on the way home, but by the time we got there is was closed, so with our nifty apple maps we found a park and hopped out for a quick play. Maddie was so excited to be out of the car and raced around as much as she could in the short time we had stopped.







From there, we were back in the car and headed towards Port Macquarie where we decided to stay the night. Silly me thought that it wouldnt be a problem getting accomodation at the last minute as it was Sunday and not school holidays, but because it was Sunday, no one had staff on to answer their phones! We ended up checking into the Mantra Quayside, and wow was that a nerve wracking experience.

As there were no staff on Duty they sent someone in to set up the room and leave a key in a safe for us, with the instructions to call when we get there to get the safe code. OMG it was dark and a ghost town, and it took ages for someone to answer the phone. When they did, I opened the safe to find the envelope with my name on it, only to discover there were about 20 envelopes in there with no names on them. The poor girl on the phone was a little startled but picked one of the numbers and told us that hopefully that was the right one and there was hopefully going to be a cot in there. We were so nervous we only took up the nappy bag with us when we went to check the room, thankfully it was the right one and it was AWESOME!!! If we are ever up that way again we will have to stay there, the room was spacious, clean and the bathroom was lovely.

Day 75 - Trains

This Morning Maddie decided that all of her new Teddies needed to go on a train. She must have been the conductor as she kept yelling out "All Aboard"

Day 74 - Bath Fun

Pepper spent the day with us today and Maddie just loved her. She spent ages sleeping and eats so well! The difference between the two girls at that age couldn't have been bigger! They had a quick bath together before pepper started to cry, whether it was out of hunger or because Maddie scared her I'm not sure.

Day 73 - Beach

We took Maddie to a little beach over on Bribie Island today while Nathan's nan had her hair done. She was pretty pleased to finally get to play in the sand, and loved the sand truck kit her nannie gave her.

We had the tastiest pork chops ever tonight at Nathan's uncle Phil's and Auntie Cathy's, Nathan even ate the salad that went with it. Maddie was given a beautiful Golly Girl that Cathy's Mum made, which Maddie loves. I think that nannie and Maddie have called the doll Gemma, she sure is special and will be well loved.

Day 72 - Sea World

After a much longer drive than I anticipated we made it to sea world, which is actually a water park as well! I wish I had of known that before we left as I didn't pack swimmers for any of us. Just after we got through the gates and grabbed some lunch the spongebob square pants show started. Maddie loved it and wanted to watch every second of it, so she wasn't impressed when I turned around with her on my shoulders to get the camera.



The penguins were pretty cool and the under water viewing areas for both the penguins and the aquariums were awesome. The seals were being fed when we passed so maddie was keen to watch that but boy did they smell! Maddie was also convinced that the sand in their enclosure was for playing in and surely belonged to her. Nathan was keen for the dolphin show, and now I know why, it was AWESOME!

Maddie and I went on the pirate ships and got thoroughly soaked, the only part of me that was dry was the part that maddie was sitting on. The second time we went around Nathan manned one of the cannons on the side, so we were even more soaked, but the best part of that was Maddies clear shock that "Daddy wet me!" She seemed so surprised and affronted by it, it was hilarious. A quick stint in the giant dryer dried us off a little bit before the sky's opened up and we all got drenched getting from the dolphin show at one end of the park all the way down to the car.

It was an awesome day and Maddie loved it but I'm not in a hurry to go back. Maybe when she is older after we go to the other parks.

Day 71 - Play

After working all day Tabitha and Mark had us over for dinner. Maddie loved the hammock and wanted it to be closed over like a cocoon while she hid inside it and had a little rest. Such a short lay in the hammock gave her the second wind she needed to chase Kieran around the table. Gosh that boy can run fast, but he was nice enough to let maddie catch him a few times.

Dinner was sooo yummy! Thanks guys

Day 70 - Travel

Off to Queensland today to see Nathan's Nan. Maddie and I are flying up as I got tickets before Nathan decided to join us. He is driving up so we will have a car and we can go to Sea world. Maddie was awesome on the plane but a little bored at the airport as we arrived early so Nathan could get a head start. Now I know how easy she is to fly with I should make an effort to do it a bit more.

Before we left a group of men were abseiling down a building stopping at every floor with paper in their hands and swinging from side to side. It was cool to watch, I wonder what they were communicating .

Day 69 - Sydney

I had every intention of getting up early and going to Paddy's Markets this morning but after a bad night it just didn't happen. I suppose there is also the reason that it was morning and I hate getting out of bed early. By the time we did get to The markets the Morgans had made it to Sydney so we jumped back on the monorail and headed to the aquarium.

Maddie wasn't keen on having her back to the fish and posing for a photo but this one isn't too bad.

Can you spot Nathan in the other shot?

Day 68 - Sydney Day 1

Headed to Sydney today to catch up with Gail go to the aquarium and visit the markets. Maddie was pretty pleased with her stash of presents from her nanna Gail and loved the baked potato that we got her for lunch. We travelled the whole way up to Sydney with her in knickers, which meant alot more stops, but she didn't have any accidents.

Once we left Gail it was into the city to stay at the Adina. Nathan was not convinced of my navigational skills when we started to cross the harbour bridge, but I got us there easily enough following the apple maps app.

Day 67 - Pedicure

Maddie is particularly daddy orientated at the moment, so she was not happy when I took her shopping while Nathan had the dead skin taken off his feet. I ended up taking her back to him where she sat quietly and had her toe nails painted. I hope the nail polish comes off quickly, I hate the idea that it doesn't just wash off. Maddie loves it though and wouldn't put shoes back on as she wanted to look at her feet and show us her pretty nails.

Day 66 - Artwork

Maddie decided to decorate the bathroom today while I was mopping the kitchen floor. Sure was a surprise when i came into the bathroom to discover the door knobs all stickered up. Maddie was pretty proud of the finished art and kept taking me back in to look at it for the rest of the day.

Day 65 - Slackers

Council still haven't cleaned out our storm water drain so I took a photo of ours and the big one just down from us today, just incase we need it in the future for insurance. Someone was a bit slack bringing in their bins this week, it should have come in yesterday!

Day 64 - Ink

Another craft day for us today, using ink pads to create pretty stars again.
Just a few distracted seconds to answer a
Call from Nathan and I look up to discover this mess. Maddie sure does have a knack for getting ink everywhere!

Day 63 - Collage

I introduced Maddie to the world of collage and glue stick today, she was pretty impressed. I think she was more into the glue than anything else though, but it sure did pass the morning by quickly.

Day 62 - Painting

I finally made a start on painting the study this morning and managed to prime the roof and some of the walls. I had to watch Maddie as Nathan and Mark were busy with the trusses so I put Maddie to work priming the dolls clothes closet that I purchased to restore.

Day 61 - Dolls House

Dad bought Maddie this dolls house for us at the end of July as all of Canberra had run out and he was able to grab one from Goulburn. Today I finally made the space to put it together and Maddie loves it. This photo was taken after 10pm as I just couldn't get her to sleep as all she wanted to do was play with her new toy.

Day 60 - Hair Cuts

Maddie and I went to Karyn's hairdresser today to get some much needed attention. I hadn't done anything with my hair since July as I am trying to grow it so my re growth was terrible! It's nice to have properly coloured hair again. Maddie sat still while her hair was cut then went to play in the park for the rest of the time.