Blogcation Time

So much happening, so little time to do it in.

Visits from those that are very dear to my heart. This time will be full of surprises. There will also be cuddles, giggles, tears and lots and lots of yakking!

Time spent with loved ones, wriggling our toes in the sand. dipping our feet into the ocean and spending precious time together.

This is just some of what I'll be getting up to whilst this blog is on blogcation.

See you all soon!

Toes In The Sand

You definitely know it's spring time when the water is calling your name.

Although still a little fresh to immerse in completely, it is certainly gorgeous to sit and admire.

A brief 3 minute stroll through a very bushy, but clearly pathed, nature reserve.

We were met with a spectacular view. 

A glorious spring day. 

Perfect for the first beach visit of the season

Waves crashing, sand crunching, wind blowing. 

Is there any better way to while away the time.

Beach as far as the eye can see. 

No matter which direction you look.

I think we will definitely be spending many summer days right here.

Fruits of our labour

And an easy labour it was too!

We took a very brief weekend away and headed up to the sunshine coast. 

No better way to break up the drive then to stop and pick 

ourselves a few kilo's of strawberries.

It's been a few years since we've experienced strawberry picking 

(this was one of the first things we did with other homeschoolers) 

and this was C's first time, he was very excited. 

Off they sped, baskets in hand, running like the wind.

Little C was quite surprised how tricky they were to pull from the plant, 

let's just say a few didn't survive his efforts, 

but he worked out the technique required in no time at all.

All of us had never seen strawberries so large. 

Very surprising, we could easily cut them into quarters and 

till have a nice piece to enjoy.

And there's nothing like a bit of frolicking fun after a spot of strawberry picking.

If you are passing through the sunny coast then I definitely 

recommend a stop off to stretch the legs, tantalise the tastebuds and fill the tummy.

Jump Start - Math Blaster Winner

And the winner is (via Random.org):

Sound Schooling said... 10

My boys would love this and we would love to win!

September 6, 2011 1:11 PM

Thanks for entering everyone and thanks Knowledge Adventure for the opporutnity.

Jump Start Giveaway closes tonight!!

A quick reminder that the Jump Start/Math Blaster Giveaway closes tonight.

Are you in it to win it?

Click here for details

Horse Riding Experience

We, well I watched at least, enjoyed our first horse riding experience yesterday. Actually first for B, second for K. The kids have all had their fair share of 'party ponies' but real fair dinkum horse riding has eluded us until now.

A couple of months ago one of our very dear homeschooling friends stumbled across Janelle and her horse riding school.  We were lucky enough to spend an afternoon with Janelle and her horses to celebrate R's 7th Birthday.

Since that experience the girls haven't stopped talking about and asking when they could go horse riding again. Yesterday was that day! This time Sig organised it for any and all homeschoolers that wanted to join us. Breaking everyone into smaller manageable groups. Although after yesterday we realised that the groups probably need to be slightly smaller again.

Janelle, is amazing with the children. I guess someone that loves horses as much as she does would find it relatively easy to tranfer her skills used with the horses across to the children.

On arrival they spent a quite a bit of time getting to know their horses, grooming, what's involved in actually taking care of a horse. How to saddle and get their horse all prepared to ride. K mounted hers like a pro. B was excited, but with some trepidation, after all they are full size horses and neither of the children have really been up that close and personal with horses before. They were both all full of smiles though!

They moved onto the arena area where they practised their horse handling skills. Control, stopping, starting, steering and communicating with their horse.

The trot always evoked giggles from all children, their little heads bobbing up and down, thankfully all of the horses knew exactly what was expected of them.

The first words out of B's mouth when we he returned me, "When can we do that again?" I guess that answers any questions I had!

Spring Has Sprung Challenge Day 2

What a fabulous way to spend loads of time in the sunshine and with my kiddo's all having fun! Well kind of, C was scared a great deal of the time if truth be told, but all in all everyone had a superb day. (all photo's taken on my phone so not the greatest)

Bet you can't guess where we went ;-)

The (new since our last visit) penguin encounter is fantastic. I knew those guys were big, but not that big!!

This is definitely K's kinda theme park, all animals and some amount of touching involved.

She was so happy to get a quick touch of this ray.

C actually did enjoy this part, ok I know it doesn't look like it, but he did!

Castaway Bay, or is it Island, I can't remember. Is the newest addition here. OMG it is the biggest, coolest looking adventure playground I have ever seen. Too bad C wouldn't go on, which meant I missed out. I think I could have left the other two there all day. This part (can you see K?) is a large structure where all the fun happens internally. I am guessing more like an indoor play centre type structure.

Via that, they make their way over to this enormous structure. Yep that's B up that, very cool. Very cool indeed.

Of course there were a few kiddy rides to be had.

And what's a visit to, you guessed it, Seaworld, without a dolphin or two.

Spring Has Sprung Challenge

Happy first day of spring to all those down under! Oh how I have been longing for the sunshine. Give me hot, sunny summers any day over a cold winter. The only part of summer I dislike is storms, scare the heck out of me. But please don't tell my kids, I try to act like I'm brave and all that ;-)

We've lived here for just over 5 years now but I still can't believe how lucky we are to have so many nature study opportunities right here in our very own back yard, love it!

This guy was soaking up some of that gorgeous early morning sun, until Charley disturbed him.

Thank goodness he was out of reach though.

So we will be spending a great deal more time outside, especially before the sun gets too hot for us to be in. My kids always get more than enough time outside, I am not concerned about them in any way, it is actually me that I am referring to here.

I do get outside but on alot of occasions when the kids are out playing I use that for a bit of me time. Have a cuppa, do some quiet reading, catch up on blogs, prepare activities for the following day or if I'm feeling really energetic I might even do some chores ;-) Might, I did say might ;-)

So my challenge to myself, get outside with them. Enjoy the sunshine, breath in the fresh air and just be. Every day for the next 30 days I am challenging myself to this.

I will do my best to keep you updated on this one.

Happy Spring, Friends