More chicken pictures

Here's a few pictures of the kids with Coco and Fluffy this morning with their Nanny & Pop who were on their way back to Melbourne today. We had a wonderful time with them staying with us and we will miss them being around.

Meet Coco and Fluffy

We are now the proud owners of 2 chickens called "Coco" and "Fluffy". I've been thinking about this for a few months and decided it would be a good idea for the kids to have a pet and at the same time we can have yummy organic eggs so it's a bit of a win-win situation.

James named his chicken Coco and the band around it's leg is orange and Sienna named her chicken fluffy and it has a pink band around it's leg. We were all pretty excited to get our new pets and show them their new home. Here's a few photos from today.

Afternoon coffee and early BBQ dinner

Yesterday afternoon we went to the North Shore Cafe for a coffee and then the kids had a play on the beach, threw the Frisbee and we had an early sausage sizzle for dinner. The parklands are beautiful and they have lots of space for the kids to run around.

Whale Watching

We were lucky enough to have a fine day today to go Whale Watching from Redcliffe on a fantastic boat called the "Eye Spy". Last year Mum, my sister and I went and this year we had the whole family including Nanny and Pop from Melbourne and my other sister and her family. It is a fantastic day out including morning and afternoon tea and lunch while looking at the whales. The boat has glass windows from floor to ceiling so you can see the whales if you are inside or outside. The staff are friendly and make the whole experience fun. The whales were mostly swimming with us but not too many back flips (breaches) but the best part is seeing them right next to the boat mummy and baby....and they are HUGE.

Kangaroo Point Cliffs Cafe & Park

This morning we drove to Kangaroo Point Cliffs Cafe for a coffee and to check out the view of Brisbane River and city skyline. There is also a park area and the kids had a play for a while. This area is only new this year and I'd heard about it but hadn't been there before. It has a lovely cafe, bbq area, lots of grass to run around on and big fat worms or snakes to climb on (not sure what they are) and great views. It's great that Brisbane is taking advantage of the Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

Backyard Bocce

We found our Bocce Balls in the shed today and had a few games in the backyard which the kids loved.

Walk about Creek

James and Sienna's Nanny and Pop are up from Melbourne and we had planned a day at the beach today however with the rain we had to make alternative plans so we went for devonshire tea at Walk about Creek which is about 15 mins drive away and it has some animals on display. It's run by the Dept of Environment or something similar so is government based. It has turtles, snakes, fish, kangaroos' birds, tawny frog mouth owls to name a few. We had a wander around to see the animals and did a little 700 mt walk through the bush which was lovely.

Birthday Tradition

Today is my birthday and ever since Sienna was born, I've had a tradition of taking a photo of me with the kids and 4 cupcakes each year. I get the cupcakes from the same bakery however one year they were all sold out and had to substitute with chocolate cupcakes. This is my 5th year and I love looking back on how much the kids are growing up. Hopefully I will look as good as them as the years go by!!! It's a very special tradition for me and one I look forward to each year.

Just to clarify a couple of things, the first photo (at the bottom in 2006) was taken at 10pm at night as we had just arrived at Twin Waters Resort for the weekend so I'm looking a bit tired and in my defense of the 2nd year picture, it was a really hot day and had been for a swim. The next year I had no idea about "white balance" was. Apart from that I think you can tell my photography has got better each year and given that I actually took the 2008, 2009 and 2010 photos myself which is quite a funny sight to see. Setting the camera up on the tripod, positioning the kids, running around the other side of the kitchen bench and hoping I get in the picture. There are obviously a few out-takes before we get a good one but that is all part of the fun memory that goes with these pictures as well.