Some fun stuff over the last three months

Lost teeth - three in two days!

Playdough peeps

Bath art - food coloring mixed with hand soap

Birthday girl - Miss 6

K loves her meditation pose - she called this lounge box her humming box. We were in a spiritual type book store the other day and while T and I were browsing she grabbed a yoga book off the shelf and started doing some poses in the middle of the store. People just graciously passed over or around her while she held the downward dog.


Back into nature



Bushwalking with Nanna

Fuzzy friends


Furry surprises

Giants Cave

Shell/rock collection from Henley Beach, Adelaide - added some weight to our baggage on the flight home!










Love Karen

Blue Mountains

T and I had to go to the Western NSW for a business trip so made our base in the Blue Mountains at Blackheath. We stayed in a house called Araluen - for all of you Ranger's Apprentice fans this was a nice touch of synchronicity. It had central heating, thank goodness as one night it got down to 2 degrees C overnight but it also had an open fire which we lighted each night. I don't know what it is about fires but they are fascinating to kids (and adults), especially when accompanied by the obligatory marshmallows to melt.


The weather had us tucked up early to play games with cards and do jigsaw puzzles. I don't know what it is about going away somewhere new, whether it's just the fact that you're out of routine, but we always spend great quality family time together, chatting, playing, having warm cups of tea, watching movies together and listening to music. I love staying in places that provide the homely touches. This house had a great library to trawl through, board games, old DVDs and videos, etc. We watched Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and National Geographic videos on Lions, Tigers and Volcanoes which were fascinating and probably not something we would particularly choose at home. Maybe it's the limited choice that makes it desirable, or maybe that you are having a sneak peek into someone else's tastes.

One of the days Mum and Dad popped in for a visit and we did a bushwalk from Pope's Glen near our house to Govett's Leap along a lovely river.
Lots of time to stop and enjoy the scenery and N took lots of photos of scenery and close ups of plants.
And there is always time to stop and play with a lady bird!
Another day N and I took a quick walk down Leura Cascades, absolutely magic spot and a great walk for kids.
N and I also took the Scenic Railway down into the valley, walked along for a couple of kilometres and then up the Giant Stairway (or we used to call it the 1000 Steps). I did it when I was 5 and a half with my dad and it has stuck in my memory all of these years. I have taken my two older boys a couple of times and wanted to share it with N. The views from the top of The Three Sisters is spectacular (see link for the legend behind The Three Sisters) - stretching on forever. It makes you feel so insignificant standing looking out at the vastness of our country's landscape, while at the same time feeling so powerful and energetic being part of it.
Back to the touristy spot, with busload after busload of people visiting for the day, with just enough time to snap a tourist shot like this one. Me, I prefer immersing myself in the bush, becoming a part of it for a couple of hours, breathing in all of that energy rather than standing separated from it and ticking off the view from my to-do list :)

Great North Walk Hornsby to Crosslands

Yay, we started back working on one of my goals - to walk the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle. The last time we did a leg of it was about 18 months ago. Last year we were quite overwhelmed with the trampolining commitment but this year we are determined to get quite a few legs done. After yesterday we have completed 51km out of 250km so a fair way to go.

We were laughing about our "date" as we had K minded and the boys just stayed at home. It was so lovely to have a day just the two of us, in the bush where it is so peaceful and quiet and just talk, walk and exercise without being interrupted.
The scenery as usual for this walk passed by and over a lot of water which always makes it a pretty walk.

This walk had a few extra challenges with a ladder helping us go down this tricky section.
Even though it was overcast most of the day and a lovely temperature, it was still humid and this little waterfall was a welcome relief for cooling us down.
This was the last section of the walk, lovely and flat, a nice stroll alongside a river. We really enjoyed it after the medium to hard grade up and down sections we had been through. This was the hardest leg of the walk so far, being 14km long and through Galston Gorge but we really enjoyed it. My perfect date - great company with my favourite man, exercising physically and mentally and walking surrounded by nature.

Spit Bridge to Manly Walk

Well, I have rediscovered one of my blisses in life - bushwalking. I love, love, love it! When I haven't done it for a while and come back to it, I remember my passion for it but it often gets lost in the day to day family life. The energy of the trees, the tiny flannel flowers poking through the underbrush, the lizards, the birds' singing, the views, the sunlight dappling through the canopy onto water, the aching muscles after a long walk. I absolutely love it all, but I said that already :)

With the Easter long weekend we had a couple of days to work around the house (and squeeze a great bike ride in plus dinner with a couple of friends), a day to visit my parents and still a day spare. I couldn't resist and have been wanting to do the Spit Bridge to Manly walk for quite a while. T has been feeling a bit under the weather since our holiday (no more holidays for him!) so he decided to drop me off and then take K to Manly for a play while I walked the 10kms.

Of course, we had to stop for a delicious brekky and stumbled upon this great little cafe just under the Spit Bridge. K ran around on the beach while we soaked up the autumn sun, watching the kayakers pulling up on the beach and coming in for a morning coffee. Kayaking is on my to-do list as well.
I started the walk at about 10am and this was one of the first views from the bridge. While I love walking with T and K, I would be lying if I wasn't a bit excited about not having to worry about pushing K on the walk. She could have made it but I would have had to piggy back her a bit, fed her continuously and spent my time encouraging her rather than absorbing it all myself. It would have been great, just a different experience than I had.
It was a perfect day for walking, 23 degrees and overcast with a slight breeze blowing. The walk has a lot of natural features as steps and part of the track, all sandstone. I passed Aborignal carvings and plenty of caves which may have been used as shelters. There is a combination of seaside plants, rainforest and dry sandstone scrub.
There are a lot of boardwalks throughout the track. I love being on a boardwalk. I feel like I am in nature without intruding upon it. Yes, the boardwalk is intruding but the number of people who use the track would damage the landscape too much if they actually walked on it.
Beautiful views of the city.
My first sight of Manly ferry.
Time for a play in Manly mall after getting back. T and I will do the walk again soon, maybe with K, maybe not. The next walk will be continuing the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle next Saturday. We are up to Galston Gorge area. T and I are going on our own as the section is 14kms so a bit far for K, although she has done two of the legs around 10 to 12kms. Can't wait to get back in the bush :)

Glenrock Lagoon Bushwalk

On Friday we organised a bushwalk with the home education group through the bush to Glenrock Lagoon. It is a small, popular, well-maintained section of the Great North Walk for 2.3kms alongside a creek down to a lagoon which meets a beautiful clean beach.
We stopped along the way to enjoy the natural surroundings and spend some time exploring the creek.
While it was cool through the bush and small section of rainforest, it was a 34 degree day so the swim, rest and picnic at the beach were very welcome.
K explored and collected a lot of rocks and shells to add to her collections.

It was a great walk with a lovely bunch of people, most of whom I hadn't met or hadn't had time before to get to know. Hopefully we will do it again soon.