Family Holiday - Mount Gambier - Day 1

It's been a long time since our family went on a holiday with just us. Usually we have Grandparents or something with us as well but this time it was just Buzz and I and our four kids.

We started the day by packing the car and then heading to McDonald's for Breakfast. We don't normally go to McDonald for breakfast but it just so happened that we were heading out on our family holiday on our 13th Wedding anniversary. On that day 13 year ago our families had all gone to breakfast at McDonald's before heading to the Temple to get married. So we thought we would go there to begin our family holiday.

The actual McDonald's that we went to 13 years ago had been knocked down and rebuilt. I'll have to try and find the photos of our wedding day to add here.

After breakfast we were on our way. The kids did really well in the car. It helps that they each had their own iPad to use, with headphones, so they could choose what movie to watch or game to play.

The roads were really busy. It was Easter Monday so lots of people were heading home from their long weekend away. Luckily there were lots of overtaking lanes though.

We got out to stretch our legs and go to the toilet at Keith. We found these posts to stand on and take some quick pictures as well!

After Keith we headed to Narracorte. The kids were pretty excited to see the Narracorte caves! I have only been there once before so I was pretty excited to visit them again as well.

When we got there we headed straight to the visitors centre to book a tour. It was fairly busy so we wanted to get one booked before having a look around or getting something to eat. It just so happened that the next tour was leaving in 5 minutes and they had room for us. I didn't have time to run back to the car and get the good camera so all the photos in the cave are taken with my iPhone.

Pictures really don't do this cave justice. The formations are really pretty.

Someone looks excited to get their picture taken!

The fairy castle! By looking in the water you could see the reflection of a group of stalagmites hanging from the ceiling of the cave.

These ones are called straws. They are long and thin and apparently hollow inside, just like straws.

After our cave tour we grabbed some lunch from the cafe and they had a bit of a walk around. 

We meet this guy while walking around, I can't remember what he was supposed to be but the kids thought he was pretty funny!

Lachlan getting attacked!

Oh No! Now he has Buzz!

And lastly Amie!

Haylie really wanted to get a picture of her sitting underneath it, so here it is!

At the entrance to the Narracorte caves site we found a good place to get some photos.

After climbing around for a little while we got back in the car for the final leg to Mount Gambier.

After checking in at the Caravan park to a little tiny cabin we headed over to the Blue Lake for a quick look before heading to the shops to get some supplies.

Again, I only had my iPhone on me so they aren't the best pictures. We were happy to see that the Blue Lake was actually still fairly blue. The best time to see it is over the summer months when it is a really unnatural looking blue, but it still looked pretty cool.  We went to one of the viewing platforms and the kids all tried to throw things over the side to see if they could get it to go into the water. Even though the sides of the lake are fairly steep we weren't out far enough for them to get anything to reach the water.

The kids found this statue and wanted some pictures. I can't remember what it was for but is was basically a block with a hole through it.

Haylie

Caitlyn

Amie

Lachlan

Haylie underneath it!

After doing some shopping we headed out to Fasta Pasta for dinner. Buzz ordered way too much food so we ended up taking half of it back to the cabin with us and had it for lunch the next day.

Shortly after we had arrived in town it had started to rain. Back at the cabin we watched some TV and headed to bed. The kids were pretty tired and excited to explore some more the next day. All night we could hear the rain and the wind. It sounded pretty crazy on the roof of our little cabin. We were certainly glad that we were in a cabin thought and not in a tent like some of our neighbours!

Well that's the end of Day 1 of our holiday! Come back to find out what else we got up to.

Mr Bob Jingles (Our Elf on the Shelf)

After seeing the idea around the internet for a couple of years we finally got our own Elf on the Shelf. After reading the story the kids decided on the name Bob for our Elf. I suggested that maybe they make it a bit more christmasy so they decided his last name would be Jingles. So it was Mr Bob Jingles, or Jingles for short!

He got up to all kinds of things while he was visiting our house. Haylie loved him the most. She still talks about him wondering how he is doing and when he will come back. Every morning she would race to try and find him then she would tell everyone she could, no she wouldn't just tell them, she would have to show them. Mum, Dad, Brock and Nana were often coming up to see where Jingles was by the request of Haylie. If we had any visitors they all had to check out what Jingles was doing that day too!

I shared what Jingles was doing each day on Facebook but I also wanted to do a blog post so that it would all be in one spot somewhere.

Day One

Sitting on some Christmas Decorations

Day Two

Getting a bit naughty and drawing on some of our pictures

Day Three

Going for a ride on a reindeer

Day Four

Getting his sweet fix with some mini chocolate chips

Day Five

Checking out some of our Christmas books

Day Six

Having a day in bed, with some snacks of course!

Day Seven

Getting even more naughty. Jingles put toilet paper all over our Christmas Tree!

Day Eight

Hanging out with some of the girls barbies

Day Nine

Trying to be a part of the decorations

Day Ten

Hanging out on Haylies bag hook

Day Eleven

Sitting upon a star

Day Twelve

More lollies!!

Day Thirteen

Brushing his teeth after all the lollies he has eaten

Day Fourteen

Zip-lining on some tinsel across the lounge room

Day Fifteen

Hanging out in Amie's stocking

Day Sixteen

I wasn't feeling well this day so I didn't take this picture, Haylie did. He was visiting our nativity this day

Day Seventeen

Jingle knew the the kids were missing a really Christmas tree so he bought them a small one to enjoy

Day Eighteen

Hanging out in the forest with some Snowmen chocolates

Day Nineteen

He replaced all of the kids stocking with a pair of their underwear! Very cheeky! Lachlan didn't leave his up there very long!

Day Twenty

Chilling out in the fridge

Day Twenty One

He got hold of the markers again and wrote all over Buzz's white board

Day Twenty Two

Planking on the Christmas tree

Day Twenty Three

Writing an email to Santa

Day Twenty Four

Last day. On this day he bought all the kids an early Christmas present from Santa

We had lots of fun with Jingles last year and can't wait to have him back this year, especially Haylie!!

Another Christmas Catch Up!

Be warned there are lots of pictures in this post.

This year there was no room for our normal Christmas tree. I found an idea on Pinterest that I thought might work. I love how it turned it out. It was our best Christmas tree ever.

Caitlyn was very excited when she bought out this present to put under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. By the way, it was for me!

All ready to open their present that Jingles bought on Christmas Eve.

Lachlan isn't very happy about getting his picture taken anymore, but I make him suffer through it.

We did some sparklers in the back garden before heading to bed.

The kids woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. It was just after 6am. We normally make them wait until 7am, but Buzz gave in!

After we read from Luke Buzz went out to get the stockings. They were filled with lollies and chocolates and little toys.

After everyone had gone to the bathroom we headed into the lounge room.

Haylie finally got the Dora skates she was after!

 Caitlyn also got a pair of skates and in the background Lachlan is checking out his remote control helicopter!

Star Wars LEGO!

And some perfume for Amie, so she stops stealing mine!

One thing that I am sad about is that I didn't get a picture of each child with their presents. They were all very lucky though and got what they wanted.

We had a really nice day with family. It wasn't too crazy and the kids had lots of time to play with their new goodies. I love Christmas!