Dive Time....

Monday 22nd December

We had a great time in the spa... while out shopping in the morning - we'd found these toy-pedo's - they had numbers on them - so we'd throw them into the bottom of the spa and the kids would be given a number or a colour or an amount to add their numbers to  - for them to think while also diving under....   with Blake it was more a case of "find the two smallest numbers" whereas Jade would get "I want 3 that add up to 80" type thing.. but they had fun and didn't let me leave for quite a while..... 

Merry Christmas from Greg....

Monday 22nd December

Greg had come over to visit before he left for Sydney for Christmas... and dropped the kids off their presents which included a gift card... so we went off shopping.....  this is what they got.... :)

Growing up too quickly...

Sunday 21st December

It was time to get my hair done again - and Blake had decided last holidays (after the girls got their hair done) that he wanted to have blue hair... so we agreed to do it at the start of the holidays so that it would wash out before school went back..... 

He's growing up so quickly....

Marney had clipped the side and back of his hair and he looked like he'd been pulled out of a boy band from the early 90's..... but still cute!

Hair all cut.. now ready for the Blue.....

Dye going in....

Die is in - just waiting for it to set a bit before rinsing....

And we're blue.....

It only lasted 1-2 swims in the spa before it completely washed out... but he enjoyed it for the 1-2 days he had it :)

Swim Time... AGAIN.....

Saturday 20th December

We spent a lot of time at the town pool over the holidays.... about the cheapest entertainment you can really get - as long as you're mindful of the sun etc.....  so we always aim to get there around 2pm so that the harshest of the sun's rays have gone....

It's nice now that both kids are happy to swim in the big pool - and happy to go at any end... ahh yay for swimming lessons!

We treated the kids to slushies... 

Gingerbread time!

Saturday 20th December

Rob found (and decided it was a GREAT idea to make again) Gingerbread Village and Santa Sleighs....

Last time we did these we found that the gingerbread (although nice and firm) did not taste like anything decent....   this time, they actually tasted ok - but they crumbled.... and didn't hold together.... BUT... the kids had fun making them.....

Ready to start...

Uncle Frank came to help....

You can see in front of Frank's gingerbread house that he's had to carve bits off the houses to make them fit into the trays....

The kids decorating the sleighs...

These are the candy canes they sent to build the sleigh runners (or whatever they're called) - unfortunately - most of them were broken.... bad packaging!

The sleigh sides all decorated.... 

The Gingerbread houses......

I felt they looked a bit plain - so I spruced them up!

After this we headed to the town pool for a swim... by the time we came home the ants had found everything - so they all got thrown out.....

Spa Shade & Solar Heating.....

Friday 19th December

Mom and Dad headed up to Gladstone early on Friday morning so that they could repair the shade over the spa and put the new cover on for me while I was at work...  

While they were doing that, Rob pulled out the Solar Heating and we put that on the edge of the spa also... unfortunately when we connected the pump to the solar panel - it blew...  they'd sent us a 12v pump to go with the 20v solar system... So, we've had to order a new pump... (and since this, we've taken the panels down and will put them up again once we can connect everything..... the spa has been really warm over summer - so it's not really an issue yet...  last year the shade over the spa meant that the water was like ice (which - admittedly was nice on the hot hot days!))

The theory with putting the panels like this, was that it would provide more protection from the sun in the afternoons... 

(and we all know how pink Puggle can go when in the sun for more than 5mins at a time)

Blake's Trials BMX

Thursday 18th December

Blake's Trials pushy arrived... we'd bought it second hand from a family down Brissy-way.... there's not much to these bikes... and no seat... yes, that's right - it's not a mistake.. there is no seat.....  and Rob and I put it together so that it was ready for when Mom and Dad brought the kids back the following morning.....

Holiday Gnomes

Monday 15th December

The kids found these gnomes that I'd bought (well, in all fairness - I stupidly left them in the car) - so, they became a holiday craft rather than a Christmas present.... 

This was my last morning in Bundy before leaving the kids with Mom and Dad for the rest of the week... while I was stuck working! ;)

The finished products

(Mom fixed Blakes one up for him)

Jade's Gnome

And now they live in the plants at Mom and Dad's place :)

Mom and Dad's Hands.....

Sunday 14th December

Mom and Dad loved our hands so much that they asked if I do do their hands....

We had the same issue with the bubble on the end of the fingers - so - once I know that we can fix it - we'll fix theirs too...

After I'd done Rob's and my hands I'd seen a picture where the lady had kept her wedding and engagement rings on - so I told mom to keep hers on so that they're in the mould too - we were a little concerned about how it would turn out - but it worked really well :)

(and we used Dad's hand with only three fingers - cause it's his amazing and famous hand!)

Mom's Ring!

Kinetic Sand.....

Sunday 14th December

We headed down to Bundaberg in the morning - and while out shopping with Mom I saw this kenetic sand... I'd looked at it a few times and it looked like so much fun....  

We got the kids some - but they didn't have the sand tools - so we figured we'd keep looking... and we stopped in at Flash Harry's (or whatever it's called) and found these tiny sand toys for $2 per set... BARGAIN!

The kids had a blast... it's so strange and not easy to explain - you just have to try it out for yourself....