Camping + Heatwave = Not Much Fun!

So we decided to go camping on Monday.
All was well in tent city ....



To my surprise, we erected the tent with speed and precision for first timers!
(Well, Aaron and the girls did!)
I supervised and took photos! Phew - it was hard work!
But the finished product was very exciting:



Then the girls decided to chat to the locals to get a feel for their surroundings and what it had to offer:


They got along well with the locals - even the big ones!
Watch out for that bull on the right - he's a nasty character - very protective of his 32 heffas and calves!

Driving with the cows was interesting:


Don't get too close or they get a little agitated!
We slowly drove past them and gave them space.
But then Aaron decided he'd toot his horn at them to see what would happen!
We then had to drive a little faster - out of necessity!
"Get me outta here - quick!"

The scenery was gorgeous though.
High up on the hill - this was our view:


The first night was warm so needless to say the sleeping bags were not needed!
Aaron was too scared to have the doors open for fear of mozzies and creatures crawling through the screen in the middle of the night so we sweltered a little the first night.

The first night ended up being the last night as the next day we woke up to a HEAT WAVE!!
The temperature reached around 38 degrees - and that was in the shade!

We spent most of the day here ...

GERRINGONG BEACH

Love the sunnies Ash!

Ash looking for little fish and rocks!

The girls walking around the rock pools looking for crabs and fish!

Lauren enjoying the shallow water - Aaron in the "big pool" in the background!

As you can see, it was very relaxing and cool.


The rock pools were great. They found all sorts of things:


Then we had lunch at Berry at a little bakery that make THE BEST Custard Tarts!!! YUMMM!

Then we browsed the local shops.
They have the most quaint little shops in Berry - very unique.
Here's just one of the many available - it's full of cuckoo clocks and babushka dolls!
The girls loved it!! They were in there for ages looking at all the bits and pieces.

Then there's my favourite candle shop - Candleberries!
I'm on a first name basis with the owner! Love it!

Yes, there are a lot of cows in the Berry area!
And they're proud of it!


All in all, despite the heat and the early departure, we had such a great time!
Very memorable!
We plan to do it again real soon!

Camping + Heatwave = Not Much

Technology Dummy Spit!!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while.

Our computers died a few weeks ago. Yes, both of them!
One of them got a virus - we can't even turn the darned thing on
And the other one is so ruddy slow it's painful to work on.

So we're using Aaron's lap top at the moment and it has very few programs on it that I'm used to using.

I can't find the driver for our camera so I can't download photos.
So this post will have to be a photo free one!

We had a really great Christmas.
It was very relaxed. So relaxed I forgot to get photos taken of the girls with Santa!
The first year ever!
I guess I did santa a favour by not putting Lauren on his knee!
He may have had to go in for knee surgery if I had've.
She now weighs more than Ashleigh!

Aaron and I decided not to buy each other anything for Christmas this year.
Instead we bought a new lounge!!!
I'm so excited! I can't wait to get it but it doesn't arrive for another 6-8 weeks!
But that's OK. It will make me appreciate it even more when it does arrive!

The next thing I'd like to get is a trundle bed for Ashleigh.
She is often having sleep overs and her friends are now getting too big to sleep on our flimsy spare mattress!
But we may have to wait a while for that one!

We had an amazing New Years!
We took the girls in to a friends apartment in Pyrmont and watched the fireworks!
It was the biggest year yet - they spent $5 Million on fireworks this year!
The girls were absolutely amazed by it all!
That's literally $5 Million up in smoke!
But well worth it!
It took us almost 2 hours to get home though as they close the Harbour Bridge and we had to battle millions of other people to get home!

Some other great news ......
Lauren was accepted into a "Support Class" next year at a school really close by!
This is unheard of as there are only about 5 schools in Sydney's West that offer support classes and each of those classes only accommodate 10 students!
It was truly a blessing that she was accepted!
We just don't know what we are going to do with Ashleigh - should we send her to the same school or keep her where she is!?? What to do!?

As is customary, we made some New Year's Resolutions:

Here they are:
1. Lose 10-15 kilos
2. Eat healthier
3. Cut down (considerably) on takeaway food
4. Be more organised at planning family meals
5. Pay off all our debt!
6. Be more charitable
7. Go to New Zealand!

Anyway, that's about it for now.
Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos soon!