Our little holiday in Victoria!

Hello!

We are back from our little road trip down to the King Valley in Victoria! It was nice to get away! Of course, we did go down for a reason... Matty decided to compete in the Down River Kayaking Nationals. This type of kayaking he hasn't done in YEARS so first things first... finding the type of kayak he needed. He managed to burrow one that has been around since the 1980s! It also looked like a big turd, so thats what we nicknamed the boat!
It was fun to get away and see some new things! Liberty was a good girl considering all the driving we did. We did have to add an extra day onto our trip as it wasn't fair on her to drive the whole way in one day! She did start to get pretty annoyed after a couple of hours in the car at a time (understandably).

Well, i've got heaps of photos to share, so I will let our holiday speak for itself in photos.... (got get yourself a cup of tea... lots of photos ahead!)

The first night we stayed in a town called Yass. It was as far as we managed to get with a happy baby!! We checked into the first cheap hotel we found and then went to dinner at the Yass RSL, i did take photos but im trying to keep this post a little shorter.

Then we hit the road and spent the next night in Wangaratta, Victoria. We arrived in the afternoon after stopping at Albury for lunch and an afternoon feed for Liberty in the botanical gardens there. We decided to explore Wangaratta in the afternoon, and we found a nice motel to stay the night in. Also for dinner (we got take aways) we found a yummy restaurant called tread that had gluten free written on the menu! I had the lamb backstrap and it was fantastic! Im always excited when I find a good meal and I know its 'safe'!After a good night's sleep, we headed to the King Valley for a 3 day stay so Matty could compete in the Down River Kayaking Nationals. He did great, he came 3rd in his category and 8th overall.
We stayed in a little Caravan Park in Whitfield, Victoria.And here is a photo of the town of Whitfield... YEP! That is the entire town, hahah!Matty went up on friday to do a practice run of the King River, here he is... After one run down, the 'big turd' needed to be emptied and also mended - heheWe hung around a bit at the caravan park playing cards, chopping wood (for fun) and letting Libby have a sleep...Then the weekend arrived and the racing started... "Go Matty!!"But we also did other stuff too. On saturday night we all went to a winery for dinner. Again, they had Gluten Free meals and it was so so yummy! After the racing on saturday we went up to Paradise Falls for a bush walk. It was beautiful...
On the sunday morning, we drove up to the top of the dam wall to see the lake, and we spotted our only kangaroo that we saw (besides road kill)...

Here is our car with the 'big turd' kayak and a play boat

Then it was already time to jump back in the car and do the big drive back home! We did decide to do it over two days though which was good cos it meant we got to go and visit Ettamogah Pub....

We also had another pitt stop by the side of the road.. we put out the picnic blanket to let Libby have a stretch. We were amused by the hub cap fence too!

We had a great mini break! And it was great to make it back home in time for our weekly mothers group meeting!!
Here's one last photo of Libby when we were on the road! I think her expression is practically saying 'im so over all this driving'... hehehe

Xx Jess

road trip...

Hi Everyone, well, actually... Bye everyone!!! hehehe!
We are off on a family road trip! We are leaving this afternoon after work, to go to the King Valley(?) in Victoria! The down river kayak nationals are on and matt is going to participate! You should see the kayak he is burrowing, it looks like a giant TURD!! Hahah, i will take a photo!
So we will be back next week, Just thought i'd leave you with a photo of Libby and the positition she will be in for a lots of hours... Fingers crossed, she doesnt mind the trip too much!
Xx Jess

P.S. Un Grand *Happy Birthday* pour Loule Grunenwald pour ce weekend!!

Our first taste of *summer*

Hello!
Yesterday was 28 degrees!! It was so exciting to have a sneak preview of how wonderful summer is going to be!! (unfortunately, today is not so nice, still quite warm, but wet, dark and humid). It was so fun to have Liberty in bare feet all day and in the evening we went to Bec and Kato's for a wonderful BBQ, and Liberty was very fussy, i think it was a combo of lack of sleep and also being too hot, so I stripped her down in to her 'underwear' (hehe) and it was so cute to see her rolls of fat!!
It was a lovely busy day!!! Matty had to work but he took a time out to take liberty for her first Kayak trip on the lake!
I took liberty out by the lake on the picnic rug, which was lovely, we had a good time!!
Bring on summer time!!! Here are some photos of our day...
Xx Jess

Layout...

Thanks Siany, for inspiring me to scrapbook again!! :)
I actually did a scrap page the other day of a photo of Liberty with all her Mothers Group friends! Its such a cute photo, I cant share it on my blog due to privacy of all the other babies, but trust me, a photo of nine little babies lying on a rug, is very cute!!!!
But I can share my latest layout I created last night...
Im not 100% sure about it, i thing it might be too 'busy'.
Let me know what you think!! :)
Xx Jess

Trying out the new stroller...

Today is a beautiful sunny day! Warm once you get moving!! hehehe! Liberty and I decided to try out the new 'beast'. I love it! It rolls so well! I walked up to North Narrabeen. It was so nice to be able to push the stroller easily on the grass etc! Liberty was a good girl! She even had a little sleep!
Here she is enjoying her walk.. she has lots of entertainment with all her toys!
Relaxing by the sea pool! Look at the big wave crashing in the back ground!
North Narrabeen...
Hahaha! I thought i'd take a 'selfie' of Libby and I... Uhm, it didnt really work!! Libby is wearing her cute new hat!
It was a lovely walk! We walked for about an hour all up, and im buggered now! (could it be the lack of sleep from last night or the fact that im totally unfit?!!)
It was nice!! I so so cant wait till summer so I can dip Liberty's feet in the water!!!
Xx Jess

today..

Hello!
Today we recieved this...

in the mail!! A new stroller that i'll be able to take on bush tracks, to the beach and to all sorts of places. And when Libby is a bit older, Matt will be able to take her running with it! How exciting!! I still love our cheap little stroller which is still much better and compact for taking to the shops etc!

Today, during 'family day', we now have to work. Haha, at least we can work as a family! Matt has a school group in and needs two people on the water plus one looking after the shop! So Libby and I get to look after the shop whilst Matt and Gav are with the kids on the water! Liberty was a good girl and slept almost the whole time I was there alone! We are only there for an hour and a half, pity its smack-bang in the middle of the day so we dont really get much done in between!
I was very spoilt today, Liberty slept through to 6am, so i got up and fed her, then Matty got up and played with her till 8am and I got to sleep in to 9am!!! WOW!!! Thanks Matt, oh, and i actually have felt so tired all day, i think i over slept!! HAHAH!!
Well, thats all for today! Just wanted to say hello!!
I havent got any new photos of Libby, will try and take some tomorrow with her new hat we bought from the cancer council! We've got to keep her strawberry mark out of the harsh Aussie sun!
Xx Jess

Fathers Day... a success!

Hi!
Just a quick post to say that Matty's Fathers Day was a success!!! Matt had to work but Libby and I went down and hung out there for a couple of hours! And then we had Bec and Kato, Steve, Eva and baby Fynn over for dinner. I cooked a chicken dish I always make for Matt and I, Kec and Kato brought salad (and their rice cooker - hehe!) and Eva brought dessert! It was good fun just to hang out!

Here are the only piccies i got of Fathers Day (I forgot to take a photo of everyone over at our place that night - doh!)
Photos taken with my mobile phone...

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Today is Fathers Day! Matty is working but we will have a little dinner for him and our friends tonight, which will be fun!! And my Dad is working too, so last time I was in Katoomba, I hid a little gift for him, so I called him this morning so he knew where to find it!!
For Matty, we gave him his pressie this morning at 6:30 when Libby got up for a feed! We gave him some lotto tickets, undies and chocolates! Fingers crossed on the lotto tickets!!!!
Well, im off to get the house ready for the dinner tonight!
Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there!!!
Xx Jess

Matt's first fathers day...
(photo taken this week - Libby three months old)

Happy Fathers Day, Dad (first one as a Grand Pa!)...

(photo taken when Libby was three weeks old)

tagged...

I was tagged by the lovely Nicole, thanks!!
Now I want to pass this onto some more blogs that I love to read!!

1. Siany - I love your blog for everything on it! Plus it keeps me in touch with everything you are doing seeing as i dont know it all anymore - lol!

2. Mel Mallin - Im enjoying all your beautiful family photos of your cute boys and hearing about your pregnancy!!

3. Daria - I know you havent posted in a while but I still check all the time as I love reading your stories and seeing piccies of Kaia!

4. Anne - Your blog is full of fun things, and I love the piccies of your girls with the puppy!

5. Kate - I think you have amazing strength! You are an inspiration!

Okay, so I could go on and on..
But i'm going to sign off with a piccie of Libby (who is three months old already!!) playing with her toys tonight while I was cooking dinner....

Xx Jess

Its the first day of SPRING!!!!

Hello!

Just a quick email to let you know all is well!! Liberty is being a good baby and we are all happy!! Today was the most beautiful start to spring, a gorgeous warm, sunny day!! Liberty and I went to mothers group! It was good fun!!! We took the 3 month old photos of the babies, so cute, and the mummies were having lots of fun taking the piccies!!
On the weekend I went up to the mountains to help out at work on Friday and Saturday night! It went well, i did have to pop home and feed Libby right in the middle of a busy shift on the friday night though! hehe! My brother, who had surgery on his hand on the thursday was left to babysit Libby!
Okay, im feeling inspired to scrapbook tonight so i'll leave you with a funny photo i took about 10 days ago of Liberty in her toy box...

Xx Jess