10 on 10 Photography Circle - May

For this months 10 on 10 photography circle project I am posting a few quick snaps from Mother's Day!

So Mother's Day didn't start with a sleep in or breakfast in bed....oh no it started with a 9am soccer game instead which meant grabbing breakfast on the run....

That 9am soccer game was followed by a 10.40am soccer game so lunch was grabbed from the canteen....

It's sounding pretty special so far right!!

We rushed home from soccer, the girls had quick showers and we set off to see Miss 16's drawings that were on display at the Art Exhibition in Camden....

Miss 16 was commended for this piece of artwork which was a great achievement....

After the art exhibition the troops were getting hungry so we went for a walk down the main street and came across this fantastic cafe called Split Diner.  I am a huge lover of all things 50's and 60's so it was the perfect stop for Mother's Day.....

And the food was amazing....

Camden has some quite amazing buildings and some lovely scenery, especially in autumn.

Then it was home for pressies....and the usual Sunday night prep for the week ahead.
Hubby is working away this week so this is the survival hamper that he and the girls put together for me.....haha he knows me well...copious amounts of chocolate and snacks with a can or two of coke thrown in!

I know I have a bit of a random number of photos there...but hey!!

I hope you all had a special Mother's Day too!

Please check out the other blogs in this photography circle....there's a lot to love in our 

wonderful group....  

I am linking to Jen over at  Pierced Wonderings   

Be sure to check out her great photos for this month

by clicking here .  Jen always..ALWAYS...takes amazing photos!!

Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Family Holiday Part 2 - Mornington Peninsula

Last week you read about Part 1 of our family holiday here.....3 nights in Melbourne seeing the sights and shopping up a storm!

Then we packed up and moved on to Part 2 of our family holiday...

The plans for Part 2 were started the day that I read a blog post by Fleur from Our Urban Box titled 4 Family Weekend Away Ideas..... pop over to Our Urban Box and read it for yourself...you'll be glad you did.

I fell head over heels in love with Happy Glamper, their bell tents and that airstream...oooh the airstream!!

Many hours were spent drooling over the Happy Glamper website and Instagram account. And then I discovered that the airstream, known as Peggy Sue, was a 1966 Airstream TradeWind....1966....she was turning 50 and so was hubby....it was meant to be!

Emails were exchanged and tentative plans were made.

Happy Glamper is located on the Mornington Peninsula and it soon became apparent that a vehicle would be very useful to get us and our luggage from Melbourne to the camping site chosen which was Point Leo Foreshore.

Hours of internet trawling led me to Hire A Kombi and again it was love at first sight.

Again emails were exchanged and tentative plans were made.

Months passed and keeping this trip a secret was almost killing me...but it was so worth it in the end!!
The day came to start the Part 2 adventure so we headed off laden with extra luggage from all that shopping!!

We caught a train to Geelong...I'm pretty sure by now everyone was getting a bit worried about our new destination!

At the train station we were picked up by Alyce from Hire A Kombi in Harriett...everyone's faces...OMG they were excited!!  Within about 6 seconds Harriett was probably featuring on at least 5 instagram accounts lol !!  

Then it was off to get the ferry across to the Mornington Peninsula.  We were even welcomed to the peninsula by dolphins....yes seriously dolphins!!

We drove and drove and eventually reached our destination...pretty sure Siri took us the long way coz on the way back at the end of the holiday is was much quicker!!  But with the amazing views of the peninsula we loved every minute.

When Siri announced that we had arrived...at a camping ground....there may have been a few concerned faces.

But then we drove up to this....

And WOW!! This was the moment that I had been waiting for since I first started planning this trip.

Sadly for the girls though Peggy Sue could only sleep a maximum of 4 so I had arranged alternate accommodation for them....and this may well have been part of the reason that I kept the details of this holiday a secret!

Arriving to all of this set up for you in a perfect location was just amazing!  

I think they were happy with their accommodation when they first laid eyes on it....wouldn't you agree...

Four nights definitely was not long enough at Point Leo Foreshore and we were already making plans to go back before our time was up....well hubby and I were, the girls hmmm maybe.

Sadly our family holiday for hubby's 50th came to an end and hubby bid farewell to Peggy Sue...until next time!  And the girls bid farewell to the tent that they had now come to love!

Hubby and Peggy Sue both turn 50 this year....so who do you think did it better??

The holiday fund jar has been reinstated and we are starting to save for hopefully another trip to the Mornington Peninsula....fingers crossed.  But for now it is back to work!!


Have you ever been to the Mornington Peninsula?  I'd love to hear about it if you have!


Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Family Holiday Part 1 - Melbourne

After months of keeping this family trip for hubby's 50th birthday a secret Friday 15th April finally rolled around, we woke up way too early and set off....finally our destination would be revealed....

At about this time the girls may have cottoned on that there was a plane trip involved!!!  And the fact that Melbourne was our destination was revealed.

Miss 7 had never been on a plane and Miss 11 last flew when she was 3 years old so there was excitement all around!

Thankfully it was smooth flying....I had my concerns given that I was at the doctors at 10pm the night before our departure with Miss 15 being prescribed antibiotics for an ear infection :-0

We dropped our luggage at our accommodation in Melbourne and headed out for lunch and local sightseeing!

It didn't take long for the girls to cast their eyes on Spencer Outlet Centre.....in fact it became a daily destination in the time that we were there.  So many bargains....and I'm pretty sure the girls found them all.

A short walk up the road for the best Chinese meal....ever!!!!  So good in fact that we may have headed back the following night for some late night spring rolls :-)

Our accommodation had an indoor pool with an amazing views. It was impressive by day....




And even more so by night....

A trip to Melbourne is not complete without a tram trip and a visit to the Queen Victoria Markets so that is where we headed on Saturday morning.

It would be some 20 years since I last visited Melbourne and the Queen Victoria Markets and I still love the markets as much as the first time that I saw them.  

The girls loved the markets too....Miss 7 couldn't resist these cute little dolls!

And let's just say it was lucky we brought extra luggage for purchases made!

Sunday rolled around and we took a tram to Docklands to wander around.

It was a great place to stroll along looking at the market stalls and eating ice cream!!

It was also a great place for Miss 18 to get out her camera and have a play.

With all this shopping, markets and photography we decided to add in an activity for hubby, after all it was his birthday trip!!  So off to the AFL we went.

Did you know that each quarter of an AFL game goes for 30 minutes....then add in the quarter time breaks and the half time break....and you have one long game.  But they do have the best roast beef rolls there so all was forgiven!


Sadly our three nights in Melbourne had come to an end and we packed up ready for Part 2....and another surprise for hubby and the girls!!

Stay tuned for Part 2....it is pretty awesome even if I do say so myself!!



Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Review of Bunchems Mega Pack

Sponsored post brought to you by Nuffnang and Funtastic

We arrived home on Friday night after a week of holidaying...I was exhausted from the months of planning, the holiday activities, the traveling and the 2 hour shuttle bus trip home thanks to Sydney traffic!!  But the girls arrived home full of energy!!

So when I saw a box of Bunchems on the front door step thanks to Nuffnang and Funtastic I couldn't believe my luck!

The Bunchems Mega Pack comes with 370 Bunchems and various accessories and the girls were straight into it....allowing hubby and I some rare quiet time to contemplate our holiday!

All the girls joined in the fun with the Bunchems and using the little booklet of ideas included in the pack creations began to appear.

The first thing I noticed about the Bunchems was the bright colours.

I also liked the fact that there was no mess (because that would be the last thing I would have needed after a day of travelling home laden with dirty washing!!)


Creations were made and then pulled apart and new creations made and the Bunchems are still going strong.  The creations hold up well and the cute accessories add character to the pieces.

The pieces feel quite nice to play with which would be great for sensory development.  They are little furry 'burr' like plastic spheres that simply stick together!

Overall I'd say that the Bunchems are great....not only because they saved my sanity in a time of need but because of how they allow the girls imaginations to run wild making their own creations.

The product is recommended for ages 4+ and I must say that with the pieces being small adult supervision would be recommended with younger children...but then you'll probably want to have a play with them yourselves lol !!

You can get your hands on a pack for only $45.00 by clicking here.

I'd love to see what creations you and your family come up with using Bunchems so be sure to come back later and post a pic.

"If you can think it you can create it with Bunchems"

10 on 10 Photography Circle - April

I can't believe how quickly these monthly photo circle posts are coming around....bam it's April already...and it's my birthday today too...woohoo!!!

Don't forget to follow the link at the bottom of my post and see what each of my wonderful blogger friends have been up to this month!


In our crazy little corner of the world it is 5 days til we head off on our secret family holiday....the one I planned for hubby's 50th!!!  I am so totally excited....I think it's going to be an awesome holiday....even if I do say so myself!!!

Are the girls excited you might ask....well this weeks quote is from Miss 16..."My friends are going to be having so much fun in the holidays and I have to spend a whole week with my family"  so yeah I'd say they are totes looking forward to it !!!!

Keeping this trip a secret has been killing me!!!  I am hopeless and keeping secrets and even more so at keeping them from hubby!!  And with 6 people harassing me each day it has taken great strength not to cave!!!

So here's my 10 on 10 post for this month....



When hubby turned the big '5' - '0' 
I knew the perfect place to go

I decided to keep it a surprise
which feels like a web of deceit and lies!!

Where are we going?  Well nobody knows!

What do we pack?  Will we need one of these......

or will we need one of those?

Wherever it is you'll need this for sure

And according to miss 7 she needs a whole lot more....

Can I trust you with a little clue?
You won't tell now will you....??

If you want to know more then follow along on Instagram

Where from Friday on you'll see the big reveal and pics of me and the fam!!!



I know there's only 7 pics but hey....trying to wash clothes and get them dry for packing in between soccer games and the rest....7 is just gunna do!!!!

Be sure to check out instagram for all the reveals as we travel during the week....!!!


Pop over to check out what Di has been up to this month at Studio 10 Creative

10 on 10 Photography Circle - March

It's time for this months 10 on 10 Photography Circle with my blogging friends.  So make sure you make your way around the circle by following the links at the end of each of the blogs.


This week is hubby's birthday....a 'special' birthday ;-)

So here's a look into our birthday celebrations....which seem to be lasting all week!!

Hubby saw this cake on sale for $1.60 on the weekend and so the birth week celebrations began!

With Miss 15 going away on camp on the day of hubby's birthday dinner celebrations were moved to birthday eve.  Dinner out at one of our favourite restaurants.

Then time to head home....

.....for present time

....and the big reveal.....a family holiday....and hubby is all packed!!  You can read about the surprise here!

And then the actual day of hubby's birthday rocked around so we headed out for brekkie after the girls were at school

And then his birthday dinner.....ya gotta love a guy who chooses tinned spaghetti on toast for his birthday dinner because he knows that you've had a busy few weeks learning a new job and because the kitchen is still partially trashed due to the broken dishwasher

And then time for another cake

so now hubby is officially the big

And for my pic #10 I'm throwing in a video.....note to self things are not as easy as they seem on facebook but overall it was not a bad first attempt!  Clearly making videos is not my forte so apologies for the darkness!






We've still got an all you can eat dinner on Sunday night with hubby's parents!!


Pop over to see what the lovely Lauren from Life At Number Five has been up to this month...warning...there might be photos of her gorgeous baby girls...cuteness overload!!