Bilpin & Zig Zag

easter monday was probably my favourite part of easter.

it's our designated family day.

the boys tried to out vote our annual apple picking but jevan over-ruled them.

and we combined it with a little hike at the zig zag railway.

the weather was perfect,

we even left the house with plenty of time to spare

(this never happens, like NEVER.)

and we even had snacks packed.

if only every time could go this smoothly.

the apple were so so good.

we ate half the bag on the way home from our hike.

we went back to bilpin fruit bowl this year because our the one we go to had no fruit left.

i love watching the boys each year picking apples,

each year they get a little bit taller and don't need our help.

luckily we still have zayden,

 he's too lazy to even try and reach to the good ones on his own.

on the way to our hike we stopped at pie in the sky,

and FINALLY got pies.

whenever we go to this place the pies are all gone except for the apples.

they are my favourite pies in sydney.

pulling up into clarence station was awesome.

it was better than i had imagined seeing pictures on blogs.

old carriages, steam trains, commuter trains just sitting there abandoned.

the rust had overtaken a couple.

i could literally have spent my whole day here.

we hiked down to the tunnel.

makai wanted to keep going,

we decided to head back the other way.

it just got darker and darker.

the smoke from the steam engines is still on the tunnel roof.

the boys thought it was pretty neat.

i still remember going on the trains here when i was little.

i can't wait until they re-open so i can take the boys.

after hours and hours exploring here we headed back and had a little toilet break at the blue mountains botanical gardens in mount tomah.

the view of the mountains here is un-real.

we found autumn trees here that were perfect for a leaf fight

and hills perfect for have rolling races.

we ended the day with the boys having filthy faces and dirty clothes,

which translates to them having the best time ever.

Easter 2017

easter, easter, easter.

good friday and easter saturday were spent watching jevan play in the easter comp.

apart from the early mornings and long drives we had a good time.

but then along came sunday.

that was not such a good time.

i was determined to make it through sacrament being SUPER patient and loving.

we (braxton and i ) got all the way to the beginning of the closing prayer,

then i lost it, snapped it, whatever you want to call it.

braxton was removed (against his will) from sacrament meeting,

taken to a room and blasted.

i did try and remember to try and maintain a lower screaming voice 

but i'm pretty sure i wasn't on the quieter side.

this boy is my everest.

he stretches and pushes me to the brink of self-destruction.

i pray every morning for more patience 

EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING.

some mornings it works,

some it doesn't.

easter sunday went under the category of didn't.

so the day where i should've felt extremely grateful for all that i had been given,

i was feeling like jevan was going to have to admit me to a crazy home.

one with white walls and inside the room you would find a distressed mother in a straitjacket.

and then after church he had the hid to run up to me 

give me the biggest hug and tell me he loves me.

he blows my mind ! 

anyways our easter festivities were fun.

the easter bunny came and left eggs for the boys to find in the morning,

we had our annual hot cross bun breakfast,

we went to church where the boys got more eggs,

we came home and had a bit of a rest before heading to the temple,

we had an easter egg hunt with our ormsby cousins

and then we went to grammy and grampy's house and had our final

 and probably biggest easter egg hunt there.

the boys got way too much chocolate (which has been confiscated)

but they had an absolute ball of a time.

Cousin Love

when i grew up i didn't grow up with cousins.

they lived too far away and my brothers and sister weren't close to me in age.

so i always wanted me boys to be close in age

and i always wanted them to have lots of cousins to play with.

i feel like i marrying into a maori family i accomplished the cousin part ten fold.

i love it and they love it.

and lucky for zayden he even gets to go to pre-school with his cousin,

henley.

he loves his hennerz.

they can fight like cats and dogs one minute

and are thick as thieves the next.

and because zayden's the only one at home now we take henley with us LOTS of places,

she's his sister from another mister.

i can't wait to see what these two get up to when they are older.

Date 3/12

i think this has been one of my favourite dates so far.

it was jevans month to organise what we do.

with little to no money it was a little tricky but he did it.

we had el hannah's for dinner 

(best lebanese food out these ways !!)

and then we went star gazing.

he had been told about yarramundi reserve.

we headed there after dinner and i had worked myself to walk through the forest in the dark

(a scene from a horror film waiting to happen right there.)

we arrived, pulled into the car park and there was a burnt out car staring at us.

NO WAY was i getting out,

i have children to live for and no will yet.

so we sat out the front of the reserve which was super super pretty,

then we decided to check out another spot recommended to us.

this one was a lookout so surely it had to be safer.

we ended up at a completely different lookout because we didn't listen to google maps,

and apparently this lookout is the teenage hangout spot.

teeny-boppers everywhere.

(i feel old just referring to them as teeny-boppers)

we got out and sat on the seats.

i attempted to take some photos,

which i discovered it's nearly impossible without a tri-pod.

but i had fun trying to be as still as possible.

i love the effort that jevan put into this date.

 

Temple Picnic

we had our half yearly general picnic lunch at the temple sunday afternoon.

they get better and better each time we go.

i love this little tradition we started 3 years ago.

we stuff our faces with cheese, crackers, cabanossi, chips, chocolate, 

fizzy drink, dips, veggie sticks, sandwiches. 

pretty much everything you could wish was there, was there.

and we have our annual bull-rush game

and walk around the temple.

the weather was perfect just like the day we had.

cheesy but true.

The Easter Hat Parade

the caddies creek annual easter hat parade happened last wednesday (5th april).

i know i know, I'm terrible at the moment with blogging.

but by the time the boys go to bed 

i want to do nothing but sit down and watch tv for like 4 hours.

braxton was so so SO excited for his first easter hat parade.

it was the kind of excitement that turned into annoying excitement,

like i just wished it was here two weeks before it happened.

but i loved his enthusiasm.

and this was makai's last easter hat parade.

this year the boys decided to do their hats in rugby colours.

makai chose the sharks and braxton chose the wallabies (his dad was so proud).

i went out and got them all their decorations that they requested.

we sat down to do it and this little snippet just goes to show you how different they are.

makai: mum, i don't care. can't you just chose where to put everything. i want to go outside and kick the ball around.

braxton: mum, i didn't say to put the chicken their i said here (i was a fraction of a millimetre off).

i love my boys.

one day i will get a decent picture of them together.