Term 1 And A Crazy Mum

can i just start off by saying this mother gig is tough.

i'm exhausted.

it was the first day back at school today,

i thought i would have this found new energy 

with only one boy at home.

but no.

i feel like i used every last ounce of energy to get those suckers to bed.

i'm currently vegging on the couch watching netflix,

and this is where i will probably fall asleep until jevan gets home 

and moves me to bed.

then comes the mother guilt.

i should be doing more with zayden?

am i playing with them enough?

do i give them enough time individual?

i should feed them more fruit and vegetables!

am i helping them enough with their homework?

do they know that i love them?

am i being too hard on them?

am i teaching them to be responsible?

the list goes on and on.

there is some days i feel like i've got this all down.

i feel like i've spent real quality time with them

and foods on the table and i'm just super patient and happy.

these days at the moment happen on the rarity at the moment.

i just feel like right now where i'm at,

if i meet all their basic needs then i'm happy.

i just hope they know that even when i'm cranky, yelling, screaming

 (yes i admit that goes on alot in our house)  

and going a tad (ALOT) crazy that i love them more than anything else in this world.

my hands go up to all you mothers out there struggling,

we can get through this !

we have braxton starting year 1 and makai starting year 3.

Pool/Beach/Chips

we are now winding down from our trip.

we had felt pretty hammered after doing so much,

so we ditched our plans this day.

we changed it for a day by the pool and fish and chips for dinner on the beach.

it was just what we needed.

we now have our fish and chip shop at burleigh beach we will head to 

each visit now.

there's a couple of things we always have to do when we visit queensland.

and now thinking about it they all revolve around food.

the sunset was perfect 

and the boys had fun playing on the beach until it was too dark to see.

of course they got wet as well

and of course i wasn't prepared and had no towels.

this day was probably one of my favourites of the trip.

Brisbane City

we thought that because sea world in the morning was so successful

we would hit up movie world one last time in the morning to.

it was awesome.

except like sea world they don't start the rides until later,

which annoyed us a little bit.

they didn't start until 9:30 but you couldn't even go and line up at the ride like sea world,

you had to all wait in the main street of movie world.

but apart from that little hiccup

we got on all the rides we wanted to.

braxton was desparate to go on scooby doo one more time and the road runner.

we convince makai to go on this ride that goes up and drops them

*note - this was in the kids section*

he was not impressed and kept telling his brothers not too look down.

meanwhile they were laughing with their hands up.

we took them to see the stunt show because we didn't get to the first time.

zayden enjoyed this the best.

he LOVES cars and being a daredevil.

we spent 2 hours at movie world and then headed to our next destination.

brisbane.

a couple of holidays ago we went to queensland 

and it did nothing but rain for 4 days straight.

so we decided that we needed to drive to do things where it wasn't raining.

we drove and stopped at the brisbane temple,

this is one of our favourite memories of that holiday.

so jevans request was to go back there.

we took a packed lunch and walked along the river.

makai thought this was cool because he had researched it at school.

theres a little picnic area and playground just up from the temple we stopped at.

perfect view of brisbane city.

the boys played (actually nicely) together

and jevan and i just sat back and thought

"wow they can actually place nicely sometimes."

we stayed there for a good two hours also.

we purposely did that because we wanted to go straight to Surfers Paradise for dinner.

this day was all jevan's choice,

so of course in jevan true style he chose Hogs Breath.

it was a crazy but super fun day and we ended it with a night time swim.

Burleigh Beach

after our 3 theme park days,

we were pretty exhausted.

waiting in lines (although your just standing) is so tiring.

it knocked me out thats for sure.

we opted for a pool/beach day and we also added timezone at night into the mix.

the kids pretty much swam all morning in the pool.

we had to drag them out to eat lunch.

after a little rest we headed to Burleigh Beach.

for me nothing beats to the beach.

the sea breeze and salty hair.

sand absolutely everywhere.

sea shells and that picture perfect ocean right in front of you.

it's my happy place and a place that rejuvenates me.

i never regret making a trip to the beach.

we built sandcastles, the adults (besides myself) had a nap

- recovering form our morning workout,

the kids played beach cricket and then everyone went for a swim

- again besides myself because by the time they went in it was under 40 degrees.

the best thing about queensland is,

the beaches are a 5 minute drive from home.

coming from sydney this was *BLISS* !

after dinner we headed into surfers paradise for timezone.

santa was super kind this year and gave the boys each a timezone card,

they were eager to use it.

we were there what felt like AGES.

this isn't place i like to come but the boys and jevan love it.

they basically spent all their money and time 

at the basketball hoop games and car racing.

we had a family dodgem ride,

this was probably my highlight.

this is our 4th trip to queensland for our family holiday

and timezone has now become a tradition 

that the boys remind us to do.

not too sure if i like it or not yet?!

NYD

new years day.

this was the beginning of our holiday for just the 5 of us,

as we said goodbye to family who we had spent the majority of our holiday with.

the boys loved spending so much time with their family from new zealand.

so for the beginning of our holiday,

we went back to sea world.

there was a couple of things the boys didn't get to do which they wanted to.

so we were there right at 9am.

we thought we were super clever.

we like pretty much raced to the kids rollercoaster

BUT what we found out was that the rides didn't start until 9:15.

so we probably could of leisurely walked there.

after getting 4 rides in the same space of time it took us to do 1 our first visit,

we headed to the animals and took our time looking at them.

the favourites for our boys were the sting-rays and dolphins.

we didn't watch any shows today because we had booked to see an 11am session of Coco.

so after the quickest trip to sea world anyone has probably ever done,

we headed to the movie to meet Aya.

coco was way better than i (basically everyone is our family) had thought it would be.

this has also become one of our traditions when we holiday in queensland.

we either go bowling or to the movies with Aya.

the boys love it because when Aya shouts she goes all out.

popcorn, chocolate, slushies and fizzy.

when they come with their parents they get all their treats bought from home

#poorlife.

but this makes them really appreciate when they do get all that extra stuff.

we then spent the afternoon swimming.

NYE

New Years Eve.

spent on a sunday,

not too sure if i liked it.

i didn't mind christmas eve on a sunday but new years eve was a bit harder.

obviously being mormon we don't swim on sundays.

and being in queensland on a perfect nye with a pool in the backyard

not being able to swim was HARD.

so we swapped swimming for some family game/movie time.

after the kids watched movies,

we played Pictionary, Spot It, One Small Fellow, Big Buddha and Heads Up.

our family LOVES games.

makai's out biggest board game lover.

this year i was determined that we would go and see nye fireworks.

because sydney is crazzaaay i wanted to take advantage of not being there.

i researched and found out a couple of places that did nye fireworks 

and we opted to watch fireworks right on the beach.

we watched them at Kirra Beach.

it was perfect.

they were at 8pm and there was no crowds.

everyone was spread out along the beach.

the kids had room to play a game of nfl while we waited.

even though they were no sydney standard fireworks,

the kids thought they were pretty awesome

and i was happy that they had finally seen some nye fireworks.

we headed home,

told the boys they could stay up until 12 if they wanted.

not one of them made it.

zayden was the first to crash, then braxton and makai.

we watched the sydney fireworks on tv and played more games.

because we were in queensland we were an an behind sydney.

so once it his midnight in queensland,

jevan, isaac and caylin jumped in the pool the celebrate.

i had taken myself to bed after the sydney fireworks,

i figured one of the two of us had to be semi-awake for the kids the next day.

perfect way to begin 2018.

Wet N Wild

we thought we were having such a great run with the themes parks

we would finish it off with wet n wild.

well that was a huge mistake.

wet n wild was NUTS !!

it was so nuts that i put it in capital letters with two exclamation marks.

it was so overcrowded,

 you couldn't even enjoy it.

i have never been so appreciative of the wet n wild sydney.

everyone packed in the wave pool looked like sardines in a can.

i'm not even exaggerating. 

so because of this i think we stayed for a maximum of 2 hours,

then we headed home to the pool.

the adults and the kids preferred this option soo much better,

the kids actually had room to swim and have fun.

so if you are ever going to wet n wild queensland,

maybe just lower your expectations.

and next time you want to complain about wet n wild sydney

go and check out the queensland one,

you'll have a whole new appreciation for sydney.

Movie World

when we planned this holiday,

we planned on a theme park every second day with a rest day in between.

but because of the terrible week's weather forecast.

i'm not even exaggerating,

100% chance of storms all day for a week.

if you go to the goldie NEVER listen to the forecast it lies.

the only time (if it rained) was a night.

so we got there at 10,

funny story.

jevan asked if me the night before and morning of if i was sure it opened at 10.

i was super confident,

OF COURSE why don't you ever trust me.

well we turned up the car park was packed and all the rides were going.

yeh it opened at 9.

that was an awkward start to our day.

we walked into it and the first person who we saw was

SUPERMAN !

braxton and zayden thought they had died and gone to heaven.

meeting one of their hero's in real life.

zayden is now convinced that superman is real.

once we were in and after having taken the touristy movie world photo out the front,

we split into two groups.

everyone going to the kiddie land was going with sarah

and everyone else would go do the big rides.

we did 3 rides and took us about 2 hours wait to do those.

which isn't too bad when you compare it to the wait

at the DC rivals rollercoaster that jevan and skye waited in

- 90 mins.

i kid you not.

the scooby doo was 70 minutes too.

such craziness.

but the kids had a ball.

braxton will tell you his favourite ride is the scooby doo one,

he did this with his uncle skye with his hands up in the air the WHOLE time.

makai will tell you his favourite ride was the driving school.

zayden was upset he couldn't do the roadrunner rollercoaster,

so he settles with the driving school.

hopefully next year he grows a little more so he can join his big brothers on the big rides.

we watched the parade,

where it felt like ALL of queensland was watching it with us.

the crowds were insane.

it's one of those you've got to do it once in your life kinda things.

all the boys dc dreams came true.

they saw and met green lantern, the flash, superman, batman (even sat in the bat mobile) and for zayden - wonder woman.

seeing their faces light up as the met their hero's and going on rides with them

was something i'll never forget.

theme parks are probably better visiting as a parent than as a solo-ist.

we finished the night off with a night time swim.

Sea World

Day Two.

this would be the day our boys had been waiting for.

ever since they found out we would be spending our holidays in queensland

they have been asking, 

(border line - begging)

if they could go to movie world and sea world.

we kept saying probably not this time

- knowing that this would be one of their christmas presents

*insert evil parent laugh.*

they were SO excited when they found out on christmas that they would finally be going.

first up was sea world.

because the forecast was crappy we planned our days around that.

this was also the day we learnt to NEVER plan our day around the forecast,

they couldn't of gotten it more wrong it they tried.

we went to the jet ski and dolphin shows.

the boys had a ball.

they saw polar bears,

touched sting rays, starfish and sea slugs - GROSS !

zayden fell in love with the dolphins and thought they were the best thing ever.

this was the day we realised that we had a little adrenaline junkie in braxton.

he made makai (his older brother) go on a rollercoaster with him

take note for when you see the photos,

makai was NOT impressed.

the rides here are perfect for younger children because they can go on everything,

so for zayden this was ride heaven.

while zayden and caylin were at the rides,

braxton and makai were with me because they really wanted to touch a sting ray

- they chickened out the first time we went.

i do not lie.

it took them 40 minutes and me bribing them (for a new slap band) to do it.

i was almost throwing them in by the end i was getting so frustrated,

parent winning moment right there for you.

so because of this they really only got to ride the rollercoaster twice.

but they did it so YAY *insert rolling eyes*

we really loved sea world because its a good mix of rides, shows and animals to see and touch.

the rides are mostly catered to younger children except for 2.

my favourite of course is seeing the dolphins

- they are my favourite animal !