September
As Andrew is working on Sundays now we postponed Father's Day to the Saturday afterwards. We marked the occasion with a round of mini golf at our local Putt Putt course. Unfortunately the land has been sold to developers and the course is closing forever in April 2016. It was a feature of my childhood so I wanted my kids to at least have one game there before it disappears to make way for apartments. Evie enjoyed her round and even managed to get a hole in one on one of the holes. Teddy loves balls so he spent most of the time chasing and trying to pick up golf balls. Eventually we tamed him with a large red slurpee.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
October
October's highlight was celebrating Halloween. I'm so glad (some people in) Australia have decided to adopt this holiday as it's such a fun one. I also like that Australians are starting to add a bit of Aussie style to the celebration. I saw my first watermelon Jack o lantern this year. That's a much better idea than pumpkins in Spring. We can even eat the inside of a watermelon (or turn them into watermelon slushies!)
We headed up to Avalon to hang out with the Tin Cranes and Campbells. About 10 houses were participating in the streets around the Campbells which was just the right number in my opinion. The kids were able to really experience the fun of trick or treating without going overboard on the sweets. Evie is already talking about what she will dress up as for next Halloween. Evie has decided it is the Tin Cane's turn to host.
November
We had our yearly TD photo with the grandkids in November. We started out with the usual Bell craziness and then they all came good at the end for a lovely photo.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
December
December is my favourite month of the year as it combines so many of my favourite things. Christmas celebrations, family fun and summer.
Evie had her dancing concert in early December. I love that my little girl loves dancing (and I hope she continues to love it for a very long time.) This year Evie did a ballet and a jazz / hip hop number. Evie's serious expression really suited the jazz / hip hop number and she looks very bad ass in the photos.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
We managed to squeeze in lots of Christmas fun this year. We had both a kids' and adults' gingerbread decorating session. The kids actually decorated houses this year instead of just eating lollies (except Eddy. He didn't want to decorate or eat lollies. Just his house.) Though, when Evie had finished her house she wanted to eat it straight away so we might have to work a bit on delayed gratification. We had a few house collapses when it was the adults' turn. It was such a hot evening it wasn't very conducive to the setting of royal icing.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
I think my favourite Christmas outing was our evening out to look at Christmas lights. It was a very late night for our kids. Australian Summer is not friendly to Christmas light viewing. The house on Burwood Rd was the winner. Every inch of the house was covered in Christmas lights which flashed on and off in time with music. The house even had a snow machine blasting out snowflakes. Evie and Teddy had a blast dancing around in the snowflakes. Even the tree out the front of the house is completely covered in lights. They get an A+ for effort, presentation and Christmas crazy.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
We finished the year with a week away at our favourite farm stay Kookaburra Cottage. It really is the perfect holiday location for our family. The kids love doing the farm tour each afternoon and it's only a short drive to the beach or pool. We went with the Campbells, Tin Cranes and Warhursts so we were able to share the parenting load. It meant there was someone to watch my kids so I could go for a swim in the ocean on our beach visits. Swimming in the ocean makes Jess happy.
![Photo by Jess, on Flickr]()
More photos from Kookaburra Cottage (slideshow) on Flickr.
As Andrew is working on Sundays now we postponed Father's Day to the Saturday afterwards. We marked the occasion with a round of mini golf at our local Putt Putt course. Unfortunately the land has been sold to developers and the course is closing forever in April 2016. It was a feature of my childhood so I wanted my kids to at least have one game there before it disappears to make way for apartments. Evie enjoyed her round and even managed to get a hole in one on one of the holes. Teddy loves balls so he spent most of the time chasing and trying to pick up golf balls. Eventually we tamed him with a large red slurpee.
 |  |
October
October's highlight was celebrating Halloween. I'm so glad (some people in) Australia have decided to adopt this holiday as it's such a fun one. I also like that Australians are starting to add a bit of Aussie style to the celebration. I saw my first watermelon Jack o lantern this year. That's a much better idea than pumpkins in Spring. We can even eat the inside of a watermelon (or turn them into watermelon slushies!)
We headed up to Avalon to hang out with the Tin Cranes and Campbells. About 10 houses were participating in the streets around the Campbells which was just the right number in my opinion. The kids were able to really experience the fun of trick or treating without going overboard on the sweets. Evie is already talking about what she will dress up as for next Halloween. Evie has decided it is the Tin Cane's turn to host.
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November
We had our yearly TD photo with the grandkids in November. We started out with the usual Bell craziness and then they all came good at the end for a lovely photo.
December
December is my favourite month of the year as it combines so many of my favourite things. Christmas celebrations, family fun and summer.
Evie had her dancing concert in early December. I love that my little girl loves dancing (and I hope she continues to love it for a very long time.) This year Evie did a ballet and a jazz / hip hop number. Evie's serious expression really suited the jazz / hip hop number and she looks very bad ass in the photos.
We managed to squeeze in lots of Christmas fun this year. We had both a kids' and adults' gingerbread decorating session. The kids actually decorated houses this year instead of just eating lollies (except Eddy. He didn't want to decorate or eat lollies. Just his house.) Though, when Evie had finished her house she wanted to eat it straight away so we might have to work a bit on delayed gratification. We had a few house collapses when it was the adults' turn. It was such a hot evening it wasn't very conducive to the setting of royal icing.
I think my favourite Christmas outing was our evening out to look at Christmas lights. It was a very late night for our kids. Australian Summer is not friendly to Christmas light viewing. The house on Burwood Rd was the winner. Every inch of the house was covered in Christmas lights which flashed on and off in time with music. The house even had a snow machine blasting out snowflakes. Evie and Teddy had a blast dancing around in the snowflakes. Even the tree out the front of the house is completely covered in lights. They get an A+ for effort, presentation and Christmas crazy.
We finished the year with a week away at our favourite farm stay Kookaburra Cottage. It really is the perfect holiday location for our family. The kids love doing the farm tour each afternoon and it's only a short drive to the beach or pool. We went with the Campbells, Tin Cranes and Warhursts so we were able to share the parenting load. It meant there was someone to watch my kids so I could go for a swim in the ocean on our beach visits. Swimming in the ocean makes Jess happy.
More photos from Kookaburra Cottage (slideshow) on Flickr.
