Camping - April - Dwellingup

We can now say we've done our first ever total bush camp... no electricity, no running water, no toilets.... Ok, it may have only been for one night but at least we can say we've done it!

Dwellingup is a gorgeous spot about an hour inland from us.  A very popular spot for weekend campers and day-trippers.

Breakfast was a bit chilly...

 Our campsite

 Treasure hunting.... a very steep climb through the bush

 A moment of respite

 Where we stopped for lunch....

Camping - April - Uncle Clive's Farm

Last year we headed to my Uncle Clive's sheep farm for Easter... we had such a great time we decided to do it again this year.

We did some exploring around the area which included some dirt tracks.  We had to cross this massive puddle below.... and now we're calling it our first ever water crossing!

 Easter morning wouldn't be the same without an egg hunt... check out the look of delight on both their faces.  Luckily Aiden wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny before we left home explaining where we were so he'd know where to deliver the eggs.

 There's a hill at the back of Clive's property... it has heaps of beautiful big gum trees.  A few months back they had some crazy, wild weather come through and these monster trees were simply blown over...

 On top of the hill looking back down over Clive's farm.  Note the complete absence of any grass or anything green...  Clive reckons in the 17 years he's been there he's never seen it so dry.

 Kids being kids...

First lost tooth!

Yep, we had to endure a month of Aiden showing us his freaky loose tooth that bent every which way.... until it finally fell out.

Oma & Opa & Golf!

Hank & Vicki came for a visit back in May.  On one of our day trips we headed up to Wanneroo to the Botanical Gardens Mini Golf.  It was a beautiful setting for a fun day of golf. 

I have actually scrapped a few of the photos taken that day...

(If you want a closer look just click on the picture to open it up in a larger view)

Camping - June - Yanchep

We recently did a camping trip up to Yanchep (it's less than hour north of Perth).  It was a bit chilly at night but we managed with lots of layers of clothing and blankets.  The days were perfect...

On yet another treasure hunt.... we were trekking to that hill in the background behind Aiden.

 The view from the top of the hill.... by the time we got there we all had multiple scratches and scrapes up our legs from the parrot bush and other spiky plants we waded through.  Oh, I should mention that everyone EXCEPT Megan had scratched legs... she seems to think that Dad is her personal carrier... he is such a pushover and piggybacks her through the scrub, up the hills, over rocks...

 This was pretty cool, I've never seen a beehive in the wild before

 One of our best treasure hunts EVER!  We followed some GPS coordinates to park up at the side of a busy road then trekked through some more hideous bush to find "Dave's Cave".  The photo below is the entrance... down behind Dave there was a little metre by metre hole we crawled through to emerge into a gorgeous cavern complete with stalactites and stalagmites.  Of course, the photos don't come anywhere near to doing it justice so I haven't shown any here.

This is why we love our treasure hunting so much, you discover these unsign-posted locations that are worth all the effort!

 We spent a day 4 wheel driving along the beach tracks between Yanchep and Two Rocks.... so much fun!

Dave letting down the tyres ready for our adventure

 Other 4 wheel drives on the tracks

 Over looking the river mouth at Guilderton.... the most likely location of our next camping trip

Megan's Birthday - Part I

We had a special "Princesses Afternoon Tea" for Megan's 4th birthday.  She invited three friends from school and they all donned their prettiest dresses... on arrival, they oohed and aahed over each other's dresses then got down to the serious business of play.... I'm pretty sure they all had a fabulous time :)

A table setting fit for a Princess

 Needless to say, Megan had a ball...

Megan's Birthday - Part II

This is the morning of Megan's actual birthday (it seems our birthday celebrations go on for days!)

The obligatory family photo

She had picked out this Barbie herself when we were at the shops

Of course, Aiden wasn't left out.... he'd been eyeing off this big barrel of army men for months

This is the present from Oma & Opa

Scrapbook layouts

The next two posts are some scrapbooking layouts I've done over the past few months... I haven't really done all that many when I look back...

 Wandering through the bush looking for treasure

 One of the things we've picked up treasure hunting

 Aunty Willy in The Netherlands

More layouts...

 The next two are photos taken of Megan at her school Happy Walk.... they walk laps around the oval to raise money for the school.

 Photo of Mum lining up for a turn on the waterslide at Adventureworld (Aiden's B'Day)