Thursday, June 26, 2014

Wet and windy in Perth

Last weekend it was wet and windy in Perth so as we were stuck inside for much of the weekend we needed to come up with some fun indoor activities! We started with guess the animal.... Here we have an elephant, a gorilla and a Koala in a tree! 
  
 What I really enjoyed about this game was that Ethan didn't just copy what animals we had done, he came up with lots of his own!

Later in the day it was time to draw on the board. Clockwise from top left we did a family portrait, Jason drew Grandad and Ethan drew Grandma, then we all did a self portrait (check out the mullet I gave myself) and on the bottom left was the original family portrait in action!

 Sunday was still raining and Ethan asked to go on a rock adventure... so we dressed in our raincoats and wellies and went to Naturescape at Kings Park.

There were rocks everywhere.... which satisfied Ethan's request for a rock adventure!

It was wet but we didn't get rained on! Yay!
Ethan loved playing in the water with his Dad, building dams, climbing rocks, pretend fishing.... you name it!

Ethan was so confident over the rocks! I was really impressed! Here he is with his "fishing rod"
Ethan likes to push the boundaries! I asked him not to go too deep but.....
Unfortunately that warning went unheeded! Lots of water in the gumboots (lucky we had spare clothes in the car).
The orange mould on the logs was really interesting! Unfortunately I didn't have time (or the right camera equipment) for great shots as Jason and Ethan were itching to get up the tower!
My brave wee boy made it all the way up the tower on his own, with close supervision on the way back down from dad!
Here is the view from the top!
So all in all a great outing! On the way home we stopped for hot chocolate, coffee and strawberry milkshakes and to pick up some paint for the afternoon!

During the afternoon we made some paintings, which we cut into butterflies when they dried!
An enjoyable weekend was had by all, but we would like a little more sun next weekend thank you!!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Bush walk on a lovely winter's day!

Last weekend Ethan declared that he wanted to go on a bush walk! It was a lovely sunny (albeit cool) winter's morning so we were packed in the car and out of the house within 15 minutes of Ethan's request!

We decided to go to Bold Park near City Beach and started with the short board walk to the top lookout. As you can see Ethan was rearing to go! 

Come on Dad and Mum, Come on!!!
Halfway up the Boardwalk you get to see the city off in the distance! A great site!
We were really lucky to spot an eagle circling around above us! Ethan needed my sunglasses to spot him though as it was a lovely bright sunny day!
Ethan and his Daddy spotted Rottnest Island - it was so clear we could see the island easily (20km off shore). There were also lots and lots of boats out for Ethan to see.

A funny story of the morning came as Jason was looking intently out to see and said "the whale migration has started" I naturally assumed that he had seem something out in the water so I said "how do you know". I was expecting him to reply along the lines off "see the movement out there in the water"... but no.... his real answer was "I saw it on the news"!!!!

It was one of those lovely winter's mornings... cold and clear in the morning and really warm in the sun!
After the boardwalk we walked into Bold Park and did the bush walk that Ethan was after. We explored the tress and leaves around us and a great time!

Here is Jason at another lookout!
Ethan liked experimenting with his foot prints in the sand! Contrary to what it looks like with Ethan and his hood on, it wasn't actually cold at this stage! He just likes wearing his hood!
Ethan the lumberjack found a piece of wood which he promptly threw off the edge! I was waiting for him to go flying with the piece of wood hahahaha!
After 40 or so minutes we wandered back to the carpark, Ethan decided to check out where we went on the map.
As soon as we finished this adventure Ethan said "can we do another adventure mummy and daddy".

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Disney on Ice

A week after Ethan's birthday Grandma, Mummy and Ethan went to Disney on Ice at the Perth Arena. 

We traveled there by train which excited Ethan no end!
 Then we walked from the train station to the arena (past the sinking of the busport project)... which was again a very interesting thing for Ethan!
 We were amongst thousands of 3 - 14 year old kids and their parents walking to the stadium and it was a little worrying that our "runner" Ethan would dart away and be swallowed up by the crowds! 

So it was a relief to make it to our seats! Here is Ethan with his cheesy "cheese" smile. He hasn't yet learned the difference between a grimace and a smile on demand yet!
 As you can imagine it is reasonably difficult to get photos on the iPhone of an ice skating show.... but here are a couple.... the Toy Story opening scene.
 Minney and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy as well as the pirate disney show (the name of which escapes me now - blaming baby brain!).
 As soon as the show ended it was straight in the car to the airport to drop Grandma and Grandad off for their trip back to NZ. As you can see the excitement of the whole day caught up with Ethan and he was out for it within minutes of leaving the airport!

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Ahoy me hearties...walk the plank... it's a very special boy's third birthday!

 Ethan recently turned three and we put on a pirate party for him. We weren't going to have a party this year but he asked for one, and being a soft touch I said yes!!
Jason and I took the Friday off work to get ready for the party and we made this cake for him!
 Here is some of the party food for the day! The jelly in oranges was a big hit and I am pleased that I made the effort to do it for the kids!
 It had been raining all week and a big storm was scheduled for Ethan's party day. But we borrowed a gazebo style tent and put it up in the patio to extend our under cover area for the kids to play.... as it happened, the two hours of Ethan's party provided the best weather of the whole day. We even got sunshine!

We had a few activities set up for the kids... a plank to walk, with treasure near the end as a prize and colouring in stations. The trampoline provided the most fun though!
 It was good to see people getting into the spirit of the party!!!
 Ethan had a ball... most of all he loved playing with his best friend Tommy on the trampoline!! (Thanks Grandma for the photos).
 Here is Tommy and Ethan enjoying the jelly!
All in all we had a wonderful party and Ethan and his friends had a ball!

A special thanks to Grandma, Grandad, Sandy and Nathan for help on the day and a very special thanks to everyone who made the day so special for Ethan.