How much can we jam pack into one day

Whilst Good Friday was great for getting cheap airfares, we didn't take into consideration that absolutely nothing other than restaurants, convenience stores and petrol stations would be open. So last night we got some emergency rations, namely milk, and decided to hot foot it to Maccas this morning. The kids were over the moon...especially Gigi. In her little world hash browns are the be all and end all to everything. So there was much excited yelling when we pulled into the carpark.

After the refueling we headed out to Coles to fill our empty kitchens. BAD MOVE. Coles was closed on Good Friday and would again be closed on Easter Sunday. It was bedlam. The way that people were stocking up you would think the world was going to end. So two shopping trolleys and five children was not our idea of fun. If I heard "Can I have this?" one more time, I think my head was going to explode. So between the two families we managed to run through almost $500 - and that wasn't including the Easter Eggs and alcohol that John and I came back later to grab.

Brian cooked us all a typical Aussie lunch of snags on the barbie, then while I put Imogen to bed, everyone else headed off to the beach. The kids had a ball and only stopped long enough to pose for a few photos before they were running off again.

Imogen was still sleeping when they got back, so John took over babysitting duties while I headed down to the pool with everyone else. The grounds downstairs are gorgeous and it's set up well enough that the kids can run around without getting into everything.

After the swim the kids decided to have a full investigation of the unit and were really excited to find a chess board. Funnily enough they've never played chess, but there were checkers pieces so Brian instead taught them that. I thought that they'd be bored quickly, but no. Checkers was something that entertained them the whole trip.

After relaxing so much around the apartments we decided to head out and have a look around Surfers - apparently so did everyone else on the Gold Coast. After driving around for ages looking for a carpark in the Cavill Avenue area, we gave in and headed to The Oasis and Broadbeach Mall instead. The kids thought it was great. There was a playground and a merry-go-round in the mall. Again getting them to stand still was an effort - but here's one shot:

It took a bit of convincing after spending so much at the supermarket, but John and I managed to wheedle a way to eat out. There were so many places to pick from and it was such a beautiful night out that we thought we'd go simple and eat outdoors. So it was American styled pizza followed by some really yummy gelati. Ferraro Rocher flavour for me. Mmmmm. I'm drooling just typing it out. After all the food and festivites once certain little girl was a tad hyper as evidenced below. No she wasn't crying, she was yelling and playing.

Once the kids were snuggled up, it was adult time. Time to crack out the alcohol. Somebody who shall remain nameless became good friend with Mr Walker and was making me laugh all night. Thanks Mr Walker for a great night.