We're going to the zoo, the zoo, the zoo...

Being Easter Sunday, we decided to join the masses for a fun filled Easter Egg hunt at:

Which would have been great, if we could find any bloody eggs. Now apparently there were thousands of plastic eggs hidden all over the zoo. Once you got some, you went to the egg redemption place and exchanged the plastic egg for a showbag. Then supposedly the plastic eggs where rehidden around the zoo. I say supposedly as we searched high and low for these damn eggs but couldn't find any - not even one. Luckily they had a section for smaller kids where they were constantly putting eggs out so we managed to finally get the kids a showbag each. Everyone got a soft toy elephant which they were really happy about.
 We got to see a live show with Terri, Bindi, Robert and some keepers. The kids were excited as we weren't sure if they would actually be there.
 The show wasn't really that informative. Really the two main things I learnt were:
1. Bindi Irwin cannot sing, and
2. When a crocodile keeper swears whilst almost getting bitten, it's probably not part of the show.

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On the way to Australia Zoo there was some great scenery. It reminded me of something you'd see in a movie.

Check out this place. It reminded me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind Or if you're a Goodies fan like me it reminded me of Knutters Knoll.

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.

Wishes for a birthday & Up, up and away

To this adorable old man I call Poppy, wishing you a beautiful birthday. Sorry that we're interstate and cannot spend it with you. Hope your day was lovely. xxx

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So today is the day the kids have been counting down until - plane day. The day every mother dreads. So considering that one of the three was in a mood that looked like this:

You can only imagine how anxious I was about the flight. Uncle John turned out to be my savior. Liam ended up sitting between him and Chanel, so I only had to endure Jack and Imogen. Imogen was surprisingly well behaved for an almost 2 year old that was strapped to my waist. It was just Mr Psycho above that I had to endure. Much bribery landed me in Coolangatta without incident though. I discovered that lollies will get you everywhere with a 5 year old.

After getting to the Resort, unpacking and a quick run to the beach we headed out to a great restaurant for dinner - Romanas at Nobby Beach. We were planing just something quick and cheap, but $150 and a bit of a wait later and we were all full and content.

Overall a great start to the holiday.

For those that left us behind

Hope - this is what we have left.
Hope that those passed are now at peace.
Hope that those suffering will suffer no more.
Hope that one day in the not too distant future that no one will ever need to suffer.

Today we participated in Relay for Life.
Please visit the Cancer Council Australia to see how you can be involved in the fight to find a cure.

And another little man arrives

♥x♥xCongratulations to R, D & E on the birth of Lachlan Robert.
Another little Hatter to add to the collection. ♥x♥x
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And on a totally different note, I was planning on nerding it up with Jacqui, but being a lazy bitch I decided just to watch and let her do all the work.