This trip to Hervey Bay was always going to be different. I had been preparing myself for that ever since we booked it. It was going to be the first trip that we weren't staying with family, the first trip where Boompa wasn't going to be there. I wanted James to still be able to help his Mum in whatever way possible so it was going to be the first trip where I was needing to think up ideas to do things with the kids. It was just going to be a different trip to the other ones.
Our accommodation was a bit different - James found that because of it being school holidays there weren't many places that we could get to fit the 5 of us. He ended up booking this place that was on the Esplanade but it was also more suited to 3 couples. The bedrooms were on the verandah which made it tricky with the kids being down the verandah, not all inside a house. It was fine for this short time, but it was a bit stressful. It did have a nice verandah that looked out over the beach which was lovely.
The night that we arrived in Hervey Bay Eliza's other front tooth was quite wobbly. As she bit into some food it started to bleed. She didn't want to eat anymore food until her tooth came out. James stepped up and had his turn to pull out her wobbly tooth. He did well even though he was grossed out.Before and after
We enjoyed dinner all together which was just lovely. So nice to be with Julie and James again, even though it was different not having Malcolm there. It was hard going inside but once inside was lovely to be there.
After dinner Julie gave Daniel his birthday presents. He was quite excited to get them and liked that it was from Nana J and Boompa because Nana J and Boompa had bought them before Boompa passed away.
The boys copied the card. Gave me a laugh.And Charlie got many pats. I'm very proud of how the kids have been with Charlie. They weren't really afraid of him. They were just very excited to see him.We headed home and put the kids to bed then just hung out and chatted a bit. Sleep wasn't the best that night but it was ok. Julie was amazing and had told James that she wanted him to spend some time with us once we got up there. I'm so grateful for her saying that - giving him permission to be present with us. In the morning I sat on the verandah and read my Bible while James organised the kids. The verse 'Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh' was a standout to me that morning. Tears were happening a lot but I know that one day the tears will be happy memories and laughs. I was grateful for the time of peace and quiet outside with God.
We then headed out to the playground while James went and got the order of services organised. The kids did really well climbing up and going on it. I was especially proud of Alexander giving it a go and the way that Daniel and Eliza helped him and encouraged him. Climbing up
The shadows up the top are Alexander and Daniel. Then the next photo is Eliza and Alexander and Daniel are on the 2nd walkway
We then headed to Nana J's place and saw Aly and Maddie. The kids were sooo excited to see their cousins! And to have more pats with Charlie.I loved this moment when I was reading with Eliza and Alexander wanted to sit on a lap and be read to. Daniel offered to do it.
Spot the kids!
I gave up on worrying about their pants getting wet - they were having fun digging together, I just let them go. We eventually left for lunch time with the promise that we'd head back in the afternoon.Once James came back we headed over the beach. Today would have been Grayma's 93rd birthday. We now call it fingerbun day. To celebrate her birthday each year we are going to buy fingerbuns and if we are able to head to a beach we will eat them there. This is something that Jenny and I did with Grandma and Grandpa when we grew up. It was really special to head to Balmoral Beach and have a pink fingerbun, followed by salmon sandwiches and finish off with an ice cream. So it was pretty special to head over the beach and share our fingerbuns and share a memory about Grayma that we loved and will miss. It was a special time together and for me.
We then headed down to the sand and the kids had a great time playing in the sand, digging a big hole and making a sandcastle. It was really nice to watch them working together.Julie suggested that we head out for Fish and Chips that night so we headed off to the park with Julie, Auntie Jen, Maddie and Aly. It was quite a nice night with the kids playing together and tasty fish and chips. Daniel also found another of the painted rocks that he took to hide somewhere else.
The next day we headed off to the park next to Enzo's for a play. The kids wanted to visit this one because of the tree that they can climb. It was in the afternoon and we got to see the sun set which was just beautiful and peaceful. I do love to watch the sun set and see the beautiful colours that God makes in the sky.The next morning we packed the car and headed over to our new accommodation that was just over the road from Nana J's place. We went around to help out with preparing the house a bit for after the funeral and Charlie enjoyed some more pats from the kids.
I'm glad that I brought some games from home for the kids to do because both places didn't have any kids toys.The next day we had Malcolm's funeral. It was a lovely day but also a tiring day. I will write about it in a seperate post.The next day we bought a pod for the car so that we could fit everything into the car on the way home. It was something that we had thought about but now we needed to. The car was packed perfectly on the way up but there was no way that we'd be able to fit in all of James' stuff too as well as tools from Boompa. We bought a 2nd hand one and then James, along with Mark and Uncle Pete's help, managed to make it fit ontop of the car. It did take over an hour to drill the right holes and have it fit properly but they got there. Each of them did have a giggle that if Malcolm was there he would have had a solution straight away and it would have been done in 5mins. But we got there.
It was lovely to spend the afternoon sitting and chatting with all the Aunties and Uncles after quite a busy few days. Meanwhile the cousins were having a blast together playing. I do love that they get along so well and include each other in their games.Daniel was keen to do his sewing on this trip so over a few days I sat down with him and helped him sew his little owl hanging. It was nice doing it with him and he was very proud of his finished work. He did most of it on his own. I just needed to help with the button eyes because the instructions went around the wrong way which wasn't very helpful.And these 2 were always close by for snuggles.The next day James was helping Nana J clear out a bit of the garage so I decided to take the kids out. Hervey Bay isn't huge on places to go but I decided that we'd head to the Botanic Gardens. We'd been there before with Auntie Jen and it was really nice so I thought it would be a fun adventure. The kids loved it! They enjoyed running through the ferns, looking at the Aboriginal garden, exploring the labyrinth and got worried that we were lost on a bush walk. The boys preaching at the Bush Chapel. Running through the paths. This was Eliza's favourite part.I enjoyed the Labyrinth. A sign suggested that you use it as a meditation or prayer walk so I use it as that. The kids were quite respectful to just walk it and quietly. I used it as time for prayer. Prayer about how I often walk away from God and try to go my own way, or in my own strength. Sometimes I try to walk towards God and feel that I'm going to the right way but then turn the wrong direction to please myself. But in the end I always end up back in the middle with God at the centre of my life. It was a nice time of reflecting.We saw a beautiful butterfly and Daniel also found some trees that were planted to celebrate people's hundredth birthdays. We wonder whether Grannie Jean will have a tree planted next year because that would be pretty cool to be able to visit and watch it grow.We then went for a bushwalk which, as I mentioned the kids got worried that we were lost. It was all good though. We took different turns and eventually made it back to the start.We then went across the bridge, waved hello to the many many many turtles that we could spot and went onto the little island which Daniel was very excited about doing.We headed around to Aunty Jen and Uncle Ryan's place for a play and dinner which was lovely. The kids always have a blast with their cousins and we love to sit and chat with Jen and Ryan too. Trampolines, dress ups, Barbie dolls, games, toy kitchen cooking, wrestling were just a few of the activities that were enjoyed together before making their own pizzas for dinner. Such an awesome idea!
After breakfast we headed around to say bye to Grannie Jean. We didn't get to see her too much while up here but we also didn't want to overwhelm her during this hard time. It was so lovely to pop in for a short visit and to say bye to her and see how she was going. It was hard to hear her say that moments like Malcolm's death make you question your faith and why God let it happen, but also encouraging to hear her say that He is a good God, and some good will come out of this. You just have to trust.
When we got back to our place, I noticed that Daniel had put Boompa's order of service next to him in the car. It was a really subtle but sweet thing to do to be thinking about Boompa.That evening was spent packing, cleaning and then we enjoyed fish and chips by the beach with Aunty Jen, Maddie, Aly and Nana J. A lovely way to finish the trip. When we left Eliza and Aly were quite sad that they weren't going to see each other for a while. They have such a beautiful bond.In the morning we had an early breakfast and then hopped into the car to start our trip home. It was so nice to have Daddy with us again. He was also excited to be driving back home with us. A mental note to try and have a new book to read for each kid or an activity book to give before the long drive up or back because the kids were engaged and quiet for a while looking at their new activity books and reading. Just a quick visit to the Salvos was where I got the books from!
Eliza was creative with all her toys and dolls.
We enjoyed playing at parks along the way home. Tweed Heads for lunch was a bit hard for me because that was when we heard about Grayma. It will past but it was just still quite raw for me at this time.
But swings, slides, grass were all great fun at the other stops we made. And great to see the quietbooks still getting pulled out and played with by the kids.
Higher Daddy. Higher!
This trip we didn't get a chance to have ice cream from the ice creamery in Hervey Bay so we told the kids that as a treat we'd go out and get icecream in Coffs Harbour. Besides Cold Rock, we couldn't really find any other places, which surprised us! We instead opted to go to Woolies with the kids and they could choose a pack of icecreams to enjoy. The final choice was M&M icecream.
The morning while we packed and cleaned up, the kids enjoyed another morning of the TV.
Morning tea we stopped at Kew, a place that we never had heard of before. The highlight was the Big Axe. We took the fun photos because you have to. But they also had a fantastic park that the kids loved play at, including an awesome flying fox. We sang happy birthday to Poppy and ate Oreo's to celebrate his birthday too.
Daddy's turn!
I love this photo!For lunch, we stopped at a bakery to pick up some treats. Today was Poppy's birthday so we had to celebrate with a treat (as they didn't have cakes). They had a play at the park too.
There were a few moments of Boompa being with us too. Again, Daniel had the order of service next to him for the car trip home which was very sweet. Julie also gave us a packet of Maltesers that she had bought for Malcolm before he passed away. She said it was for our road trip. It was really cute because Daniel even mentioned last night that Maltesers were Boompa's favourite chocolate so that's something we hope he thinks about each time he has them. We decided that on Boompa's birthday we'd have Maltesers to celebrate him, in February.We made it home safely in the late afternoon and found a pack of food on the table from the Cleasbys, bread and milk in the kitchen from Mum and Dad and a bundle of cards from loved ones. It had been a big few weeks, and the next day was going to be big too being Grandma's funeral but it was nice to be home and all together again!
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