Maccas

James and I have done pretty well with our kids and Maccas. We would always stop at Maccas when driving up to Hervey Bay for breakfast but we would pack some cereal for the kids to have while James would often have a Maccas breakfast burger. Sometimes I would and sometimes I wouldn't. But for years Maccas was something referred to as a 'breakfast station'. They didn't really know what it could provide for them, and we weren't in a rush to introduce it to them.

With Daniel being 8.5 years, Eliza 6.9 years and Alexander 4.5 years all this changed. We decided to get the kids a Happy Meal and they were so excited. We bundled them up in the car, went through drive through and each kid received a Happy Meal. It was pretty stressful ordering them though because there are now so many options - it's not just a cheeseburger, fries and soft drink anymore. So each kid ordered their own meal. 

They were very excited with their dinner!

Eliza chose the traditional Happy Meal with a cheeseburger, fries and an apple pop top drink.

Alexander chose the healthy option of a chicken wrap with fries and an apple pop top drink.

And Daniel chose nuggets with fries and an apple pop top drink.

Each kid received the same book (which wasn't heaps helpful. It would have been nice to get a variety but oh well). They were excited about that.

So Maccas for dinner was a success, but definitely not something we will regularly do. It's a sometimes thing and I'm proud of the kids for understanding that.

Family photos

Big shout out to Brooke Biro Photography from the start of this post.

In the 2019 Spring Fair we put a bid in for a silent auction on a Brooke Biro Photography session. We were lucky enough to win it. Brooke is the sister-in-law to a family from school. I have seen their photos that she took and loved them! They looked so natural and comfortable, I was keen to get some for us.

And it worked out perfectly. Brooke was so flexible and relaxed. We headed to Fagan Park way too early in the morning, but it was because that is apparently the best light for photos, and she was right. We just chatted, played, tickled, looked and laughed and Brooke took photos. The kids were so relaxed with her and the photos that she made were just lovely.

Here are the photos that she took. There are so many amazing photos!

This captures Eliza perfectly!

I adore this photo!

These 2 share a very special bond. She has him wrapped around her finger at times but she also will melt in his arms. They have fun, they laugh, the fight and they cry but they always come back to trusting each other. He is her safe space and I adore that!

I love my family and I love this moment in time. I love that I am in photos with my kids and James, because often I am behind the camera. I love that these photos are so natural and capture the cheekiness, the joy and the love that our family has.

After the photos we headed to get milkshakes with the kids, just for fun. The kids even got some fairy floss on top.

A lovely morning spent, capturing memories.

The week after we then headed to get some photos at Uber Photography. These ones we decided would just be of the kids. They were lovely and made some very sweet photos. We decided that we would get just 3 photos of the kids. One to put up on our wall to replace one of the photos of the 3 kids when they were little.

And also a couple of other photos for us to make a photo wall. That's a project that I want to do, but have no idea how it will come together, how I will set it up, organise it, and how to make it look good. But we do have some photos that we know will go into it. A work in progress.

First Day of Year 3 and Year 1, 2021

On Friday 29th Jan, Eliza and Daniel were both up, dressed and ready for their first day back at school. There were some nerves about who would be teaching them, what classroom would they be in, would they be in a class with their friends, what would this year look like. But they were also quite excited - for Eliza to see her friends and be back at school, for Daniel to see his friends and play with them.

They are looking so grown up! It's pretty crazy that Daniel is now in Primary, starting Year 3. I see year 3 as not being babies anymore, but instead being quite grown up and being more responsible.

And when kids start Year 1, they always look so much more grown up than when they started Kindy, and Eliza was no different.

They really do like each other these 2. 

I love this photo

And Alexander couldn't miss out on being in the photos too.

Can I have a nice photo? This is what I got

Followed of course by laughter

But we got there with this nice photo

Which ended with crazy faces

It was a crazy day with the weather so we headed to school with umbrellas up. The kids were excited because Daddy could walk with us too.

I do love seeing how they fill in their information boards at the start of the year.

Alexander and I filled our day with playing games including Greed. It was nice to just have the one kid at home again, although he was also missing his play mates. Mummy isn't as fun because she still has to do adult jobs too.

Both kids came home very happy with their classes (Daniel is in a class with Lachie and Eliza is in a class with Clara, Ethan and Hugo). They were both very happy with their teachers. Eliza has Mrs Barwell (who I hadn't really heard about) and Daniel has Mrs Fearnside again which I couldn't be happier about! Daniel also came home from school with homework - he needed to colour in the covers of his books. There were a lot and I was proud of him for how much he did! Then it became my homework because for the first time since he started school, I had to contact each of his books. But I survived and was pretty happy with my achievements with them. Not many bubbles, and the skill of using the ruler to help keep the contact smooth. Thank goodness for YouTube videos that teach you the tricks of the trade.

Eliza's Choice Day

For the last day of school holidays, Eliza got to choose what we ate and do.

For breakfast she chose pancakes. They were very yummy!

She then decided that she wanted to have the little shop set up. She and Alexander started being the shop keepers and I was the customer.

Then Daniel made the valid point that we were required to wear masks in the shops so they should be wearing their masks. The kids then put on their masks and played shops. I do love how pretend play adapts but it is also crazy that these are the things that they are picking up on through this Covid situation.

I do love that 6 years ago I made this shop as a quick rainy day activity for Daniel and 6 years on they still ask to play in it. Facebook memories showed me the photo of how the shop was when I first made it.

Same, same but different.

The kids spent some time listening to music in Daniel's room and reading books.

Eliza then got to do her baking. She was desperate to make some chocolate choc chip biscuits from a kids recipe book. I do love that she can now read the instructions on her own (well most of them). Again I tried to take a step back in the process.

The highlight for her was licking the spoon. They don't get to do it too often.

The sign of a good spoon licking when it's all over your face

For lunch Eliza chose a grazing plate. She isn't too keen on bread.

And a fun straw too.

The cookies came out nicely. They were enjoyed for afternoon tea.

And of course, the request to watch some Bluey episodes was met too. Happy girl, especially when they were watching their favourites like See Saw and Movies.

I do think that in the holidays I will try and do this idea because it was fun and it meant that I didn't have to plan things. The idea kinda came from Jimmy Giggle doing 'Yes Day' with his son where he had to say yes to everything. I don't know that I can say yes to everything but for them to have the job of deciding some activities and doing things with them was fun and is special. Making memories.