Hervey Bay

Wednesday morning we were up and ready, not for school, but for Poppy to take us to the airport so that we could go to Hervey Bay. There had been 10 community cases reported on Tuesday so we were nervous about the Queensland border being closed... but nothing had been said so we headed to the airport and hoped for the best. James was driving down to the Sunshine Coast to pick us up and take us back to Hervey Bay. Thanks heaps to Poppy for driving us.

I was quite frazzled when we went into the airport. Normally I am focussed on the kids while James is focussed on the tickets and organising everything. But today I had to focus on both. I also wasn't keen to ask for help from anyone because of Covid cases being on the rise. I called James because last time I was at the airport by myself you got your boarding passes from at the desk, now it was self service and I was just getting confused and unsure of what to do. He helped explain it to me and I got the tickets. We put through our luggage and then headed through security. So far so good. I put everything in the box to get x-rayed, unpacked the boxes for the kids and myself and piled them up. We walked 5 steps and I realised I'd left the boarding passes in one of the boxes. I went back over to get them but the boxes had been taken back over to the front of security. Oh dear. I asked and said that I accidentally left them and the guy went over to check but came back over with nothing. He told me that it was ok and happened all the time (made me feel a little less dumb but still felt a bit dumb for doing it). He told me that at the gate I just needed to show ID and they would print off new boarding passes for me. Oh boy. I was stressed and just felt so silly. We went to the food court and got a bit of morning tea to have. I had a moment of crying with the kids asking if I was ok and also saying things like 'Will we ever get on the aeroplane?' Thanks for the confidence kiddies. 

After a little snack we headed over to our boarding gate. No one was at the desk so I had to wait a little bit before I could ask for the tickets. While waiting the kids were looking out the window at the aeroplane when a man came up to the kids and asked them if they thought they could fly the aeroplane better than him. It was the pilot! What a legend. The kids didn't really know how to respond. He just smiled under his mask and said it was ok because he knew how to fly it.

To help pass the time I brought Alexander's game 'Spot It' which we played on the floor while we waited to board the plane. It was perfect.

On the plane I sat with Alexander and Eliza and Daniel sat on the other side of the isle. It felt weird and I was a bit nervous to be sitting right next to a stranger when Covid was flaring up and we were being encouraged to keep our distance from others, but still. The kids were great on the plane. They had a snack, they read, they did their activity books, they listened to their iPods. Daniel was a shocker watching the person's phone next to him for a lot of the trip but fortunately it wasn't anything that was unsuitable for a kid. I more felt bad for the guy having a kid looking over his shoulder most of the trip.

We landed all well and good on the Sunshine Coast (we got flights to here because it was cheaper) and made it through the boarder check all well and good (thanks to James for sorting out all the paper work for me). Then we met him at the airport luggage collection. We headed to the carpark to get our car for the week and started driving up to Eumundi for our break. We accidentally forgot that it would be a market day but they weren't too busy being the last week of school so we found a parking spot pretty ok. I was a bit overwhelmed because of so many similarities to a year ago, including basically parking in the same spot where we met James last year. But it was nice to go for a walk through the markets. Again, weird because there were crowds, not check ins and people not wearing masks. Just so different to Sydney at the moment. I loved walking through the markets and so did the others.

We got some lunch and the kids decided that they wanted a chip on a stick. Why not. Of course they were still hungry after having it but it was part of the novelty.

Eliza noticed a lady dropped a dollar at the airport and took it up to her to give it back. The lady told her that she could keep it for being honest so Eliza was keen to spend it at the markets. Only problem was that the markets are expensive so she couldn't get anything. This ended up making her sad but we spoke about it and how she could get something in Hervey Bay at the shops instead. 

We hopped back in the car and headed to Nana J's place. When we arrived Charlie had made himself at home on Daniel's bed which Daniel loved! He grabbed his book and climbed into the bed next to Charlie. Charlie got a lot of love this trip!

The next day Jenny came around with Maddie and Aly and the kids were so excited to hang out and play together! They made a palm cubby on the front steps. We went through the last few things that we needed to organise for Nana J's 100th birthday celebrations and also organised breakfast tomorrow.

The next 3 days were busy with it being a year since Malcolm passed away and then it being Nan's 100th birthday and then Daniel's 9th birthday. They each have a seperate post.

As I mentioned, after Nan's birthday we found out that we needed to be in lockdown up here in Queensland. James was fine to go out and about (because he had left Sydney earlier) but the kids and I were needing to stay at Julie's place. It was a bit hard knowing that James could go out if and when he wanted to but we weren't able to. It was also hard to understand the rules completely. You could go out for exercise, but not for playing and you needed to social distance away from others. We did decided that we'd be in a bubble with Jen and the girls because we had already been around them so much, if we had any sickness then they would have it also. So I tried to get creative with us staying home.

While Julie, James and Jenny were out at VMR for a celebration to dedicate and reveal a park bench in honour of Malcolm, I got creative.

Julie has a big cement space around the side of the house where their caravan used to be. I decided to use chalk and make it into a giant snakes and ladders boardgames for the kids. Everything is more fun when it is large! I drew most of the boardgames before I had some 'helpers' come. I let them decorate the snakes while I finished drawing the rest of the game.

Then it was ready for playing. I made a bigger dice out of a food box so that the kids could see it more easily. They got right into it!

Then the cuteness started. When the kids landed on the same square, or next to each other, they decided they needed to cuddle each other and say 'eeeeeee' (which did get a bit annoying, but the cuddles were still very cute).

The kids played bounce back which made the game much more even and they all had a chance of winning. Then Daniel was the lucky one. He was a little bit excited. I did love how the other 2 were also excited for him.

Daniel's reaction when he got to the end. Then the other 2 decided it should be bounce back

Daniel winning with bounce back rule too

The kids then decided that they wanted to add some exercise challenges to the board. So we brainstormed different activities that they could do and wrote them on. The challenge for me was to try and draw a picture so that Alexander would be able to 'read' the task too if I wasn't there.

balance on 1 leg for 10 seconds

do a plank

Eliza won this version on the game. She made the final task as a dance party.

leap frog was another task

star jumps

I was so glad that the kids enjoyed playing it together. And I loved seeing them hugging, not fighting. They even played it with Maddie and Aly.

Alexander played his sh and l games with Nana J to help his speech improve,

I also loved seeing the affection from each kid with Charlie (and he loved it too!). 

On our last day in Hervey Bay, and after reading the Qld rules a million times we decided that we would take the kids to the beach to go for a walk (exercise) along it. We headed to a beach area that wasn't too busy. Nana J had also taken Grannie Jean to have a coffee by the beach. We said bye to them through the car window and Alexander gave Grannie Jean a picture that he drew.

We then headed for a walk along the water's edge. It was so nice to be beside the water, out in the sunshine and in the fresh air. We were pretty sure that this was ok to do because it was exercise away from others.

Fun rocks that we explored

Writing our names in the sand

For our last night we decided to have a family bowling time. Nana J had a proper sized set of 10 pin bowling which the kids had enjoyed using during this time so I looked up the scoring system and we enjoyed Noble Bowling Alley. We all had a blast. Lots of cheering for each other, celebrating strikes and spares. Eliza took a bit of getting used to it and got a bit frustrated but she ended up having fun. Instead of bumpers down the side, we had a bumper at the back that helped knock down some pins at times. 

The back bumpers really helped at times!

Strikes were celebrated in style.

There was a bit of frustration at times, and confusion with the scoring.

Celebration for strikes equalled hugs from others.

And the anticipation for potential strikes was high too. Often starting the celebration and then pulling out from it.

The last round was close between Daddy and Mummy and it was coming down to getting the most strikes. Daddy put the pressure on with getting 2 strikes in a row.

I know there weren't any photos or videos of me bowling but I did! And I ended up winning too. Proof is in the score sheet.

The next morning we said bye to Nana J and Charlie and headed off to the Sunshine Coast airport, ready to fly back home. It was nice having Daddy with us this time - an extra set of hands and an extra brain to think about everything. The flight home went well, with the kids reading and  listening to their music.

Playing scissors, paper, rock in the car on the way to the airport

Dad picked us up and then we headed home to lockdown in our own place. I am glad that we were able to be up there in Hervey Bay with everyone for Grannie Jean's 100th birthday. I am glad that James was able to get there earlier so that he wasn't even more stressed about the possible border closures. I am grateful that we were able to celebrate Daniel's birthday with Nana J, Aunty Jen, Maddie and Aly and so grateful for Aunty Jen's creativity in making the games for us to play together. I am grateful for Nana J being ok with us all in her house and not really getting a break from us. It was hard being up there at times. Feeling confused and lost at times about what I should/shouldn't say and do. But it was important that we were together. Now to enter lockdown. 

Daniel's 9th Birthday

Plans sometimes have to go out the window. For Daniel's 9th birthday we originally planned to have birthday dinner at Mum and Dad's with our family before heading up to Hervey Bay on Wednesday. With the threat of borders closing again we felt it was important for James to head up to Hervey Bay early to be with his Mum for the one year anniversary since Malcolm passed away so he changed his flight to Saturday evening. This meant that we needed to give Daniel his birthday present of his new bike earlier on Saturday instead of Tuesday night. Fortunately Mum and Dad were fine with us popping over to do that. Daniel was very exited to get his bike. We there then still able to celebrate Daniel's birthday together at Mum and Dad's with dinner and his bass cake. He loved it!

For Sunday we organised to have a morning tea with family and then in the afternoon head to Maryborough to go bowling - their first time. Daniel was very excited!

Last night we found out that because of Covid we were needing to isolate up here. We were in Sydney after a certain date so Qld government wanted us to isolate for 14 days. James was fine to be out and about though because he flew up earlier. Fortunately we had been able to go to Nan's 100th birthday but it did mean that our plans for Daniel's birthday needed to stop.

Poor Daniel was so upset with this news. He was so keen to go bowling and to hang out with Aunty Jen, Maddie, Aly and Uncle Ryan. He went to bed in tears. It is so hard seeing your kid go to sleep so upset and not be able to do anything to help him out. He eventually settled with Charlie lying with him on his bed to go to sleep. 

In the morning I went and got Daniel at 6:30 to come and lie with James and I in bed. He likes to do that at home so I thought he would enjoy the cuddles in the morning. He stayed there until 7:30 so I do think he enjoyed it. He got up when Alexander came in to tell Daniel that he helped put up the Happy birthday sign for him. We were curious so went out to see that Nana J had put up some balloons and happy birthday signs in the dining room. He was excited about that.

We played a game of Uno from Daniel's request. He won one game and I won another.

James made him breakfast, sharing some of his avocado bagel with him as well as making him a fried egg.

We then had present time. He loved reading his messages in the birthday book. And he was very excited with the gifts he received. Winner! It was lovely to see Eliza and Alexander excited about the gifts they chose for him and Daniel being so grateful towards them.

That's the reaction you want to see with a gift

After the gifts I finished organising his morning tea, including icing his cupcakes meaning he got to lick the beater. 

Morning tea started with singing Happy Birthday to Daniel with his cupcake with a candle. It was nice to have Aunty Jen, Maddie and Aly here to celebrate with Daniel too. The fruit was demolished by the kids and the cupcakes too. The cheese and crackers were enjoyed as well. 

Oreo cupcakes

Maddie made Daniel a special birthday board with an acrostic poem about him

Covid cupcake candle blowing

After presents (which he was very excited to get, particularly Hotdog and Weirdo books) we then got into some of the games which Aunty Jen kindly organised.

Crazy cousins

When we found out that we had to change plans, I wanted to do something special for Daniel here but really had no ideas. I think I was just so exhausted from all the emotions leading up to coming up to Hervey Bay and then the emotions while being here. I had nothing left in the tank to be creative. I thought about a Science Day but that wasn't the most exciting idea. Then Jenny messaged me to say that she was organising some activities for us to do. This brought tears to my eyes. It really meant a lot!

We started with the ball toss. James did the best getting 50 points, Maddie was 2nd best with 25 points. Daniel got 20 points. It was fun to see everyone playing together. It was pretty tricky to get the balls in the cups.

Next up was a game where we needed to open a present with using oven mits. It was quite funny to watch. We drew 2 names out of a hat to see who was completing. Each person was able to open 1 present. Daniel managed to open 2 presents (although he had challenges with a competitive Dad who tried to steal the present, made Daniel fall to the ground while doing it.)

concentration tongue

Daddy wanted to open that present so jumped onto Daniel too. Daniel still won.

For the next game you put a stocking on your head that had a tennis ball in the end. You had to swing your head to try and knock down the drink bottles. It was a bit tricky at the start with the bottles full to do but the kids had a blast trying. We then emptied out half the water which made it a lot easier (although still hard to do) to knock over. Many giggles were had and different people won the challenge.

Being pregnant makes it even harder to do!

First up, birthday boy and Alexander

Alexander needed Daddy's help to get the swing action right

Maddie took on Uncle James

And won!!

Daniel started to get into a rhythm with the swing and got really good at it.

Aly was upset that Daniel beat her so Uncle James went up against her and went a bit less competitive.

Eliza decided she wanted to have a go against Aly. She did really well and actually ended up winning. I loved seeing the girls' reaction at the end, just so happy for each other that Eliza won.

The next challenge was to use tweezers to stack plastic cups in a pile. Then to try and go the other way. The vacuum seal made the 2nd part of the challenge quite tricky.

Eliza decided to make a tower with her cups

The kids got Charlie into the birthday action.

The last challenge was to see how many post it notes you could put on your face in 30 seconds. The most was 7 with Maddie and Aunty Jen getting that. I loved this game!

I am so so grateful for Aunty Jen and her care for Daniel's birthday, helping make him special. I am thankful for Maddie making the board for Daniel. I'm grateful for Aunty Jen being able to fill in what I was struggling to do. My brain just couldn't come up with creative things, it was just too tired. Also not being at my own place makes it tricky because I didn't know what things were around.

Jen took the girls home and the kids had fun setting up and playing Daniel's birthday present from Nana J.

We then decided to have a movie afternoon, watching Eliza's gift to Daniel - Lego Movie. We snuggled up on the couches and enjoyed watching it. Quite. good movie for us all.

Throughout the day Daniel enjoyed watching videos and reading messages from friends and family. It was so very nice to have everyone surround him with love. Last night I messaged everyone that I could think of who were special and significant to him and asked them to send him a message saying happy birthday. I do love that so many people decided that they would send him a message wishing him a lovely day. Nana and Poppy, Auntie Jenny, Uncle Howie, Oscar, Auntie Sue, Kimberly, Uncle Mark and Auntie Ros, Nat, Steve, Elyse, Daniel and Owen, Lachie, Ems and Flynnie, Sadew, Josh, Noah, Atea, Mel, Ben, Kaysey and Tristan, Aunty Julie and Uncle Pete, Aunty Megan and Mark. So many messaged Fromm family and friends. It put a smile on his face every time.

We finished off the day with Daniel making some of the lego that he got for his birthday.

We had the Golden Chicken for dinner (take away) as Daniel's choice of meal. It is a good one to remember for future meals! He was a very happy boy. We finished with ice cream for dessert.

So our plans for today did have to change but I am so proud of how Daniel embraced the change. I'm glad that we still saw Aunty Jen, Maddie and Aly and we got to have lots of fun and laughs together. I'm grateful that we were able to be here with Nana J and Charlie. Daniel was surrounded by love and by family. His day was still so very special.

Happy 9th Birthday Daniel! This year as we celebrated you showed resilience and a real joy. I hope that you realise how special you are to so many and that they loved spending time with you or sending you a message for your birthday. The plans went out the door but you still had a wonderful time. Thank you for sharing your laughter, your smiles, for being real and honest when you were upset. I love your care for others, I love how much you love Charlie and Chilli, I love your thoughts and even though it drives me crazy at times, I love your inquisitiveness and your need to say what is on your mind. I love the way you give things a go. You are like your father and are so competitive but I also love the way that you put your mind to a task and you focus so hard on being able to do it. Never change my sweet boy. Keep loving life and loving others and most importantly, loving God. I look forward to taking you bowling when lockdown is over to celebrate your birthday yet again.