Good Friday - the BEST Friday

I love a good day at my parents house in the country. Today was the best one I can remember in years, because all of us were there together. All their kids and partners and all the grandkids except for one. It was so loud. It was loud when we were kids, but this was next level. Yelling, laughing... full blown riot. You couldn't wipe the smile off my parents faces for the entire day and I loved it.

I brought along a cookie decorating kit that my best friend sells for Easter and Christmas from her cookie business @baked.on.benrua on Instagram and all of the grandkids got right into it.

The older kids were hilarious, scoring each others creations and commenting on them, oh that's the Gucci of Easter eggs, ooooh that's a Chanel. Nope, that one is The Reject Shop. Oh check out that David Jones!

Ben's was a solid Myer.

Joseph was so proud of his and was thrilled to pose for a photo with it.

Jonas loved his too. Look at that little smile!

Marshall was all smiles today too. Such a cutie!

The Chanel of cookies according to the judges! Baha.

Love it!

I love watching all of these guys together. They have the best time.

So, Aaron and Katja put in their order yesterday for a Banoffee and a Pumpkin pie for desserts today. Once mum heard that she said she wasn't making any dessert at all as that was more than enough, especially when I turned up with cookies too!

The last six grandkids in a row in our family have been boys. The girls are totally outnumbered, there are twice as many boys - and there hasn't been once since Madeline arrived! Watching the younger boys (Joseph down as Madeline can somehow slot in with the older ones even though she is 3 years younger than Emma) was hilarious. They were the noisy ones!

There was plenty of laughs amongst the siblings and partners and a whole damn lot of cheating from Jared while we attempted to play Uno. Honestly, every single turn he played he was throwing down cards that didn't belong. Nut job. Dad did always say the biggest cheaters names start with J.

Alex as usual marched himself down to the monkey bars as soon as no one was watching and climbed up out of reach. I swear that kid has a death wish and he was promptly dragged back down to the ground and brought back to the supervision of his older cousins.

And as always, the highlight of the day was Uncle Isaac's quad bike train. All the kids loved it and had the best time. The carriages just live at my parents now and the bike gets brought up for family days and parties like Alex's last year.

There you have it. 10 out of 12 grandkids. That's a damn lot of noise in one shot.

This was the best Good Friday of all.

But here was the very best bit. Getting all my siblings in one place. Here's all the boys with dad.

My favourite human...

and the best thing that has happened to me in years. Finally getting my boys back

and all in the same place.

 I love them so much it hurts. Even if I do want to punch them on the daily. ❤

 

Sing 2

For months, Alex has been obsessed with the movie Sing. He loves it. He is always singing along to the movie when it's playing, asking to watch "Johnny" (the gorilla) and laughing his little head off at all the jokes. We are talking head thrown back, mouth open laughing. he loves it.

For a while now, we've been debating whether or not he's old enough to take to a movie and whether or not he would sit through it or try and run about the place. Knowing how much he loved the first one, we thought Sing 2 would be an excellent test and oh was it a success... He loved it and we did too! 

What a wonderful movie. I couldn't even imagine how they were going to top the first one, but they did. It was amazing. It was bright and fun and kept everyone, toddler to us adults engaged from start to finish. Lots more fun songs and dancing. Highly recommend you watch it, I know we will be watching it time and time again!

 

bunbury lookout tower

we started heading back today and of course had to go via bunbury for a lunch stop off and so we could go up the lookout tower, so i could show the kids. alex stayed in the car with doug, while we "ran" up the stairs (yes i nearly died!) to look from the top. i spent a lot of time in bunbury with my cousins as a child and we would always come to the lookout towers so i loved the familiar view out onto the beach with the lighthouse in the distance. 

such a gorgeous place, maybe our next holiday will be here! we asked the kids where they would like to go next and their answer was busselton (maddie) rarrrrrrr don't know (alex) and kalgoorlie! (joseph). he's decided he wants to visit kalgoorlie so he can see the inside of the mines. he's super keen on it - who knows, maybe he thinks he's going to find abandoned gold nuggets and diamonds (wrong country mate) down there. but who knows where our next adventure will take us. only time will tell though. i do know however, we certainly won't leave it as long next time! ❤

 

ngilgi caves

we headed off to the ngilgi caves this morning with madeline and joseph, while alex went off to church at busselton branch with nanna and grandad. thank goodness for that as mum insisted - and i had seriously underestimated how difficult it would have been if we had taken him with us. 

we were met at the visitors centre by our guide for the morning - the lovely lisa from the lighthouse yesterday and the kids were absolutely thrilled, as was she. we learned all about the caves history as we waited to enter via the heavy wooden staircase before descending into the caves.

we also learned that when the caves were first discovered in the late 1800s, people would come to explore as a day trip and spend hours in there, climbing over the rock in the dark, in their very best clothes. entry was only possible via a rope ladder and explorers had to use a lamp. there is a corner in the cave called cupids corner where honeymooners would sneak off for some private time. there's also an impressive amphitheater where dame nellie melba once performed. 

places like this make me wonder how people don't believe in god. his majesty is all over this place. knowing that 1cm of these pillars can take 100 years to make, simply by the constant drip drip of water over time is incredible to me.

Found online at margaretriverattractions.com:

Europeans first learnt of Ngilgi Cave around 1899. Edward Dawson, William Curtis and Fred Seymour are commonly attributed with the ‘European discovery’, apparently having found the entrance whilst out searching for wild horses and dingo pups in the area. Several accounts indicate that all these men then explored the cave together.

By 1899 there had been so many caves discovered in the region that a government report was drafted, proposing that several of them could be developed for tourism. The government was supportive and, acting on the report, a ‘Caves Board’ was established by J.W. Hackett to develop and promote the caves. Edward Dawson applied to the government to have Ngilgi Cave opened as a tourist site in 1900, and he was head tour guide and caretaker for the next 37 years.

During this time the cave was known as Yallingup Cave; in fact it was not until the year 2000 that the indigenous name was adopted. A tour of the caves during the early 1900’s was vastly different to what is experienced today. A coupon ticket system was organised by the Caves Board. Visitors travelled from Perth to Busselton by steam train, then continued on horseback to the caves and either camped in the bush, stayed in pioneers’ homes or lodged at Caves House Hotel; originally built to accommodate the guests to Ngilgi. Admission to the caves was by guided tour only, with a ticket costing 1 shilling (10c).

The caves were originally crudely lit by candle or kerosene lamps, with patrons stumbling along rough paths in semidarkness. If the guide wished to point out a formation he would light a magnesium flare which burned brightly for a just a few seconds before plunging patrons back into darkness. Ngilgi was the first cave in the region to have electric lighting installed, with power supplied from a generator near Caves House Hotel. Ngilgi Cave undoubtedly played a formative role in the development of tourism in Western Australia.

thankfully the caves are much better equipped these days with boardwalks and electric lighting throughout. we all enjoyed our visit and spent a lot of time looking at the formations and trying to spot some fairies in the fairy cave.

all too soon it was time to go and we headed back out the wide cave mouth off for our next adventure.

two very happy kids without their toddler brother hahaha.

busselton jetty

i haven't actually been to busselton since i was in high school. when i was in year 9 or 10 and staying with my cousins in bunbury in the summer, they had a bus service, called the runaway bus that went to busselton and back for the day, twice a week. i went with my cousin and her friends and had the best time wandering around, looking at the shops and just hanging out. that was actually the last time i was here!

but being here with the kids was so much fun! we booked tickets on the jetty train and to the underwater observation centre at the end. because it's really interesting, here's some information about the jetty from busseltonjetty.com.au

"Just two and a half hours drive south of Perth, the Busselton Jetty is situated at the northern gateway to the Margaret River Wine Region, in the seaside resort town of Busselton.

Extending 1.8 kilometres over the protected waters of Geographe Bay, the heritage listed Busselton Jetty is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.  As one of the most popular tourist attractions in Western Australia, it is a must see for any visitor to the Capes Region.

Construction of the Busselton Jetty began in 1865. Beginning as a mere 161 metres, sand drift resulted in an additional 131 metres being added in 1875.  Further extensions were made throughout the following 90 years creating the remarkable 1.8 kilometre length.

After more than a century of use and servicing over 5000 vessels, the Busselton Jetty officially closed as a Port in 1973. Once closed to shipping, government maintenance ceased.

Following the decline of government funding and the crippling effects of Cyclone Alby in 1978, a community group was formed to raise funds for much needed restoration and maintenance. Between 1987 and 2003, the community organisation now known as the Busselton Jetty Environment and Conservation Association (BJECA) raised sufficient funds to replace 50% of the Jetty structure, establish the train service and construct the iconic Underwater Observatory and Interpretive Centre.

In 2011 a $27 million refurbishment of the jetty structure was completed. $24 million was contributed by the Western Australian State Government with the balance contributed by the Shire of Busselton and BJECA.

The Busselton Jetty stands as a monument to the spirit and dedication of the Busselton community."

joseph and grandad getting ready for our train ride.

it actually takes a long time to get out to the observatory but the ride is so nice, with the ocean air and a speaker in the carriage telling us information about the jetty and its history. we just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

alex especially. although he has more energy that 14 people combined, he loved sitting with us as we cruised along in the train. his little face all lit up.

i mean seriously. how amazing is that view!

as you can see from the photos, alex climbed from person to person as we went along haha.

the underwater observatory was incredible.

built at the end of the jetty, it is a cylinder built into the ocean, then emptied out, to allow public access and education - providing an incredible 360 degree view of the ocean life there.

"Explore one of only six underwater observatories in the world at the Busselton Jetty.

Your Underwater Observatory tour starts with a relaxing train ride on the Stocker Preston Express along the length of the Jetty with 360-degree views across Geographe Bay. One of our friendly tour guides will greet you at the end of the Jetty to guide you through the Underwater Observatory. As you descend 8 metres below the oceans surface you will be lead through the natural wonders that lie beneath the Jetty where it’s piles create Australia’s greatest artificial reef host to an inspiring forest of vividly-coloured tropical and sub-tropical corals, sponges, fish and invertebrates. 

Discover more than 300 individual marine species in their natural habitat through eleven viewing windows at various levels within the 9.5 metres diameter observation chamber.

Each year during autumn and winter, the Leeuwin Current brings a narrow band of warm water down the Western Australian coastline. This warm southerly current is responsible for introducing an incredibly diverse array of tropical and sub-tropical species into Geographe Bay, resulting in coral growth at a latitude of 33 degrees south. This is a remarkable phenomenon when compared to the western coastlines of other southern hemisphere continents such as Africa and South America which have no coral growth below 5 degrees south."

look at the incredible views from the windows at the lowest level. the ocean floor is brimming with life and is incredible to watch.

this kid was obsessed. he stood at the huge windows just watching as the time went buy, loving on all the ocean life.

and even letting his little brother look on too

i love this pic. it's honestly like something from a painting or a movie still, just so calm and beautiful.

maddie loves anything to do with the water. she was in heaven and loved every second of this part of our day. i feel certain she would have stayed until close if we could have.

as the sun began to set, we made our way back. what a view. not a day goes by that i don't feel so blessed to live in western australia. we have so many beautiful places here to explore.

oceans, beaches, caves, coast, gorges. our state truly has it all. what a blessing to it is to be here. we could spend our whole lives exploring and i am certain we would still never see it all.

little mate watching the ocean as we made our way back

and a photo with my love. i hope this weekend away is doing him some good.

the kids had a little play on the shipwreck playground (so cool! i love the way it's even lying on it's side!)

while i walked a little way along and took some snaps of the jetty buildings. the sunsets here are just stunning. it's all so beautiful - i never want to leave. ❤