nutmeg and booth archery

i decided to entertain the kids these holidays by doing something a little out of the ordinary, and brought along the booth girls for the ride. it was raining in perth, but wasn't supposed to rain in clackline, which i checked 4 times before leaving in the morning, so it was a perfect day to get off to the archery park!

we dropped alex off to nannas house, because there is no one in this world crazy enough to let a wild two year old loose near flying arrows, then hit up the hoddywell archery park. the kids looked like they had won the lottery, my kids have been once before, but it was the first time for the booth girls.

they loved it though, got right into it and were pretty good!

madison and chloe having a shot

joseph didn't do nearly as well on this trail as he had last time, when he kept hitting close to the bullseye every time and oh did we have to hear about it. he was well unimpressed.

besties who should not be messed with

as you can see from the photos, we discovered that the weather forecast was not correct... there was a sudden downpour and we all got soaked - but the sun came out again soon after and we dried out soon after.

it's not going to rain. honest. hahahaha

i don't think she was very impressed that i was wrong. but oh did we laugh. non stop.

things were progressing well, madeline even managed to shoot this fox in the head and was so proud of herself, insisting that i take a photo to show off to grandad.

it's so much fun watching these two together... they always have the best time (when they aren't arguing!) 

there was so many mosquitos though. that was the only downfall. we doused ourselves over and over with repellant, but they were still biting something cruel. i swear the pretty surroundings make it worth it though. please trust me! haha.

so here we were... right near the end and approaching the last target. it starts raining again, now that we are all finally dry - and this time it's way worse. like absolutely pouring - and then it started hailing. oh my word. we decided to make a run for it in the end, and then were so wet that we had to borrow a towel from the owners to dry off.  but at least we had fun. even when chloe managed to scrape her leg on the way back to the car with her arrow. i foresee a tetanus shot in her future!

one last stop - the christmas shop in toodyay for a quick look. these little drowned rats probably weren't impressed that i made them pose for yet another photo, but oh well. 

would you believe we then drove all the way to northam to get pizza for dinner, then back to mums to pick up an eagerly waiting toddler. we even waited that little bit longer until it was dark, just so madison could watch the stars. i completely appreciate this, as it's my favourite bit about visiting mums too!

it was a great day with the kids!

 

hoddywell archery park/ toodyay

robin hood time! alex is safe and sound at nannas house so i can spend a little time with the older two at another place that we had a ton of fun at as kids - hoddywell archery park!

hoddywell is about 10 minutes up the toodyay-clackline road from my mum and dads place and i was thrilled to see the kids loved it as much as i did. they very quickly got right into it and did really well!

it's nice to have some time with just the two of them as alex always needs so much attention!

joseph especially blew me away with his efforts, i wasn't sure if he would be that keen, but got right into it and had awesome aim! he was always hitting the target and getting it right near the middle!

we really had an awesome time together and i'm really glad we did it.

robin hood himself! i love it when this kid surprises me. ❤

and miss madeline didn't do too badly either, but it did make me laugh, because she is generally so good at everything that when joseph was beating her, she got so mad! i had to keep reminding her that it was his turn to shine.

afterwards we went into toodyay and had a look around. the kids love that there is a christmas store that is open all year around.

and an old fashioned phone box!

we also had a look in the old church on the main street...

and went into the museum at connors mill which i haven't done since i was around madeline's age!

they loved having a look around, although got bored very quickly and decided it was home time. 

another day out in the wheatbelt. i love being able to share my childhood with my kids. ❤

toodyay fairytale farm

we took a trip to the fairytale farm in toodyay today with our cousinbesties the niupalau kids. i have seen a few friends recently visit and show pics off and i thought it would be a fun day out.

oh was i right. the kids had an absolute ball! all the bright colours and nursery rhymes and fairy tales scattered about the place had the kids smiling and giggling...

there was fun things to do and see - like these nutters posing for lols. 

the entire time we were there i kept thinking there was something so familiar about the place, like i had been there before, which was impossible as it didn't open that long ago. but once we went into the little shop/museum, i found out it used to be enchantmentland that was an attraction in glen forrest when i was a child! well that all makes sense now.

i loved all the animals and we had such a good time watching the kids having fun around them.

we (including me!) fed the goats... i love goats. all that was missing was my beautiful goat loving friend emily parsons to share the goat moment with.

they were just so adorable with their faces and their little noses! 

then we cuddled with some guinea pigs...

someone needs to get madeline one at some stage... i'm so against getting a pet cause they are such a pain, but she loves them so much! look at that happy face!

they literally had a full scale cuddle line with all the animals and it was the cutest thing i've ever seen!

they also had a mini golf set up

and croquet! just like in alice in wonderland!

they even had a mad hatter tea party set up too and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever posing with the tables. it was the best day and everyone has such a good time. i love watching the kids just getting to be kids.

we will definitely be back at some stage... we love the country!

 

home for the holidays - trekking around the wheatbelt

we spent the past few days at mum and dads hopping around the little towns that neighbour their house. i love it out in the country, there is always something fun to do - and i always feel like i am home when i drive those roads. we had the best time! 

we spent one day in york, conveniently during their town festival. the kids were loving these massive animals placed around the town... this fish was even made so that you could walk through it - and the inside was all paneled like an old church roof. so much work went into it. 

we also got to try our hand at archery in the same park... madeline and joseph thought it was the coolest thing ever and are still talking about it. even more so, because nanna did it too!

madeline did a pretty amazing job at it and got a few great shots in, hitting the target each time.

i love watching these kids learn something new, they put everything into it and give it a good go. i am sure they'll want to do it again, so we will have to hit up the archery park near mum and dads house. that's where i learned as a kid.

we also spent a day in toodyay, looking at the old buildings... like the old goal museum

it's hard to believe that these little country towns were long ago thriving and completely independent of the rest of their surrounds. each built on an industry that kept them going, with people coming to work and set up their lives... while now they are full of empty shop fronts and tourists who only come for the day. it is so sad to me.

it does, however, make for some wonderful history and things to look at.

the boys hanging out in the old goal building across the road from the main museum... joseph was pushing the pram about to make him giggle.

we also had to take a photo with the coca-cola museum for aunty dom. it's only her favourite thing in the world after all. haha

i love the old connors mill building, definitely my favourite one in toodyay.

and our last stop? the christmas store in toodyay. open all year around selling christmas things, people come from everywhere to see what they have on offer. i must admit it is pretty impressive, it's massive and just brimming with christmas. the kids, especially alex, loved it!

i love the country. still not ready to move out here just yet, but i love to be here - and for the kids to spend time here too. i think it's so good for them. the wheatbelt is amazing.