Easter

Another one of my favourite times of the year!  This was our first Easter with Lucy, so mummy was a tad excited.  I can't wait though until she is a little older and more aware of what's going on (then we can do the whole putting the basket and carrots out, bunny footprints, etc).

She was still pretty excited with her Easter basket!  As she can't have the choc eggs yet, it was filled with new pyjamas, a peter rabbit book, a chicken ornament, an egg cup, a winter scarf, some shakers and the hands down winner ... chocolate custard!

I also decorated an Easter Tree this year which is something I have been wanting to do for a while now.

There were, of course, plenty of hot cross buns eaten in the lead up to Easter.  On Easter Sunday morning we had a lovely breakfast with our little family, then in the afternoon the whole family went to my sister's house for an early dinner.

 Some cute Easter ideas I found ...

Looking forward to next Easter already!

Book Report

Remember back at school when you had to write book reports?  Well I thought that I would write one each time I finish a book, letting you know if I think it is a worthy read or not.  So here goes ...

 The Captain's Daughter

 Leah Fleming

The Setting: 

This story begins aboard the Titanic, which was interesting as the 100 year anniversary of the sinking is in a couple of weeks.  It then jumps back and forth between New York and Lichfield and a side step to Tuscany.

The Characters: 

Celeste Parks, mother to Roddy, first-class passenger wanting to escape her troubled marriage.
May Smith, wife of Joe and mother of baby Ellen, steerage passenger headed to the USA to start a new life.

The Story:  

As the ship goes down, May loses all that is dear to her.  Celeste takes her under her wing and when on the lifeboat, May is handed who she thinks is her rescued baby.  The two women are taken aboard the Carpathia and a friendship is formed that will last a lifetime.  Then May makes a shocking discovery and a split second decision which changes the lives of many.

My Thoughts:

This was an ok read.  Nothing spectacular.  I spent the whole book trying to work out how the title related to the story ... never did work it out!  I wouldn't tell you to rush out and buy it, probably give it a 6/10

Fiji Getaway

Last month we were able to take our long awaited family holiday to Fiji.  This is something that we have all been wanting to do for a long time but haven't been able to coordinate everyone.  We have spent many wonderful holidays in Fiji in the past ... it used to be our annual holiday destination when we were younger ... so it was super exciting to all be going there together along with our partners and all the kidlets.  There were 12 of us in total and our reservation name was Mackenzie Munnich Carey Church Mortensen Madden ... what a tribe!

We chose to stay at Plantation Island as it was the place that suited all of us best.  Despite reading some bad reviews and being a little apprehensive about the resort, we were pleasantly surprised!  Our bures were 5 metres from the water, the weather was perfect (even the late afternoon storms didn't bother us), the tides were spot on for swimming and the resort was practically empty.  The food was ok, nothing spectacular and it did get a little monotonous after 7 days.  The staff were friendly and the baby sitting cheap!

We spent our days swimming, eating, reading, resting, snorkelling and generally lazing about ... very relaxing!  Travelling with a 6 month old took a bit of organising (she needed more luggage than both mummy and daddy put together!) but Lucy coped well.  She was perfect on the plane and helicopter and was snapped up by one of the lovely staff the minute we arrived.  She wasn't too keen on the cot as it was really narrow, so spent her sleeps in the big bed.  I was pretty pleased with myself that she survived the week with no sunburn and no mozzie bites!

Plantation Island is definitely somewhere we would go back to again, however, I would also be keen to sample some of the other lovely resorts.

xxx Cousins xxx

On a blogging roll today!  Thought I would share the Santa photo we had taken today with the four cousins ... Hunter was very brave!  Have to say the David Jones photos are heaps better than the Westfield ones.

Christmas ham bag

Today's little piece of creativity! Now we just need the ham :)

Gingerbread Men

Another addition to my Christmas traditions ... making gingerbread men!  These were surprisingly simple and look oh so cute (and yummy too).  I used a medicine dropper to do the icing ... heaps easy!  Now I want to attempt one of those gingerbread houses :)

The Love You Book

During one of my recent internet shopping episodes, I came across this gorgeous book, "The Love You Book".  Written by Andrew Wynne and Emma Scott, it has the most amazing illustrations and it is a beautiful story for mummies and daddies to read to their babe! We haven't read it to Lucy yet as it is a Christmas present ... but I can't wait!  Highly recommend it!





























PS. I bought it through the website www.hardtofind.com.au