I had planned to write this blog soon after Halloween, and suddenly a whole month has gone by. Oh well. As promised here is the synopsis of some of our October adventures.
CAMPING
Some friends were going camping for a long weekend, and so I arranged to join them even though Matt could only come for one night due to work. We stayed at the Kenilworth Campgrounds, which is about 1.5 hours North West from where I live.
I managed to pack everything, including all of the stuff on top of the car. My neighbour was a bit startled to find me on top of the car strapping things down!
The first night we set up the tent and gazebo and had sausages at the fire with the Waterson's until the Ardern's arrived late. We set up their camper trailer late at night. I was just glad I managed to get Sakura to go to sleep even if it was really late.
The next morning we went to the local doughnut shop. I bought a few gluten-free ones for Sakura, but surprisingly she didn't want any. I ate too many doughnuts in the end.
We went to Booloumba Falls and did Figtree Walk. I was surprised none of the boys was keen on climbing inside the tree on the walk, so I tried to see how far I could go while pregnant. Sakura had a great time at the little pool. It was a bit too cold for her to want to get in, but I enjoyed it, and she loved throwing rocks with her new friends.
It was a bit of a different camping experience as we had portable fridge/freezers, and cooked meals in a camping kitchen of sorts. The result was some delicious meals!
On Saturday we had a chill morning before we headed out to Cotton Tree Beach. It was an hour drive, and I seriously needed a nap, so it was a bit of a difficult drive. Sakura had a marvellous time catching fish in her bucket with the other kids. After some resting, I went for a swim and tried to cross to the island nearby...turns out that was a bad idea. The current was so strong it just pulled me farther down the shore. I was a bit nervous as I couldn't touch and was running out of stamina. That taught me to take a bit more care with what my pregnant body was capable of.
We had fish and chips, ice cream, and then drove back to camp for a nice relaxing afternoon. We played some campfire games like black magic and mafia. Matt arrived that night. I had really missed him. I had plenty of support and entertainment for Sakura, but I am used to always reviewing my day with Matt, and it was odd not having him around.
Sunday we hiked Kondalilla Falls. It was beautiful and very crowded. We thought we could do a bit of a swim, but the water was FREEZING! Matt wowed us all by climbing a tree and jumping into the water like some of the other adventurous people had done. Sadly no video. I got in and had a bit of a shock. Still, it was refreshing. When we got back, we played board games and had pulled pork before Matt had to go back home.
Our last day, we packed up and visited the dairy. We went to Maleny, a small nearby town for lunch. It was only midday, so I decided Sakura, and I would go on a hike before getting home. Our final act was hiking Mt. Ngun Ngun. Sakura was such a trooper for doing the whole hike mostly by herself. She also did really well rock climbing. Many were shocked to see a pregnant woman and a two-year-old at the top climbing around.
SEA WORLD
We bought a season pass to the local theme parks including Movie World, Sea World, Wet N' Wild, and more. Our first visit was to Sea World for their special Halloween night. Sakura LOVED the different animals. The biggest hit was the stingray exhibit. She was super nervous at first to touch them, but after a while, she was putting her whole arm in the water to touch them. I don't remember ever being able to feed stingrays before, and it was a fun experience.
We were a bit disappointed with the Halloween night experience. All of the special activities you had to pay extra for. The dolphin show was pretty much the same as the original one as well. It was a really long day, but we all had a good time. Next time we will make sure we bring swimmers though!
SAKURA IS 3!
We did basically nothing for Sakura's birthday. She had childcare that day, but she knew the day was special because she got everything she asked for, and I would say "Ok because it's your birthday." She asked for some chocolate that night and told Matt "Daddy, it's my birthday. Can I have some chocolate?" She got some fun gifts from family, though! Our swingset gift is still sitting in the garage, though. I want to mow the lawn first, but that required fixing the mower. I got it fixed, but now it's a matter of time and manpower. Anyway, she still had a good day.
HALLOWEEN
I still had my Halloween party this year. This time it wasn't all about Sakura's birthday, but it was one reason I did nothing for her actual birthday. She happily ate cupcakes and watched movies, so all good. We didn't have many shows up this time as there were quite a few other birthday and Halloween parties going on. It was still a fun night filled with good friends and great board games. Next year I hope to have more success at making a costume. I didn't want to make an effort to make a pregnant worthy costume when I didn't know if I could ever use it again.
A sad part was we couldn't really do pumpkin carving this year. Few places had pumpkins and sold out early. Apparently, some farmers decided not to grow any at all because last year they had a surplus and lost a lot of money because there wasn't enough demand. So sad. We did the next best thing...
MOVIE WORLD
Matt happened to have a day off when I had arranged to go to Movie World with my friend Lee-Anne and Sakura's bestie Cristiano. They had a grand time! We put Sakura on a car ride where they get to actually push the pedal and steer. The result was her just sitting there refusing to move. Luckily she liked all the other rides. It turns out as a pregnant lady I can't even stand on the carousel and am required to sit down. They have a tiny kids area, so I think it is the kind of place best for just a few hours.
Matt is taking work off late December for a month, so he can help when the baby comes. We have plans to stay at an Airbnb for 4 days (cheaper than camping this time) on the Gold Coast so we will likely visit all the theme parks at that time. All the walking will be good for me.
I'll have another blog with other updates, but this one had so many photos I wanted to keep it separate. Hope you enjoyed it!
