New Beds!

I think we mentioned to everyone awhile back about getting Poppi new bedding in an effort to encourage her to sleep in her own bed. (Which is only actually working for a few hours a night. We're trying to find a solution. Still. The answer is hiding from us. We have ruled out using tequila, though. HAHA. I am just kidding.)

She does love the princess bed. (No surprise really. The girl looooooooooooves her Disney Princesses.) Actually, the funny thing is that Hunter loves the princess bed, too! In fact, the introduction of the princess bed proved a more effective teaching tool for our little bull!

You'll undoubtedly noticed the strategically placed "new" Bob the Builder bed (ok, ok, ok, it's only a mattress.) The weekend we introduced Poppi's new bed and started encouraging her to sleep in her own bed, Hunter (as per his usual) wanted to do what his sister was doing. We laid out a little couch pillow bed for him next to Poppi and he slept happily through the night. (The next night of course, he wanted to be in the princess bed.)

So, we went out looking for bunk beds, trundle beds, etc. We took the kids with us and they climbed up the ladders, crawled on the mattresses and generally had a ball. They were happy with just about all that we looked at. Too bad we weren't. (We were hoping to find a bunk bed set with the beds set in opposite directions to each other. But to no avail in the South East Queensland area.)

So, without the kids, we settled on getting another mattress for starters and a bedding set he would like. We got lucky guessing on Bob the Builder. We went out with the intent of getting him something with Thomas or Cars. Selection was limited and the designs were silly. WE actually liked the Bob the Builder one the best, not knowing if he was even familiar with the character. But, OF COURSE he is! Bob the Builder features some of his favourite things on the planet - construction machines!

So, when the Bob the Builder bed was revealed the following visit, there was one very happy little two year old! He's actually got the whole "sleep in your own bed" thing down pat. Such a quick learner!

Funny, he still had a bit of an affinity for the princess bed. But, at least this time, Poppi had a trump card she could pull. Threatening to sleep in HIS bed got his attention and got him into his own bed.

And for us, gave us a perfect happy snap of the two of them having a quick cuddle!

A Southbank Adventure

After playing around at the Bike Shop, we headed into the city to Southbank to have some lunch. We recently discovered the kids really like to have picnics (especially if it's anywhere near a park), so we've been trying to have more of them.

Southbank was the perfect location! It's on the south side of the Brisbane River and is just beautiful. Heaps of eateries and places for a barbeque, well layed out, beautifully landscaped and a perfect inner-city escape for families! One really special feature of Southbank is Streets Beach - a pool that is really a man-made beach, with heaps of water features the kids can run through. (Of course, we HAD to do this. And the kids LOVED it. So did we! So much so we forgot to get out and take pictures!)

But perhaps the funniest part of our time at Southbank was during our picnic. Young Hunter took it on himself to be our protector. As you can see below, the birds were getting just a little to close for his comfort.
It was really a wonder we could get him to eat anything at all! Everytime he chased a bird off, well, they came right back, didn't they? And as our picnic protector, it was his duty (or so he felt) to chase them off. (Did I mention he learned the behaviour from his dear step-mum?)


And, for as much as he was chasing the birds, Dad was up chasing him. I'm sure you can understand how hard it is to chase a two year when you're buckled over in laughter at his antics. Most times, he slipped away. But, Dad always wins. Even if it means using the whole "I'm bigger than you" fact.

But, his passion for protection could only be contained for so long. It was merely minutes before the pesky birds were back and he was itching to chase them away!

How to get him to stop? Pack up and head for the beach. For as much as he couldn't resist the birds, he can not resisit a swim even more! :-)

Time to Start Updating!

Hey Everyone! Sorry it's been such awhile since we've posted. And, yes, we've certainly done more since our last movie date. We should get mostly updated this week. Please bear with us. We didn't realise we hadn't posted anything in well over a month.



Soooo... going back to a month ago... when we had the kiddos... we certainly were having some fun! First, because Dean sold his motorcycle, we had to take it down to Team Moto and have a roadworthy done on it. (The kids let Tara drive Dad's car while Dad road the motorbike.)



And there is no doubt that the Balmforth Grubby Biker gene is running strong in the latest generation. Hunter was so excited to see all of the bikes lined up.






There were even some that were his size!




Poppi was pretty excited to see kid sized motorcycles, too!

(I'm sure you can guess what Dad would love to get them as a new toy!)

Then we were off to Southbank for our next adventure....