One of Ellis’s friends at school has a mum who is a firey. She invited us to come and blow freddy’s nut.
He was excited until it turned on and the burst into tears.
Even though he cried his eyes out. Ellis and I had a great time!
A morning of adventuring in the Swan. Walking for us bigger Smiths and Freddy on his bike over streams with stops to throw rocks of course!
We saw tadpoles, a juice black spider and lots of ants!
Freddy couldn’t get enough of the puddles and Ellis has a new stick called Warrior!
We decided that despite the rain we would head south to Lowden. Just us and Lauren with her boys. It’s a short drive at 2 hours and meant a return to where we had my 40th birthday celebrations.
The first thing to get going was the fire so we could eat! The kids all went foraging for kindling and Dave headed out a bit further with the chainsaw to get some bigger logs.
Ones the chores were completed we all got to ride the trails built by the owner, which are great fun for all ages. Dave then set about making the dinner! Ellis was on veggie chopping duty and all the boys got super dirty.
Lauren made a delicious apple crumble (also on the fire) but I’m surprised it contained any apple, given the quantity of apples the kids wanted to devour.
To top off the fun a Ellis whipped out her archery set and the bigger kids got to loose arrows under close supervision. They made their target and managed to get it to stick to the tree without the use of nails! Furthermore both Fraser and Ellis hit the target!
Another great weekend in the bush.
A leisurely 9am start this morning led to a lunch stop at Jurien Bay. The temperature is already higher than home and I am regretting the long pants I chose to wear.
Before lunch there is time to burn off a little energy at the playpark.
After some hat swapping and “too cool to be photographed” posing we are back on the road. Next stop Geraldton!
Geraldton was purely a fuel stop as Freddy was quiet and Ellis happy. Onwards to the Billabong Roadhouse for an overnight, dinner and a game of pool for Dave and Ellis.
Today we headed to the ‘summit’ of Mount Cook; Perth’s biggest hill. We went with the Vines and the majority of the James clan (Kate is still on house rest until JJ pops out).
The kids were promised an icy pole if they managed to get to the top and down again with no whinging. They were all very good and enjoyed the views and the lizards. They all fell over at one time or another but still there was no complaining. Zoe was the hero almost running her way to the top!
The babies were carried by their daddies and both slept for part of the trip.
A lovely morning over the 5km round trip. 
Our last camping trip before Christmas and since Cape to Cape! We have been slacking/unpacking into the new house.
The weather was great and we had a great storm go around us on Saturday. Sadly the awesome lightening pics didn’t come out (user error no doubt). After a spot of rain it was up to 35 degrees and too hot for freddy’s sleep in the camper.
The big kids (Ellis and silly) did some boogie boarding and surfing and Alexander enjoyed being out in the water on his boogie board too!
Today the conditions were so good Ellis and Olly barely got out of the water and I even had a go on Ellis’ board and a boogie board too! It was much more fun than I’d expected and embarrassed not to have done it sooner.
I discovered a good alternative to hair clips when I couldn’t find any… IKEA packet clips!
Freddy as usual ate lots of sand.
Ellis and Olly spent a LOT of time in a tree going up and down a tie down strap!
We also had a lovely walk/skateboard/scooter to the Lancelin pub for some beer and dinner. Even Charlie the dog came and enjoyed the trip!
I don’t know about you girls, but I remember very well getting my ears pierced. There were the negotiations over the earliest possible age with my parents, then the anticipation as I awaited my 13th birthday. I was lucky enough to go with a very dear friend of many years (Louise Ross) which made it even more special.
So when Ellis started asking about when she could pierce her ears it conjured up many memories of all the above. My initial reaction to the ‘when’ question was double figures. It seemed a reasonably poignant time in a life to have it done, old enough to look after them without having to wait until early teens. I then began to think, what’s the big deal? They are only holes in ears afterall and not tattoos! So after much deliberation Denise (Amara’s mum) and I had a chat. I was keen for Ellis to be able to go with a friend like I did as that was such a big part of it for me. Luckily Denise and I were able to come to agreement and so, just before The Ford’s headed to Singapore for Christmas, Ellis and Amara went off excitedly to Essential Beauty to get stabbed in the ears.
Dave and Tom came too purely to take the mickey and crack bad jokes. I mean they came to support and encourage their little girls. Amara and Ellis were not put off at all by comments like “ah, that tissue must be to mop up all the blood” and “so you’ve really never done this before” to the piercer. Ellis and Amara smiled through it all and mentioned only a slight sting when the earrings went in. Brave little things are now very happy with their new ears. If they are anything like their mummies these will be the first of many piercings 😜.
Back around again after missing last year’s event (due to Freddy’s precarious in utero situation we were unable to go further than 20 mins from the maternity hospital) we were back again with most of the usual rabble to watch the boys beast themselves for 4 days.
Dave, Andy, Tom, Simon and Rhys were the contenders this year and it was Kate’s turn to be pregnant while supporting!
The boys all put in a very good effort but of course Tom came out top of our lot and I think 12th overall which, out of 1500 riders, is rather good going.
It was the C2C 10 year anniversary so it was very well subscribed by weekend warriors and pros alike.
Us girls and kids took up the roll of race support and watched starts and most finishes.
My turn next year!
Inspired by Rich Bannister’s efforts in the UTMB, Dave decided he ought to get off his bottom and do the Nanga Challenge. Rhys was already entered so the Marshalls, Jameses and Smiths headed to Nanga Mill Friday afternoon in time to set up camp before the race on Saturday morning. For some reason Andy was not racing and was team mascot instead.
We camped at Nanga Mill in Dwellingup which is fast becoming a regular spot. There is a creek at the bottom (where the kids love to build dams and get as many clothes wet as possible), Turner Hill is not far for a 10km MTB loop and there is plenty of dirt for the babies to eat.
The race on Saturday morning consisted of a 15km river paddle (7.5 downstream then back up again), 30km MTB and a 12km run. From what the boys said it will probably not be redone as the courses were less than exciting, but at least the Murray has now been paddled.
We had a jaffle contest for dinner Saturday night. Rhys, as usual, went all out and produced a beef Wellington jaffle! It was excellent though I was very happy with my rather less labour intensive Camembert and bacon. Ellis of course went cheeseless and had beans and mushrooms.
There were dessert jaffles too with apples, cinnamon, raisin toast and rhubarb etc. the kids were happy toasting marshmallows over the 2 fires we had going.
Sunday morning Sara and I went for a bike at Turner Hill. Andy and Dave had bets going that we would not find it. What a fuss over nothing; we found it with no difficulty at all and there was only one comedy stack by Sara thanks to some pea gravel and a black boy!
JP and Helen arrived Saturday morning with Roman and Byron to add to the feral kid count. Only one (Paw Patrol) toy lost to the river and only one Freddy brick eaten by Alfie the dog!
Thanks everyone for a great weekend.
4 families headed off to Wellington Dam for some winter camping. The forecast was cold and a bit damp but we decided to go anyway.
Ben and Amanda made an awesome boeuf bourguignon over the fire for Saturday night. JP made damper to whet our appetites and Sara and Andy made a fab berry crumble. Dave and I were on salad duty which somehow got forgotten on the night but I don’t think was missed by anybody!
The kids had a great time pedalling around the pump track Saturday morning followed by a short trip down to the lake to burn off some energy before devouring marshmallows toasted on the fire.
Sunday morning we all got packed before heading off to the MTB trails. The girls went first and had a super ride before relieving the dads of kid duties so they could have a short pedal.
A bite to eat at a local brewery finished off the weekend before we all headed up home for work and school on Monday. We left wishing that we were staying longer which is always a good sign when away for a weekend.
Thank you to the Fords for providing us with a yummy BBQ dinner on our return to Perth! We brought sticky date pudding for dessert (Sara put the idea in my head over the weekend and nothing else would do).
The Blog of Dave Lara, Ellis and Freddy 