"Dam" Another Holiday!

We have a large amount of insanity in our household and decided to go camping with a good friend and her two kids...in winter....it was hell....

BUT, there were highlights and I choose to focus on those, so here is our holiday in pictures!
We went camping at Somerset Dam. It rained on the first night and all the first day which was a little depressing but it was lovely going to bed listening to the rain creating a soft tattoo on the roof.



On the second day we were there, Conor got sick and tired of waiting for someone to push him on his bike...so he took off, literally! By the end of the trip he was pedalling around like a maniac. Now he is home, the kids territory has been extended and they are allowed to ride outside, sans parents! Helmets are a must at home though....


The wildlife were amazing! The very first night we were marauded by mice, pillaged by possums and bombarded with birds! There were bunnies and plovers and magpies and tawny frog mouth owls and whipperwills and butcherbirds and possums and mice and..and... lots of critters!


A very pretty nest of plover eggs we found, on the ground, in the middle of the picnic area. The eggs were gone the next day, I would guess they were plundered by possums.

This cheeky character spent his time either hassling the girl possums for sex or hassling us for food. He was an expert at stealing loaves of bread, his tally at the end of the trip was two whole loaves and numerous part loaves! He was also an expert at breaking our heavily fortified barriers and pilfering food from the tent. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Possums are exPerts at anything starting with P! Plundering, pilfering, pillaging and peeing! Yep, he even pee'd on one of the large boxes we used as a pantry (see that darn P again). He enthalled our neighbours who consisted of two families, one of which was full of English tourists.

This glorious bird is a tawny frogmouth and there is currently a bit of a mice plague happening out that-a-way at the moment. The first night I went to do my teeth and spat my toothpaste out and just missed a widdle mouse. He had the longest whiskers! The owl was well fed and beautiful. We also saw one in Sydney as well and I love these birds!

Speaking of lovely birds, the magpies have always been my favourites. They are polite most of the time and, after they have been given some food, they always reward you with their unique carolling. Just gorgeous! I fed one at one point and he politely ignored me until he had broadcast the news about the food and was then joined by the rest of his family.

It was very cold at times and below is Aiden wearing his beanie and doing his hobbit impersonation. He didn't realise that it made his ears fold down LOL. Funny kid.

As with most holidays, there were accidents aplenty. The kids came off their bikes more often than they stayed on them. Aiden took bark off both knees, Caitie scored a snodging bruise...

And poor Conor had a meltdown one night when he fell over and scraped his toes. Even a shower with Daddy couldn't settle him so he was wrapped in a blankie and we sat by the open fire singing the songs I sang to them as babies. Morning Town Ride was a favourite as was My Happiness by Powderfinger. Hours were spent sitting in front of the fire, toasting marshmallows, sipping hot drinks and gazing at the flames.

We took a long drive one day, with the sole intention of getting away for a little while. Travelling through the gorgeous winter countryside we saw plenty of cows, horses, sheep, brown paddocks and then we found the most beautiful forest area. We all got out and went for a walk down a firetrail breathing in the air. It was so cold it burnt as you breathed in! And the scenary...

Another day trip was to the Somerset Dam wall where we took some family pics.

As a final droplet of interesting information, South East Queensland is coming out of one of the worst droughts we have ever had. At one point our dams were down to under 12%. And finally the heavens opened and we got rain, rain and more rain. On the way to the front shop, there is a billboard which features photographs of the dam prior to the rain and after. It was an eyeopener as today Somerset is sitting on 94% full. That is one heck of a lot of water!

This holiday taught us quite alot.

1. Family time is very important


2. Wine is not the answer to everything


3. Our children, not matter how feral they can be, are angels compared to some


4. There is no such thing as possum proof


5. Sex is impossible on a blowup bed that squeaks every time you breath out.


6. Never tuck your pyjama top in to your bottoms prior to holding a child with a full bladder in the throe of night terrors.


7. Walking to the toilets in urine soaked pyjamas at ten pm is mighty cold.


8. If you start a game of tag with two adults and five children, every child within a 2km radius will turn up to join in.


9. Kids who don't know each other tend to respect the rules of tag.


10. The size of the firewood is determined by the size of the campoven.

Will we do it again? On our own, yes. With the same family, not unless hell freezes over. Are we still friends, yep but I have a new respect for our skills as parents and how we are bringing our children up.

After all, respect and manners are the cornerstones of solid citizens.

Cheers,

Cin