A Day at the Fair: Mattara Festival

A new craze has hit the little monster of late.

Before going away, I innocently bought Leo a Batman wallet. Leo had heard of Batman but there was no real love there... yet. I simply chose it because the only other one was Ben10 and that show confuses me. I liked Batman as a kid so I thought what the heck... Little did I know what I had started!

Yesterday, We went to an indoor play centre for the morning and then to the shops for some retail therapy. At the play centre there was a face painting pirate. Which meant by the time we got to the shops our boy was no longer a little boy. Now he was...

Na na na na na na BATMAN!

So the obsession list now is: Cars, Toy Story, Peter Pan, Dinosaurs, Crocodiles, Pirates, Trains AND Batman. Sigh.

Today we went to the Kids Carnival Day at the Mattara Festival, A Spring festival that's been held at Nobbys Beach every year since 1961.

Leo fed the Clowns...

Rode some teacups...

Was unimpressed by the little Merry-go-round...

Had his first taste of Fairy Floss (He didn't like it!)...

Got a Batman (Sigh) Tattoo...

And slid down the giant slide!

Zoe hung out in her pram, no doubt dreaming of the day she too can run amok at a fair with her big brother.

Today is our last full day of our trip. This time tomorrow we will be home in Sydney. I am going to miss Newcastle. I love it here so. It's the people, The lifestyle, The beaches... and Big Dog on TV saying good night at 7pm.

Thanks for the adventures Newie! We will be back!

A Day at the Beach: Merewether Ocean Baths

Our holiday adventures gave us a perfect Sunday. I fell in love with Newcastle just that little bit more today and I think I asked Jason a few hundred times if we had to go back to Sydney after all.

We spent our morning at the Islington Markets, rummaging through stores and listening to two sweet old guys play Jazz and croon. I bought a framed advertisement for red lipstick from the 1950's that I simply adore. Leo found a second hand batman doll. Jason ate sausage on bread. Everyone had a win!

We headed off to the beach, towels and buckets at the ready. Merewether Beach and Baths are quite possibly one of the nicest beaches you could visit. I am from Sydney, I have been to Bondi a zillion times and yes, it is beautiful. It is also nearly always packed with people and tour buses. Merewether, even on a day like today (a balmy 27°- that's 81°F) has room to breath and such a laid back atmosphere. Even someone like me, who isn't the biggest beach bunny, could spend hours relaxing there.

One of the clearest memories of being a kid, for me, is spending weekends at the beach. I can recall so vividly the blue of the water, the games my brothers and I would play, My dad jogging along the water and the taste of salty chips bought from the beach cafe. I loved the beach till I hit about 16, Hanging out at the beach just didn't go with wearing black and listening to heavy metal. Not to mention the fact that I have the type of skin that burns to a crisp, Peels and then recovers in freckles.

My children clearly get their love for the sand and surf from their dad. We had to bribe the monster with promises of more beach adventures in the future to get him to leave.

Halfway through our vacation and I'm loving it. Even sitting here after everyone has gone to bed, working on my course, I just feel so relaxed and content.

Do we have to go home?

A Day At The Farm: Oakvale Farm and Fauna World

Please excuse any typos or bad grammar in this post. For you see, my beloved football team, The mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs, have lost their chance to make their first grand final appearance since 1971 and I'm finding it hard to see through my tears. I will rally on because, besides the crushing defeat and my broken heart, The rest of my day was pretty tops!

Whenever we are up in the Hunter, we try our hardest to go to Oakvale Farm and Fauna World at Salt Ash. We have been coming here since Leo was a year old and still have a lovely time each visit.

This visit really drove home how grown up my monster really is getting. Last time we were here he held my hand and was a little wary of the animals. The time it was hand in the feed bag and hangs with his Dad. We fed Camels, Kangaroos, Wallaby's, Geese, Goats, Lambs, Pigs, Shetland Ponies.. You name it! It's whats really great about this place. The animals are everywhere and it's all hands on and up close.

What was little miss doing when all this animal feeding was going on? Oh you know, waiting for HER next feed, discovering her hands, farting... the usual.

I am on a mission to try and convince Jason to let me have chickens when we move this way... and not just any chickens. Pastel chickens.

Pretty Pastel Style, eat your heart out!

After we fed the animals, and then ourselves, Leo got to have a play in the playground. I plonked myself down on a bench next to some other mums, made some conversation and was all ready to enjoy the gorgeous weather when... IT happened.

Goats. I refuse to put a photo of the buggers on here after one of them chewed a hole in my dress whilst I was chasing another one away from sampling the pram. When I turned around to confront the dress eating goat, the other found the feed bag and ripped it open... All over Zoe and the pram. Aghast, I lifted my baby (who actually had an amazingly large smile on her face) out of the pram and started to brush the feed pellets and sand off her, smiling embarrassingly at the other mothers who were NOT being bothered by the damn things. The bloody goat, sensing my distraction, decided to take the opportunity and hopped IN the pram. I had to lift the damn thing out of it! More then once!

Goats. Seriously.

Happy, If slightly gnawed on, We had a quick browse through the gift shop, leaving with a few souvenirs and headed back to Newcastle. First full day of vacation classed as a total winner.