I can't believe it is already the last day of summer! Not that we seemed to have much of one but looking back over the photos I took during Jan and Feb during school holidays, we certainly packed some summery fun into it.
A very talented friend of mine, Esther, made this print for me as I wanted to start the year off with a family theme that would apply to our family for the rest of our lives. The "twinkle in your eye" I take as having optimism and hope as no matter what life throws at you, you can always control how you react to it. "A smile on your face" I've told my family means to love yourself, family and friends and to be kind and be of service to all those you come across in the world. And finally, "with great purpose of heart" means plain and simple good old hard work and perseverance. If my kids can remember these 3 things always, then I know that will help them greatly in this life as they grow and learn through all of life's experiences.
Flynn finished his time in nursery with Sister Ali and she gave him a precious journal with every Sunday he was in nursery and what he did with her and the other kids each week. Now he is a big Sunbeam but I know he misses Ali.
Jonty with Spencer Porter on his last day in nursery.
Some days over the summer were actually quite warm so we would take the kids down to the Egmont River for a swim.
Other days we would join the Porters at their river and go swimming.
Hallie has started transferring her love of motorbikes over to Flynn and SImon would take her out riding when the weather was nice and warm.
Jonty and Felix at Port Sorell
Our first selfie on the 7th of January when Simon and I went out to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.
Each summer Flynn brings me lovely weed flowers which I find so cute.
A few times we went out for Korean at Simon's favourite Korean restaurant.
And then would go for nice walks in the park.
On Australia Day we went to some wet caves near Mole Creek to have a look.
And then stopped at the Chudleigh Honey Farm for an ice-cream afterward.
There war some hot days where we stayed at home and put the sprinkler under the trampoline. Such an iconic thing to do in Australia.
And then we had a window of 5 days where Simon and I did not have to work so we took the kids camping, staying a night at Ulverstone with Oma and Pop and then swimming at Boat Harbour and spending a night tenting at Stanley and then onto Dismal Swamp before heading back home again.
Goat Island at Ulverstone.
Boat Harbour
Stanley chair lift up to the Nut.
You get dirty while camping.
Stanley is such a beautiful spot.
Dismal Swamp - about 45 mins past Stanley.
These guys were brave enough to go down the 300m long slide.
Feeding a wallaby.
And on the way home we couldn't help but stop in to Ashgrove Cheese for a milkshake. We had such a lovely time away and it was good to finally do something as a family in the holidays without anyone having to go to work.
Over the summer, we found some other random hot days to go swimming with friends.
Right at the end of the summer holidays Simon's brother Jason came to visit with his wife Kaisa and her parents who were touring from Finland. We got together at Tammy and Jason's and had a lovely time catching up.
