Tuesday 18 December 2012

Around the backyard.

When we moved to Melbourne almost 5 years ago my hubby wanted us to move into a trendy inner city apartment.

I did see the fun in that but knew I loved having a yard and also having kids I knew they would want the ease of walking out the back/front rather than getting dressed and packed and walk to a park to play.

So we did get a house with a really good sized backyard and even the front has plenty of room to have a play. The back has a lot of fruit tress to, so I am very blessed!

I was fortunate enough to have a 2 wonderful little veggie boxes made for me. By the very resourceful and talented husband. The sleepers are actual railway sleeps from the side of the road where that had just been dug up from the train line.

I love them to bits and over the years have had so many veggies and herbs thrive in them.

This year I have not been as focused on the veg garden as Baby O has taken up a lot of my time. But what I have planted and cared for have rewarded me and the family so much.

I think there is nothing better than being able to get veg from your backyard and on to the dinner table. Makes me one happy lady!

So here are some shots from the backyard.
Veg Box No.1 - filled with Mint, Silver beet and Roma Tom's
Veg box No.2 - filled with Cabbage's, Squash and Baby Leeks
My little herb patch - Viet Mint, Thyme and Rosemary

Figs anyone!? Seriously if your in Melbourne let me know!
Vietnamese Mint...I am in love!
Rainbow Silver beet
I see you hiding Roma Tomato
Hello baby Squash
Beautiful Broccoli
Hello there little cabbage head!
The Apricot Tree
Our very overgrown Fig Tree

And we have Figs!!!
Our amazing Plum Tree
Plums are a plenty
Our girl Sunny
What a beauty!
Just the right size for our family




Red Cabbage will be part of Crunchy Noodle Salad within the week!
Thanks to the Broccoli we had a great pasta for dinner
 Dinner was the meal above!

Wholemeal Spaghetti with Chicken, Broccoli and Basil Pesto
1/2 Pack of Wholemeal Pasta
300gm of cooked Chicken thighs - sliced
4 heap Tbs of Pesto
1 Small Head of Broccoli - chopped up into small florets
Olive oil
2 Cloves Garlic - crushed
S&P
Parmesan Cheese - Grated

Real simple dish.
Cook pasta as per pack instructions. Just before the pasta is cooked through in the Broccoli for about a minute. Drain pasta and Broccoli together and set aside.
In a fry pan add a little olive oil, the crushed cloves of garlic and pesto. Fry off for a minute then add in the pasta & broccoli and Chicken (Now I had some left over cooked Chicken Thighs form the night before so I sliced them up and in they went)
Give a good mix through and makes sure everything is heated through. Have a taste add in salt and pepper and any extra oil if you think it needs it.

Pop into bowls and sprinkle some Parmesan on top.

Easy peesy lemon squeezy!































Friday 30 November 2012

Forgetting to have fun!

Last weekend our workplace had its Family Christmas Party. Now hubby & I work for the same but at different sites, so we are lucky enough to get a Christmas party each – which we thought was pretty good!

But this year we found out about the Family Christmas Party and man is it good!

I love a work show, but since having kids I tend to try and stay nice cos I know the kids will still be there the next day and with a hangover its no fun at all. Which I am sure MANY of you know already :)

So off we trot to this day where we didn’t know really what to expect. It was at Moonee Valley racecourse and the flyer had some pretty cool rides and stuff on it. 

As we walk through the front we see the crazy ride in the photo below.

Madness!!!
At this point hubby and I look at each other and say how happy we are that Daughter E is not up for that stuff…yet!

We continue through the amazing set up and to the Kiddy Ride’s and threw E straight on one!
 
Hubby turned to me and said she looked sad and I honestly thought she looked bored.

Not loving it?
Totally bored
She jumped off and wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel – cool with us as we could all do that as a family.

As we walked down to the Ferris Wheel we went past all the rides you would see at the show. Well as soon as she saw them that were it! She was it she was pointing like a mad person. She wanted to go on everything!!!

We both thought she was a bit young (she is only 6 remember) but she met the height requirement to ride with an adult. 

So we headed to the first ride and I was kinda hoping she would back out last minute as I was the one having to go on it with her! Hubby has a very sensitive tummy and said he was not up for spinning around…..
Ride No.1...its gonna be along day!

No backing out! She was on the ride like a flash and loved it. 

Laughing and screaming.

Woo Hooing and even throwing her little hands in the air.

Meanwhile I am trying to hold on to her, trying to wedge my body in that bloody carriage so I didn’t move and yelling at E to put her hands down!

Must have been a sight!

After that ride she was off running to the next. 

It wasn’t till about the 3rd ride I found that I was actually enjoying myself on theses rides too. I haven’t done anything like this in years!

It was great to be able to laugh, scream and just have fun!

Finally we talked Hubby into going on 1 ride with E, it was so funny. Pic of the ride is below! Hubby was saying even before it had finished E was saying she was going on it again, this time with me!

Hubby and Emelia are up there!
This was the last ride of the day and the funniest; you can’t see E but I am there in full stupid face, laughing glory. The guy a couple up from me was making me laugh so hard with his comments, it was just the funniest thing ever.
That mong in the back row with sunnies on is me!


I think I had forgotten what it is like to just have fun! Looking silly and all!

Orbie seemed to enjoy the day too!
Loved this activity. Wish I had this at home.
Orbie meeting Freddo and Caramello Koala. Ended in tears!
So dinner that night was the most simple ever! And most of it came out of packets, but it was simple and tasty.

Some BBQ Pork Bun that went in the steamer, following by Salt & Pepper Squid Salad….
 















Thursday 8 November 2012

So how was it?

It's Thursday morning and my working week is over.

Yep. Done!

I think I am going to like this 3 days a week thing....while it last's anyway.

I was really weird being back at work. There has been SO MANY changes. I have been at the business for over 9 years but felt like the new girl on Monday.

Change is good and I think I am going to fit in well with the new team.

What was/is hard is learning a totally new role and trying to get my head around it all.

My brain is a little fried.

So that was my first week back at work (even managed a public holiday)!

Yesterday was also the first day Daughter E went to before and after school care and Baby O went to childcare for the whole day.

Daughter E was just fine, I left a little earlier in the morning as I planned to spent 15 minutes with her. But she asked my to leave about 30 seconds after we walked in. So yes she was fine!

Baby O got dropped off by hubby, he said bubs was fine but he felt a little sad to walk away and just leave him there. I know that feeling oh so well. It is a little heartbreaking the first few times.

I have to leave work dead on 5pm to be able to collect them both by 6pm, as the centers shut and you get charged up the wazoo if your late.

I collected Daughter E first, again she was all good. So then we rushed over to pick up Baby O, now he was a different story.

You could tell he had been crying, puffy red eyes and lots of boogers. He was slumped on the floor when we walked in. He looked up and it was like he was dreaming, he didn't know if we were real or not, so it took him a moment. Then he burst into tears and could not crawl to me quick enough.

HEART BREAKING!!!!

The girls in the room said he had been fine, but a little sad when he was getting tired. I beg to differ I think he had been sad all day and just wanted his mum.

He was very clingy last night and even today.

I am not looking forward to Monday drop off...might get hubby to do it!

As for dinner last night I managed to grill some chicken and cook some sweet potato and peas! How boring!!

I have to get this menu plan in place...stay tuned.

This was just befoer he left for his first day in care. So Happy!

Thursday 1 November 2012

The party is over, time to go back to work!

So it's official....

I signed the contract and am heading back to work, on Monday!!!

A few weeks earlier than expected but I got myself a new Part Time role that is going to be amazing.

Amazing for 2 reasons:

1. The role is what I have been wanting to do for ages.
2. It gives me great work life balance for a year, which I think I will need before going back full time.

So happy days for me!

The only downside to this is I have done myself out of a cleaner. The deal was, when I went back full time I was going to get a cleaner in to help out. But now sadly its still me!

I had a really emotional day yesterday, I cried A LOT. It was tears of joy and sadness and I think a little bit of fear.

I am going to miss being home with Baby O and miss doing the school run (madness to say I know!) and miss cooking. I have been able to cook heaps this past year.

I know once I get into the swing of it I will be fine. And I know the kids will be just fine too.

So Jamie's 15 Minute Meals has come at a great time for me. I have been even thinking about doing a meal planner for the week nights. And his food will be going on it for sure!

I said on my Facebook, I don't care if it takes longer than 15 minutes, his food is just great, healthy and wholesome. So if it take's me 30 or even 40 min that's pretty good in my book.

So I did the Asian Beef with Salad last night. What I love about this is how simple, that should be with a capital S, and how you can just throw together anything you have in your fridge to make the salad. Oh and don't get me started on flavour...OMG! It was just soooo good!

I don't have the recipe book, so I had to remember what he did on the TV..Easy enough though.

Asian Beef with Salad
1 Steak - I used a Scotch fillet (cos there was one in my fridge)
A heap of Chinese 5 Spice
Olive Oil

Salad
1/4 Chinese Cabbage - Shredded
1/4 Red Cabbage - Shredded
1 Lge Spring Onion - Thinly sliced
1 Carrot - Grated
Big handful of Vietnamese Mint - From the garden
Big handful of nuts - Blitzed in the mini food processor

Dressing
2Tbls Vinegar
2Tbls Sugar
4-5Tbs Olive Oil
1-2Tsp Soy

Now I did the salad in about 5 minutes, its was a matter of shredding and slicing and putting on a platter.
I then put the steak on my board, covered it in olive oil and liberally covered in the Chinese 5 spice. I cooked that on my griddle pan, turning every minute or so till med/rare.
The for the dressing I got out a old jar with a lid put everything in and shook like crazy.
Once the steak had rested, I sliced it up and added to the salad platter and gave the dressing another mad shake and poured away. Gave it all a toss and it was done.
EAT.ME.NOW

Seriously amazing!

Sunday 28 October 2012

And just like that, his manhood was gone.

Living with only one car for a year has actually been very easy for us. Which I am a little surprised about.

But we have just made it work!

There have been a few times when the weather has been crap so I haven't been able to walk to the shops, so lovely hubby gets a shopping list emailed to him.

Last week one of these times occurred and there was one item I had never asked my hubby to buy for me.

Yes you guessed it....tampons!

I even highlighted in my email that I was sure where he sat with purchasing female hygiene products and if he wasn't comfortable then I could go once he got home.

Even though I think that would be stupid, I really didn't know how he felt about it so though it better to ask.

I didn't hear back from my email at all.

I did get a text when he was at the shops, it had all the things I had asked for minus one thing. He asked is this everything...so I pushed the envelope and said what about my "lady product"?

He replied "what brand?"...so I gave him the info and said I can call you when in the section if you like.....

No reply....

When he got home a little later he unpacked all the bags, put the tampons on the bench and claimed "My manhood is gone!"

A little dramatic don't you think :)

I believe I let out a big witchy laugh, said thanks and went about my business.

He then went out to his music room and played guitar REALLY loud for about an hour!

Maybe he got his manhood back after that...who knows!

Has this happened to you? Have you made your man loose his manhood?


Thursday 25 October 2012

The sun was shining.

On Tuesday the weather here was nice but strange.

There was some heat around but boy was it windy.

We took advantage of the wonderful change and played outside from the minute we got home from school till well past dinner time.

It was so nice and the weather reminded me of all the fun times we had in our very own backyard last year.

So now I am getting really excited about the up coming summer we are hopefully going to have.

I love cooking on the BBQ, sitting on the outdoor setting or even on the grass with the kids while sipping a wine or 2, playing games and even lighting the fire pit.

So come on weather, bring on the wonderful days and awesome nights.

Another thing that was awesome this week was my first attempt at the Balinese Black Rice Dessert.

It was not as good as the one I had at Batan Waru, but I think with a few more goes it will be up there. I had to stage it over 3 nights in the end and I think that was my down fall (it soaked too long).

But the family loved it and had it last night too.

So I looked around a lot of websites for a recipe and found this one at Yummy Supper. I didn't do the extra white rice and I didn't have any Palm Sugar (used organic raw sugar), so next time I will get the sugar she recommends and see how it is.

Overall though...happy days!

This is Emelia's little serve

I had to take the photo quick...she couldn't wait to eat it!


Monday 22 October 2012

Our weekend! A little bit different....

Friday evening kicked off an interesting weekend for us.

It all started with Emelia closing her bedroom door which was locked from the inside.

I wasn't too stressed at the time as I had already had a couple wines, and I thought there must be a key somewhere.

By the time Hubby roll's in from work we are a little panicked as we had tried every key in the house and nothing had worked!

He, as always cool and calm, really wasn't too fussed and said worst case we need to get a locksmith. But I think it then got the better of him, cos out came a coat hanger a pair of pliers and way he went. He tried a few different tactics, I even had to go outside and tell him if he was close to the lock or not.

It really got quite fun!

Anyway...no success.

So all weekend we had to make do with the clothes Emelia had on the outside of her room. Thank god we found bather's for Saturday's lesson as she was preparing to go in the water in shorts and a t shirt.

Emelia said it was a great weekend, she got to sleep on the fold out in the lounge room and pretty much had run of the TV, her DS and Ipad as everything else was in her bloody room.

This morning she went to school in half a uniform. She had to go in thick white winter sock's and a pair of silver party shoe's, which I think she was happy with. Lunch was in a paper bag and she will have to drink from the taps today.

After all the attempts of lock picking on Saturday I thought I would do us a nice dinner.

Hopefully you saw my Basil & Cashew Pesto I made? Well I thought that on some grilled Prawns would be lovely. And to accompany that a nice fresh green salad!

Have a look at my Rainbow Silver beet....this is from my garden, I have been very spoilt from the soils this year! After I took this I went and picked another bunch.
Silver beet and a little spinach in the background.


My delish salad, if I do say so myself.
Grilled Prawns, Salad, Tumeric potato's and Pesto!

 Silver beet Salad

2 Bunches of Silver beet - washed and torn up
1/2 Red Onion - finley diced
Big handful of Coriander - rough chop
1 Pear - cut into 1/4 and sliced
1/2 Lemon juice
Few splashes of Olive Oil
S&P

Put everything into a bowl and squeeze the lemon juice in and give a splash of the oil. Toss very gently so you don't break the pear up. Taste and see if you need anymore lemon or oil, S&P.

*For the Prawns - I took off there heads, kept the rest of the shell on and sliced them down the middle. Opened them up and cleaned out the poop trail. Then on my griddle pan, threw in some butter and grilled away. So simple!! Once cooked I put a nice bit of pesto on them and gobbled them up.

Whole family loved this meal, which makes me happy!!!!

Oh and if your wondering about the locked bedroom door..... Danny the locksmith is on his way!

Friday 19 October 2012

For the love of beer!

I saw on the news tonight that the beer VB has gone back to "full strength" due to the massive drop in sale's after they reduced the alcohol content.

Can I just mention that the original alcohol content was 4.9 and they dropped it to 4.6.

0.3% less.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!

Why would this cause so much angst among the people?

I'm a beer drinker and I couldn't care less or probably even notice 0.3% difference.

The other thing that made my stomach churn tonight watching this "breaking news" was the man "Brendon" who originally wrote to VB complaining about the beer.

Brendon is the size of a truck, he said being in the factory watch the new batch come down the line was as good as the birth of his children. Brendon was then taken to the pub to try the New Original strength beer, with Brendon being the size he is was in a massive sweat just lifting and drinking the pot/pint (depending where you live).

Seriously this almost made me sick!

We have so many issues with drinking, gambling (Oh sweet lord, don't get me started on all the gambling commercials) and obesity and to see this as prime time news was really sad.

I love a drink as much as the next person and I don't want to rag on people with weight issues...BUT...this was like a big joke to me.

Sorry but I just needed to get that off my chest!

Watch if you dare!

Thursday 18 October 2012

Here come the Bali blue's. Or is it something else?

I know this is a real condition that MANY get post there Bali holiday.

I honestly thought I would be fine this time, as it was a special trip that I wasn't even meant to have gone on.

But the last few days boy have I been down!

And I'm not actually missing Bali I am just missing something.

I am grumpy as all fuck with the poor kids and wonderful husband. I am, oh so tired and even feeling really faint.

I also have a truck load of stuff to do outside of normal mum stuff. This includes; spending all the schools money on resources via Woolworths Earn & Learn (note to self DO NOT volunteer for this next year), prep for an interview (that is actually tomorrow - FARK!), organise play date, find us a place to stay in Adelaide at Christmas time and somewhere find time to firstly feel all hot and sexy and then deliver that to wonderful hubby.

So I am not sure what is going on with me at the moment. I am all over the shop, no tears yet but still feeling crappy.

If you have any idea's of what is going on with me - please feel free to let me know!!

Anyway...yesterday was our 5 year anniversary. We don't celebrate these with anything really its just another day in our house. The most I do is cook the man one of his favourite meals.

As you know I am not the biggest fan of meat, but last night I did a Beef Pie and this seriously get's inhaled by hubby and the kids. That makes me happy.

In line with my simple home cooking, this really is a simple pie.

Beef Pie

500g Diced Beef
1 Carrot - chopped
2 Small Potatoes - medium dice
1/2C Peas
2 -3C Beef Stock
2 Small Cloves Garlic - crushed
1/2 Lrg Onion - chopped
Handful of herbs - from my garden thyme, sage and rosemary
1Tbs Kecup Manis
S&P
Some Flour
Knob of Butter
1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
1 Egg - for pastry

Ok...simply coat your beef in some flour and toss that into a pot that has your knob of butter melting away in it.
Cook the beef for a few minutes, then set aside. If you need add a little more butter and add in all you veg, garlic and herbs.
Let that cook down for about 5 min then add your stock. I then let this simmer away for about an hour with a lid on.
Once the meat is starting to fall apart I take the lid off and let the sauce reduce a little. I then taste for any seasoning's and add the kecup manis.
I then pre heat the oven to 180. Then I transfer the meat and veg to a pie dish, pop on the pastry give it a nice egg wash bath and pop in the oven.
Once the top is cooked your ready to eat - this can take approx 20min or you can tell by my photo the kids were getting hungry so I stoked up the grill part of the oven and it took a little less.
Trust me its yum! :)

One thing I hate about this dish is I can never get a nice photo, it always comes up looking bland. But TRUST me it is pretty tasty.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Bali 2012 - Part Two



Welcome back! Thanks for all your wonderful comments.

Here is the last installment of our trip.

Hope you enjoy!!



DAY 5

Had another sleep in…YAY!!! Did I mention I have a 10 month old who is still waking 4-6 times a night!!! So very happy for the sleep.

Anyways….off to breakfast then it was time to hit up Waterbomb Park.

Seriously love this place! We took Emelia there 2 years ago and really only got to sue the Kiddies Area and the Macaroni. Well this year she could go on just about anything and did! She is so daring and adventurous (which she does not get from me), it actually made me really proud. She kept up with my sisters 3 teenagers from 9am – 2pm.
Our Bale at Waterbomb - you must get one!
Me relaxing in the Bale, overlooking the pool bar.
Emelia and I on the Macaroni

So as all good mothers’ do, I left my daughter at Water bomb with my sister and went and had my massage my hubby had got for me. This was at the hotel, so nice and close, just a quick stroll back over the road.
My treatment was called the Tari Package it was amazing. First I got a hour long massage, then a wonderful body scrub complete with flower filled bath and finally a full facial. A total of 2.5hrs!!! Ahhh I feel relaxed again just thinking about it. After my treatment I went back and picked up the little one.

You would think that after a full on time at Water bomb she would be tired and ready for a nap..Um No! We headed back to the hotel where she jumped straight into the pool for another hour. After that we headed up to the room for a rest.
Finally out the pool for a minute to rehydrate!
We then did our traditional trip down to the beach bar for drinks, sunset and family time.
Another massage and another ice cream
Better do some beach shopping!
We ended up back at our hotel for dinner at The Boardwalk. This restaurant is wonderful most of the time and tonight was one of them. We had barramundi, 2 x white wine, 1 kids pasta, 1 x choc milkshake and 2 Free deserts (using the coupon book) 240Rp.
Emelia and her new friend (my cousins niece)
So after what felt like 2 days in 1 we headed up to bed early. Back in the room by 8.30pm and the little one was asleep in no time so I had a few quiet Bailey’s on the balcony….Bliss!


*Oh Day 5 envelope. There is a back story…
My hubby knows I always worry about money and even about being on this trip as our finances are not the best at the moment. So on day 5 I opened the envelope to find a really funky pink wallet with a photo of Baby O and a note saying….”I know you worry about money and I don’t want it to stop you from enjoying your trip” The wallet had 3Million Rupiah in it!!! Jeeezuuus!!! 


DAY 6


Had a really bad sleep last night, not sure what it was…maybe guilt!

But anyway off to breakfast. 

This morning Emelia’s little friend showed her where she could buy fish food to feed all the beautiful fish in the ponds. She filled them up as much as us before we headed off to Matahari to get some supplies.

We ran into my sister and niece and all went together. I love all the different things you can get in other countries. So I did a bit of a buy up on snacks, drinks, cheese and fabric softener. I ended up coming home with 48 sachets of the stuff.  Some people call it strange, I say it help’s with the Bali blues when your home.

We head back to the hotel drop off our stuff then get a driver from the hotel and head to the Surf Outlets.

Now my hubby has just bought some shares in Billabong so I strict instruction to only buy the real stuff. So he got all his presents from here pretty much (which he loved). After about an hour of shopping we head back to the hotel.
Love that we could get in and out and be back by lunchtime and the rest of the day to do whatever.

And we didn’t do much….we went down the beach where Harry (one of the beach bar guys) ordered us some lunch that got delivered to our seat at the beach. We had a Nasi and a Mee Goreng 40Rp for both! 

We then swam in the ocean (I don’t think there is anything better) had a couple drinks then went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and some more cold drinks!
Emelia and her cousin going for a boogie board.
Emelia taking a photo of her Aunty (my sister)
 That night Emelia and I just went outside the hotel to one of its restaurants, Batan Waru we ordered 3 tasting plates – Lumpia, Calamari and Seafood Wontons. I had a Lychee Martini and Emelia a Shirley Temple. We then went all out and had dessert, I have always wanted to try the Black Rice and they had it…yay!!! So glad I ordered it this was amazing. Would love to try and make it here, just need to find some black rice! Can’t remember how much…sorry.

Then back off to hotel to have a semi early night as we were going to Safari tomorrow.


DAY 7 

We got up nice and early and had a big breakfast, fed the fish (5,000Rp for a bag of food) then met my sister and niece and headed to the lobby to wait for our driver.

As all drivers do, he said he could get us a good price on the Safari Park as we wanted to include an Elephant Ride. Well we were pretty happy with the price, not sure if everyone would agree. I paid $185A for 1 adult and 1 child, which included 2 photos, lunch and 15min Elephant Ride. 

We decided to not have the lunch as I wanted to show my sister and niece the Lion Restaurant, so we paid for our own lunch. I am glad we did as you don’t get to experience that kind of environment back home.

Overall everyone had a ball at the park. My daughter again was a lot more daring or more brave this time to interact with the animals. She just loves Elephants, so riding one was out of this world for her and feeding one just amazing.
 
Emelia and I
Us on Lina the lively elephant.
Emelia and I
Emelia and Shannyn feeding the elephant.
Giving him a little pat.
You also used the Waterpark and Funzone which we had not done previous trips. It was fantastic, again Emelia was a little daredevil going on bigger rides than I expected. But all good fun.
Little Emelia in the back!
Then they came flying down this thing...and did it again at least 6 times!    



So after a big day, we headed out for dinner at Victory Pub down Poppies 1. It was really nice, I only had chicken as I couldn’t find any Ribs on the menu – but my nephew’s dish came out – Bloody Ribs!!! Emelia had chicken also and I had a few bintangs. My lovely brother in law paid for this meal for us…Thanks John!

Emelia took this for us...bit blurry.


DAY 8 

It’s our last day in beautiful Bali, so sad! I did a lot of packing last night and was able to get check out moved from 10am to midday. This took some pressure off me as I was off to the Healer this morning.

So after breakfast we jumped in a taxi and I dropped Emelia at my sister’s hotel. She was going to have a play with the kids while my sister and I went for our “massage”. 

Now I have been going to the healer for many years, the place specializes in reflexology and there is nothing nice and relaxing about it. Well, you do feel amazing afterwards but they really get in to all your pressure points. They also do cupping which I love! All up for 1hr its only 150Rp.

The place is called De Chy and its down a side lane off Poppies 2 – here is some more info. If you would like any more info please let me know, I have their business card.

After the healer we walked back to my sisters hotel – Kuta Puri, I decided to leave Emelia there while I walked back to the hotel via picking up my washing (17,600Rp for 2 bags…amazing) and then checked out.
Checking out went smoothly, bags were kept in the lock up till 9.00pm as that’s when our driver was booked to take us to the airport (60,000Rp). 

I then went back to Kuta Puri and had a few Bintangs with my sister and her family, had some lunch and a great afternoon of just swimming in the pool and relaxing.
Kids having fun at Kuta Puri
Last swim Emelia!!

We did a little bit of shopping up Poppies 1 before going down the beach at 3.00pm to get Emelia’s hair and nails done again. Of course a few more Bintangs at the beach and one last sunset. 

Relaxed and taking it all in...Wonder what she was thinking!?
That night we headed to Swell Bar also in Poppies 1 for dinner. I finally got some ribs and a long island ice tea. Emelia has her last Satay, Chocolate Milkshake and scoop of ice cream..think this was around 170,000Rp all up.

Oh totally forgot to mention Kuta Karnival opening ceremony. We were so lucky to be down the beach to see it all. It was full of entertainment, excitement, colour and sounds. There were even 2 elephants that we went up and had a pat with. I have never seen so many people in Bali in general but this Karnival just packed out the beach even more, all the way up to Legian. My photo’s won’t do the crowd justice, but it was amazing to be a part of!

Elephants on the beach!

Amazing colours!

Huge parade. Oh and our friend Krisna

SO MANY PEOPLE....

A little bit scary....

Elephants with either the king and queen or prince and princess of Kuta

End of the parade...till next year!
   

Emelia and I then walked back to the hotel taking in all of Bali before we head home. When we got back to the hotel we only had about 1.5hr till pick up, so we had a shower in the departure lounge and headed to the Boardwalk to watch the entertainment. Lola at the Beach Bar made me my final Lychee Martini, best I had all trip, and then it was time to go.

As I said before the airport has changed so much and you now have a bit of a walk to the terminal which is no biggie. They have trolleys for your luggage which was great and I popped Emelia in the top of them and off we walked. The biggest pain in the ass was the line up to get in the airport…over 45minutes we waited. Then once we were in and through the security scanner there was no one…crazy!!!

I vowed never to go to the Prada lounge again…but guess what…in we went. I was pretty tired by this stage and so was Emelia so it was purely the convenience that got us in. Oh well!!! 155,000Rp well spent? Hmmmm.

So that’s it my friends, we arrived back in rainy old Melbourne to 2 very handsome boys and life is back into full swing again.
These guys!

I just want to finish by saying a big thank you to my extended Perth family – you are wonderful people and thank you to your friends for including Emelia and I in your adventures. It was so great spending time with my sister, brother in law, niece and nephews.

And finally to Hubby D. You are the best!! And I owe you one BIG TIME….

**As you can see I have this blog about our life here in Melbourne, feel free to stop by anytime or “like” the facebook page**Thanks Hayley**