Brisbane Roar Game

One of the items on Nathan's Brisbane Bucket List is to see the Brisbane Roar play, and maybe even get a jersey. So Andrew and I hatched a plan. We bought tickets and jerseys for the boys. The game we were going to just happened to be on the last day of school - it was going to be a great surprise. Then we saw the forecast - rain. And lots of it.

I figured if we had raincoats for our walk to the stadium, we'd be fine. Andrew then informed me that Suncorp is an open air stadium which meant even when we were inside we could get rained on, so we really needed those coats. And then, of course, in our excitement we forgot the raincoats at home so we had to buy ponchos that didn't even keep us that dry.

But it didn't matter at all once we stepped foot inside the stadium. Can you tell how excited Nathan was just to see the field?

And our seats! Andrew got us seats right in the middle, second row. The boys thought it was fantastic. I thought we could have been a little further back to see the game a little better, but what do I know? We were so lucky the rain stopped as soon as the game started because being so close to the field meant we weren't sheltered at all. It would have been pretty miserable to watching the game while being pelted in the face with rain.

The boys were given these signs to hold up during the game. Nathan was too busy watching and yelling out to the players but Caleb was all business. He asked me what each side said, then dutifully held the correct sign up throughout the game.

When the game was on, he had "Go Roar" facing out. As soon as they scored, it was "GOAL"! What a cutie.

The more goals they scored, the more Nathan got into the game. He got louder and louder and by the end he was jumping out of his seat. The noise bothered Caleb a little.

But eventually, he got into it, too.

Literally two minutes before the game ended, it started to rain again. At that point, it didn't matter. The game was over. After being on a bit of a losing streak, our team came out on top and won 6-1* against the Central Coast Mariners.

What a wonderful way to celebrate the end of Term 1.


*I thought it was funny that the one goal for the other team was actually an own-goal, so technically, the Brisbane Roar scored all the goals tonight.

Beachcombing and Tide Pools

It's been a while since we've made the drive up to Alexandra Headlands but it's still one of our favourite places to hang out. The boys know it as the rocky beach because we always hang out in the rocky area between the two beaches.

I can't tell you anything about landforms and why there are so many huge slabs of rock in this area, but I can tell you that when the moon is full and the tide is low, it's like a treasure trove of beautiful tiny seashells and cool tide pools with the occasional hermit crab.

There's hardly ever anyone around in this area, it's almost like we have the place to ourselves. I love that the boys can be free to run ahead without us worrying too much, just as long as they stay a safe distance from the huge waves at the edge of the rocks. Usually, they run from pool to pool, wading and splashing about. This time, they found several tide pools just deep enough to lay down in to keep cool while basking in the mid-day sun. Talk about chilling out.

Eventually, the boys came back to the sand to build sand sculptures, inspired by a crocodile and turtle pair they saw on the Gold Coast a few days earlier.

Just as they were finishing up a race car, it began to spit. And then it came down harder. The weather is always so interesting here. It's usually bright and sunny, but the moment you see clouds, they roll in quickly and it rains. And not just some wimpy shower either. It comes down hard with droplets that feel like you're being pelted with pebbles.

By the time we got to the car, we were completely drenched but the rain had stopped and the sun came out. We decided to dry ourselves off and call it a day. Until next time...

G20 Public Holiday

Andrew's first day of freedom ended up coinciding with the G20 public holiday in Brisbane so while I feel like he was cheated a little because he probably would have gotten the day off anyway, he didn't care. He was free.

We took things slow and easy that day, kind of like this little guy.

Instead of joining the mass exodus out of Brisbane, we stayed in town. It was so quiet and safe with all the extra police milling about. And we managed to cross one thing off our mile-long to-do list: renew our Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary memberships!

It was nice to just leisurely wander around the park, letting the boys choose what they wanted to see.

Of course, the boys wanted to feed the kangaroos first. There were so many little kangaroos this time around and they were eager to eat.

Oh, Caleb. He loves petting animals so much. He gave this kanga a nice long neck rub, then discovered how soft his ears were!

The kanga must have liked it because she stood still for so long, soaking in the love. I even managed to get a picture with her and both the boys.

It slipped my mind that Andrew didn't have a membership last year so when we went to watch all the animal shows, he wasn't there. We missed the birds of prey show but he finally got to see the sheep herding show that the boys were so excited about.

Those dogs do such a good job keeping those sheep together, going where they need to go. I wonder how they do with rounding children up?

I know my boys would love to have a dog of their own. 

Happy Halloween!

We took a really laid-back approach to Halloween this year. As in, we didn't actually decide to do anything Halloween-y until lunch time, at which point I just decided Caleb could grab a costume from our closet and Nathan could wear a cape if he even wanted to dress up at all.

Right after school, we went to Lone Pine for their Halloween festivities. The boys ran around in the garden for the first little while to stay in the shade and cool down a bit.

Nathan carved a styrofoam pumpkin. Caleb said he wanted to do one, too, but ended up running off to the jumping castle so I'll see if I can find one for cheap in the next couple days. I'll post their finished jack-o-lanterns up if we ever end up doing Caleb's.

After they finished playing, the sun was starting to set so we headed out for a bit of trick-or-treating.

Caleb finally "got it" this year. He ran up and down the driveways yelling "trick or treat", then "Thank you! Happy Halloween!" after he got his candy. It was cute. And when he tripped and dumped his bucket of candy, Nathan helped him pick them up without stealing any. Not that it's his nature to, but still. I love my boys.

The Art of the Lion King

When I learned that The Lion King was coming to Brisbane, I was beyond excited. And then I found out that Brisbane was lucky enough to have an accompanying exhibition, The Art of the Lion King, where we could get a behind the scenes look at the making of The Lion King.

It was recommended that we go see the exhibition before seeing the actual show so I scheduled it into our jam-packed day at South Bank, after the Instameet. The exhibition itself was a lot smaller than I expected (and hoped) for it to be, but it still immerses you into the world of this beautiful stage production.

The boys and I walked through, stopping to read the panels, and pausing to admire the costume sketches and set designs. There were a few original costumes on display and they were absolutely gorgeous to see up close.


For me, the best part of the exhibition was the documentaries. The boys sat quietly and watched but eventually, Caleb climbed into my lap and fell asleep. Nathan and I enjoyed the rest of the documentaries in that air conditioned room after a long morning of walking.

The first was Pride of The Lion King and it showed how the original animated film came together. We heard from the animators, voice actors and the composers and musicians behind the beautiful soundtrack.

The second documentary was Behind the Scenes, a half-hour look at how they took that Disney movie and turned it into the gorgeous theatre production that it is. Seeing the amount of work that went into developing the musical, creating the costumes and building the sets just blew me away. All these creative geniuses just poured their hearts into their work.

This exhibit was so inspiring because we got to see the process - how this amazing thing came together, bit by bit, piece by piece, with some creative genius and a lot of hard work. That was the most exciting part.

So despite not being inspired at the Instameet, I sure hope the boys, especially Nathan, got a little bit out of the documentaries and it broadens his dreams for his own future career.

Instameet at QAGOMA

The Instameet wasn't quite as inspiring as I had hoped for it to be. I had envisioned that our host, Zach Glassman, would say a word or two about his career as a travel photographer that would inspire Nathan to broaden his vision for his future career... but he didn't.

We literally just moved through the GOMA and Queensland Art Gallery as a big group, but by ourselves. Despite the initial disappointment, it was nice for the boys and I to wander around the GOMA again. It's been so long since our last visit, and we scored a trip to the restricted rooftop terrace so that was cool.

The boys looked down and spotted the gravel hill they built just moments before, while waiting for the Instameet to get started.

We broke off from the large group and wandered over to the kids section which is always so much fun. The current exhibit is all about patterns. Our favourite part was this colourful hall - it was like walking into a kaleidoscope. And the coolest part was the screens scattered throughout the hall that had a camera above them to record images of whatever was in front of it. It would take the image and make it part of a moving pattern!

We became part of the art and that was so exciting.

Afterwards, we wandered over to the art gallery and saw a few really interesting instalments. The columns made of magnetic tape were my favourite.

The boys were mesmerized by this piece:

But after a while, the boys and I started wandering aimlessly, wondering if anything else interesting was going to happen with the Instameet. Eventually, we got too bored and hungry so we just left. The real fun happened after lunch, when we went to see the Lion King Exhibition (more on that soon) and play in the water park.

Maleny Dairies

There's something so peaceful and refreshing about being out in the countryside. I had a voucher to take the Maleny Dairies farm tour, so the boys and I took a day trip up to the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands with our friends. It's a long drive so I'm glad we had the extra company. 

We stopped for lunch in the town of Maleny at Colin James Fine Foods. We enjoyed some delicious aged cheddar and award-winning gelato at Colin James Fine Foods, but I didn't particularly like their service.

Afterwards, we arrived quite early so the boys had plenty of time to play a giant game of chess, climb around on some rusty old tractors and run around the field.

Have I mentioned how much I love old stuff? Farms have so much of it. I spotted an old wooden crate with a couple of old milk bottles sitting at the side of an old barn and I was so, so tempted to ask if I could take them home.

Ever since I told Caleb we were going to a dairy farm, he wanted to touch a cow. It was the only thing he wanted and he was so excited to see this gorgeous cow standing so close to the fence. He eagerly looked at me for permission to touch it and his face absolutely lit up when I said yes.

We toured the milk factory and saw where they process and package the milk into the different products they offer. The boys thought that was pretty cool.

It was a pretty chilly day so Caleb stuck pretty close to me and I loved every moment of it. I'm going to miss walking around with this little guy holding my hand.

The boys got to feed some chickens.

Caleb waited so patiently for his turn to brush the cow. I didn't think he would mind either way if he got to brush the cow or not, but he kept asking and really wanted a turn so we made sure he got a chance. He was over the moon!

Then, the boys got to feed a couple of baby calves. Boy, they were hungry! They would not let go of that bottle, even when it was empty.

And of course, we got to see where the cows are milked twice a day. I'm so glad the boys had this experience, even though their time with the animals was quite short. I think it'd be worth taking them on a farm stay in the future so they can experience real farm life!

This last picture here is for my sister. We have a bit of history with these cardboard cutouts and since it was her birthday the day we went to the farm, I thought it was appropriate to have the boys take this photo.