Tales of an Ordinary Life

Now the days are getting longer we find we are spending longer and longer time in the back yard. Since getting the new animals the kids are busting to go outside as soon as they get home no more asking to watch Tv. They have been tremendous in helping to care for the animals and keeping Xena the dog in check when she tries to round up the chickens. Often we are not wandering upstairs till 6.30pm and then it is help what's for dinner and quick hop in the bath for the kids. Yesterday we had this massive storm come over and it was so spectacular to watch it roll in over the ridge. Unfortunately I got soaked on my way to pick up the kids from school.

These are a collection of photo's taken for my 365 day challenge over the past few weeks - some are great and others are not. I must admit I am starting to see what my passion is for and that is nature photography be it landscapes or a gorgeous flower. I don't what it is but the composition of these types of photo's come so much more naturally to me. But when you look what is around you it is hard to not get inspired.

I am slowly settling into my 365 day photo challenge. Some days it is difficult to get to take a photo due to life. so I have decided to take a photo from my back step that over looks the neighbourhood. It will be interesting to see the changes in the environment over the year. At the moment all the beautiful Jacaranda's are out in flower. Anyway enjoy....

"Please Mummy can I take a photo" is a familiar cry around our house from the kids. I am a bit reluctant at times to hand over my precious DSLR (thoughts of the lens hitting the ground run through my head) but I know how they love to create images. So yesterday I pried my fingers from the camera and gave the kids a chance to have a go - so here are their efforts.

Lily Harriet (blue band) Rainbow Magic (purple Band) Sparkle Charlie Over the past week we have had a few new additions to the family, 2 guinea pigs and 3 chickens. The kids have all thought up names for our new additions - the guinea pigs are Charlie and Sparkle and the chooks are Rainbow Magic, Lily and Harriet. We were quite delighted to receive our first egg yesterday courtesy of Harriet. At the moment the Kids are really enjoying helping to looking after them. Lets hope that continues. Our dog has accepted the new members of the family but does like to bark at the chooks if they do not notice her. I thought I would include an up to date photo of our little vegie patch. It has been really productive, thanks to all the rain we have been getting but unfortunately that brings forth all the weeds as well.

Well I am now a month into this photo challenge and I am happily still going. But I thought it was time I share some images. Some I am happy with and others are rather ordinary but isn't that life.

I have finally sat down to write about our trip to Sydney last week. We decided to take the whole family down to Sydney for 4 days last week as the kids had been asking us for a while if we could go to Sydney. We only told them a couple of days before we were about to go and they were so excited - "you're the best mum and Dad" was uttered more than once. There were so many highlights - uneventful flights, seeing venus from a 130 year old telescope, watching the delight on the kids faces when they see the Sydney Opera house for the first time, seeing the industrial history of Cockatoo Island, retracing the steps of the children's book Alexander's Outing just to name a few. Last time I went to Sydney I was 7 weeks pregnant with Isabella so in some ways it was precious to take her back there as a 7 year old. After this holiday I really encourage anyone to think outside the box when visiting a popular tourist spot cause the unexpected delights we discovered made the t...