Holiday Activities - on the Gold Coast

The great thing about living on the Gold Coast is not only the great range of things we have to do locally, but the easy access we have to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.  There's so many things I "keep meaning" to do with the kids, that I decided to put together a list...cause you know how some days, no matter how hard you try, you just can't think of anything to do?

Hoping you find my little list of school holiday activities helpful too!

Things we plan to do these holidays...
1. Queensland Museum at Southbank - I wanted to take the kids here over Christmas but it was closed for refurbishments. So this is first on the list for these holidays.  I love Southbank too, nice to have a walk with the kids through the grounds - last time we were there we even went on the Brisbane Eye!

Sitting up top on the Brisbane Eye

2. Ride on a Ferry - might sound silly, but riding a boat is something my kids don't get to do, and they were so excited to do it last time we went to Brisbane. Makes for nice and cheap entertainment :)

3. Railway Museum - we took the kids there when Alex was only 3 and Jasper was just a bub, and the Thomas exhibition was on. They loved it, and with my boys being train fanatics, we thought it worth another visit.  Hoping they won't be too disappointed Thomas isn't there?

4 Scooter & Bike riding - being 3 and 6 they both have a handle on wheeled sports now, Alex got his first "big boy" bike for his birthday last week (with trainers) and Jasper is a gun on the scooter. So there'll be a few trips to the Broadwater (lovely long flat pathways for riding).

Jasper on his scooter

5.  See the "Mummies" - I'm so looking forward to seeing this exhibition! I remember seeing the King Tut exhibition as a child in Melbourne (many moons ago); it sparked a life-long love of ancient history.  As Alex tells me he'll be an archeologist when he grows up, he's keen too! 

Credit for this image

6. Make the most of our VIP Passes before they expire.   Twice to Seaworld this week, and we're well on the way to that goal.  Check out this awesome shot I got on my dodgy/somewhat busted iphone...

7. Take a train ride - boys will be boys, and mine love trains. We've been promising them for ages that we'd take them for a ride on the train to Brisbane, so we'll do that when we go to Southbank.  They're very much looking forward to their train ride :)

8.  Get creative! Both my boys have recently taken a liking to being creative & crafty, which suits the crafter in me!  We've done some "$2 shop shopping", stocking up on crafting supplies on the cheap so we can get stuck into it.  I've got an old tablecloth I plan to lay on the grass in the yard tomorrow, set everything up, and just let them go nuts! Much better outdoors than in I think...

Playdoh monsters we made last week - creative doesn't HAVE to be messy

And that is about the end of my school holiday activities list for now! I think that will be more than enough to tick off, especially considering my kids are home-bodies at heart (when I asked what they'd like to do tomorrow I got told "trampoline" and "sandpit"..lol).

Night all, sweet dreams to your own little school holidaying munchskins x

Cass xo

Planting a bromeliad garden...

we built out house two years ago and found out upon moving in that the $20k landscaping package we "added-on"...didn't actually include plants - doh!

what we have instead is a backyard 19m across, with two layers of retaining walls, so a total of almost 40m wide garden beds that need planting out. it's pretty barren at the moment...(excuse the lattice, it was part of our Side Show Alley for Alex's circus party last weekend).

2 layers of retaining wall, needing planting out

after a few failed attempts at planting it out (we tend to just get the whole area weed-free before the rain starts again, and the weeds pop back), we now decided to stage the process. we've decided to work on little sections at a time, filling it with low maintenance tropical plants.  the first area is my "bromeliad station" I started on today.  as these plants can be expensive, and we have quite a large area to fill, a little call to mum & dad was in order (they have quite a few bromeliads).  next day dad arrived with a carton of "pups" from their plants, that I've been growing in pots for the last couple of months.

Bromeliad pups growing, with some rhoeo (I also got from my parents garden)

today was the day to start putting these guys in the ground. the weather was awesome, the kids were happily playing on the trampoline - perfect! so in they went...

I've planted a row of red/green ones at the front, with some pink/green ones behind. once they grow up and bulk out they should look good. behind I'm popping in some xanadu and cordyline, with a majestic palm in the back corner.  i think next time though I need a longer pair of garden gloves, cause this is what my arms look like this afternoon....

OUCH!!! (when bromeliads attack, lol)

Wishing you well with your gardening efforts this weekend!


Cass xo