Did you miss me?

... we're back from our first ever proper family holiday ... and it was fantastic! The kids travelled well, and coped with all the walking ... and most of all they had heaps of fun!

First stop was Melbourne to catch up with my brother and his family ... time was spent travelling on trains and trams, visiting Melbourne Zoo, Sunday markets at SouthBank and soaking up the atmosphere and festivies surrounding the AFL Grand Final which was played the weekend we were there. Well so much for the Grand Final, after those 4 forty minute quarters the game was a draw ... so rather than play extra time they had to play the whole game again the following weekend! How bizarre!

Kids opposite Flinders Station ...

Emma and artwork on the walls of an alleyway ...

Next stop was Surfers on the Gold Coast, we got a great little apartment right opposite the beach and spent a few days hanging out at DreamWorld/WhiteWaterWorld, shopping at HarbourTown, eating icecream, walking along the beach and soaking up the warmth! The weather wasn't super hot and there were a couple of good storms pass through while we were there - one major downpour hit when we were at the WaterWorld so didn't matter coz we were already wet!

And 'who lives in a pineapple under the sea' ... yes that would be SpongeBob Squarepants and his mate Patrick! The kids had fun meeting the characters and doing the rides at the park ... although Emma didn't enjoy a couple of the rides we bribed her on, but she loved the icecream afterwards!

The beach opposite our apartment ...

Now back to reality, another few days before the kids head back to school and then the crazy buildup to Christmas.

Will be back soon with some peeks at some layouts from the gorgeous Bella Blvd range of papers as part of my design work at SBO for this month.

Also a sketch challenge coming up on Friday from me ... best I sort that out tonight! ;)