Building Bears & Bowling......week-a-boo.

Saturday afternoon called for hot cocoa. It was rainy, dreary & muggy. It was definitely not cold.....but the look of the evening just yelled "Hot chocolate weather!!". So, my girl & I enjoyed a mug of sugary goodness. And it was gooooood. 

I'm totally over this rain! It has rained almost non-stop since the week of Ella's party. Our backyard is a sludgey mud pit, the local park is almost a swimming pool & when we drove past the beach yesterday; instead of seeing the usual horizon of aqua blues & glittery silver waves.....we saw a mush of chocolate coloured wash. Everywhere & everything feels damp and getting washing done is, well.....not really happening! OVER IT!

On Saturday, I was just about to loose it. I had cabin fever & it felt like the walls of our living room were closing in on me. Most of the time, I like the balance of homey weekends, where we do puzzles & make messes & squeeze in nanny naps in the afternoons. But not at the moment, I feel forced inside & I hate that. I really did not feel like doing yet another Dora puzzle or round of Princess Bingo for the 15th time.

Then Chris's parents called & said they were dropping in for lunch. Thank goodness! It broke up the afternoon perfectly & my cabin fever nicely dissolved. We enjoyed wine at 1pm.....because we can :) It was nice!

Somone wants to roll.

Sunday, we braved the wet, slippery roads & headed out as a family of 4, for our 'Annual Build A Bear Day'. We've been doing this around Ella's birthday every year since she was born.....a little tradition that we'll continue until she's too old & too cool for stuffed bears :)

Four Years - Four Bears.

It was kind of sad & kind of exciting at the same time, to see how much Ella has grown....even since this time last year. She hardly needed our help this time. She chose the toy, followed all the steps with little assistance & even typed the details onto the Bear's Birth Certificate at the computer! I guess that's another cool thing about traditions.....even though you're doing the same thing over & over again, it's still different; you get to see it in a different light, at a different stage, a different feel. It's refreshing & reassuring all at the same time. I love creating traditions & memories with my family.

Stuffing the bear, putting her heart & voice in and stitching her up. All while little brother looks on from his pram.

Grooming the new bear.

Creating the birth certificate.

The finished product.

Introducing our latest 'build a bear' member....CANDY!

And Ella paid for her herself, using some birthday present money :) Thanks Pa Ken!

Hmmm.....Mummy needs to iron more often I think :)

We then went upstairs to the Cavill Ave Timezone. It's basically a buzz of serious over-stimulation & chaos.....but a lot of fun, especially on a rainy day of forced inside play.

Chris got right into it :) Ella was a little overwhelmed by the noise at first, but then sister relaxed & had a blast! Ryder just looked around & took it all in from his pram....this boy likes to chill & observe :)

We played away the rainy blues!

And bowled.....

Not sure what's going on with these last 2 photos.....they were a nightmare to upload on here & now they look all blurry! Ah well. You get the general gist of the bowling experience. 

I love weekends :)

Now, to get ready for the busy week ahead.....sister is off to 3 full days of Kindy this week, Chris is having surgery on Wednesday, I've got some invitation & print orders to complete.....and a photo/blog project I'm kicking off on Wednesday :)

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Talking of prints.....

Have you seen my 2 new ones in the 'rainbow range'?......

Both available to buy HERE in my webstore.

Have a great week everyone.