• catch the ferry to Manly (apparently this is THE thing to do on the weekend)
• see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from the harbour
• eat fish and chips followed by and ice cream at Manly.

Done, done and done :)  And we got to do all of the above with a great bunch of family and friends!

Lauren and Owen outside the Opera House

Captain Feathersword’s ship.  Well that’s what Owen thought anyway.

We snagged a spot in the shade and watched some of the surf carnival.

Owen couldn’t resist the lure of the ocean.

Playing in more water while we ate the required fish and chips.

What else would you have for lunch when at Manly???

Michael and Owen on the ferry.

Having an ice cream on the ferry back to Circular Quay.

Michael and Owen

While I’m not going to go into any detail about QRDS, I know she’s very good at what she does so please go and check out the new web site for more information.

What she really needs is a good Google search result, so please click on the link, then go back and click again to help her climb the Google ladder :)

This time twelve months ago…

A few of the Big Boys all sat around at our place for the entire day, ate lots of junk food, drank beer and watched the race.

Very blokey.

And Meegan, Mum, Jodie, Owen and I went to the Ginger Factory in Yandina for the day.

This year Rob Mac is at home watching the race in Wynnum, Queensland and Marc has transformed into a V8 couch potato for the whole day, with Owen is only company in Rouse Hill, New South Wales…

(Note:  Both Boys have their team shirts on for the race…  I will not let Marc go out in public with me in this shirt.  It may only come out once a year.  If he’s lucky!!)

Apparently it’s not as much fun watching it on your own.

Maybe next year the Big Boys will be back watching the race together again :)

I’ve just dumped all the photos on to my laptop and wanted to share a few with you all.  Can you believe I didn’t even get my camera out most of the time we were there so a there are a whole lots of pictures that should have been taken, but we were just too busy having fun that I forgot to capture many of those memorable moments!

A snippet of what we did while in Brisbane:

(this is mainly for my memory’s sake than for you to read!)

• The fireworks and maybe the last ever F1-11 dump and burn at Riverfire, Southbank.
• Lunch with Jode and Meegs for a girlie catch-up.
• A whole play day with Nic, Zac and new baby Emily (cannot believe I didn’t take one single picture of the newest, most beautiful addition to Nic and Shane’s family!!!).
• Morning tea with The Ladies (Jenny, Mum, Auntie Kay) and an appearance at Craft for Owen.
• Visit with Mia and Pa (AKA Bill and Wendy).
• Coffee at Chermside to see Amy, who used to spoil Owen every Wednesday morning with a baby chino and as many goodies as she could sit on his saucer – and he wasn’t disappointed this time either!
• Visit to see Carla and check up on her – she gets a good report from me :)
• A shopping day with Mum, Owen and Jenny.  We got to tick everything off the list, and Jenny is going to look fantastic at the wedding :)
• Owen baking cookies with Nana and Jode.
• A sleep over at Meegan and Rob’s on a kid weekend.  I packed Owen’s scooter so he could have a really good play with Sean and Karla while they were all together.  He made up for all the lost weekends since we’ve moved – his knees and elbows are never going to be gravel rash-free!
• Caught up with Jane and her son Jack, who Owen thinks is The Best Thing Ever, along with Mick, Sean and Karla :)
• Celebrated Father’s Day and Mick’s 30th Birthday, both on Sunday.
• Spent as much time as possible with Mick and Jode as they stayed at Hotel Carter as long as Owen and I did!
• Morning tea with more Ladies at My Style at Everton Park.  Awesome scones and they do a lovely High Tea package that I’d like to try next time we visit.
• Two uneventful plane trips with a three year old.  Worth mentioning because a few other passengers and flight staff commented on how well he behaved on both flights!  When you can and you’ve got kids with you, pay the extra and fly Qantas…  It was worth it for the extra leg room, in flight entertainment and special treatment for The Boy.

Owen was very angry (his words) yesterday afternoon when Meegs told him that she and Rob were going home the next day.  He told her that she could go home and go back to work and his best friend Wob had to stay here and play with him.  And that kind of sums up the MacLor’s visit from an Owen perspective.  Rob and Owen have had a blast the last few days, just doing what they do best.  Playing.

Now we are getting ready for tomorrow’s big adventure – Pre School!  All labeling has nearly been completed, bag almost packed and the new lunch box is ready to be filled in the morning.  Can’t wait to get there tomorrow!