Marc had been talking about taking Owen to Cockington Green Gardens for ages.  Pretty much since we have been living in NSW.  So that was really the only thing that was on our Canberra To Do List.  Not that it really mattered, I’d never been to the ACT and Marc really couldn’t remember much of the place as he was very young the last time he visited.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is right next to Glebe Park and very close to pretty much everything.  The Wotif deal that we took included a hot buffet breakfast for the four of us on the Sunday morning which was really lovely.

On the way down to breakfast:

Marc:  Owen, what do you think you might have for breaky today?  You know there will be lots of things to choose from.

Owen: Hmmmmmm…  (very, very seriously) Just Weetbix this morning I think Dad.

That’s one way to waste a full buffet breakfast!!!!

Anyway, after a walk around the city on Saturday afternoon, we were freezing and getting hungry, so headed back to the hotel to thaw out, bath the boys and think about dinner.

Another short walk later, dinner was served – Nandos style.  We walked back to the hotel after dinner and watched Monsters v Aliens and had an early night.  Well, what did you think we would do?  We have two young children!  Owen got to stay up until past 9pm – that in itself was a treat for him.  Not to mention eating chocolates on the bed (this is where we apologise to Crowne for the chocolate on the white doona cover….)!

It would be great to go back another time without the kids though, there are heaps of great places to eat and lots of very cool kid un-friendly shops to browse!

On Saturday, after our reasonably leisurely and delicious breakfast, where Marc even got to flip through the newspaper almost in peace (a very rare treat!) we packed up, checked out and headed over to Cockington Green Gardens to check out the miniature villages.  Owen wasn’t so impressed to begin with, remarking that a drain in the walkway was exciting, but he warmed to the place very quickly…  As soon as he’d spotted the first model train to be exact!

We watched this particular train make it’s way round oh, about 20 times!

And there it is again…  Luckily there were more trains throughout the gardens.  Unluckily, Marc forgot to charge his camera battery the night before, and about half way round the park his battery died!  Really though, I think you get the drift of the place, lots of little houses and people and things, all surrounded by beautiful miniature gardens and of course a few model trains!

After nearly 3 hours of taking in all the little people, place and plants Marc and I were pretty much ready to go, but Owen wasn’t.  I think he could have stayed to play with the trains for at least a few hours more!  He has already asked to go back to Cockington Green on another day!

The “must have” item?  A Jolly Jumper.

Why?  IT KEEPS KIDS QUIET AND ENTERTAINED, even if they aren’t the kid in it.

Jodie and Cooper are down at the moment for a few days and Cooper was able to finally have a go in the Jolly Jumper.  Jodie is going straight home to get herself one.  Plus the stand for it.  And maybe even the activity mat for Cooper to bounce around on.  The boy happily stayed in it for over an hour on his first go (probably not recommended by the manufacturer, but why fix something that isn’t broken?).  I think we can safely say it’s a huge success!

]]> http://www.harveysathome.com/2009/03/owen-at-the-beach/feed/ 0 http://www.harveysathome.com/2009/03/meegs2-and-reuben/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meegs2-and-reuben http://www.harveysathome.com/2009/03/meegs2-and-reuben/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:28:08 +0000 Meegan http://www.harveysathome.com/?p=1570

He loved the water and the sand between his toes. 

Salamander Bay was a perfect, sheltered spot for both boys to have a bit of a splash!  

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.

So far we have ticked a few people off our People to See List, and there are more getting marked off today.  I’ve had to add all the visiting into my faithful Google calendar so I don’t forget who we are going to see and on what day!  Auntie Jode and Uncle Mick have taken up residence at Hotel Carter as well, so poor Mum and Dad have a very full house at the moment! 

There’s too much on to update the blog properly right now, so I’ll have to get back to you all, hopefully with some photos as well when we go back to “the new house”, as Owen calls it.  Me?  I’m slowly calling it Home :o)  It’s definitely a lot quieter at the new house than Hotel Carter, that’s for sure.  But I think that may have something to do with the clientel it attracts!!!