School holidays and the kids!

Well it certainly does seem to be a remarkable long batch of school holidays we are having this year! It's only mid January and were all stir crazy already! Ken has taken the boys on an overnight trip to the bush for camping, there was a lake there so they were able to take the kayaks. We have 2 aduly kayaks and a kids one, Rylan at 8 is finally ready to be able to use the kids one, and Jordan is perfectly capable of using the adult one.

Today I was especially challenged as yesterday we hired a small digger to improve the drainage outside and unfortunelty it rained all day! this resulted in pretty much half the backyard being turned into a slushy mudpit and the entire driveway is no longer granite sand for that quaint cottage look but rather looked like a mud wrestling ring. A really large one!

Anyway 3 young boys stuck in the house today after days of non stop rain and now even when it does stop whilst they would be happy to play in the mud and trust me it was the first place they headed yesterday I am however not as keen!

So today we decided to find some indoor activities and this is what we came up with making crystals, constructing a volcano, painting wrapping paper, painting some small canvases and cooking.

The boys had these volcano and crystal kits from a few Christmas past! We had never gotten around to it, they definately took my time toowhich was fine although I was hoping for a little more time to get stuck into my tax it did give me enough time to do some Centrelink paperwork while they came in asking me various questions. I found the Crystals kit was particularly useful for teaching Jordan a few things about fractions and measurements.
Unfortunely I had some involement with the volcano making and set the vault par in the middle incorrectly which means no pouring bi carb and vinegar wo get the lava, however Rylan took it in his stride and said "no problem we shall still paint it and call it a sculpture" I could possibly drill a hole through the top bit and make it work but I am pleased he took it so well!

Some other activities that have kept us busy over the holidays have been;

Visiting the Library - they always like re-newing their books plus the libary has a gameboy - we don't!
A trip to the Botanical Gardens - we also went and had a look at the Robert Clark Centre which has a different arranged flower theme each season;

http://www.ballarat.com/botanicgardens/gardens/thecon.htm

A play at the Lake, they have an awesome playground and fantastic seats to sit at and catch up on reading!

We also had a picnic at the garens and the boys took their cricket set.

Lego that rocks!!

A ride on the Mountain bikes - we all have Mountain bikes and finally this year at pretty much the same age as the other boys Kyan has removed his training wheels! So he is totally free as to where he can ride and is a brilliant little rider! Keeps up and never complains that the trips is too far. We often go to the Eureka play group which is an all off road trip along the old railway line track or along Nerinna Wetlands.

http://www.melbourneplaygrounds.com.au/melbourneplaygrounds-info.php?id=22476

http://www.wendoureebreakfast.org.au/index.php/projects/nerrina-wetlands

Sometimes we just have days in the garden, I potter and they play but goodness that has been a challenge of late with all this rain. I have to say I have enjoyed the sleep ins on these holidays but the 3 boys are a hugely energetic and noisy and full on so my best tactic is to keep them as busy as possible!!! We have also been to the movies but this really is a rare event i
t's costly although we sneak our own food in as a family it's still a good $60 to even get into the movie!

Ken will soon be on holidays and we are looking foward to a small trip to Maldon and some camping at Beaufort!