iSonto #42
This week we are thankful for the family trip we took to the North of the state where we had all kinds of adventures! This trip was part of our "family celebration" of our fifth anniversary.
We visited the Don River railway where we all enjoyed a ride on a vintage diesel train.
On the way home we stopped at the "House of Anvers" Chocolate factory, a fun opportunity to sample their delicious wares, watch them make chocolates, and ride the "chocolate delivery truck".
Nate received a raspberry sorbet ice cream as a reward for being an excellent traveler on our three hour drive the day before, which was liberally shared . . . thus the dirty face!
We were thankful for the way the children loved both places we stayed. The first one had model train tracks galore, while the second one had fun animals to meet. Here is Nate, with Mercy's favourite "Doggy Benny". It was lovely to see her laughing and playing with this gentle dog.
Another good thing was coming up with a scheme for adult reading/relaxing time - swap children! We did family activities together but also swapped childcare.
Elnathan was a little daunted by the statue of John Glover, a painter whose prints hang in our home.
He was sweet about all our detours, including this one to see John Glover's grave at a quaint country church. He was the perfect traveler!
On a frosty morning there was lots of ice, which Elnathan added to his little rock garden.
He loved making roads for matchbox cars amongst the flowers. Here he is running to tell me about it! Sadly Nate also gained a leech in this patch, a much recounted event.
Mercy was happy whenever she was allowed out of the car. The remainder of the time we got by with wholemeal crackers regularly distributed to the back seat, music, and singing "Old MacDonald" together when things got really bad!
Mercy loves playgrounds. Here she is listening to an aeroplane go over one.
Mercy also enjoyed sea horse world, and seeing echidnas. These two centres are across from one another at Beauty Point.
A book we enjoyed together was "The Boy Who Changed the World", one of our gifts to the children for family celebration.
One funny moment was asking Mercy questions like "Are you bossy?" to which her reply is inevitably "yes"!
how exciting to do a family vacation....i love those times! Your children seem so secure and happy....a tribute to your parenting! I have a question for you: is "family celebration" a cultural thing that others do in your country or is it your own idea of celebrating your anniversary of the marriage?? i LOVE the idea and was telling my husband and daughters about it! God bless you!!!
Hello Faith, so sorry to take a while to respond! We got the idea of a family celebration from friends who also do it. They are the only other people we know who do it. We thought it was a great idea and adopted the tradition. Thank you for all your kind words!