South Ballina....

Hi everyone....well holidays are over again and it's back into the daily
grind.  It always takes me awhile to get out of holiday mode.
We had a very relaxing time these holidays, and I even got to
spend a few child free nights with Nita up in Brisbane. We worked out it was
basically the first time we had spent any quality, not mumsy, time together
without any children, in about 18 years!!.  We had a grand time.   It's amazing
how different it is to have conversations without noise and interruptions!. 
We were very lucky to catch up with them again in Ballina, just for a night,
as we were on our way home after purchasing our new camper trailer!!
(yes, very excited about that one, I will post some pics soon).
So here are some photos of our (brief) day on the beach at South Ballina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ballina Village Park is a great place to take kids by the way....
We even got to see live music, and they have a great Kiosk and heaps of
things for the kids. Put that on your holiday list....x 

Slip, Slide & Sand Hills....

More slip 'n' slide action....

 

 

 

 

At the river we have this incredible sand hill.  It reminds me of the one we
used to climb up and run down at Straddie when we were kids, although
it's half as big.  But it is still high enough to get out the dune boards
and go sand surfing.  I sit and watch and pretend that I can hear
the rolling ocean and smell the salty sea air.

Slip 'n' Slide....

I hope you and your kids had this much fun also on your weekend.
Part 2 of this to come....so many classic photos! 

Isabelle....

 

Adorable April......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Adorable April @ 4 1/2 months old and her doting family.
....how blessed they are. x

My new lens / 24-70mm f2.8

I have had a very exciting week this week with the arrival of my new lens. 
I finally managed to part with the money and bought myself a second hand
Canon 28-70mm f2.8 lens that I have been dreaming of, for what seems like
a lifetime now...well a few thousand photos at least!!.  Agh, I was
getting so frustrated with my basic stock lenses....what I was seeing
in my head, was just not being reciprocated through the limited capability
of the lens, and it was SO darn frustrating!.  I researched buying
second hand lenses and it seemed a very viable option considering that
real photographers are always updating equipment, and they also know
how to look after it.  So I decided to stop dreaming and just go for it......


Can you tell the difference????!!!.  Yes, of course you can because it is
INCREDIBLE!!.  (sorry, still very excited here!).  Just look at the
clarity....and the bokeh....oh how dreamy......

Can you see the wisps of Summers hair?.....yes, of course you can, because that
is the difference between a quality lens and a not so quality lens!

 

And that tree was always so frustrating in my pictures of the kids playing
in the yard, it is so big and intrusive that you would wonder if I was
taking a picture of the tree or the kids !, but now...it just blends into a background,
*sigh*....

So, I'm am off to keep playing and learning
(with a VERY big smile on my face)! x
(thankyou Summer for being very obliging on this day)

Fathers Day....

Hi there all, hope you had a lovely Fathers Day and shared

a grand day with the men in your lives.  We took a 

drive to a little pub called the 'Brushgrove Hotel' which 

is on Woodford Island between Laurence and Grafton.

It was a great old pub with lot's of character right on the water.

We even got to share the day with our big girl.  Summer

bagsed (?) sitting next to Che..... you can't half tell how happy

she was by that smile, can you?  And Finny was chuffed

looking beside him and having his big sisters there!

This monkey was determined to climb the pole.

These two caught up on some sleep, typical teenagers!

We discovered this gorgeous old church called 'ST JUDES'.

It was precious, but not used anymore so very rundown.

Mitch is holding his hand to where we could see watermarks

from previous floods on the inside of the church.

We had a grand day.  It's always good to get out

and discover someplace new, isn't it?.