Australia Day - Balnarring Cup

Yesterday was Australia Day - a day the Nation celebrates annually which commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788. We have a public holiday to celebrate the day and the same day is shared by the Balnarring Cup - the big horse race for the picnic racing season at Balnarring Picnic Racing Club.

So we packed up the trailer with shelters, tables, chairs, food and grog and headed down to the races for another relaxing day watching the horses run and catching up with family and good friends.

The day started out quite cold and overcast....

Bacon and eggs for breakfast once we were all set up.



Everyone started to arrive, cricket was played, chatting and catching up, face painting, lollipops, some drinks (of course) and now and then there was a horse race !


























As far a winning riches on the nags - that didn't happened but it was a good day!!

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

The Balnarring Cup

WOW yesterday was a great day..... just the four of us went to the picnic races for the Balnarring Cup and also for Australia Day. It was planned so that we could spend a few more hours of quality time just the four of us considering next week school starts and routine returns!

Dressed suitably (well we thought so) we headed to the racecourse and set up camp for the day.

This year we took the weber and had a leg of lamb planned for lunch. Funnily enough we haven't been roasting in the weber recently (using the direct heat method to BBQ foods) and therefore actually left the lid at home... no fear though we managed to cook our leg of lamb even if the weber looked like a space ship!! LOL!! We ended up with roast lamb and gravy rolls. Didn't want to chance trying to cook vegetables as well but overall it was really good.

This year we were further down the fence line... I couldn't believe how many people were there before us and we got there at 9.30am. It worked out good though as for one of the races they started right in front of us and that was brilliant.

As far as become rich from the nags - well once again that didn't happen but we did catch up with friends, Jason and Nerida. I cannot remember the last time we saw them so that we great to see them again. Also saw Pete and Tanya from the football club as well as Michelle, another football mam.

We couldn't really complain about the weather yesterday. Really nice in the morning but then the wind picked up, and of course that coupled with the sun meant we all got a little burnt even though we had sunscreen on.

The Balnarring Cup Day is always such a busy day - a great atmosphere and well worth making the trip down the Penninsula if you want a great family day out.

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Irresistable......

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Who could resist these two??? I know that I cannot!! But I am being a little one-sided I think.

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These photo's were taken down at the Balnarring Picnic Races on Australia Day (Jan 26th). Thankfully the weather was nice but not as hot as it was the days to follow.... reaching +40 deg C is not my kind of a joke!!
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I cannot believe my little man is now 10 turning 11 in March. He is in his final year of primary (junior) school and very cheeky but not as cheeky as his sister! It's a strange time at the moment as he is growing. There is that hint of modesty, you know "mam don't look" or closing the bedroom door to get changed, putting on deoderant before getting dressed and then there is the lovingness and innocence of him still being a child. He is begrudgingly playing U11's football this year, but I am not sure if he doesn't want to play or it's the fear of being able to tackle that's worrying him. I believe it to be the later but I am sure he will confide in either Noel or myself soon. He has a newfound love of tennis and wants to do that, so that's an option to look into I suppose.

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Alex on the other hand will be turning 7 in March but one, would at times, think she has been here before or a hell of a lot older!! She is nothing short of being a little chatterbox, even talks and giggles in her sleep. She is starting to develop a love of cooking.. definately follows in mine and Noel's footsteps and forever wants to help out around the house (another good thing!) Alex will also be playing junior football as well this year in the U9's and I think secretly she is excited at the whole concept though she denies it. She has done 3 years of Auskick and excelled.
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Overall it should be an exciting year ahead for them and for us as parents.....

Well we have been quite busy.......

Wow cannot believe that I haven't posted here for a few days.... have you missed us? LOL!! We have been quite busy as a family as you will see and to be honest none of us have really been near the computer at all.

Saturday we babysat Taila and Mitchell, our friend's children. They were moving house, Noel helped with the actual move but I thought it would be really helpful to have the kids overnight to give them a little more freedom to sort out the boxes etc. I love moving house but it such a stressful time really. Anyway several DVD's later we had Homemade Pies with Wedges for dinner..... all the kids excited by this idea, especially when I told them they could make up their own pie!

Sunday, started with Lemonade Pancakes being requested by our kids, which was great as budding chef Alex taught Taila how to make them - yes they really are that easy. These went down a treat, infact neither Noel or myself got one and ended up having poached eggs on toast instead! The kids were picked up early afternoon so for the rest of the day we just enjoyed ourselves as a family of four, which was really nice. We did have Chinese Roast Pork for dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year... served with a salad and rice paper we made our own rice paper rolls. YUM! A nice easy dish to prepare and the kids love making their dinner up themselves.

Monday was a day at the Picnic Races in Balnarring and also Australia Day. Needless to say, as usual, it was a food fest even though only six of us went this meeting. We took a bbq chicken, salad and some bread rolls. Noel's mam brought party pies and sausage rolls. I also made a huge platter of fruit so that was nice and refreshing.

Tuesday (Noel and I both had a RDO) was meant to be relaxing but overall turned out to be not only a busy day but a warm one. In fact it was the start of our heatwave that we are having here in Victoria. I cannot believe that it was 43 deg C yesterday, 43 deg C today and forecast much the same for tomorrow. We picked up the kids school books which I must say cost us almost $600, did a little bit of grocery shopping and then got the dent in my car bumper assessed by the panel beaters. My car is now booked in to be repaired on March 2nd and will be in the panel beaters for two days.... two days without my car all because some idiot decided to hit my stationery vehicle (with my hazard lights on I must add) while driving with her dog jumping around in her car!! Not happy at all!!

I have spoken to Mam a few times since she left - I miss her like crazy and I am really glad (and grateful) that she is planning to come to Melbourne in April for Noel's 40th birthday. I am planning a party which will probably be at home and more than likely a spit roast. Hopefully I will be able to round up a few of his older friends that he hasn't seen for awhile to surprise him with but we will see. I do however know that I need to pull my finger out and start organising it!

The house is quiet again at the moment as the kids have both gone to Noel's parents for the last few days of the school holidays. School goes back on Monday and I must say I am so looking forward to getting back into our normal routine. Plus I hate having to farm the kids out left, right and centre due to both of us working. But what can we do? It's the government's fault.. I mean we are entitled to 4 week's paid holiday leave per year but the kids get 12 weeks off school?? Go figure!!

Enough rabbiting on ...... more adventures to go and have!