Places We've Played These School Holidays

I was scrolling through my Iphone photos at all the places we've played these school hollies...


Whitfords City- McKinley and I met the winner of The Voice Australia!  We were just about first in line to meet Karise Eden.  She performed 3 songs, we got her autograph, and a picture taken with her.

Joondalup Country Club- Golf lessons for the older two on Saturday mornings.  How beautiful the course looked!

Perth Youth Theatre- McKinley spent one week in Perth Youth Theatre school starring as the wicked queen witch in their production of Snow White.  She was so amazing in her role that it made me cry (as mothers tend todo), you can check out the photos here.

Ikea- a great time for me and the boys after we dropped sister off at theatre school.  I loved looking around for design ideas while the boys romped around the room displays.  Too bad their ages weren't quite right for the free playland, I could have had a peaceful cup of coffee. 

Instead, it was $1 hotdogs and icecream with the boys!

  

Tokyo Underground- a shop in the city where the boys attended a Gundam model making workshop. Read all about it here.



Heathcote Park- The boys love "Pirate Ship Park", as they call it.  We hung out eating our thirty cent McDonald's cones one afternoon while sister was at theatre school.  It's a little drive to Applecross from where we live, but well worth it! 

The Beach House- An indoor playground for the boys near McKinley's theatre school.  Two hours in the morning was just the perfect amount of time before the place was packed.

Grand Cinemas- Mommy and Everest deserved a Mommy/Son date to the movies after a long week of entertaining Hagen by ourselves while McKinley was at theatre school. We saw Brave and we both gave it a thumbs up!

Mirror Park- We spent a record 5 hours playing with our new friends from South Africa.  We shared a picnic, played cricket, jumped rope, rode bikes on the "BMX" tracks, played tag on the play equipment, and chased after bubbles.

 The Bunny Breeder's House- We dropped Flip Flop off for her date, and had fun cuddling with all the big footed and wittle bitty baby bunnies. Read about breeding our bunny here.

Perth CBD- Lots to do in the city, despite the rain! Here's a whole post about our adventures riding the train, flying planes, joining the circus, and drooling over One Direction.

Bouncer's- McKinley's soccer team met here for a fun, indoor match.  Hagen had a blast kicking the ball between the courts.

Neil Hawkins Park- A soccer team BBQ after Bouncer's.  The girls were more keen to feed the birds than eat their sausages! 

Joondalup Climbing Centre- Climbing the walls here was a great excuse to call a new friend from Perth Youth Theatre. Be sure to read my blog post about it.

  

Fremantle Winter Festival- Ice Skating was fun, even in the sun!

Little Creatures- Our favorite table and our favorite beer.  We grabbed a table out on the back patio where the kids played in the sandpit while we enjoyed our Little Creatures Bright Ale.

Galaxy Drive In- Our last hoorah!  This just may be the best kept secret in all of Perth.  The Galaxy on Sunday night after church resembled some good old fashioned family fun.  We cuddled with blankets and pillows in the back of our car, and watched a double feature: Ice Age 4 and The Chipmunks.  It may have been just a little too cozy however, because mom and dad both fell asleep! :)

  After a couple of weeks like that and we need a vacation!  Off to Bali next week...
 

Photo courtesy of Grand Mirage Resort http://www.grandmirage.com/



City Playground Pass, Tokyo Underground, & Gundam

It seems whenever I am running out of steam and getting tired of the same routine every morning, I am blessed with a "school holiday".  I try not to plan too much in the first week, because it is so nice not to have to be anywhere.  We enjoy wearing our jammies (all day if we want), and playing video games, legos, jumping on the trampoline... etc., etc.  After just a couple of days of this however, we need something more!

We have made a habit of going into the Perth CBD (Central Business District) at least once during every school holiday.  They have so many terrific activities for kids!  I recommend picking up The City Playground Pass.  The pass can be collected from the i-City kiosk, and the City Playground Pass marquee, both located in Murray Street Mall (near the entrance to Forrest Place).  The passes come on a lariat that the kids wear around their necks.  My 2 year old son especially loves this, my 11 year old daughter not so much. 

Listed on the City Playground Pass is all sorts of kid friendly activities, tours, attractions, restaurants, discounts, and even some freebies. Last school holidays for example, we got two for one gelato scoops at one place, and buy one sausage roll/get one free from another.  Who can beat that?  The kids love when I say "yes" and spoil them with treats in the "city".

This week we discovered a place listed on the City Playground Pass that we hadn't heard about before.  It's a shop called Tokyo Underground that is filled with everything all my kids love.  Most of it, except for the Mario merchandise, was very foreign to me, but the kids seemed to be in the know.  It was fun looking at all the "stuff", but what really brought us in there was a FREE workshop on making a Gundam robot.  I had no idea what that was, but hey, it was free and they said I could bring my 2 year old to participate too!

For those, like me, who have no idea what a Gundam model is, here is a picture of our final product:

 Gundam Robot...He was so much fun to make!

I was lucky my 2 year old basically needed me to assemble the model for him, because it was so much fun to do!  My 9 year old son put the model together all on his own.  Not only was this activity fun, but research confirms that model kit making is good for the brain by "promoting blood circulation to the brain, thus enhancing brain activities."  BONUS! 

On the way out of the workshop, the very kind, helpful, patient volunteer pointed out the Gundam kits available for purchase in the shop.  I was pleasantly surprised to find several kits for sale for under $12.  We bought a couple of kits to assemble at home.  I have to say, Tokyo Underground was very generous in providing this free workshop.  I had two very happy little boys!