Laws and Crooks Conquer Victoria 2017 - Day Three

With the sweet deal we got for Sovereign Hill yesterday we got free entry today. Last night the Laws and Crooks were throwing around ideas of what we wanted to get up to (more 9 pin bowling, checking out the rock crushing machine, seeing how rock candy is made, panning for more gold, making our own candles, more wagon rides... Def one of the greatest sausage rolls in the county for lunch...) So much still to do and only a few hours in the morning to do it.
Unfortunately we awoke the next morning with a dark and drizzly sky and one sick chick. These two factors both told us to get out of Ballarat and on our way to our next stop, Beaconsfield where a magical palace awaited our arrival... BB and Roh and family have been amazing in allowing us to use their beautiful home as a base for pretty much the whole time we are spending over in Victoria. This places us wonderfully close to so many family fun activities, puts us (the Laws) in an environment that we have found ourselves in and gives the Laws and Crooks enough space that we can both mingle and have separate family time if and when we choose all under the same roof. The perfect space for the perfect holiday.

With rain and upset tummy talk hurrying us along all those ideas for the morning needed to be placed on the back burner. Come June/July next year we may decide (foolish as it sounds) to tackle the Ballarat winter and have our free entry to Sovereign Hill then. A trip back to Medieval Land (aka Kryal Castle) might also be on the cards as a special birthday treat. Instead it was back on the road again and onto the M1 for 80 odd Ks until the C101 came into sight and we entered familiar territory. Now as I type this we are all recovering from our 2 hour plus car trip plus a trip to Fountain Gate Shopping Center for a couple of odds and ends (curse you Kmart!) I have seen that the shopping complex has Gold Class cinema. I am certain that there is something my beautiful Miss H and I are itching to see... Maybe a cider and some cheesy nachos while watching Thor and The Hulk battle it out. Cannot wait for date night in style...

I must make comment here though that we are finding the Victorian roads to be terrible (bumpy, rough and many potholes) and the Victorian drivers all seem to see drizzle, storm and wet and wild weather to be an excuse to take up a death wish. I lost count just how many times we got cut off, almost got hit and I know there was at least one time coming back from Fountain Gate that we saw one ute run into the back of another one. Funny to see all the cars waiting to pull in to a sweet looking school (def private) and all the other cars in the 3k line up indicating they wanted out the line (not there for school pickup, just got caught in the wrong lane at the wrong time). Even when we didn't see anything there was plenty to see...

I wonder what tomorrow has in store...

Laws and Crooks Conquer Victoria 2017 - Day Two

With Sovereign Hill just up the hill from the super awesome Big 4 Goldrush caravan park it made perfect 'cents' to us to take the Crook family back in time to the 1800s... Back home we have a historic settlement called Old Tailem Town. A great museum which shows what life was like for people living in the local area around the same time. Where Old Tailem Town differs is the history (riverboat vs gold rush) and the money invested (Tailem is pretty good but Sovereign Hill is laid out over a large area, has paid employees and volunteer staff, has lots of stores where you can purchased food, souvenirs, memories...) Our kids enjoyed experiencing an open carriage wagon ride, mine tour, scones with hot chocolate, so many things we loved doing last year. We also found the time to play nine pin bowling, purchase a fan or two and find out so much more about the history of gold mining in the local area. Seeing a $100,000+ bar of gold get smelted was a real highlight from the day and we have a list of experiences we want again when we get to go back for a few hours tomorrow. Then of course is it back on the road, headed south as we have a house to sit. Hoping that our amazing friends BB and Roh and the kids are having a brilliant o/seas experience someplace much (much) warmer... Many thanks for your incredible generosity. Laws and Crooks are on the road again...

Laws and Crooks Conquer Victoria 2017 - Day One

What an epic beginning to what promises to be a wonderful few weeks of amazing family memories. The Laws are taking the Crooks under their wing and heading over the boarder... Look out Victoria the party of nine are here...

Day one has seen a very (very) early beginning, hitting the road soon after 7:30am with the first stop Keith and the delicious delights of the bakery there followed quickly by a trip to the playground and its frightful rollercoaster. Our kids love that flat tray shocker and were extremely excited about introducing their younger cousins to the thrills and horrors of flying along at the speed of light with only your wits and utter luck to keep you safe and secure. The silos at Coonalpyn drew all of our attention as we drove past, sadly the drizzle and our time schedule kept us from pausing and truly admiring the majesty of such art.

Next stop was Horsham for lunch. Inbetween we saw all the wonderful little country towns flash by. I made sure I did not blink as we passed through Yumali, a sweet, tiny town where I am fairly sure my Aunty and Uncle once looked after the Post Office. Lunch was Maccas, quick, easy and filling, the best lunch when you are on the go with a long drive still ahead... Then the beauty of the Grampians mountain range and loads of roadworks a wonderful drive on a half decent freeway a brief pause after Aararat to change drivers and finally the last stretch to finally arrive at Ballarat, our home away from home for the next few days.

What a way to spend a birthday, and yet we still managed to make the day for my very beautiful wife a special one. It was topped off with dinner at the Ballarat Pancake Kitchen. When we ate there last year the poor staff were swamped when we arrived (five of us) since there were also a dozen or so callistenics teams that decided the same night to eat there... Our tea this time was a breeze... I phoned ahead and booked a table for nine and just so happened to mention that we had a birthday girl with us. Even though there was a slight mix up with meals the food was utterly delicious, the trainee gave us exceptional service and there was a lovely scoop of vanilla icecream with sprinkles and a candle for the birthday girl served up at the very end. Even though a sign at the cash register clearly stated that the restuarant can't split bills they were more than happy to calculate our individual totals... A great end to a full on day...

Laws and Crooks Conquer Victoria 2017

This is it! A crazy idea that two families head over the South Australia / Victorian boarder and see just what adventures and family memories they can make together. The Law and Crook family get along so well ever since Hicksy and I were thick as thieves in late High School and well... Then we married sisters...

I will attempt to blog our fantastic fun so you can share in our adventures...

Watching a tiger catch flies

Ahhhhh Sunday... Glorious, sunny Sunday... A lazy day after a BIG night with friends and family and our entertainer for the afternoon just so happens to be the stripy, orangy tiger Ginger... His stalking fly technique has brought a smile to all of our faces... Go Ginger! Catch those flies!!

Traaaa Laaaaaa Laaaaaa!!! AND Ninja-Go!!!

The school holidays are normally a great opportunity to checkout the latest offerings in kids (family) films. These October holidays have proven to be no exception. Earlier in the week my wonderful wife, Miss H took our two girls (Miss 10 and Miss 7) to the Shopkins Movie while I took Master 11 to see the LEGO Ninja-Go film... Verdict on these, enjoyed heaps by the kids but not so much by Mum and Dad. I can't say much about the Shopkins movie (thankfully not something I had to suffer), my experience with the Ninja-Go film was that it was no LEGO Batman... I've been spoilt with humour, action and fun where it comes to LEGO movies in the past. For me the tale of Lloyd and his friends did have humour, action and fun but not in the spades we have seen in the past. There are so many other family films coming soon which I think will be more entertaining (e.g. the second Paddington film).

Today we had a family outing to our local cinema to see The Captain Underpants movie. A few out loud laughs by lots of silly smile moments. A great recreation of some very silly stories. I have loved reading the Captain Underpants books with my son and it was great to be able to watch these books come to life on the big screen. A great morning out and a great way to start what looks to be a fun weekend ahead...

Just an average Friday trying to save the world one city at a time...

Friday regular day off from the library as I am working the weekend. Normally date day but this Friday is school holidays. Difficult to have a moment or two with the girl I love when our house is full to bursting with kids... Last night we had three extras with Master 11, Miss 10 and Miss 7 each having a friend overnight. Today though for a rock painting activity day we added my two nieces, two more (family friends) plus extras creating what seemed like a cast of thousands of little smiling faces. The perfect time to leave the amazing mums to it...

Instead I zoomed off to my brother-in-law, the king of board games. The board game for today was Eldritch Horror, a Cthulu Mythos based game where investigators traverse the globe in an attempt to prevent the return of one of The Old Ones... It is a long game to play but full of little challenges each challenge with its own pitfalls and rewards, characters can die on a couple of poor dice rolls but in the long run there is a chance of final success (on the most basic level anyway). I have really enjoyed exploring the various Cthulu (H. P. Lovecraft) themed games Ben has been acquiring. Not your normal go around the board affair... In fact so much more...

A great way to spend a Friday but unfortunately I needed to take off when we (Ben, Matt and I) were about half way through. I returned home to discover a happy household of friends and family, some beautifully coloured rocks and a very successful afternoon.

No sleepovers tonight! A fun filled weekend ahead...

Strange Magic not the Strange film I expected

Just in case we had a bit of bad weather on our trip to Meningie Miss H and I raided our local library and grabbed some DVDs we hoped the kids would enjoy. One of the nights away we watched a film about kids lost in the wild with a heroic dog companion but the other night we stumbled upon a great animation called Strange Magic... The story is fun with a bit of darkness but what really made this movie great for me, Miss H and the kids was the way pop songs were woven into the film. This was a great family film which entertained us all... 9 out of 10...

Thanks Meningie for a great weekend

A long weekend is a great opportunity to escape normal life and take the family to somewhere new... My darling Miss H was wonderful enough to organise a fun filled escape for Team Law to the beautiful country town of Meningie. We were directly across the road from a great park and playground and found lots of chances to take lovely family walks and even a (poorly chosen perhaps) chance to dip our feet in Lake Alexandrina.

Such a fun time away and so many wonderful family memories and we even came home with a computer chair from the RSL garage sale... Thank you Meningie for a great weekend...