When the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic hit our shores in Western Australia in March this year, we soon realised just how “small” our world is. Not only did we gain a better appreciation of how something that starts on the other side of the world can have a huge impact on us. But it’s also more evident how having to reduce contact with people, aka social distancing, can shrink our world.

In terms of the immediate effect it had on our little family, we had to substantially change plans for Lily’s 10th birthday party in late March. Instead of a sizeable indoor lazer-tag party, we had to change it to a very low-key outdoor water-gun party at the local school oval. Luckily it was a warm day. Later that same day, additional social distancing rules came into effect which meant even tighter restrictions. So in retrospect we were very lucky to be able to have the “plan b” birthday party.
As the months went by, Western Australia ended up enjoying very few restrictions while many parts of Australia and the rest of the world were hit hard by the pandemic.
With a hard border lockdown across our WA border, we can enjoy everything that our amazing State has to offer – for now (and we’re holding our collective breaths, hoping we don’t have any outbreaks). And it turns out that this forced “inward gaze” has made us all realise just how much WA has to offer!

A popular way to discover WA has been through camping trips and us Sandgropers have taken up this travelling option like it’s a sport. Our most recent camping trip was to the Ningaloo Coast which is a World Heritage Site. It contains the Ningaloo Reef along a 260km stretch, making it Australia’s largest fringing coral reef and the only large reef located so close to land.
All we had to do was swim a few strokes out and we were surrounded by beautiful corals and their tenants – fish, fish, glorious fish!
We initially had some very windy days, which forced us to relocate from Yardie Station, near the Cape Rane into the RAC Exmouth caravan park. Once the wind settled, we had some amazing snorkeling days at Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stacks. Lily was very happy to have a nice thick wetsuit, as was I, so we could stay in the water a bit longer (the water can be a bit cold at this time of year).

On our last night we did a sunset cruise that was absolutely stunning. The water was dead calm, which meant the whales were a bit sleepy and didn’t make much of an appearance for us. But despite that, it was glorious to just be out on the calm water and spot turtles, dolphins, some distant whale tails and even a swordfish that we caught dozing on the water’s surface.
It’s an amazing part of the world and I feel blessed that we have this in our extended “backyard”.
I can’t wait to return next year, and hopefully we can have a swim with the whale sharks.

For Lily’s 9th birthday, Lily had a stretch limousine party. I came up with the idea and Lily helped out with the planning. Miraculously, she was able to keep the party theme a secret from her friends until the moment the limousine rolled up to our house. The collective screams of excitement from the 12 girls was ear splitting! We toured around the foreshore, first stopping at South Perth and then Elizabeth Quay for photoshoots, with out final destination at Kings Park where we had a picnic and cake. The girls loved the superstar treatment and they hammed it up with their feather boas and fascinators. Happy Birthday Darling Daughter! You mean the world to me. xxoo

Lily, me and my hubby recently spent some holiday time at Dongara/Port Denison, which is about 3 hours north of Perth. We stayed at the Seaspray Caravan Park which is in Dongara and spent a lot of time at the local beaches including the one shown in this photo which is just south of Dongara.  The caravan park was more of a glamping experience rather than “roughing it” as we had our own ensuite bathroom near our patch of grass. It made tent camping a lot easier and more comfortable. Our original intention was to do bush camping east of Esperance but the weather was going to be horrible in the Esperance area so hence we drove north instead. We do intend going bush camping again sometime soon.

We were able to take our puppy Schnitzel with us on the camping trip. Schnitzel is a miniature schnauzer that we added to our family in late September when she 8 weeks old. She was born August 2 2018 and she has been a great addition to our family, but she is most definitely a lot of hard work. Lily had been bugging us to get a dog for a few years and I finally made the commitment last year (2018). Lily has been quite good with keeping up her end of the bargain to be involved in taking her for regular walks and toilet breaks and playing with her. Lily still wishes she had a sibling but well, this is the next best thing. Here’s a sunrise photo at the beach at Dongara near our camping place.

Ever since Lily’s 6th birthday, she’s been planning for her 7th. The days just can’t go quickly enough for her. Meanwhile they can’t go slow enough for me. I don’t want her to grow up so fast but like she keeps telling me, she can’t help that and damn it she’s right.

So her 7th birthday steam rolled ahead and before I knew it I was saying farewell to my little 6 year-old one night and singing happy birthday to my 7 year-old the next morning.

She was so excited about turning a year older she could hardly sleep. And she was even more excited about her birthday party on the weekend when we would have seven girls for a slumber party. Yes, I know, hubby and I must be crazy but despite moments of chaos, seeing this bunch of girls have so much fun made it all worthwhile.

I think the winning formula for the event was making sure we had an itinerary, keeping the girls busy and letting them know what the plan was. Changing up the venue when we went on an “excursion” also helped, so they didn’t go stir crazy in the one location. And of course letting them know who was boss so that they understood this was no Lord of the Flies experiment was key as well.

First we had game time – Twister and Apple Dunking which ended up like a backyard bath which they loved. Then some free play time in Lily’s upstairs studio which sounded more like a competition of who could screech the loudest. Then icecream birthday cake and opening of presents.

We then changed venues, walking to a nearby nail salon where the girls were treated to a mani-pedi spa treatment. It was more like a mini tornado swept through the salon, with other customers looking at us parents with a combination of sympathy and admiration.

Dinner was right next door at an Italian restaurant where the girls inhaled pizzas before we walked back home.

Somehow I managed to shower 7 girls in under 25 minutes – one of my proudest mummy moments I reckon. The girls then settled down to watch Sing, a movie Lily chose beforehand so there was no 15-minute debate about what to watch.

Then it was off to La La Land – slumber time. And guess what – after their busy schedule and no sugar since the afternoon birthday cake, those girls drifted off within half an hour.

The next morning the girls were treated to pancakes, bacon and maple syrup – a good old fashioned Canadian breakfast. Then we played a couple more games including musical statues. Before pick up time we walked up to a nearby park for a play so by the time we got home, parents were already arriving.

It was one of the easiest parties to organise and host but yes, it definitely required a focused parenting “presence”. And hats off to all those parents who have more than three similar ages kids. To do that every day would require so much effort. Our little one night effort just wouldn’t compare but I’m still chalking it up as a victory.

Now I guess we start planning for the 8th birthday party but in the meantime I want to enjoy having a 7 year old for as long as I can.

Check out The Weekend West Australian‘s travel section, June 20-21 2015, where there’s a travel story I’ve written about the trip I made with Lily to Europe last year. I think I make a convincing case for why it’s worth taking a four-year-old on a four-week European adventure. Now we’re trying to decide where to go to next. Any ideas?

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/travel/a/28500708/a-trip-of-a-lifetime-with-a-four-year-old/

While I was preparing another batch of marmalade on the weekend, Lily got busy painting – one of her all time favourite activities. This is her first effort at a marmalade painting for our pretend marmalade shop. Three giant jars of marmalade sitting under our orange tree with a ladder to the side. She’d pick oranges every day if she could.

Her other favourite activity is being a joker. Here’s a little video of her in the process of making her marmalade painting. Listen to how she describes the marmalade – a classic case of “kids say the darnedest things!”. Check out the separate page called “Lily-isms” – where she’s joking or mucking around, or just having a good laugh about something. The “Lily-isms” page leads with a video of her laughing her head off when she was a baby…and she still has that some contagious cackle today. I’ll be adding some more videos and snippets to “Lily-isms” soon.