Holiday outings :: pimped up park

If the same ol' swings and slide at your local aren't cutting the mustard with the little peeps this holidays, Centennial Park in Sydney has gone all out with their activities. There's loads of fun things to do for kids of all ages.
For the preschool set you can try a bug workshop, a clue trail with Flora the Explorer or pony rides.
For school-aged children there's chalk art, natural jewellery making, nature photography, kite making, be a ranger for a day, spotlight tours and more.
Prices are around $10-$15 for a one hour session. Go here for a full program of events, dates, times, prices and booking details.

Holiday outings :: 3 for free

The holidays are here!
No lunches to pack, uniforms to iron, shoes to clean, homework to do for two and a half weeks. Yay!
But there are kids to entertain... all day, every day, for two. and. a. half. weeks.
Enter the outing. I love an outing. And Autumn is such a pretty time to get outside and enjoy the last of the warm(ish) weather. Even if we just pack a picnic and head to the local park to feed the ducks. Our kids are still at the age where it's exciting enough to prepare and pack the food and head off with their little backpacks strapped on.
Here's some outings on our list this break:
:: Bushwalking
Last Autumn my husband took us on an amazing bushwalk near Leura in the Blue Mountains. It's the Lyrebird Dell/ Pool of Shalom walk and I highly recommend it if you are in the area. There are a few steep bits but the kids were so amazed at all the little "fairy" caves and hidey holes that not once did I hear a "carry me" from our daughter (and this is a little person who usually struggles to walk to the front gate and back). We gave our son our old digital camera and it adds a whole new element to bushwalking for him. It really brings his awareness to the detail of things and creates another activity for a rainy day (making a nature book out of all of the pictures).
:: Fossicking
Our kids love discovering treasure (who doesn't?) and we are fortunate to live in an area where there are some quaint old gold mining towns and apparently still lots of gemstone and fossil rich areas to explore. My husband is the expert in this area (he tells me he was a keen member of his local lapidary club as a teenager — obviously that was the clincher in me accepting his marriage proposal) so he'll be leading this expedition. Don't worry, it's not a get-rich-quick plan which has us sending our littles down rickety old mine shafts. Or is it? My guess is it will be more along the lines of digging in the dirt and perhaps finding an old sheep bone that the kids will be convinced is a dinosaur tooth.
:: Library
I have always loved libraries. What's not to love? A huge room with lots of secret little corners to sit and explore words and pictures in. And you can even take them home for free. Almost makes me wish for a rainy day. The library is a great place for everyone in our family to get a bit of "me time", as we can all go our separate ways and indulge in our individual tastes. Then we can come back together at home and snuggle up and read the kids' finds (and our own once little eyes have finally closed). Most libraries have organised story times, music sessions and activities too.
What are you up to with your family this holidays?

Under the sea

We're back from the city and our big adventure to the Sydney Aquarium did not disappoint. I can't believe that in all my years of city living I had never been. Although I didn't have children then and I think visiting with the kids was what made it really great. We entered through the jaws of a shark and saw hundreds of under-water creatures doing their thing — from the playful platypus darting about to the smiling dugong coming up for a kiss, it really was a delightful day.
Oh, except for one small hiccup. The dugong are their "special feature" at the moment and all the promotional material shows a dugong with a mermaid with the tagline, "Dugongs at Mermaid Lagoon". Everything was going swimmingly (couldn't resist saying that) until we exited the tunnel where the dugong were lolling about. Our three-year-old daughter stopped and folded her arms and refused to go back up the ramp to the next section. She wasn't leaving this part of the aquarium until the dugong turned into a "real" mermaid. I attempted to explain the story of the dugong being mistaken for mermaids by pirates but she wasn't having it. The tears started, the body went stiff when I attempted to pick her up and then a full-blown tantrum followed. We even had an elderly lady stop and explain that she had been searching for a mermaid all her life and still hadn't seen one — that's how rare they are. Finally we got her up to the reef tanks and she came around and even got to see "Marlin" and "Nemo" playing in their anemone.
As we dragged ourselves up the last ramp three-and-a-half hours after entering there was a guy dressed as a pirate spruiking that a special show was about to start. Our son wanted to watch so we all sat and the pirate played a little tune on his keyboard and then announced he had a special guest. Out came a 20-something tanned blonde in a bra decorated with green sequins and... a taffeta fish-tail skirt! The pirate introduced her as Mermaid Ruby and our daughter almost burst at the seams. A real live mermaid! Wonders will never cease. I have never been so grateful to see a semi-naked girl in my life (my husband seemed pretty grateful too). Needless to say we watched the entire show, did every dance move and had our photo taken with Mermaid Ruby.
The Stats:
Cost: Family pass (2 adults, 2 kids). $76 at the door; $68.40 online through the Aquarium; $61.20 online through NRMA if you are a member. I really recommend getting your tickets online before you go. Not only is it cheaper but you get to enter via a special queue. The line for tickets when we got there was huge and we heard a staff member telling people the wait would be over an hour. We only had to wait about five minutes to get in.
Parking: You can get your parking ticket for two parking stations (Entertainment Carpark; Harbourside Carpark) validated at the Aquarium and it will cost you $12 to park all day.
What to take: Drinks (pack extra, it's warm in there) and snacks. There is a food station about half way but it's not great and is quite pricey. A stroller for under-threes or kids who tire easily would be handy, we were there for almost four hours. Wear comfortable shoes. And of course, don't forget the camera.
Best bits: The reef tanks with their colourful coral and fish displays — they save the best till last. And the "touching" station where the kids got to pat starfish and sea cucumbers. The boys loved the sharks.

Join in the ladybug fun

Get into some ladybug fun this holidays and join the Catalyst ladybird (we like to say ladybug around here) survey. Watch the story with your kids here. Who knew there were over 500 species of ladybug in Australia? But only 268 of them have been identified. So, Catalyst wants us to join in and help identify Australia's ladybugs — and keep an eye out for some baddies. The idea is to get out in your garden, photograph ladybugs and upload them to the ladybug map. We've found our first one (a harmonia conformis) and are eagerly awaiting it to be added to the map. Look out for ours in Eglinton, NSW. The little people are keeping their eyes peeled for more...