Our Awesome Foursome Family Holiday – Part 2.

This is the second part of our Awesome Foursome Family Holidays Mini Series… Did you read Part 1 yet? If not, read it HERE before diving in to the below! xx

Day 4. Tuesday. 

We woke up at 5am today. Sob. Sah tired.

A friend had recommended that we go and visit a nearby bakery – Bam Bam Bakehouse so we could try their “EPIC pastries”. As soon as I heard the word pastry, I was literally running towards the place ready to stress eat away my troubles. Again the kids were terrifying loud, and tossing things all over the place, but we somehow managed to enjoy our breakfast and bought some of those epic pastries to scoff on the way out.

They were insanely good. And if you go to Broadbeach, or Surfers Paradise, then I recommend going to check them out – the lunch/breakfast food on offer in the restaurant is great but the pastries – the pastries really are EPIC!

While the baby was asleep, the hairy husband and the mini man spent an hour or two in the hotel pool. I was thrilled because we were on the 6th floor, so I could just peer over the balcony and watch them. I could even hold a (shouted) conversation with them if needed.

In the afternoon once the wee babe woke up, we headed to Currumbin Wildlife Santuary which was awesome. You could help feed the Lorikeet’s, and you could get right in amongst the gorgeous Kangaroo’s to either feed them (for about AU$4) or even give them a tummy scratch. There was loads of other animal exhibits to see, like Wombats, Echidna’s, Snakes, Frogs, Koala’s, Tassie Devils, Crocodiles and a pair of super hungry (and super cute) Dingoes.

There is a little train which runs around the sanctuary every half an hour or so (which is pram friendly), so when you have had enough walking up and down hills with your little ones then there is that option to get around which is super fun for young and old.

We loved it. And somehow we managed to get outta there without buying more than one toy from the toy shop. #Winning

Day 5. Wednesday

So, this was my absolutely most favourite morning of the holiday.

We woke up at 5:15am today (ok, still gross), and after breakfast we went to the beach and just hung out. The wee babe ate sand, and the mini man kept tripping over and face planting into the sea. Hilarious. It was the most relaxed and happy we had all been all holiday so far. We could totally see ourselves living here. Pure joy.

After the baby’s big morning sleep we went to Currumbin again, this time for another swim at the Creek/Inlet there. It was beautiful, with no waves, so great for toddlers to splash about in. The hairy husband sighed “this is amazing here, so perfect for the kids”. I sniffed in response.

I thought it was a bit stinky… Could it be stagnant water?

The baby splashed about, face planted in the sand and water a few times, ate some sticks and grizzled a bit. And as it turned out, SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SMELL! It was starting to feel like she was ALWAYS responsible for the smell… Yep, her bum was full of poo, though I didn’t realise until we got back to the car, that she was the aforementioned Stage 5 “ponger” lol.

On the way back we went to visit my husbands work colleague and his family, at a nearby resort. We swam with them for a couple of hours, and they entertained our kids for… like… the whole time. It was amazing.

Oh my gosh how we loved seeing them and just sharing our load for a bit lol. Legends.

Day 6. Thursday.

It was a 5:11am wakeup today. Ew. And it is my birthday.

Sigh, I feel down. I am really, really REALLY tired today and am feeling just about at my wit’s end. The baby never wants to be put down here, and she cries until she is picked up. The toddler throws tantrum after tantrum after tantrum and is not listening to ANYTHING we tell him. He has told me that he doesn’t like or want me about 4 million times on this holiday and it’s really starting to get to me. Toddlers are bullies.

I cant really get a break from him like I can at home. And I feel like we are always yelling at him. Double Sigh. I want to go home. But I don’t. Obv’s.

My beautiful friend Emily from Metta Yoga in Eltham has organised me a surprise birthday present of a beautiful hour long massage at Endota Spa. I really needed this today and was so grateful. It was over too quickly, so on the way home I took a long walk via the beach as I knew we would probably not get to the beach again before we went home. And I needed to clear my head. Why do I feel so yucky? *Shrugs Shoulders*

I finally made it back to the apartment, where the kids were waiting with big smiles on their faces (and further tantrums in their hearts). We fed the babe and then headed back to Bam Bam Bakehouse for lunch. The toddler has decided that his favourite thing to do today (again) is to scream and throw things. So we smashed lunch again so we could get outta there quickly, and bought more pastries on the way out to comfort eat ourselves into a coma later #WeWillTakeOneOfEverythingThanks

After that we went for a little drive to the Broadwater Park Rockpools which is a really cool little man-made “creek” with water fountains, rock pools, and whirlpools for little kids to run and splash in. And when I say kids I mean, my son who is 3.5 was probably the average age there on the day that we went. My daughter was also super happy splashing about so I would sit and splash with her in the salt water while the husband chased the toddler from end to end. He fell over a million times (the toddler, not the husband) and cried a lot.

The baby ate a leaf while I was packing up the towels (and the husband was trying to prevent the toddler from running into the car park and getting squished by cars) and choked quite badly. The stupid leaf was causing her to struggle to breathe and she was making horrible sounds.

It was a bit terrifying. I grabbed her and started firmly thumping her on the back. She kept wheezing and struggling to get it up. However as I continued, she ended up throwing it up (and most of what she had to eat that day) all over me. I was shaking. The husband thought I was calm, but I was most definitely not. I wanted to go home again. SHE was fine though. Fark.

We finally made it home to our apartment after doing a “See You Later Beach” drive-by.

I wanted to cry. I HATE things coming to an end, even stressful holidays like this one lol, but I so want to go home.

We had toasted sandwiches for dinner, and my birthday cake was the pastries we had bought earlier that day. They were amazing. Happy Birthday Me.

Day 7. Friday

We woke up at 5:30am today, and it was time to head home.

Even though I had packed most things the night before there was still loads to do and we wanted to leave by 7am. We left by 7:17am so I think we did well.

We headed to the airport, with the toddler only throwing 3 tantrums on the way and hating my guts, and me trying to not to cry in the front seat. So tired.

When we got there, we proceeded to have an argument with the check-in attendant as she insisted that one of our items was considered excess baggage and that it would need to be paid for even though we had not had to do that on either the way up, or on any of the previous times we have travelled with it. The husband ended up getting it on board the plane without paying with the help of the excess baggage handler who also thought it was ridiculous. #YassWeWonThatRound.

The flight was smack bang during the babies sleep time and she struggled to get to sleep, grizzling and unable to get comfortable. When she finally fell asleep (for a tiny half an hour) it was bliss. Sweaty, but bliss all the same. Because I hadn’t plugged my earphones in before she fell asleep, I watched a movie with no sound, trying to guess what they were saying the whole time. It was weirdly fun actually.

Once we landed, and collected ALL of our things, we walked back to the car. The toddler threw another epic tantrum, but we made it there in peace. Though, I was so desperate for the holiday to be over that I considered briefly taking a taxi home on my own for a little peace and quiet. #SorryHusband

But then we got home. And when we walked in the front door, something happened. The tantrums ceased. The baby crawled around free and happy as a lark. And the husband and I felt calm once more.

We were home. And just like that, we were happy again. x

Do you love travelling with your kids? Have you been on any epic holidays lately? What is your favourite kid friendly destination? Leave a comment below and tell me all about it xx