Last weekend, Robin and I made a last minute decision to have a family getaway. We went to Mandurah which was about one hour drive away from where we live. The trip was so last minute that we only booked our accomodation on the day itself, and guess what? We got ourselves a great last minute deal at a resort that was situated on the beach! How good was that? The only rule that Robin imposed on me was “don’t stress!”. He knows me well. I tend to get flustered when the boys go out of their routine and become cranky. I become anxious when they don’t get their naps or when their bedtime is really late or they eat at odd hours ….. So, for me to stick to his rule, I really had to put in an effort, and I did.
We left our home in the late morning and arrived at the foreshore in good time for lunch. The place was packed. People were everywhere and parking was almost impossible. The lovely weather must be the reason for the great turnout at the foreshore. We had lunch and after that, we took a little stroll along the foreshore. The boys were happy.
There was a huge play area for children and Calvin could not resist having a go at the slide. I have to say that the play area was well thought of — it had many different activities that were catered for children of different age groups. Calvin was attracted to the slide that had a little tunnel and a *bridge* that was made of wooden planks. My boy is getting confident with his big motor skills. I was happy to see the progress in him because he used to be quite timid at playground when he was younger. Also, I saw him asking bigger boys politely whether he could have a turn! That was another progress for him because he used to call out to me or run away when bigger boys stood in his way. My little boy has really grown up.
When we arrived at the resort, we were immediately impressed with the location. The resort was really sitting on the beach! And, there was a heated pool and spa which overlooked the ocean too. The view from our room was nothing short of spectacular although we only had partial view of the ocean.
This was our view from the balcony of our room. Honestly speaking, I’m not as big a fan of the ocean as Robin (and the boys), but I do enjoy a dip and of course, the view. One of the most relaxing moments for me during this trip was sitting outside at the balcony with Robin at night listening to the waves flapping on the shore while sipping a hot cup of green tea. Of course, this could only happen when the boys were sleeping. 🙂
Swimming at the beach and in the pool was a must for the boys. They had a ball! Both of our boys loved to be in the water. Even a stranger could tell. At the beach, a man (stranger) and his partner who were sitting quite close to us, spoke unexpectedly to me before he left. He said to me “your son (pointing to Calvin) sure loved the ocean! He seemed so confident in the water and that’s good for him”. I was taken aback by what he said but I managed to quickly acknowledged his comments.
We brought the boys to a nearby zoo before we headed home on Sunday. It had a huge walk-in aviary that had a huge variety of birds in it. Robin was absolutely in love with the aviary . He brought the boys in and birds just flew to him and rested on his shoulder. Athan was very fascinated by what he saw. He reached out his hands many times in an attempt to touch the birds, but of course he couldn’t. There was a type of parrot — galah or corella, which was very cheeky and playful. They could say “hello” very well and they would only say it when you were about to leave. They could also nod their heads (continuously) at you if you nod at them. One of the parrots could even swing its neck from side to side so fast that one could hardly see its head while it was happening! That was amazing. There was also an area where we could go in and feed the baby animals and pet them. Calvin had fun there. He was not afraid of the animals at all!
This trip, though short has been a great family getaway for us. We managed to do and see quite a lot in this short trip. The getting away from home was good for me. I do have to admit that there were stressed out moments, but nothing too dramatic and I did not let those times affect me too much because I wanted to have a good time with my boys. It was good that Robin was willing to take time out and be away from his computer (he works on his computer all day everyday) to be with us. He really put in an effort to spend one-to-one time with Calvin during this trip which I think is very important to both of them. It will be a while before we can have a family getaway again as Robin’s course is getting very intensive in the next few months. Well, I can always plan ahead! 🙂 Here’s one of my favourite pictures taken during the trip. Thank God for keeping us safe.
