The Dower Family

It's been a crazy start to the year with Eve starting prep AND moving house but we are still here. As a proof of life here are our two not so little ones chilling out on the couch tonight. Still driving each other bonkers but also loving each other like crazy. Xx

Wasn't it just days ago that I was writing the seven birthday blog? How are these years flying by so quickly?  This year seems especially quick.  Everything feels rushed, like if I close my eyes I'll be writing a nine birthday blog.  And I'm certainly not ready for that.  So before another year passes, let me tell you some of the things that I will remember about my beautiful boy from this year: - he has become obsessed with Harry Potter.  He is just about to start the sixth book but he is constantly going back and revisiting the earlier books.  He dressed as HP for Halloween this year (like he was ever going to be anyone else) and is constantly jabbering away about all the characters and how it is so unfair that he is a muggle.  I have said that I need to read the books too so I can figure out what he is going on about.   - We have kicked the butt of allergies even more this year, moving from taking medicine everyday to having a ...

We took an early Christmas holiday on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.  Here are some of our highlights.

Friday's are usually a pretty good day in our world. The end of the working week, school parade and sometimes even tuck shop. But today we took it up a notch with a cheeky day off school and a trip to Movieworld (thanks to our yearly tickets it cost us nothing to go today).  The kiddos had an absolute blast going on all the rides that Eve could fit on. I basically just lined up in the heat for rides that I wasn't even going on which really proves just how much I love these two ratbags. We then settled ourselves in for a play and a splash at our favourite family secret beach. A couple of seagulls came to visit but otherwise we had it completely to ourselves. 

These two little cuties kicked off nippers season down at the Gold Coast today. We are looking forward to an awesome summer ahead!!

It's been ten years since Nick and I got married and a LOT has changed in that time.  Luckily they are all great things.  Since I spend so much of my time now editing other people's beautiful wedding, I thought it was about time to update our very dated, documentary style wedding footage.  

Okay so this one can be filed under the ridiculously belated category. I was going through photos on my phone when I found pics from when Nanna Freddie took the kids to the Brickman Experience (aka Lego!!) at the convention centre. The kids had the most amazing time, and not surprisingly so did I! 

The birthday girl got well and truly spoiled for turning five but I have to say that one of the best presents was a trip to Sydney with Nanna Freddie to visit Aunty Alicia and Uncle Guy. Nick got to stay behind and enjoy the peace and quiet while we headed down to Sydney for a three day mini-break.  Not that it was terribly relaxing, what with a trip to Luna Park and a day at Taronga Zoo.  It sure was fun though. Click on the video above to check out what we got up to.

We have had you now for five years.  That's half a decade. Half the time your Daddy and I have been married. No wonder we couldn't imagine a life without you in it. You've gotten so big and grown so very much in this past 12 months.  So let me share with you some of the things that I love the very most about who you are at this moment: - Your full name is Evie Alice Snuggle Buggle Dower.  You are quite possibly the cuddliest person I have ever met in my life.  Your sweet little on the lips kisses are just beyond. - You have approximately 57.5 gorgeous freckles on your nose. Everyone tells me that they looks like I've painted them on.  - You call ping pong Bing Bong - You absolutely love to have a good dance with wild shaking hips and lip syncing.  Lately the words to songs have really started to kick in and you even seem to know the words to "Advance Australia Fair" from parade. - Your favourite songs on Spotify are Barbie Girl and Rockin'...

In just four more sleeps our tiny Eve will be five years old. I just want to bottle up her gorgeous four year old self so I made a quick film to remember her at this age. You can also have a sneak peek at her riding without training wheels for the first time.  Look at her go!!

Quick, I've got five minutes to get you all up to speed on what has been going on around here lately. In big news, we've got a brand spanking new library in our little patch of the world. This is super exciting for a bunch of book lovers like we are. It's bright and big and there are heaps of great spots to curl up with a book or a magazine too. I think we went there three times in the first four days it was open! We've also had a bit of island time, despite the cooler weather. The kids might not have been able to swim in the chilly water but they sure had a good time fishing and stomping around on the beach discovering all kinds of treasures.  A trip to the dentist might not seem too exciting to us but these two were counting down the days until their appointments. Eve was especially pumped to wear the glasses and ride up and down in the chair. Ol was more interested in watching the television in the ceiling.  In...

Just a little snippet of our trip so far.  This week we've been to the zoo... I'm surprised they let us out. We are such a bunch of animals! We've also been to the waterpark where we spent the day going on as many scary rides as we possibly could. Which is plenty if you are Ollie, but a few less if you are a slightly shorter Eve.  She's been making up for the loss of the waterslides with lots of pretty and cheap dresses and all day swimming. 

We are in Bali. Again. We've just spent three very relaxing days at one of our favourite resorts in Sanur, on the west side of the island. We couldn't resist the opportunity to recreate one of the photos we took here three years ago. Can you believe how much they have grown in that time?!

Ol got his first love letter!! He is horrified and nearly in tears because it is SO embarrassing for a girl to love you. Naturally I took a photo of it and uploaded it so you could all see!!

It's nearly the end of March, which has given me a big kick up the bum to finish off the video I made of our Christmas. We were lucky enough to have a big family Christmas with Nick's family at the awesome family beach house.  Nine adults, five kids and one dog all under the one roof.  Thankfully it all came together beautifully with lots of food, fun, drinks, games and trips to the beach.  I know a lot of people think Christmas should be cold (we have a lot of English friends!) but I'll take prawns, cold beers and swims every time. x ps you can check out some of our other Christmas's  here  and  here . 

Saturday night = movie night.  We've been rereading Charlie & the chocolate factory, so tonight we thought we'd revisit the original movie.  With pizza and movie snacks of course. Maybe even some chocolate.

We have a new super fish in the house! Eve has had a great big 10 months off swimming lessons. Mainly due to my laziness. But thankfully it doesn't seem to have been a problem with her managing to advance to the next level on her third lesson back. Even better was that she had her Pa and cousin Max there to cheer her on as she rang the champions bell. Then she had a little sook because it's a bit scary and loud and strange when a group of random strangers start clapping for you. Nothing a celebratory milkshake and chocolate brownie couldn't fix. That could make anything better. Look at these little cuties. We are currently rereading Charlie & the chocolate factory and the kids can't wait to see whether we read one, two or even three chapters before bedtime.  Their love of books continues to grow, with Ol saying the funniest thing the other night - "I just wish we had millions of dollars so we could buy all the books".  That kid's got his priorities rig...

Ollie's birthday present from us was sailing lessons - a present he didn't know he even wanted but I'm pretty sure he is thrilled to bits with. One of his best mates also got this for his present so the two of them have spent the morning at Royal Queensland (aka one of favourite watering holes) learning the basics of how to to sail. They seemed to be having an absolute blast, especially when they got to capsize the boat a number of times!  The grown ups watched with coffees while the little ones played in the playground and on the beach. The original plan is for the mums to paddle board while we wait but as today was a bit windy, we found it too easy to make an excuse to stay on land. Next week maybe.  I think there will be plenty of sailing in our little guy's future. 

Toasting the end of the first looooong week back at work while an epic light sabre battle takes place nearby.

Seven? 7? SEVEN??? How have we possibly had you for seven years??   As our tradition goes, I just want to share with you some of the things that I will always remember about this year for you: - Your love of books has hit a new level this year.  If I had to think of one thing that summed the year up for you it would be reading.  Your head is constantly in a book.  You have gone from reading picture books to smashing novels in less than a day.  You often have four books on the go at any moment.  One in the bedroom, one in the lounge, one on the back deck and even one near the toilet!!  You are just like your father and can flit between books and reread them over and over again.   - You absolutely love school and are a bit of a brown nose.  You save your best behaviour for school hours but to be honest, I am thrilled with this.  You actually hugged your teacher every single day when school finished.  I hope you have a...