A roadtrip to 'the castle'

Last weekend we snuck away (leaving the cub with his fabulous grandparents) and took a little roadtrip north to Newcastle in our fancy Ford Focus Titanium.



I've got to say, as much as we love our son to bits, it was pretty blissful having so much time to ourselves and not having to constantly chase after the little jumping bean. Day one, we swam and swam and floated and swam... in the sea, in ocean pools and in the 'bogey hole', in between having leisurely (and mess free) meals in cafes.





On day two the rains came in, so we wandered in and about the arty little shops of Cooks Hill and gawked at some Brett Whiteley masterpieces in the short (but rather sweet) Newcastle Art Gallery. How very civilised of us right?!!

We had an absolutely ace weekend... made all the better by zooming there in the comfort of our 'fancy silber car'.

Sadly this marks the end of my Ford adventures... We will miss it and I also fear that I have forgotten to drive in part - no more auto park or distance monitoring cruise control. uh oh!



All images my own except the Bogey Hole above (via here)

This post is one of three written as part of Ford Australia's 'Choose Your Own Adventure' challenge (in conjunction with Kidspot, Voices of 2013). I was not paid to write this post nor was I told what to write. But, I was given a swish car to drive around in for 6 weeks which is proving pretty nice!

Childrens table DIY // from salvaged to special delivery

It has been mini-people birthday season in these parts of late. Every weekend sees a new little soul that needs celebrating! When Leo's oldest little friend (they met aged 1 week), Cholé celebrated her second birthday, we made her a special present. I found a little table and chairs from the side of the road (people chuck out such good stuff it amazes/horrifies me) that was begging for some TLC.



We sanded, primed, painted it (with chalkboard paint on the tabletop) and painted it in preparation for it's adorable new owner...



This precious cargo fitted perfectly into the boot of our (on loan) fancy Silver Ford Focus Titanium (big old boot for a little hatchback innit?!) to deliver it for her birthday.



I discovered that painting is HARD.... and also that painting with oil paint is a BAD idea (not only does it take forever to dry but it's damn tricky to apply evenly) Lumps and dribbles galore all over this but all the more gloriously handmade looking because of it!

(Below is a picture of my little cub chowing down on a gingerbread man in the princess tent at the said birthday party... just because!) 



This post is one of three written as part of Ford Australia's 'Choose Your Own Adventure' challenge (in conjunction with Kidspot, Voices of 2013). I was not paid to write this post nor was I told what to write. But, I was given a swish car to drive around in for 6 weeks which is proving pretty nice!

A trip to Koskela in our 'fancy silber car'

I've never been into cars at all. We have an old car. It goes. I put petrol in it. It goes some more. All good. However, for better or worse, things have now changed...

Thanks to the generous folks at Ford and Kidspot, I have been driving around in a brand spanking new Ford Focus Titanium* for the last few weeks (and the next few too). I was all ready to continue being unimpressed with cars but the technology in this one is pretty darn incredible.... and now I'm kind of smitten...



+ It reverse parks itself! seriously. That blew my mind. It finds you a space and then the steering wheel is taken over by some kind of parking god. ta da! Hello tight spot. Bye-bye embarrassing parking attempts.

+ I can literally just say the command and it will call who I want to call via Bluetooth, play music on the stereo and probably do lots of other things that I haven't discovered yet too.

+ When it rains, the windscreen wipers just go! No flicking on and off of that damned lever. That's some kind of magic right there.

+ It tells me how to get places! I am thoroughly enjoying not having to juggle imaps and the steering wheel at once... and the rest of the driving nation is probably relieved too!

So... it turns out I been living under a technological rock when it comes to cars! Who would have thought that it could actually be an enjoyable experience to drive around the city?!?! I'm thinking this may be a problem when I have to drive our old rust box around again but for now I'm just going to roll with it.

Our little trio took a drive to Koskela to see the Beci Orpin exhibition (more about that in a post to follow) and have a little peruse around the amazing (but sadly too pricey for our pockets) homewares on show.



We ended the day by driving to centennial park for a scoot (the cub did the scooting) and an ice-cream. Thanks for the ride 'fancee silber car'




*'fancy silber car' is what the cub calls our new wheels. He loves getting in it (no battles. Yay!) which makes me love it all the more.  

This post is one of three written as part of Ford Australia's 'Choose Your Own Adventure' challenge (in conjunction with Kidspot, Voices of 2013). I was not paid to write this post nor was I told what to write. But, I was given a swish car to drive around in for 6 weeks which is proving pretty nice!