What to do on the school holidays {part one}

Ah the school holidays are upon us and we are always looking for something interesting to do with the pickles. 

No road trips these holidays...we had plans but they had to be postponed due to a mix up of dates. We were all pretty disappointed, but we'll find plenty of other things to do. Melbourne is a big place and there are a lot of things we haven't discovered yet, so I thought I'd share some of our little outings with you. 

This is part one.

 It's currently 9 degrees here in Melbourne, so on the first day of the holidays we like to have a very casual pyjama day and a lazy sleep in. And that's exactly what we did.....well, except me. I got to sleep in till 9.30am!! But then it was housework and groceries before chilling with the pickles and Mr3P in front of the box.

These pictures were taken at Sky High on Mount Dandenong...just a hop skip and a jump from 3pickles territory and a great little afternoon outing. I can't believe we have lived here in Melbourne for so long yet have never taken the kids here. There is an entry price for a car (I think it was $6).

The pickles particularly loved the maze and the giants chair. The entry cost to the maze is reasonable (kids under 12 are $4) and they also have a cafe (not a bad coffee too).

The view of Melbourne is spectacular (I must remember to come here for NYE fireworks!)

 This is that giants' chair and a bunch of silly pickles....a wedding was being held in the fine dining restaurant (you can see it in the background) while we were there. I wouldn't mind dinner here one night with Mr3P.
Sky High is open everyday of the year, but the maze is occasionally closed due to weather conditions. Here's a link to their website if you want to check out more info. (not sponsored BTW)

 I'll be updating here as we do anything interesting on the holidays.

If you have any great suggestions for something to do in Melbourne with kids, I'd love you to share in the comments.

See you soon (hopefully with my sanity still intact)

Kids Crafts {keeping them busy on the school holidays}

Well are your kids driving you nuts yet?

I've come close to losing it a few times.

It always happens (at least to us) towards the end of the school holidays.

Boredom can easily set in.........

...........such needy little creatures.

They require food & shelter 

and fancy learnin'

PLUS they want entertainment and mental stimulation!

COME ON!

really?

Of course, I'm kidding

sort of.........

So what do you do with them once they've exhausted themselves silly?

Well, we like to get out arty farty on.

 They were dying to get stuck into these craft kits that were kindly sent to them from Riot Art & Craft.

 And stuck into them they did..............

Pickle #2 chose the Majestic Castle kit.

Pickle #3 (and Mr3P) worked together on the Crocodile kit.

It was lovely seeing them create this together.

 Pretty much all the bits and pieces that you need to create are supplied in the kits (except for scissors)

 Pickle #1 chose the Photo Frame making kit.

We spent a really enjoyable afternoon creating our works of art.

 There was some drying time involved, so we finished everything off the next day.

 I loved how I didn't have to find everything needed (or come up with the ideas and instructions...they're all there).

Riot have taken all of the boring work (sourcing the "stuff") out of it for you so you can just enjoy some creative time with your kids.....or get then out of your hair for a while....lol.

Mr 3P did a very nice job as Pickle #3's assistant.

 He hasn't stopped playing with that crocodile...I think he has even named it!!

Pickle #2 is very proud of his castle. True to his personality, he changed the look of the castle a little.

It NEEDED more windows (with curtains)

Castles can get windy...you see.

Pickle #1 could have put anything on and in his frame, but he chose this picture and wording.

he's such a beautiful little guy.

As you can see, I'm impressed with these kits and will be buying more. You can get them online if you can't get to a store.

I was thinking they would make great little "bonbonniere"  as an activity for kids birthday parties.

Check out the Ricky Riot website for kids. There's a stack of creative ideas, free downloadable templates & kids can even add pictures of their creations to the online art gallery.

Have fun & happy crafting.

Disclosure: This product was provided for editorial consideration.   3pickles has no affiliation with any companies mentioned and has receives no remuneration for posting reviews. All of my opinions are honest and are only influenced by the awesomeness of a product or service.
3pickles receive lots of products to review, but only the things that we (Marnie & the pickles) love end up here on the blog.

Washing kids hair without dramas

Have you had trouble washing your children's hair?

All three of my Pickles have been an absolute nightmare in the hair washing department (and the haircut department....but that's another nightmare for another day).

I'm not an evil mother, I'm not...but for some reason they just hate having their hair washed....pickle #1 would scream so much that I was afraid the neighbours might call family services....it was horrible.  Pickle #2 & #3 followed suit like it was an inherited trait. 

I wasn't dumping buckets of cold water over their heads....maybe I should have. I tried every trick in the book but the more worked up they got, the more I did too...it was a blood curdling, screaming match that just went round and round. It was so bad that I dreaded bath time. It should be a happy, fun time, just like in the commercials, shouldn't it?

Not at our house.

Then it all changed.

I'm not totally sure what happened, but they all seemed to just accept it. All at about the same age too...which was around 3 1/2 - 4 years old (yes that's a long time....a really...really...long time).

I can only put it down to a few things.

• I can scream louder than them.
• I have a large jug and do only one rinse (a big rinse)...yeah, yeah...kind like a bucket dump...but it works. 
• I have a hand towel on standby so they can wipe their faces immediately after dumping the water over their heads.
• The right, soap-free shampoo that's gentle on their sensitive skin. The last thing I need is a child with stinging eyes and a rash.
• Eventually convincing* them to face the ceiling when I pour the jug of water over their locks.

Now these days, the 2 older ones DIY in the shower. 

#3 still needs my assistance as he's still only a little fella.

 My baby.

I'm gonna need a little, fluffy doggy soon...once he goes to school.

Sad...yes.

I understand the dog thing now.

Do you have a story like this, or was your experience like the commercials? 
I'd love to hear.

And if you have any pearls of wisdom...please share. 
Pickle #3 could relapse at any time!!

You can leave a comment here on the blog or join me for a chat on Facebook or Twitter

* threats of being banned from whatever is their favourite thing at the time