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.

What we did on our Christmas holidays

Well, what DIDN'T we do over the Christmas holidays??

I feel like the song "I've been everywhere" by Lucky Starr was our theme song this summer.

You see, when Mr3P plans a road trip...well he doesn't like to leave anything out.

This road trip was no exception.

Killing the serenity in Bonnie Doon's Lake Eildon.

The destination for Christmas was the Gold Coast, where my family live. I haven't seen any of them in over a year, so I was itchin' to get there. 

It's a long, long way in a car with 3 little ones, so Mr3P likes to do lots of short trips to kill the boredom and to stay awake and fresh....(he did all of the driving up & back, while I do all of the driving on the Gold Coast). 

So, before we went away, he spent days researching on the Internet for interesting things to do along the way. He even made a bit of an itinerary. He's so cute like that.

The sign says it all.

This was an interesting stop. I've never seen a submarine, inland rural NSW and in the middle of a park. It's the HMAS Otway's final resting spot. We were too early to go into the museum, but the kids had fun playing on the sub. 

Holbrook Submarine Museum, Holbrook

Now Mr3P thinks I'm a stresser....and he's right. Especially when we drove the circuit at Mt Panorama in Bathurst. He was like a big kid (like every other man who has driven the circuit, I imagine).
I don't know how the pros do it...it was scary at 60km/hr and they go a heck of a lot faster than that.
By the way, I don't think I've seen a prettier or tidier town than Bathurst. Just lovely.

Now, if you've driven along the Hume Highway, you've probably stopped here at The Dog on the Tuckerbox.

Well, now we have too.

Of course, a stop over in Tamworth wouldn't be right without a picture taken in front of The Big Golden Guitar. And some Hungry Jack's....thanks for the free Wi-Fi, HJs!! Thank you Great Architect of the Universe for somehow not letting me put on any weight these holidays (in fact, when I got home, I'd realised that I had lost 500g....woo hooo)

We did what we usually do when it comes to somewhere to lay our heads for the night. That is, we start looking for suitable accommodation before it gets dark...we shop around the town rather than book anything in advance. It doesn't have to be the Hilton for us (plus the fact that there IS no Hilton on the Hume), as long as it's clean and not creepy. We only stay for sleep and a shower...then off we go.
We're just wild and crazy like that.

Sometimes Mr3P took us 2 hours off the beaten track.

Just so I could photograph a waterfall.

and stress at my pickles being too close to the edge.

I have a fear of heights by proxy.

Can anyone say "control freak"?

Do you have those type of fears for your kids? Even though the heights don't bother me too much, I can't stand my kids being near the edge...even though my logic tells me it's safe.

The loo paper went where we went.....you just never know.

It's the little things................

We helped save Thundebolt's Hideout in Tenterfield 
Thank goodness another family came to take over our shift......................

It took us almost 4 days to get to the Gold Coast, but it was a lot of fun and the kids will have some great memories of our trip...isn't that what a family holiday is all about?

If you want to see some pics and tid bits about the rest of our trip, then please drop back later in the week. I have my blogging hat on again.
Hope to see you soon.

{recipe} Hot Cross Buns in the bread machine

It's Good Friday and for the last I don't know how many years, I have threatened to make hot cross buns in the bread machine. This year I actually did! They turned out pretty well and with very little effort on my part.....loving that eh? I don't want to be overly ambitious, but, you could tweak this recipe to make mocha or choc, choc chip hot cross buns.........mmm, maybe next year. Wishing you a safe and Happy Easter weekend.  Don't forget to stay tuned for my first Giveaway, happening straight after Easter. Click here to find out how to enter. (now closed)

Hot Cross Buns


Ingredients
1 1/3 cups of water
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons milk powder
1 tablespoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons yeast

Mix -ins
1 1/4 cups sultanas
1/4 cup mixed peel (I didn't have any so I just put in the zest of one lemon)

Directions:
1. Place ingredients into baking pan in order listed.
Program your bread machine to it's dough setting
Press start.
Add your mix-in, 6 minutes into the cycle.
I noticed that my dough looked a little too dry at this point, so I added a tablespoon extra of water.
When cycle stops, remove dough and divide into 15 pieces and shape into rounds.
Place dough close together on slightly greased baking tray.
Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm position for 30 minutes or till doubled in size.
remove wrap and pipe a cross on top of each bun.
Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C (375 F) for 15-20 minutes.

"Cross" Batter
2 tablespoons water ( I found I needed to add more water. Just add till you get a good piping consistency)
1/4 cup flour
Blend together to make a smooth batter. Spoon into a piping bag.

These would be nice served with Cumquat jam (recipe here) or Fig jam (recipe here)

Click here to see where I like to link up my posts

Sunset in St. Kilda

It has been Easter school holidays and we have all been sick, but thankfully, everyone is on the mend. We were all in need of some fresh sea air, so Mr 3P and I loaded the pickles into the car and head to St Kilda for a sunset stroll along the board walk.

This dog was never going to give up on that stick. 

See all those container ships on the horizon? I wonder what they're carrying? 

If you want to live here you will need some "serious coin" as Mr 3P so perfectly puts it.

Don't you love how silhouettes hide the wrinkles?

My lot would probably be quite happy to live as beach bums.

My beautiful family. What a lovely afternoon, just doin' nothing but hanging out with the most important people in the world.

 Linking to