Camping at the farm

Last weekend was a big one for the Batkin family with lots of interesting things happening.
On Friday evening Max and I loaded up the car and drove out to the farm where my parents live (near Millmerran), taking with us most of the food for the church youth group who were going out there for a camping trip. Cam left earlier that evening with the rest of the youth group and stopped overnight in Toowoomba with them to visit the Toowoomba Nazarene youth group.

On the Saturday morning Cam and the youth arrived out at the farm as well, where Max was back in bed after having woken up at 5am and playing with his Grandma and Grandpa for a while. Max even helped Grandma practice the hymns for church, as you can see in the photo.


The youth then headed off to the retirement home in Millmerran to spend time with the residents there and sing them a few songs, which everyone enjoyed. The youth then drove out to a farm on the other side of Millmerran to see some animals, including cows, newborn puppies, sheep and even an alpaca! By the time they were finished at the animal farm Max had woken up, so he and I drove in to the pool in Millmerran where we met up with everyone else and had a wonderful time swimming and cooling off. Max seemed to really enjoy it and went in both the kiddies pool and the big pool with the big kids.

When we got back to Grandpa and Grandma's farm it was time for the youth to put up the tents and learn how to make damper in camp ovens, which some local experts had specially come out and set up for them. Those who weren't busy with these activities got to go for a ride around the farm in the back of the ute, and Cam and I also each got to drive a quad bike with a couple of youth on the back. We had fun roaring around on these for ages!


While all of this was going on Max was happily playing with his Grandma. He also had a bath in the big green bathtub and apparently did several laps up and down. I hope he didn't miss his parents too much, but he was glad of some dinner when we finished on the bikes.

The next day we dressed Max in one of his best outfits, given to him by his great-grandma, and went to Grandma and Grandpa's church. The youth showed off their singing talents once again, and Max was very well-behaved for the many people who wanted to give him a cuddle.

After the tents were taken down and some more rides around the farm, it was time to pack up and head back to Brisbane. Max, Cam and I stopped off in Ipswich to attend the Watson family Christmas, where it was great to catch up with old friends and give Max a chance for a decent sleep upstairs on a bed, before finally heading home again.