Car Club Christmas Party

Every year in December Nanny and Poppy's car club has their Christmas party at the miniature train park in Nambour.

Max loves it because he gets to ride on the trains, eat yummy picnic food, see Nanny and Poppy, and get a present from Santa - what more could you want from a day out?

With 4 adults there to ride the trains with him, he could keep riding again and again without wearing any particular person out and have lots of fun. He was very excited to see Santa come riding in on the train, and I don't even think he noticed Santa's resemblance to Poppy as he received his present so everything went well.

How much fun are backyard wading pools?

After a very long trip from Bli Bli we eventually arrived at the farm near Millmerran. We left in the evening in the hopes of Max sleeping all or most of the way there, but unfortunately the weather was against us. It started to rain near Kilcoy and continued on and off for the rest of the way to Toowoomba, which cooled the air down quite a lot. We were both concentrating on the extremely thick fog that stayed with us the whole way from Esk through Highfields and into Toowoomba and didn't realise that Max was getting a bit too cold in the backseat until he woke up and started complaining right in the thickest part of the fog. We did make it through thanks to Cam's good concentration and driving and stopped at a 7-11 in Toowoomba for a pitstop. I took Max into the toilet since he also needed a nappy change, and thankfully found an emergency hoodie for him in the nappy bag. He was then wandering around a 7-11 in Toowoomba at about 10.30pm wearing his pjs, the hoodie with the hood over his head, and no shoes, while eating a muesli bar. He looked so funny that Cam and I couldn't help giggle every time we looked at him. Thankfully the stop fixed most of his issues and he was good for the rest of the trip.

When we arrived at the farm, Amy, Kurt and the twins were already there and the next day Tammy and Cam arrived as well. We then opened all of the Pfeffer Christmas presents and it was good to see how much more the kids enjoyed it this year than last year. After presents and lunch it was time for a swim in the wading pool that Grandma and Pa had set up.



They all had fun splashing around in their togs for a while before wanting to get out. Elke was happy to swim so long as Max wasn't in the pool at the same time, since he is a bit more boisterous than she is used to and she didn't like it so much.

Later on Gabbie and Max wanted to go for another swim so we just took off their clothes and let them go. They were very happy and cute playing in the water and getting in and out of the pool with little naked bums and we all had fun watching them. Once again Elke was a bit scared by noisy splashy Max and instead went to play in the twins' Christmas present from their parents - an inflatable fort/jumping castle.

Max and Gabbie also had fun taking the inflatable stars from the fort to the pool and back again, doing lots of splashing and running around in the process.

Bundaberg Day Trip

Another outing we took while staying at Hervey Bay was up to visit the town of Bundaberg. Usually this is a town with much to offer the day tripper, such as the Ginger Beer and Rum factories, the famous Sunshine Kebabs, and the free zoo in the botanical gardens. Unfortunately we chose to go on Boxing Day, which meant that Sunshine Kebabs (and most other dining establishments) were closed, and the star attraction of the zoo, the emu, had been killed only a few days previously.

Still, we had a fun day visiting the zoo's other inhabitants and playing on the playground.





After quite a bit of driving around and finding that most places are closed on Boxing Day in Bundaberg, we eventually discovered that the RSL still opens for lunch, so we went there and had a lovely feed while overlooking the boats on the river.

On the way home we decided to visit Woodgate Beach again since we had such a good time there on the last visit. This time we were more prepared with swimming togs so Max, Cam and I all had a wonderful swim before returning home.

Woodgate Beach

For the first week of our three week Christmas break, we headed up to Hervey Bay to stay with Cam's sister Bronwyn and her family for Christmas Day. We tried to make the most of our stay in such a beautiful part of the country by seeing the area and taking lots of day trips. The first of these was up to Woodgate to visit Cam's great-aunt Maisie, who is visually impaired but still lives alone and is quite independent. While Maisie and Joy (Cam's mum) were chatting and catching up, Cam and I took Max to the beach. It is a gorgeous spot with gentle waves and crystal clear water with lots of golden sand - perfect for Max to play in and explore. He just loves the water so much, especially the beach!





Just about the only negative for Max at the beach is that his eyes get so red from all of the salt, so when they got too bad we left the beach and headed for the playground instead. I don't think Max minded too much, since they had all his favourites such as swings, slides and even a cool tunnel with windows!




When he had had enough we hosed Max down in the outdoor shower and went back to Auntie Maisie's house for lunch. She shares her backyard with some very friendly kangaroos.

After a nice chat and lunch we took a quick group photo of the four generations before heading back home to Hervey Bay.

Choo choo trains

Nanny and Poppy are members of a car club which has an annual Christmas party where Poppy traditionally plays Santa Claus. So they were keen for us, and especially Max, to come along to have fun at the party and see Poppy as Santa, but the main reason is that the party is held at the miniature steam train park in Nambour. We knew Max would love seeing and riding on the fully working steam train models, along with all of the other car club members and their families.
We all had a fun day riding on the trains and eating lunch together, and Max loved seeing Poppy as Santa and receiving a great little truck as a present.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry once again for the lack of recent blogging. We have been travelling lots this Christmas season and haven't had computer access for much of it to do things like download photos and post them up here. But now we are at Pfeffer's for new years I can do both of these things so expect a bit of a flood from the backlog.

First things first - Christmas! This year was Batkin Christmas, which we spent up at Hervey Bay with Cameron's sister Bronwyn and her family. Max was a little grumpy the morning of Christmas Day since we had to wait until everyone arrived before letting him near the tree and the presents. By the time everyone had arrived he was having a nap, so we decided to eat our delicious Christmas lunch before opening presents. We had the usual cold meats and tasty salads, which Cam organised and prepared, as well as perfectly cooked meat from the barbeque care of chefs Cam and Sam.

After we had all eaten plenty we gathered around the tree and cousin Liam was selected for the vital role of Santa Claus.

Max was much more interested in everything this year, especially when it came to opening and receiving his own presents!

Thanks to all the Batkins for an excellent Christmas Day. Max enjoyed it so much, and will continue to enjoy playing with all of his shiny new toys!

BCEC Kids Christmas Party

Can you believe it's this close to Christmas already? This year has gone so quickly, and last weekend it was time once again for the Kids Christmas Party run by the social club at the BCEC where Cam works. Last year Max did go, although he was too small to appreciate all of the fun things on offer. This year he had a much better time!

When we first arrived his attention was occupied by all of the good things to eat. He isn't normally allowed goodies like jellybeans, chocolate and chips but since this was a Christmas Party we let him go crazy and eat what he wanted to. Jellybeans are his current favourite and he demolished most of those in the plate of lollies on our table. Once they were gone he started to look around and just had to go and explore Santa's throne.

He loved the christmas trees with their decorations, the snowmen beside the throne and of course he loved climbing up on the throne itself, along with lots of the other children there. Here he is with Sam McKee and Daddy.

Next stop were the rides!
Max and I rode on this huge slippery slide several times. It was about 6m tall and had several bumps on the way down and we just flew! Apparently Max had a huge grin on his face the whole way down, but we were going too fast to catch this in a photo. He loves even the small slides at the playground so this one was a huge hit, and I'm sure he would have gone on it more times if he could have done it all by himself.

Lucky for Max he was able to ride the merry-go-round this year. He is still too small to ride on the horses but had fun going around in the wagon with Sam anyway. We have lots of blurry shots of the ride in action but at least in this one you can tell it's Max.

After we all had some lunch it was time for Santa to arrive. Max was fairly tired by this point and wasn't very good at sitting down waiting patiently for his name to be called to go up and receive his present, but I managed to keep him happy by feeding him some chips until it was his turn. He didn't need too much encouragement to go up and get his present from Santa, especially since he got to give Santa a high-five.


Daddy also got to have some fun at the party as well as helping to organise it. Here he is driving Santa back home!

After all this excitement it was almost time to leave. We stopped by the giant jumping castle first, since Max just kept wandering over to look at it throughout the day and we could tell he wanted to have a go. Although he is still too little for it, the operator said she would let just small kids on to make it a bit safer, so he got to have a go after all! He had a lot of fun bouncing around but since he is still a little unsteady on his feet sometimes he ended up crawling to get around. We went down the jumping castle slide as well and then it really was time to go home, since I lost my balance getting off and Max got a little squashed!

We all had a fun day, and thanks so much to Cam and Matt and the BCEC and all who helped to organise it!

First Christmas - Part 2

We weren't sure just how well Max would handle the long trip from Bli Bli to Millmerran and were prepared for a noisy ride with a few breaks. However, Max surprised us both with his excellent behaviour by sleeping all the way to Toowoomba, where we stopped for a quick feed, play, cuddle and stretch, and then being super good and even having another short nap on the rest of the drive to the farm.
When we got there Max had a quick bath and then it was time for more present opening!
Since he had so much sleep in the car, Max was able to enjoy more shiny wrapping paper, toys and books as well as saying hello to all of the Pfeffer clan before going off to bed, while the adults enjoyed Christmas lunch leftovers for dinner.

Over the next few days Max got to spend lots of time playing with his cousins the twins. They all love being free with nappies off before bathtime, even though it usually means some puddles to clean up!
Grandma and Grandpa were also delighted to be able to spend time playing with Max. Grandpa was very happy to show off his bumper sorghum crop growing around the house, which is the best in several years with the recent rains.
After a few nice relaxing days at the farm we headed back to Brisbane again. We made sure to take time to see Max's great-grandparents on the way home, since they don't get to see him very often. I'm sure Max enjoyed their cuddles as much as they enjoyed giving them.
After all that travelling it was nice to spend a few days at home as a family together to finish off Max's first Christmas.

First Christmas - Part 1

Max's first Christmas was a very merry one, shared by lots of family and friends. We wanted Max to be able to see both sides of the family over Christmas, and of course they wanted to see him too, so we did quite a lot of travelling over the break.
We headed up to Bli Bli on the day before Christmas Eve to see the Batkin grandparents. Max was very well behaved in the car, and slept almost the whole way up, even through some slow patches of traffic.

His Poppy was especially happy to hold Max since it's been a while since they saw each other. Can you notice the family resemblance?

Max had a great time at Nanny and Poppy's place since some of their other grandchildren were also up there visiting for the holidays before Christmas Day. Cam had fun dropping Max in on cousin Liam at 5am in memory of having had the same done to him when he was a teenager. The cousins also had fun playing with Max and I'm sure he enjoyed all of the attention as well.

Christmas Day was a big one for Max, as your first Christmas should be! The rest of the Batkin clan arrived while Max was having a nap, so we started on the nibblies and waited to open presents until he was awake. Once he woke up cousin Caitlin dressed up in the Santa Claus costume and the present opening began.

Max could barely contain his excitement at all of the brightly coloured paper and exciting, noisy and shiny new toys and books, and wanted to play with everything at once. There was also no shortage of people wanting to cuddle and play with him, so he had a great time.
After a couple of hours of this Max was getting tired again, so we put him down for a nap and started on the magnificent Christmas lunch, with delicious contributions from everyone. As usual there was far to much to eat, but it just wouldn't be a proper Christmas lunch otherwise, and everything was just so tasty that you had to keep on going!
Unfortunately Max didn't want to miss out on the fun and woke up halfway through, but uncle Lance showed off his baby settling skills and quietened him down again for a while with a nice cuddle.

After dessert and the cleaning up, I took the chance to have a quick nap while Cam and Max spent time with the family. Then it was time to say goodbye and thank you for all the wonderful gifts, pack up and head out to the Pfeffer grandparents for Christmas part 2.