A FAMILY DAY WITH POPPY

It was good to be home and see my beloved again;  It has been almost a week since I have seen him and he takes off in a couple of days time again to spend a blokes week away fishing..

He had everything organised so that he could spend the day with Sarah, the children and I.

We started our fun day off with a family breakfast out at Hendrick's Lane...

Hendricks Lane Coffee Bar

 Hendricks Lane is a nice restaurant set inside large unassuming timber doors.  There are menus for different parts of the restaurant.  It is upmarket  and trendy and similiar to what you would find in the big cities and is a popular venue in our city.  The food and service is excellent and the decor is also very inviting and appealing...

decor is urban industrial and very nice

 I must say I was really impressed with the kids and their behaviour.  I think taking some of their favourite toys with them kept them amused and made them happy to just sit in their seats.

One way to keep him happy at breakfast was to let him take his trains.

Willow bought her puppy along...

 The adults ordered their favourite Eggs Benedict with home made hollandaise sauce..

It was perfectly delicious

 The children ordered the French Banana Bread with hazelnut sauce and a scoop of ice-cream.  They shared this and it was so big that they still didn't manage to eat it all. 

 We all enjoyed hot chocolates as our drinks.

 It certainly looked and smelt very appetising.
Our meal was deliicious and we can see why this is a popular place to have breakfast..

 Even managed to get a couple of photos with the love of my life...

 Love that we get to create these wonderful memories with family.
The kids found a great use for the little paper bags our cutlery came in and it amused them for ages. 

Bridges and parking bays

 Once we finished our breakfast we headed down to the riverbank to let the children have a play in the new playground.  The new Fitzroy Adventure Playground is equal to any of the amazing playgrounds in our big city.  It was modelled on the chldren's iconic Southbank playground in Brisbane ais is built on a raised platformm, so that in most circumstances it is above flood level, but should the need occur, it can be completely removed.

This riverbank precinct is a real credit to our regional council and our kids loved it.  Even Max at 2 climbed right to the top of the big slides and walked along between them both.  He was more interested in playing in the older playground rather than the infant one.    Willow just loved it and neither of them wanted to leave... We spent a good couple of hours there...

 We were finally able to tear them away and headed for a walk along the riverbank.  I did warn Sarah not to let them get too ahead of us, especially Max as there was a water feature up ahead and he would be straight into it.  We didn't have spare clothes for them.  Well it was too late,  Once Max saw the water he was straight into it.  Willow didn't want to miss the fun she she took off into it as well.
Good thing the weather was good and it wasn't too cold.  The kids had a ball diving in and out of all the streams of water,  Max ran solid for a good hour in and out back and forwards and had the best time. 

 Good thing that Steve always carries a few old towels in the car because there was not way they were hoping in as wet as they were.  They had to be wrapped up and dried off before they could hope in.  By this time it was way past lunch time, and Max looked exhausted...Time to take him home for his afternoon nap. 

Sarah and I thought we would give Poppy some much needed grandchildren time and leave the children with him whilst she and I headed out for a girlie treat and a spot of shopping...
We love to have pedicures and manicures so headed off to the closest nail bar for our treat together...

 Once we had finished with being pamped, we hit the shops and Sarah was able to score some great winter bargains,  It was close on 5pm by the time we got home.  Just in time to organise a family movie night with the children before their bed time.  We cooked a couple of pizzas for dinner, set up the picnic rug in our lunch and all settled down to watch a G rated movie together,
It has been a full on day but one of the best. 
I must admit it is so good to be feeling well again and to be able to get out and have some fun with our adorable grandchildren.
More adventures to follow in the coming week.....