Spring has sprung!

One of the things I love about living on the coast south of Sydney is that we actually have seasons. We used to live up in sunny Queensland for a bit and while it was kind of lovely, it was generally hot, humid and warm. That was it. All year round. But here, we have a cold-ish winter (but no snow, and actually not even frost because we live so close to the ocean), crisp autumn days, a warm to hot summer and lovely spring days.

It's like a Cinderella climate - not too hot, not too cold, just right. And just when you've had enough summer, along comes autumn with the promise of doonas and hot chocolate. And just when you're tired of always wearing long clothes, along comes spring with the promise of swims in the pool and chilled sav blanc on the balcony.

Well, the days are getting longer. The birdies are chirping much earlier in the morning and the sun stays up past 6pm. The days are getting warmer. White legs venture out of trackky-dacs and into shorts. The bit between your big toe and the second toe gets sore from wearing thongs (flip-flops?) for the first time in months.

So we have made a bit of an effort to get outside. Off screen. Away from monitors.

First up a little game of Klop. This is a game from Finland (all the best stuff comes from Finland) and helps your gross motor skills, your maths and gets us out of the inside. Wanna find out about Klop? Watch and learn peeps:

If I had have watched this before we played, I sooo would have sung that song as we played:

Bendy elbow - genetic feature!

In a month or two, this sand will be covered by a pool!

We have also spent some time in the garden. I've shared with you before how I lack a green thumb. But I do manage to grow some Australian natives in our front yard, and every few years or so, I have to trim them back and pull out the grass from the garden beds. This results in huge piles of branches and grass:

I always forget to do the "before" shot! This is the "just after before" shot...

The after shot

I nagged encouraged the kids to get off the damn screens and come help me in the garden. I got my way had willing helpers for a while, and they got to learn some new "life skills" of using garden tools and muscles they rarely get to:

Using bush saw

Using secateurs

Raking

Even though I don't actually "garden" as such, it doesn't stop the garden from blooming at this time of year:

Grevillea hookeriana

Kangaroo paw in flower - Anigozanthos sp.

Grevillea "moonlight" hybrid (no Australian garden is complete without one)

An orchid of some description that I did not plant, I do not look after, yet flowers without fail every year

Totally loving spring and being outdoors. Now, where's the radox bath and Dencorub? My muscles hurt!