Why?

Oh no…… we’ve entered the phase of “Why?” – Ethan LOVES to ask “why?”. This is how many many conversations go these days…

 

E: What you doing mummy?

M: I’m cleaning up darling

E: Why?

M: Because this house is messy

E: Why?

M: Because you made a mess

E: Why?

M: Because that’s what happens when you’re two

E: Why?

M: It just does darling…… (getting over this conversation now) – What are you doing Ethan?

E: talking to mummy! (smarty pants!)

 

or something like this….

 

E: What are you doing Mummy?

M: cooking dinner

E: why?

M: so we can have some dinner

E: why?

M: Because it’s dinner time

E: why?

M: that’s just what time it is E, aren’t you hungry?

E: Yeah

M: well, that’s why I’m cooking dinner!

 

I could go on….. there have been MANY MANY “why?” conversations, but you get the idea. This little man is curious about everything. I’ll try and video one soon. Ben likes to ask questions too, but doesn’t seem to do the same series of “why?” that Ethan enjoys.

 

Ben also has a few standard conversations that we “play out” every so often. Words in brackets are words they usually still leave out of their sentences.

Ben: I want something (to) eat

M: please Mummy

B: Please mummy

M: What would you like?

B: ummmmmmmmmm….. something in (the) cupboard

M: ok, what in the cupboard

B: ummmmmmmmmmmm

M: would you like this?

B: no, something else

M: what about this?

B: something else - (it becomes a game at this stage – Ben likes it, Mummy does not!)

M: what about this?

B: something else (now laughing)

M: what about this?

B: something else (still laughing)

M: no, not something else, would you like this or this? (two options because I’m getting over this game now!)

B: no, no no, something in (the) fridge – (tries to prolong the game)

'

And it can end there or go on…… depending on the day…..

 

Both boys have become real little chatterboxes, especially in the last month or two. They ask questions about everything, comment on different observations and even tell you how they feel (happy and sad). Their curiosity can be quite maddening at times, for some reason they enjoy asking the exact same question 5 times in one minute.. are they hoping for a different answer?!? They also ask questions I KNOW they know the answer to, so sometimes I give the wrong answer on purpose, and they always look at me funny and say “noooooo” – they are too smart!

 

I must admit, I am finding this incessant questioning phase a bit trying. I know they are learning, but I’ll be happy when this phase passes and I am not asked 100’s of questions all day long!

Camping Trip–Chapter 6–Coffs Harbour

Driving from Byron Bay to our home takes about 8-9hours, so we decided to spend 2 nights at a nice motel at Coffs Harbour on the way home – to break up the drive. The best part of this place was a heated swimming pool!

Sal and the boys swimming. During our trip we bought the boys a back float, as we saw a toddler about their age swimming with one, and doing really well. They love their “floatie” – Ben managed to work up the courage on his 3rd swim to let go of us/wall and swim independently. He was most proud of himself. He has an interesting vertical swimming technique, almost like running in the water. Ethan was a little more anxious, and would not let go.

The best part, and great little toddler pool!

Another fantastic part of Coffs Harbour was the “Pet Porpoise Pool” – A dolphin and seal park (with some other animals too). At the Pet Porpoise Pool, the boys were able to get kissed by a seal – Ben’s turn. Ethan’s turn (in the photo where the seal actually kisses Ethan, both E and Tracie shut their eyes!)

Ethan gets kissed by a dolphin

Ben gets kissed by a dolphin

Ethan feeds a seal

Ben feeds the seal too.

A few tricks the dolphins showed us during their show.

Tracie and the boys feed a little penguin.

Of course, a trip to the beach at sunset…. This beach had HEAPS of smooth pebbles and shells that the boys enjoyed exploring.

Tracie

My beautiful Ethan

 

Finally, a trip to Coffs wouldn't be the same without visiting the Big Banana!

This brings me to the end of our camping trip stories.

We had a WONDERFUL time, and look forward to planning our next trip in a few months.

Camping Trip–Chapter 5–Byron Bay

Byron Bay is a beautiful part of the northern NSW coastline. We stayed there for 2 nights, and had a great time seeing the sights.

 

Sitting down for breakfast, the ducks came to visit, and scored a couple of toast crusts off Tracie

Mummy (Sal) and Ethan feed the ducks. They were very tame, and took the bread right out of our hands.

Benjamin, pretending to sleep so I wouldn’t take his dummy (pacifier) away. He’s laying on his blankie, a small quilt Nana made for each boy for their first Christmas. Both boys still love their blankie, and take it to bed with them every naptime and bedtime, every single day! Click here for my initial post about blankies all those months ago

Ben, Mumma (Tracie) and Ethan at the Byron Bay lighthouse.

View from the lighthouse

Mumma (Tracie) and Ethan near the lighthouse, it was very windy, hence Ethan’s unimpressed expression.

(Beautiful beach behind, see picture below)

Benny and Mummy (Sal)

The amazing beach that we are standing in front of in the above photos

Beach at Bryon Bay

Ben, Tracie and Ethan on Byron Bay’s main beach.

Camping Trip–Chapter 4–Hervey Bay

The beaches and water at Hervey Bay are absolutely beautiful! We went for several walks on the beach during our 5 night stay. The boys enjoyed digging in the sand, playing in the water and collecting sea shells.

Mumma (Tracie), Ethan and Ben on the wharf

Looking back at the beach from the wharf

Ethan and Ben play in the gently lapping waves

Ethan and Ben, checking out the beautiful beach

Ethan found some drift wood

Later in the trip we visited the beach at sunset. Unfortunately, this beach faces north, so the sun doesn’t set over the beach, but it still made for some nice shots. The first three are taken from the caravan park where we stayed, the rest from the beach. (Most of these pictures have had some digital editing)

Tracie at sunset

 

Another day, we decided to hire a 4 person bike and take a ride along the esplanade. It was great fun, and the boys loved it too!

Mumma (Tracie) and Ben, having a drink and something to eat when we’d finished out ride

Cheeky Ethan at the cafe after our bike ride.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The caravan park where we stayed in Hervey Bay was fantastic! We got an ensuite site, so we had our own private shower and toilet, not far from our tent. Perfect!

Sooky Ethan.

Ethan went through periods on the trip where he was being a grumpy, sooky little boy. They were usually when he was tired, and a good cuddle often helped.

Benjamin having a rest. At various points during the day (sometimes up to 5 times a day) he would tell us “I’m tired”. He would want to be put in his cot, and given a dummy. He’s only allowed a dummy when he is resting, and he loves his dummy, so he would ask to have a rest just so he could have a suck on his dummy. He actually fell asleep only about 3 times in the 2 weeks we were away.

Ethan refused to nap/rest in his cot, and prefered to do so on our bed. He also only fell asleep about 3 times during our 2 week trip.

Ethan, again obsessed in the water!

Tracie

Ethan, Ben and Mummy (Sal)n doing the washing up in the camp kitchen after breakfast.

One of the highlights to this place was the lake/pond (not sure what you call it. Seems to big for a pond, and too small for a lake!) in the middle of the park. Unfortunately for my nerves it was not fenced,  thankfully the boys did not fall in! This lake/pond was home to some wonderful water birds, ducks and about 20 little turtles. Each time you went to the edge to look in, a few turtles would swim over, hoping to get fed. They were very cute! We fed them some bread a few times, and of course, the boys LOVED feeding them.

So cute. It may be hard to tell in the pictures, but they are about the size of a dinner plate.