Tag: Fun

Photo Friday: Melbourne Getaway

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

Last Friday, we packed our bags… Left the dog in the capable hands of Renee’s parents… Picked up Renee’s sister Lia and left for a plane headed to Melbourne.

It would be Jesse’s second trip to Melbourne in as many weeks! So needless to say, he was pretty excited.

We didn’t get much video footage while we were down there, but we got plenty of photos. And wow, what perfect weather to take photos. Melbourne really turned it on for us with glorious days the whole time we were down there.

Jesse had a blast. We had a blast. Lia and her boyfriend Matt had a blast…

We can’t wait to go back!

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The family arrives…
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Well hi there Melbourne! Nice to see you again. 🙂
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Someone is excited to be here!!!
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It’s hard to eat dinner when a certain someone falls asleep on you!
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M E L B O U R N E  N I G H T S ! ! !
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On of the things we love about Melbourne, is the street art!
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A quick picnic before we head back to the airport… and one hung over Matt!
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Last call before we board a flight back to Brisbane…

See you again soon Melbourne. See you again soon…

We’re back: Christmas & New Year Wrap Up (no pun intended)

Renee BartonLeave a comment

And we’re back!

We kind of fell off the radar for a while there amongst the Christmas and New Year black hole. Those two weeks where you don’t even know what day of the week it is and you wind up eating and drinking waaaay too much!

So here’s a little catch up…

Jesse’s first Christmas was so enjoyable. He received loads of pressies from family and friends though he mostly just enjoyed eating the wrapping paper! He got an extra special gift on Christmas morning… the most adorable, (and sharp!) little, white toothy-peg peering up from his bottom gum.

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We followed that up with our annual New Year’s trip to the Bunya Mountains. We basically ate ourselves stupid for 5 days and enjoyed the company of some family in one of the many beautiful houses there. See what we got up to here.

Let me just say, staying up until midnight to greet the new year is certainly a lot more difficult these days. Perhaps the last seven months of broken sleep and a significant decrease in alcohol intake has something to do with it!

Despite that though, we did manage to ring in 2016 and it is shaping up to be an incredible year.

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We have already kicked off the year with some spring cleaning (is it still called that if it is in 30 degree summer heat?) at home starting with our home office. After it being the place I spent eight hours a day for the last five years working as a business consultant (before becoming a Mum), I will not be returning to my job next month as we had originally planned.

Instead I will be embarking on an exciting new venture with Jesse as my business partner. More on that to come but we are very excited and for us as a family, it feels like one of those opportunities that crops up at just the right time and though completely different to the original plan, ends up being a perfect fit.

We also have some big plans for NSSLOU this year too. We thank you so much for supporting us so far. With so much content on the interweb we really do appreciate you taking the time to read our little diddies and share your personal experiences and words of encouragement with us.

When we started this project we wanted to create something unique. A space to not only share our parenting experiences but also bring together all elements of our life: parenthood, married life, work, fun, travel and adventure as a collective that is the ‘Not So Secret Life Of Us’. In the hopes that we might be able to bring a little bit of sunshine to your day, make you laugh (or cry) and maybe provide us all with a little bit of comfort that we aren’t the only ones when it comes to life’s many twists and turns. So hopefully we are doing that and can continue to as we embark on the second half of our first year as parents.

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We are so excited for the year ahead. We hope in amongst all the festive season fun you too have found some time to reflect on the year that was and plan for 2016. Give yourself permission to dream up some weird and wonderful goals for the year and make it your best year yet!

Happy New Year!

Photo Friday: Jesse’s First Photo with Santa

Renee Barton1 Comment

So we decided to get out and about with Jesse last night. Mostly for some Christmas shopping, but also to get the obligatory ‘baby with Santa’ shot.

And so here it is… Jesse with Santa. Looking up at him wondering who he is exactly.

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It was actually pretty cute seeing him on Santa’s knee for the first time in his life. And despite all our and the staff’s efforts to get his attention, he just wouldn’t cooperate with a smile or a glimpse in our direction.

Santa’s beard is just too interesting!

We had a bit of a chuckle about it afterwards and also thought hey, at least he wasn’t screaming in full tantrum mode like some babies in their photo with Santa.

The start of another Christmas tradition.

Footage Friday: YouTube Trailer

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

As you would know by now, as part of our ‘Not So Secret Life Of Us’ project and blog, we have our own YouTube channel.

Well, one of the projects that we kept putting off, was our NSSLOU YouTube Trailer. This is basically a video that any new visitors to our YouTube channel will be presented with, giving them a snapshot into our lives and what our channel is all about.

And can we just say, that we are absolutely stoked with how it’s turned out!

We went through all of our old footage dating right back to when we were first married… and combined it into a 3min long highlight reel of our lives so far. So check the video out below, and while you’re at it, go hit us up on YouTube and leave us a like, a comment and subscribe… 😉

Peace out! (I think we need to come up with a better sign off… hahaha…)

Hot In The City: How do you handle the heatwave?

Renee BartonLeave a comment

The glorious weather is one of the many reasons I love living in Queensland. And though we are technically still a couple of weeks away from the start of Summer we are about to have our first heatwave of the season.

Call me crazy but I kind of love those steamy, hot days. In saying that, I did not enjoy it a couple of years ago when our air conditioner broke down right in the middle of Christmas holidays!

I remember as a kid houses generally didn’t have air conditioning and we would all head to the shopping centre just to get some reprieve from the searing heat. There were also plenty of trips to the public pool as well.

So, as the mercury rises how do you and your family like to stay cool during a heatwave?

Do you hibernate at home in the air con or do you prefer to get out and head to the beach or favourite swimming spot?

If you’re a Brissy local share your favourite places to go with your family to escape the summer heat.

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Photo Friday: Time for a beer?

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

Happy Friday everyone…

We do have a lot of photos that we could have written a post about today, but instead, we thought that we would wish everyone a happy Friday night and a great weekend ahead.

For us, we are kicking back with Jesse and couple of beers while we work on our new YouTube trailer.

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We can’t wait to show you our new trailer when it’s finished…

Stay safe!

Footage Friday: Caravan Shows and Swimming

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

T.G.I.F… Why? Because that means it’s Footage Friday again!

On Sunday last weekend, you would have seen us post about the fact that we went to a Caravan Expo and also took Jesse for his first swim.

Well, we thought that it would be a good opportunity to take the vlogging camera with us so we could record what we got up to throughout the day.

We finally got around to editing, exporting and uploading it last night. So here it is, ready for your viewing pleasure on Footage Friday.

Jesse’s First Swim

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

Spring time in Queensland is glorious. So we definitely wanted to take advantage of this amazing weather with a road trip today.

So we packed the car, bundled Jesse up and hit the road to the big smoke for a Caravan and Camping Show and then for lunch and a swim at South Bank.

As you would have read previously, we are in the early stages of planning a big trip around Australia. So when we found out there was a caravan and camping show sale on just outside the Brisbane CBD, we definitely wanted to head in for a look.

But the best part of the day was when we headed over the Brisbane River to South Bank for lunch and a swim. Jesse’s first swim. And it was the perfect opportunity to try our new camera outdoors (since the weather has been rainy and overcast for the past week). We couldn’t wait.

After absolutely demolishing a couple of burgers for lunch, and feeding Jesse his puréed fruit, it was time to jump into the pool to cool off. Jump in for Jesse’s first swim. A swim we knew Jesse was going to love.

And love it he did. He didn’t flinch one bit when Renee took him into the water. And he didn’t complain once while he was in there. Instead, just after i’d finished taking the photos that you can see below, he fell asleep in the water. He really must have loved the cool water against his hot skin.

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It was so cute seeing him enjoying his first swim. Even if it meant that he didn’t enjoy it for very long on account of him falling asleep. But it was great to have such beautiful weather that we could actually get outside and enjoy spring in Brisbane.

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After our little swim, we decided to head off and have a wander through the South Bank markets. Our little family. The three of us, out on a Sunday enjoying the outdoors together.

Before we had Jesse I would look at little families and often think, they look like a nice family. I wonder if young couples look at us now and think the same thing?

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After having such a great day out, on the way home in the car discussion turned to how we should actually get out and enjoy the great outdoors more often. There are YouTubers we watch that are always getting out and enjoying the outdoors. Whether that be just walking around enjoying the sun, or getting our for a skate, bike ride or mountain climbing.

And I even know a few people at my work who are always out and about on weekends. Sharing photos of their latest adventures on Instagram and Facebook.

We came to the conclusion that it doesn’t really cost any money to go out on adventures like that. And that it is definitely something we need to do a lot more of. Especially now that we have such a nice camera to use.

So where do you go on adventures to? Where is your favourite place outdoors to visit? What suggestions could you give us for our next adventure as a family?

As I finish off this post, all I can think about is how excited I am for our next outdoors adventure as a family. #family #love

I HATE BABY CAR SEATS

Kaine BartonLeave a comment

So I figured out three things yesterday…

  1. I hate baby car seats!
  2. I hate installing baby car seats!
  3. I hate when I can’t finish installing a baby car seat!

Yes… These three things really ended my day yesterday in a wave of frustration and anger.

Our little Jesse was starting to outgrow his baby capsule. He has always been quite a long baby despite being a lightweight, and lately, his little legs and feet have been sticking out the end of the capsule to the point where he was able to kick the back of the seat.

Right we thought, time to upgrade the seat to something a little bigger and better.

So we packed the car, bundled up the little one and headed out for the morning to look at baby seats! We even thought that this might be a good opportunity to take the camera along and film another vlog.

Well, we did end up buying a new car seat, and a good one at that! We packed it in the boot eager to get home to install this seat that looks like the worlds comfiest chair! I mean, if they made full size versions of this thing, I’d be first in line for one!

We unpacked it, got it ready for installation and then BAM!!! It was like the capsule all over again. What is it with installing baby seats in cars that something has to inevitably go wrong!

In the end, it turned out that the tether wasn’t long enough to reach to the floor in the boot of our Outlander. “Well this is stupid!” I thought. “Why don’t they make these tethers long enough to fit all vehicles?”

We had to abandon the install in search of an extension belt for the tether. Something that, given the time it was, we wouldn’t be able to get until tomorrow.

Luckily, while I stayed at home with Jesse for the morning, Renee was able to find a tether extender, and in the end, we were able to finish the installation successfully albeit a little later than expected.

It really feels like the people in the baby stuff business are just sitting back and laughing at all of us… scheming about how they can best screw with our heads and tempers next!

I’m just glad this new seat is supposed to last Jesse until he is 4 years old. I’ll be buggered if I’m going to install another new one any time soon!!!

Footage Friday: Great Ocean Road Highlights

Renee BartonLeave a comment

So around this time two years ago, we travelled around Melbourne and more specifically, along the Great Ocean Road.

We had a full week taking in the sights that the beautiful Great Ocean Road had to offer and it did not disappoint!

This is the highlights package we put together from our week down there:

We can’t wait to visit the Great Ocean Road again when we do our big lap of Australia. It’s going to be epic!!!