Holiday at Shoal Bay

This was our view from the front verandah.

We had a wonderful seven night holiday in Shoal Bay (one hour bus ride from Newcastle airport) with the Maynard family. We have not had a beach holiday in a very long time, so it was really nice to sit back and relax.

Checking out the beach the afternoon we arrived. Water and sand keep our kids very happy!

First full day, and back at the beach. Seb LOVES riding the body board, and had so much fun on it. The water was a tad cold, but that didn't bother him in the slightest.

Getting a tow-along from Dad.

Family of beach bums :)

Gorgeous boy

Mates: Seb & Noah

Cutie pie Ava

Gorgeous views at Zenith beach only a short 10 minute stroll from our accomodation.

After a leisurely walk into Nelson Bay. Seb earnt 'dollars' for being so good on the 45 min walk and he was very happy to choose out some souvenirs.

Getting up close and personal with a kookaburra (or cooka-mumma as Zoe calls them). We soon worked out these kookaburras weren't shy at all, especially when we had a BBQ outside. They swooped down to try and pinch some meat without caring there were humans nearby trying to scare them away!

'More sandcastles Mummy'. Zoe had a ball helping to make sandcastles. I would hate to think how many I made!

Having the best fun jumping on the sandcastles!

Our little boy is growing up so fast.

Zoe will forever be a princess.

Glen & Ian walked up the big hill (or was it a mountain??) nearby and took some beautiful shots. The bay is on the right, Pacific ocean on the left. We stayed in the cluster of buildings that are on the right.

Awww, sibling love!

We hired some bikes and rode to Fingal Bay to the whale lookout. The kids had an absolute ball, and it was one of Seb's highlights of the trip. Zoe kept singing out 'Weeeee' whenever we went down a hill.

At the lookout. We did spot a few whales, but they were a fair way out and it was hard to catch a picture. Pretty amazing to see. We also saw quite a few dolphins in the bay across from our accomodation.

At the beach again.

We dressed the kids up and took them to Zenith Beach for some photos.
Zoe is just stunning.

This picture melts my heart. Totally unstaged. Ian was fiddling with his camera and I held to yell out 'Quick!!' and he caught the moment. Just precious to be able to capture how close Seb & Zoe are.

Our handsome boy.

Walking back after we were all done. I remember thinking how lucky I was to have two such special kids.

We took a ferry ride to Tea Gardens for some lunch and a wander around. The kids loved the ride. So did their Daddy who had fun taking some pictures...

... of the storm rolling in behind us. The cloud formations were amazing and Ian managed to get some great shots.

Our last night at Shoal Bay. We went out for tea, and while we were waiting to head into the restaurant a nice man offered to take a picture of us all. It is the very first picture of all eight of us.

Four adorable kids.

Then in what seemed like a blink of an eye, it was time to fly home :(

We had a fantastic holiday. We could have easily stayed another week, but we are grateful for the time we got to spend away. Thanks to the Maynard family for a great time away.

(we stayed in Melbourne for a few days beforehand, but we are still trying to recover our pictures from our time there. Stay tuned!)