Cuddles with Ella in our hotel room.

THE O’Briens took a bit of a working holiday to Hobart on the weekend, complete with an introduction to the phrase “are we there yet?’’. This is how the weekend played out:

Friday morning: Hit the road from Devonport to Hobart. Unfortunately, what used to take us 3.5 hours, now takes nearly a whole day. What with stops to milk the cow (me) and feed the masses (Ella and Holly …. oh, and The Bloke in The Shed). Five minutes in, Ella asks: “are we there yet?’’. My first real introduction to a phrase I will now hear for the next 18 years. Strangely, Bindi the Jungle Girl got louder and louder through the CD player as the trip progressed. Memo to self: Buy car DVD player with headphones for the kids.

Friday afternoon: Booked into The Old Woolstore Apartments (our regular haunt) and spent the arvo watching Ella jump on her big bed. The temptation of a trampoline indoors is just too much for her. This time The Bloke in The Shed and I took the King bed and Princess Ella had to settle for the Queen.

Trying to get a decent shot of Ella is challenging!

As you can tell...

Friday evening: Ate at Hogs Breath, mainly because it was right across the road from the hotel. Baby Holly ate half an avocado, all my carrots and a curly fry. Yet she still woke during the night for feeds. Sheesh.

Saturday morning: We headed further south to the “bush’’ for lunch with Barb from Suenos De Alhambra – Life in the Huon Valley and her family. Visit her newly revived blog – it’s fab. After attacking the dress up box (a lady in heels through to a robot), Ella came away with this gorgeous hat to take home.

The tiger hat and pumpkin hat.

Saturday evening: If you were on Facebook and Twitter, you would have read my tweet/status. It said: “ The girls are sound asleep and hubby’s at a work-related dinner. It’s just me, the laptop and lots of peace and quiet! Bliss!’’ Need I say more.

Sunday: We headed home to Devonport. It was one of the wildest trips we’ve had in a while. Rain and wind on the outside of the car and wind in it (Ella+tummy ache=pppeeeewwwww). Boy, was I grateful to finally be back home. And not just because of the weather, but also due to one small question: “are we there yet?’’.

Sunday evening: One of Julian’s old work shirts died to make a pirate bandana. Ella might just smell like Cap’n Jack sparrow today as part of Pirate Week at child care. True character acting.

Arr, me hearties!

What did you get up to on the weekend?

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18 Responses to FEATURE: Are we there yet?

  1. Barb says:

    Ahhh what gorgeous photos of the threelilprincesses! It really was lovely to see you all in Mountain River. Ellie is in love with Holly and Ella…..quite willing to trade her little brother in…..

    You’ll have to get your hands on a great book by Alison Lester, “Are we there yet?”….very appropriate for long road trips with impatient little monkeys!!

    DVD player with headphones also a must!!

    x

    • Kel says:

      We had a fantastic time too, Barb. Thank you so much! Ella hasn’t stopped asking when we can go visit Barb and Chris again, so she can play with Ellie!
      Will be having a search this afternoon for the book too. Especially because I think there might be quite a few trips to Hobart in our near future!! 🙂

  2. Margaret says:

    Oh Kell, that brings back so many memories. Rob and I are heading to Hobart for a week on Sunday, glad to say we will be child free. Coming over Friday evening on Unce Ricks boat. We went to the Saints – Magpies match Saturday evening at the G, was thinking about Julians blog about his visit there when last in Melbourne. Personally I would rather go to Etihad than MCG but we had half a dozen Tasmanians make the trip over for the weekend to see the Sainters, five of them are Saint supporters and one Magpie, we all had a great time though.

    • Kel says:

      Oh, great stuff, Maggie. If you get a chance, feel free to pop in! Ella will be very envious of you going on Uncle Rick’s boat!!! 😉
      Glad to hear the footy was good too. Just be thankful Julian wasn’t with you! LOL!

  3. I had a similar experience with Erin on the weekend on the way home from the bloggers meet up. “do we get off next?” and we’d only gone one stop! sheesh!

    • Kel says:

      Haha! They have such an incredible concept of time. Each night when Ella goes to bed, I tell her I’ll come and check on her again in 10 minutes. She always fires back: “no Mum, three minutes, please”. I agree to three minutes and then return half an hour later to find her fast asleep!! 🙂

  4. Karls says:

    Those beanies are adorable!

    Was in Hobart last weekend for an AFTRS course. First time in Tassie and fell madly in love.

    • Kel says:

      Aren’t they divine?
      So glad you enjoyed Tassie and hopefully it wasn’t too cold for you!! Hopefully next time you’ll get a chance to tour around a bit more too. There’s so much to see and do. 🙂

  5. Caz says:

    Looks like a fabulous weekend! Love those hats. But isn’t it always nice to get back home 🙂

    • Kel says:

      Yes, I think the hats are going to get a lot of wear. Especially now the cold weather is well and truly here!
      So true about it being nice to be home, Caz. There’s nothing better than your own bed and a pantry stocked full of food! 🙂

  6. Sounds like a great weekend. They start these stages SO early, don’t they?
    Love the photos of you three princesses!

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Becky. Dodgy lighting in the hotel room, meant the photos aren’t quite as clear as I’d like. Plus hubby had control of the camera!! haha!!
      Yes, I thought I still had a few years before I started hearing that line, but looks like that’s not the case!! She got sick of drawing about half an hour into the trip. 🙂

  7. Jo says:

    Love the hats! sounds like you had a great weekend 🙂

  8. On the 3km drive home after collecting older 3 kids from school, our Missy Megan (3) asked for the entire trip “are we there yet?” I must admit, I encouraged her by replying “No” in as many different voices as I could! What have I started!
    Found you via Tina Gray – look forward to reading more of your blog. Please swing by mine & have a look! http://ramblingmum-mummabear1970.blogspot.com/

    • Kel says:

      Hehe!! Oh dear, Karen. You may be regretting that one in the not too distant future!! 😉 At least a game like that passes the time, hey?
      Glad you’re enjoying the blog. Will check yours out now! 🙂

  9. Tat says:

    All you do is go on holidays! My kids want to go to the snow, but 6 hours drive with kids in the car? And if that’s not bad enough, then we still need to come back!

    • Kel says:

      Haha!! It sounds like it, doesn’t it? We haven’t been on a holiday for about a year and now we’re well and truly making up for it!!!
      I’d love to take Ella to the snow too (only an hour away), but dread the thought of all the snotty noses to follow!! 😉

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