Days 5 – 18 | January photo a day project

I paused the sharing of my January photo-a -day project while were away holidaying & spending time with family in the Byron Bay region… Now sharing a catch up of my project so far…

Day 5: Road Trip Sydney to Byron… Are we there yet?

Day 6: We arrived at my brothers place after a long road trip including one over night stop over…. and the girls were greeted by horses gathering at my brothers fence.
They fed them pears that had fallen from the trees. This is heaven to these city girls who love animals.

Day 7: Ava is the oldest grandchild on both sides of our families, as was I the eldest in mine. It is really nice to watch her grow in confidence as a carer of her younger cousins.

Day 8: Water play on a Summers Day. Another childhood joy.

Day 9: Their first trip to the Gold Coast & Queensland. That called for a little jumping on the hotel bed!

and another from Day 9 because I love Ava’s joy when she is playing on water slides or in any kind of water

Day 10: A day at Dream World. The stand out thing about this day for Ava was the way she took a leap of faith & went on three rides that she wasn’t entirely sure about. Anouk is still too short for the more daring rides but Ava was the right height for them. Her uncle Jesse & her dad were sure she would be fine.  I did what mothers do & made sure she knew that she didn’t have to go on them if she didn’t want to but by the end of the day she had braved her first roller coaster & 2 other rides that I know took all her courage to try. She watched each ride first & although there were some slight hesitations, she chose to go ahead each time. She came off the roller coaster a little blank faced, but still insisted on going on this motor cycle ride. Her face afterwards told me that she was happy she had overcome whatever hesitations she had.

Day 11: A gentle spirit is an important character trait. One I hope to always model & see in my girls.

Day 12: A moment patting a cat in a little store we browsed for what seemed like the longest time. It was their little girl shoes & their little girl dresses & Anouks turned in foot & the way she could only just see over the counter that made me press the shutter on this.

Day 13: Swinging. I know there will be a moment where I will notice they don’t ask to go on the swings at the park anymore. I have to remember this because for now they still do.

Day 14: Anouk. Still small enough to rest on her dads shoulder when she’s tired.

Day 15: Sometimes I can see exactly what she looked like the moment she was born. She grows, but that beauty that first stunned me always remains.

Day 16: Heading home from Byron to Sydney which meant a motel stop part way… which meant more jumping on the bed. It’s these smaller moments together that I know they will look back on & remember most.

Day 17: Wonderfully made

Day 18: Home. After so many days away, home can sometimes feel like the change and the holiday.