During the winter I decided to start a series on our favourite places in Sydney. Places we go and feel right at home. Yesterday we visited one of those places with some friends – the Australian National Maritime Museum. We are so lucky to have this gem of a museum right in our neighbourhood. It is by far our favourite family membership. You might not know just how much there is on offer there on a regular basis. For starters, it serves as our playground on a rainy, cold or miserably hot day. There is a great new play area for little ones and always an interesting exhibit or two. My kids have loved just wandering around the museum since they could walk. The don’t ever seem to get tired of it! But Sundays are our favourite days when there is an arts and crafts room open called Kids on Deck. We spend hours upon hours in that room. My daughter could spend the whole day there and many times when I had a new bub she did! It is contained, supervised by nice and helpful staff, and a great place to relax or catch up with another mum while your little one is amused and happy. Kids on Deck also runs during the school holidays – a lifesaver!
And if that is not enough, the Museum brings in performance shows during Family Sundays and school holidays. We always go more than once to the point my kids can recite the lines! And if you don’t know about it, the Mini Mariners program is the best. It is a special program for kids that runs on Tuesdays and some Saturday mornings. It is free for members (such a great deal!) and lasts about 45 minutes. We went so often that we got to know the staff and it is always so nice to go to a place where friendly people know your names.
So without any plans on Sunday we headed off to the Maritime Museum. We were lucky in that it was Family Fun Sunday which means there was a great circus performance, face painting and of course Kids on Deck. We watched the circus show where a fabulous trapeze artist entertained the crowd and then got all the little ones doing there own circus tricks. Hula hooping seemed to be my daughter’s trick of choice. And of course we spent hours in Kids on Deck making light houses, fancy hats and badges. The bonus was the face painting. If my little ones are like yours, they are not leaving without an elaborate painting on their little cheeks. All in all I think we were there about three hours and no one wanted to leave – except for the fact that lunch was calling. And we didn’t even actually enter into the museum, tour the ships or climb the lighthouse. There is that much to do! It is also one of my favourite places to take photographs. The boardwalk, city, water and sunshine – to die for!
It was such a great Sunday spent not very far from home. If you haven’t been to the Maritime Museum lately I encourage you to check it out soon! Stay tuned for our next favourite place!
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I was so excited to attend this bowling party for our friend Vanessa’s sixth birthday a couple of weeks ago. Now bowling IS fun but I was most looking forward to using my flash to capture some moments in such a dark and challenging lit environment. It’s a very cool space with coloured lights, video games, a disco ball but not the best for great photos of the birthday girl. While the kids had fun rolling those heavy balls down the lanes, I got to try out the techniques I learned in my class on flash. The games were certainly competitive with lots of cheering and happy dances. Bowling was followed by video games and then birthday cake of course! I hope Miss Vanessa loved her party! I certainly loved being there 🙂 And was able to capture some great memories for her wonderful mum and dad.
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This had to be one the shortest photo shoots I’ve done in a long time. With all the rainy weather, we had rescheduled this sibling shoot three times. The forecast for today wasn’t much better, but there did seem to be a slight chance the sun would peak out from behind the clouds. And PEAK it did – in between rain drops. I met up with mum and these little ones in Darling Harbour outside the Australian Maritime Museum, and ran out in between rain drops for 3 1/2 minutes – TWICE. But sometimes that is all it takes to get some great shots of two gorgeous and cheeky boys. Everyone was a bit wet, but had fun splashing a bit as you can see. We’ll reschedule again as I am keen to get those two in a shot together. I am sure mum won’t complain – who could have enough photos of these two?
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The first Saturday of most months, the children and I head to the Pyrmont Grower’s Market. Held down on the harbour, the market is a stunning way to spend a weekend morning. The kids run around, we often see people we know, and there is yummy food and drink. This Saturday was no exception. We loaded up on pastries, fresh juice, a few veggies and coffee. It was also a great morning for trying out some full sun photography – something I have grown to love this year. Halmi (Korean word for Grandma), who is a bit camera shy, went with us and I even got a cameo of her with some gorgeous veggies. After the market, the kids and I idled away some time down by the water watching the ferries come and go while we decided what to do with our day. I think I love Saturdays with no plans the best. After a quick selfie (a promise I made to try and get in the photos more!) we decided a trip to the Dinosaur museum was in order and off we went. Gorgeous start to the weekend.
Please follow along our Five on Five blog circle to see what my friend Sharyn has been up to this month.
I’d love to capture your perfect Saturday.