Perth .... this is our home .... for now. However in a little under two weeks we will be relocating back to Queensland.
We came to Perth in 2010 and after a few short weeks, it came to feel like home. It felt like we had been living in the glorious city for years.
One of the things that I really love about Perth is the amount of free and very low cost family activities that are available throughout the city, the Swan Valley and the surrounding suburbs. The little superheroes certainly have their favourite activities to do and places to visit so over the next two weeks, we've decided to try and visit as many of our favourite places as we're honestly not sure when we'll be back in Perth for a visit. O is a very sentimental child so she has been hinting about all the places that she would like to visit before we head back to Queensland.
Last week it was afternoon tea at our favourite chocolate factory. I have a feeling that one of the only reasons that the little superheroes like going to the chocolate factory is to find out the theme of the over sized chocolate display that is in their showroom. In fact the first thing that they both do when ever we go to the chocolate factory is race to the display and "ooo" and "ahh" over what they find. Last week it was an alien landscape!
On Saturday just gone, we decided on an impromptu outing into the city. O and L love wandering around, looking at all the sculptures and visiting one of their favourite city arcades, London Court.
There are numerous sculptures throughout the city, one of L's favourites are the kangaroos gathered around a watering hole on St George's Terrace so a visit there was a must! Visiting the sculptures throughout the city is also a small sensory break for both O and L. A chance to sit down and take some time out.
Out of the front of St Martins Centre there is a series of five sculptures commemorating the 175th Anniversary of Western Australia. L just had fun running around between the sculptures. O just had to shake hands, ask for directions and then tried to blend in with the sculptures!
We then ran into the big man in the red suit. O was suitably impressed, shook hands with him and then proceeded to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. This was a huge improvement from previous years when the only time we could get her even close to Santa to say hello was to go to a Sensory Santa session. Three smiling photos in three years, winning!
L on the other hand, he hid behind Daddy and then took off as fast as his legs could carry him. L still isn't overly sure about saying hello to Santa. L would however sit on Santa's big red chair for a photo but only after telling us - "if you see him, you gotta tell me so I can run away!"
We then found an oversized Christmas bauble made entirely out of fairy lights. Apparently it was a light jail!
After that it was time to visit London Court and it just happens to be their 80th birthday this year. The court is wonderful at any time of the year - medieval style buildings, old English store fronts, castle style gates, you get the picture.
And what is a city trip without a ride on the ferry across the Swan River to the South Perth shoreline for an ice cream! This is when the little superheroes just chilled out. The father of one of O's friends is a captain for the ferry company so they were quite disappointed to find that he wasn't the captain of our ferry! Never the less, they did enjoy the ride.
This outing was the first in a long time that L walked for the majority of the time - usually one of ends up carrying him so the fact that he wanted to walk was wonderful. By the end of the day I'm not sure who was more tired, us or the little superheroes.
But considering that both O and L were tearing around outside with our neighbours children at 10 o'clock at night while I was inside trying desperately to stay awake, I'm fairly certain that the little superheroes were NOT worn out!