BWA Golf Tournament

I was excited to take part in the BWA golf tournament for a second year.  It's always in October for breast cancer awareness and the money raised goes directly to fund mammograms for local women.  I played with Pam, Andrea, and Marisol and thankfully it's a scramble style so we were all able to make good shots for our team.

It was a 70's theme this year and we were some pretty amazing tie-dye divas! Andrea sourced our outfits and came up with the tie dye over the summer in the US, so we were looking pretty good.

I get pretty tired playing 18 holes normally but they have several fun holes to shake things up and keep it interesting, like the pool putt hole.  Pam made the shot for us! (check out my good form - Marisol is also my pilates instructor so I had to do things right!)

On a par 3, we could rent the instructor Tommy to shoot for us.  If we were willing to pay more, then we could choose the club he would use.  I paid extra to see how he could do with a kids iron and he made a perfect shot on the green!  I did not.

 

Pam had an awesome playlist for us all day and everyone loved our music.  Dance monkey, anyone?

 

Finally, at our last hole we could celebrate a great day!  I'm still not much of a golfer but I love a day on the course with these ladies!

 Matoa is not the lovely course we saw in Bali but it was a fun day.

I burned some serious calories in the heat!

Fall Break Part 4 - Margaret River

We spent the rest of our week down south in the Margaret River region, which is just spectacular.  Forests and vineyards and beaches...it's an absolute paradise.

We popped in some delicious wineries and stopped at the Margaret River Chocolate Company for the 2nd and 3rd times!

We had always stayed in the forest on previous trips to Margaret River, so this time we opted for the beach.  Our AirBnB in Gnarabup had amazing views and the little community was exactly what we wanted - quiet, walkable, with one great restaurant and one great coffee shop.  Perfect!

Within minutes of us walking out on the deck and wondering if we'd be lucky enough to see whales, we were greeted with an amazing show.  The big splashes were visible every day but for two of the days, several whales were just offshore and played right in front of us!

Gnarabup beach was gorgeous

I was really looking forward to lunch at Leeuwin Estate, one of our very favorite places with a beautiful restaurant.  We did a little tasting and selected the perfect wine for our lunch.

The boys spent half of their time on the amazing lawn at Leeuwin.  They made a friend from Singapore and the three of them played for ages.

We checked out the Big Ball golf, which was great fun.  Oversized clubs and balls and short holes made for a fun and fast-moving afternoon on the course.

We did attract the attention of some locals near the golf course.

One day we headed farther east into the forest to explore a little more on horseback.

Ben was the one who especially wanted this outing and he had a great time learning to trot.

Alex was a big fan of his spirited little horse.

We saw a few kangaroos in the woods and then got to ride through a huge family of them in the pasture.  It felt like Jurassic Park when they all got up and jumped away.

Again, a perfect day for the outdoors because Western Australia has a lot of perfect weather days!

We enjoyed more galahs and black cockatoos.

We had some more amazing sunsets.

We took full advantage of the fireplace every evening!  It was nice to cuddle up under blankets and get warm by the fire.

The swell picked up while we were there and we watched some pretty talented surfers catching huge waves.

Every morning, I'd walk to the White Elephant cafe for my coffee and some days I could convince other people to join me.  It had a natural wind block with a hill behind it and the morning sunshine felt amazing.

There was also a lovely lookout just above the cafe where we could watch the whales and the waves.

We visited the beach where Margaret River meets the ocean.

  

Finally, we soaked in our last sunset and had to head home.  It was such a refreshing and relaxing week!

Lucky for us, our flight was at 5pm, so we could leisurely drive back to Perth, make one last stop at Subway, and even hit up a mall and and Bunnings before getting to the airport.  Then it was back to real life in Jakarta.

Fall Break Part 3 - Penguin Island

Penguin Island is a tiny little island about an hour south of Perth near Rockingham.  It's protected from predators so it's a bird nesting paradise and easily accessible by a 5-minute ferry ride. The kids and I first visited Penguin Island in 2009...

...so Ben is a little big bigger this time around!

Most of the little blue penguins are out at sea fishing during the day, but the ones living in the rehab center get fed several times a day.

Alex is still obsessed with penguins and was so excited to get up close with these cute little guys.

After watching them enjoy their lunch, we wandered around the rest of the beautiful little island.

There are birds nesting almost everywhere! Seagulls, terns, pelicans, and of course penguins.

The beaches were beautiful as well.

Again, we had a perfect day with a cool breeze and warm sunshine to enjoy the sights.

We had a lovely picnic there before catching the ferry back to our car and continuing on to Margaret River.

Someone else was a little smaller on this beach 10 years ago! That was the day I learned to keep spare clothes and towels in the car every day because no matter the weather, someone may decide to go for a swim.

Fall Break Part 2 - Cottesloe

We wandered our way over to the coast, making an all-important stop for a Subway sandwich, and stopped at Trigg point, one of Matt's old surf spots.  The colors of the water and sky still seem unreal!

It was Magpie breeding season and they're no joke! Most of this park was closed because of the birds aggressively protecting their nests.

Finally, we worked our way down to Cottesloe and crossed the hill on Pearse Street!  The view that used to always calm my heart, no matter how the day was going.

Home sweet home!  It looked exactly the same and we were so tempted to go ring the bell but didn't want to bother the residents.

Our AirBnB apartment was on Eric Street but still had a beautiful view.

Matt surfed, the kids and I visited some old haunts, and we walked over to Barchetta to enjoy a sunset over the ocean.  I never got tired of this living there.

The next morning, we headed into Perth city for the Citibank ATM (which no longer exists even though the Citibank is still there...hmmm....) and some Mexican food for lunch.

We spent our afternoon at Cottesloe Beach admiring the Indiana Teahouse and soaking in some sunshine.

Matt made "friends" with a seagull

Since both Indiana and Blue Duck were closed for private functions, we picked up fresh mussels at the Boatshed and made our own at home that night.  Delicious!!

The morning view of the ocean was always so peaceful and lovely.  The pink clouds always made me so happy...except at 5am when a toddler was the one waking me up.  Much more fun as an adult choosing to be awake early!

Matt's favorite surf spot at the end of our old street.

A few things had changed, but overall Cottesloe was exactly as we remembered!  It made me so happy to find things exactly as we'd left them.  The kids indulged me in a photo recreation tour.

The hill where Alex let me take a picture after he'd gotten a massive goose egg at the playground...

 The secret garden playground where we used to spend our Wednesday afternoons with friends...

 The pedestrian bridge to Cottesloe Primary, when Ben started "real" school for the first time...

 The swings at the purple playground above the oval and golf course...

We were too far to walk (and it was cold!) so we drove over to our favorite bench on the golf course for one last sunset.

So many happy memories right here.  It was wonderful being back to enjoy it together again.

Perth was a hard place for me because I had two kids in diapers and didn't get to enjoy all the beauty but it's such an amazing city.  It was a really wonderful place for the kids with all the beaches and playgrounds and it will always hold a special place in my heart.