Author: Libby Withnall

As you can see I was up before the sun today and in time to see the sunrise.

Christy started her 13th birthday celebrations opening presents.

Everyone organised their own breakfast. I had a wrap.

And a green tea frappacino that Kevin got for me from Starbucks.

At 9.30am we set off for Movie World, arriving shortly after opening.

First ride of the day (and a new one for us). Pretty good but very quick.

Kevin bought himself this onesie when I left him unattended in the gift shop!!

 

Next was Justice League 3D ride – just like Disney’s buzz lightyear.

Then Kevin, Athena & Christy rode Batwing.

 

Then it was Superman …

Followed by Arkham Asylum for the girls…

Then the girls favourite ride at the park, the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster..

They rode this a couple of times before we got some nachos for lunch. So yummy. We had the same thing last time we were here.

After lunch we went to…

Kevin asked if he was good enough to get this – giving the girl in the store a good chuckle.

We briefly checked out the kids area but the Looney Tunes ride we wanted to go on is long gone. Athena did get a selfie with Foghorn.

There were a few more rides on Scooby.

And it turned out we were in a great place to catch the end of the parade.

Christy took off to do some rides, while the rest of saw the 4D movie – Journey 2.

Time for a treat – a mint iced choc – yum!!

I snapped a few last photos while the girls rode the Green Lantern again.

Then it was time to leave for home. Then back out again for Christy’s birthday dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

We were seated in an outdoor area, which was thankfully a lot quieter than we’d experienced before.

Fancy drinks were ordered…

I had my usual Chicken salad… without the chicken. So delicious.

We had a really enjoyable evening and dinner. On the way out I spotted one of Clarence Clemons’ saxaphones.

Back home we settled in for the remainder of the evening, and Kevin was quick to try out his new onesie. Yep, I’m married to a 5 year old!!

Todays vlog :

Another gorgeous sunrise. Christy and I went down to Coles and picked up some groceries. I then had some breakfast while putting together some lunch for the water park.

Around 10am we were finally ready to head off….

to Wet n Wild…

I didn’t have an underwater camera (due to me forgetting a camera changer that Athena is bringing up tomorrow) so there aren’t that many photos.

Unfortunately much of the park was closed, including the area were we usually sit, so after walking around for a bit trying to find somewhere, Kevin suggested we rent on of the private cabanas. I’d actually been thinking about it earlier so I said yes, I’m pretty sure Kevin was rather shocked (as I normally would say no).  Today having some nice padded lounge chairs seemed very appealing. I didn’t get a good photo of the cabana, but you get the idea. There was also a locker which was great, and you got 4 meal vochures (remember I had made lunch earlier!!).

Kevin & Christy did a couple of slides (from the ones that were open). Unfortunately I didn’t think my lungs could handle walking up a lot of stairs, but I did manage the lazy river :-).

We returned back to the cabana I lay in the sun for a bit while Christy and Kevin went in the wave pool.

It was a nice warm day but the water was a little chilly.

 

Not sure what the life guards were planning, but I thought they looked funny all standing there (when there was usually just one).

After soaking up some rays I went over with Christy to watch her do some slides.

She chose not to do this one…

but did do this green one.

It was a long wait, so she only did it once, and went back to the cabana.

Our lovely sun had disappeared by now so we came back to this…

Kevin had one of the burger meals for his lunch but I was really looking forward to the salad I had made so I had that.

and then read through some magazines.

Christy swam in the wave pool some more. Eventually we were all so very relaxed but getting cold, so decided to pack up and head home. On the way we collected our 3 remaining meals (Kevin had one for dinner, and Athena one for the breakfast the next day). The drinks we had on the way home and the muffins were packed up for tomorrow.

While we all had a nice day, it was a shame so many slides and places were closed in the park. If we’d had younger kids we would have been devastated to find the kids area closed as that was where they played almost all day.

Back to Surfers we drove…

And it was actually warm enough for me to enjoy an afternoon snack on the verandah.

As I said before Kevin had one of the lunch rolls for dinner, so I cooked myself some pasta.

Around 7.45pm Kevin left to go and pick up Athena from Coolangatta airport. She rang when she arrived to ask where we were. Kevin wasn’t there yet but when I checked on find my friends I saw he wasn’t far away.

They arrived back at the apartment some 40mins later and it was great to hear all that Athena had been up to during the last few days. She seemed to really enjoy her independence and did great at looking after herself.

Todays vlog :

A stunning sunrise this morning (so glad I’m an early riser) and finally some sunshine, making the Gold Coast look as it should.

The view from our bedroom balcony…

and the view from the main balcony…

Breakfast today was banana on toast.

Around 9.30am I heard from my friend Paula that she had arrived. It was my first time meeting this lovely lady, though we have been online friends for 4-5 years.

We had drinks at Max Brenner – finally I got a delicious Iced Chocolate. And Christy became best buds with Paula’s little boy, Dan – once he warmed up and found his voice.

 

After drinks we headed up to the resort so the kids could swim. It was pretty cold but Christy managed to get right in.

After a bit we moved so the kids could use the spa. Love this photo of them having a chat.

It was lovely getting to sit and soak up some sun while chatting with Paula. Kevin had taken himself off to lie in the sun and listen to his book (currently he is listening to Outlander).

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Paula and Dan and head back to Sea World.

Kevin was happy we arrived in time to see  Spongebob Paradepants. Not to sure I was – that was 8 minutes of my life I will never get back :-).

We then went to Penguin Encounter. Much better! I could have watched these guys for hours.

We then caught the monorail to the far end of the park and got some lunch. I got a ham baguette. Kevin had planned on eating the ham, but the seagulls beat him to it :-). It was really yummy. Heaps better than my sandwich yesterday.

While having lunch Christy discovered she could do this. How did she not know this?

Kevin & Christy then went on this rope climb.

They then went on some rides. Unfortunately my feet were pretty sore today so I waited and managed to catch them on  Jet Rescue,  just :-).

Strangely there are hardly any benches to sit on so I had to make do with a short stone wall.

They also did Storm again, then went to see the 3D movie. Another dud pick by Kevin!

Then my request of the polar bears. There was only one out and it was nap time but he was still awesome to see.

And look what was back? The walrus bench. Made me so happy :-).

Last up was the Jet Ski show. Pretty awesome but hard to photograph so be sure to check out the video at the end if you’d like to see more.

We then headed back home, relaxed and admired the sunset.

And saw the full moon peaking through the clouds.

Kevin had got himself a chicken roll for dinner so I just had a wrap using leftovers from last night. Kevin headed off to bed early (as he wanted to get up early for the Apple launch) and I watched some cycyling.

Todays video:

A lovely start to the day. Watched the sun come up (though the clouds) as I edited a vlog. Eventually I made some French Toast for breakfast….

and we headed out to Sea World, arriving shortly after opening..

 

First up the gondolas.

We could see the grey clouds rolling in, and unfortunately they arrived while we were still on the ride.

Luckily the downpour didn’t last too long and by the time we were seated for the Imagine dolphin show, it was sunny again.

While we waited I enjoyed some cold popcorn and Kevin & Christy didn’t enjoy their cold churros.

As always the dolphins were amazing.

After the show Christy was booked for a dolphin pat.

She got to pat Squeak and really enjoyed the experience.

Then it was time for some rides.

Storm was pretty cool but very short.

We then went on the Viking log ride – which did seem pretty tame after Disney’s Splash Mountain.

Time for some lunch. There weren’t many veggie choices so I got a sandwich, which unfortunately wasn’t very nice so I only ate half. Then had some of Kevin’s hot chips.

By now the rain had returned and gone again but we were all suffering with sore feet so decided to call it a day. We tried to take the traditional walrus bench photo but he wasn’t there. So sad. Can’t understand why they would remove it.

On the way we stopped to see the Pelicans. Thought this one was so cute!

We then drove back to our apartment. I put my feet up and worked on a blog post, Christy did some homework for school and Kevin had a nap and watched a movie. Around 5pm Christy and I headed over to the indoor pool. It was cool out so I wasn’t keen but thought I’d be a good Mum.

We went in the sauna, then the pool. The spa was a little too crowded. While the pool was quite nice, I got cool quite quickly.

The reward however we getting to enjoy the sunset from the pool.

Dinner was taco bowls with some TV. We also got to enjoy the moon.

Todays vlog :