Blogtoberfest and Happiness ideas #10 ~ Plan family fun

 Yesterday I signed myself up over at Tinniegirl to participate in:

 you can check out the fun over at: blogtoberfest.

All you need to do is post daily on your blog for the month of October and you are playing along

~ I so think I am up to the challenge and any excuse to do some blogging ~ 

I am in.

We have been having a relaxing morning here in our house. No sport, no appointments. Bliss.

I woke up and got right into helping out with the toilet training {which is going really well by the way} and started my day by singing 'twinkle twinkle little star' and the theme of 'Star Wars' to help get things happening in the toilet department! I am so not a singer but if it means no more nappies then I am going to sing that Star Wars theme like a bird and smile while I am doing it!

Now onto spreading some happiness. If you are new to my blog one of the fun things I am doing this year is photographing and sharing my 100 ways to be happy list. Some of my other ideas can be found here:

Find your own happiness 

Smile 

Love yourself 

Face your fears 

Let something slide 

Alright, onto the latest addition.

One of the lessons Matt and I have learned throughout life is that if you don't plan family activities, adventures and outings - they generally don't happen. I say generally because sometimes we have a lot of fun on the spur of the moment when we just decide to take off somewhere ~ and yes, it is possible to just take off somewhere with seven kids. I yell out - go to the bathroom, grab a hat, get a drink and jump in the car - we are out of here!!!! 

For real serious family fun though we plan and prepare. Our family is involved in many different activities like school, church, community events and sports. We try to make it a priority to plan family fun before other responsibilities because life can get so busy and serious. We find we need a release and time together as a family to be happy.

We take the time to schedule it into our calendars, organise the food, the expense, the traveling, the accommodation {don't get me started on that!!!} and find it brings great happiness to our family and we all love having something to look forward to. 

Sure some of the best plans can fall to pieces and end up a disaster with children crying, tempers flaring, someone throwing up, someone getting lost, someone refusing to co-operate and it all seeming like it was a whole waste of time - but even those challenging holidays or family fun adventures have moments of happiness running through them for everyone to enjoy. 

Recently, we took the kids out of school {we think they deserve a day off every so often too!} and headed down the Gold Coast to WhiteWater World. It had been wet and raining during the week and on the day we decided to go the weather turned out perfect and we had an absolute blast! Here are a few snapshots from our family fun:

 

Head lifeguard on duty - Matt.

{watching seven kids in water is non~stop stress...

seeing the joy on the kids faces is non~stop bliss}

So glad they have plenty of seats to cope with all the children we have - great facilities.

Liberty loves swimming and was on the go all day!

She loved the slides and ran her little legs off going back and forth.

Liahona loved soaking up the sun.

Harmony...her face says it all!

Meeting Henry the Octopus from the Wiggles.

In the wave pool...having fun!

rest time and recover time for Mum and Dad...only for a moment!

Chelsea and Matt decided that they needed a Wedgie...

lined up at the top ready to squash inside the tunnel.

Serious wedgie fun...is that really possible?

My kids so loved this slide/water dump and so it seemed did all the other kids.

anyone own this girl who is losing her pants??

Liahona and Nathan loved the thrill of the slides.

I even loved the thrill of the slides!

 

meeting Dora and Diego ~ a highlight for these boys!

We had a totally awesome day together - sliding, swimming, running and screaming.

Matt and I were totally smashed by the end of the day 

but it was so worth the effort and the constant watching of children.

We hope you have some family fun planned in your schedule.