Our outing on Saturday - The Port Adelaide Festival

This Saturday saw us actually have all 6 of the kids with us at the same time for the day,,,,,this is a rarity lately since Mr16 is usually working on weekends and the chance for us to go out as a complete family is a real treat (well for me at least lol).  This weekend just happened to be the Port Adelaide Festival and the Maritime, Railway and Aviation Museums, as well as the Lighthouse were all free entry.  This saved us a small fortune!!!  Normally there is no way we would be able to afford to go to all these places in one day and the fact that none of these places are exactly huge sees us a little unwilling to fork out large amounts of money to go there.  (If only I had taken the camera,,,,I still can't believe I left it at home,,,,,thank goodness for cameras on phones!!)  The kids, naturally enough, had varied reactions to each of them.  Mr9 is still young enough to find the fun in most things.  Miss12 and Mr11 are happy if they can keep entertained, which is easy when there are things to climb in and explore.  Mr11 with Autism is tricky at the best of times but we had his MP3 player with us as well as the wheelchair to save him walking (believe me,,,the tantrums when he has to walk for any extended period of time are enormous and see him dropping to the ground screaming and generally carrying on like a pork chop lol so the wheelchair is a definite advantage to having a nice family day!).  Mr16 and Mr14 are a little past most of it but even they put a smile on their face and I think they kind of had a good time at least lol.  All of them naturally enjoyed the Hungry Jacks we had for lunch so that made up for any boring bits they may have experienced.

Keeping large families and age gaps all happy is hard work and I guess the older kids are the ones that generally have to put up with things that they may not enjoy, but my boys are pretty good at keeping Mum happy and tag along.  Mr14 started calling these little excursions UFOs....(Unavoidable Family Outings) lol, and he is right they are unavoidable and he will come along, especially when I know that if he doesn't he won't leave his computer or Xbox for the day.  At least coming with us he is out in the fresh air!!

Miss 12 was captivated by the Ghost Lady and was determined to follow the instructions of finding the sailor boy that she was given

Mr 9 grew a little bored with Miss 12's insistence on finding the sailor boy, he already knew where he was lol but wouldn't tell Miss 12

Mr 11 (with Autism) loved the train ride at the Railway Museum

Hubby, Mr16, Miss12, Mr11 and Mr9 all climbed to the top of the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was loved by those of us who climbed the stairs,,,,,,I chose to stay on the ground with the other Mr11 and Mr14 lol

Miss12, Mr11 and Mr9 enjoyed climbing on and off all the trains at the Railway Museum

You can tell he likes things when he gets vocal lol

Miss12 still enjoys rides like this

Mr9 is still young enough to enjoy these rides too!