Down with the kids

5,200 km in 3 weeks! That’s right, with a 3 and 1 year old! The poor kids were even to little to ask - are we there yet? Big Sis wont get in the car anymore until we fully explain the distance we intend to travel and the reasons we can’t make an alternative journey on foot or in the pram!

Suffice to say parenting skills were put to the test as we sang songs, played games and pulled snacks and tricks out of carefully prepared bags. One game that was a big hit with Big Sis and whiled away many hours was the old favorite - I Spy.

The kids had never really experienced McDonalds before, but it became a bit of a necessity on the road when we were driving in 20 hour stretches without a real break. I really needed the kids to want the Maccas experience - so we had somewhere to stop that they would be excited about! Little Bro didn’t take much work, we stopped at the first one and he ran excitedly over to a life size statue of the Evil Clown and sat on his shoes looking up adoringly. Big Sis on the other hand was very ho hum about the whole thing.

I have a strangely surreal memory of sitting in the Narrabri McDonalds at 7:30am after driving through the night with me trying to coerce Big Sis into eating a Bacon and Egg McMuffin - telling her how much we love it and how fun the food is!!! Her responding with - “I don’t like the eggy hamburger!” After years of trying to teach and model healthy eating for the kids the irony wasn’t lost on me.

Ultimately it was playgrounds that hooked Big Sis and she started to recognise the Golden Arches - she insisted on calling them “Old McDonalds”. This was much to Little Bros delight, as he only has to hear the words to respond with “Eeeei Eeeeei Ooooh”.

Anyway, you can imagine my delight when on the highway between Newcastle and Sydney we discovered this incredible fast food place called Olivers with fantastic healthy food! Great squeezed juices, fab coffee, fresh salads and sandwiches and much to Big Sis’ delight sushi rolls which my kids love! My dream would be to see an Olivers set up next to every Old McDonalds on all highways in Australia! If you ever go past one - stop and check it out!