Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

Last night was Halloween and we walked around with the kids (KC's and our kids) to do trick or treat.

Aiden was a little sick with gastro but we did managed to get him along dressed in his spider man shirt.

I was dressed up as a steam punk vampire.

When we came back I did the photo above in my home studio.

I finally managed to take the 1 year portrait of Lucas that I had planned and it turned out really well I think.

He is a big boy now and he is able to walk by himself (took his first unassisted steps just before his birthday).

The other day we went to Centennial park to take some 1yo photos of Lucas using a balloon.

What we had in mind was to take the photo down a row of trees.

...but it was impossible to get both the balloon and Lucas to behave in the same photo and the light wasn't great anyway with patches of sun and shade in the middle of the day.

We instead tried to be creative with other photos.

A couple of weeks ago we went to centennial park to take some photos of Lucas for his birthday (see separate post).

I also took this photo of Aiden running across the bridge at Centennial park.

Here is some more test shots of Lucas...his facial expressions are priceless.

The other day I was setting up for a portrait using my new beauty dish strobe.

I was using myself as a subject and this one turned out rather well.

Sculptures by the sea is on again and Kim and I managed to find a couple of hours to go and have a look.

I was carrying Lucas in my backpack and didn't bring my camera, so these photos are all shot with my phone...I seriously regret that I didn't bring my larger camera.

Recently I have been doing a lot of work with a client in the Governor Macquarie Tower in Sydney CBD.

It has been great working in the city as the commute is a lot easier and more interesting in general.

This is the building I have been working in.

One day Kim and I managed to go for a romantic (and long) walk from Coogee to Bondi and back along the coast.

It was a beautiful day and this area have some of the worlds best beaches and coastal views.

We have started giving Aiden and Lucas a bath together when we are not too rushed. They are playing very nicely together in the bathtub.

I did an art nude photoshoot over on the other side or Botany bat at Kurnell with a group of photographers and a Elen who was the model and organiser.

We made another camping trip. This time to Wombeyan caves with one of Kims colleagues.

It was just before winter set in, so the nights were cold and it was nice sitting around the fire at night.

There are a lot of limestone caves in the area that are worth visiting. We did this one which was self guided.

I tried to teach the boys how to shoot with a bow - kept them busy for a while.

We also rigged up a badminton net for both adults and kids to play.

But mostly it was the fire that the boys had fun with.

We also did a really long 8km walk - almost lost the track at one point.

We took the train back to Bangkok after visiting Ayutthaya on 2nd class tickets.

There is not much difference between the classes except extra bolstering on the seats. We however found a more open carriage where the kids could better play, draw and read books during the ride.

There was also a bit more life here. I went for a couple of walks through the train and found a lot of interesting sights.

The carriages were open between the carriages, so people used these areas to sit sown and get some fresh air or a smoke.

There was also a section that was reserved for monks, where I got permission to take this shot.

The mail/cargo carriage was more open with this man sitting keeping an eye on things.

As we approached Bangkok the man from the little kitchen chased people away from a part of our carriage as this was his place to sleep.

This year it was my dad's 75 birthday. I traveled back for the party.

The party was at a little hotel (in danish called a 'Kro') at Soroe.

While there I also got to see the new house they are living in.

This winter we went to the Blue mountains with a group of friends. We hired a house at Leura and spend the days going for walks.

This is from the Grans Canyon walk.

And some from the other walks.

Ayutthaya is the old capital of Thailand. It is a couple of hour north of Bangkok, and the easiest way to get there (by far) is by Train (we learned this the hard way).

The capital was only moved 250 years ago after it was ransacked by the Burmese, but now most of what used to be some extraordinary buildings are now mostly rubble.

It is a large area with lots of temples, so it is worthwhile having plenty of time and not rush it. We just visited three of the main sites, and that was plenty with the kids around.

Some of the highlights are the big lying down Buddha.

People still use this as a place of worship.

And apparently it is good luck if you can make a coin stick on the buddhas feed (without resorting to chewing gum).

At one of the temples there is also the head of Buddha stuck in the roots of the tree.

And as usual it is worthwhile keeping a look out for other moments involving people.

After Laos we went back to Bangkok.

Bangkok is much the same, however it feels a lot cleaner with regards to smoke from all the bikes, but the traffic itself is horrendous.

The tuk-tuks are still there, but they try to charge exorbitant prices, so it was far cheaper and more convenient to get a taxi.

As usual there are still lots of interesting choices for food, such as braised pigs head.

Or Scorpions (which are mostly sold to tourists)

When it comes to shopping, Kim was in shoe shop heaven.

The boys however was in their own upside down ice cream heaven.

The nightlife is also much the same, with the more relaxes and romantic atmosphere along the river.

As opposed to the more thrashy massage parlour atmosphere just around the corner from our hotel.

While we were there it was childrens week, much to the joy of the boys.

This also gave me some unique photo opportunities such as the Thai version of Wonder woman.

Evening were spend having nice dinners with friends, Kim's colleagues and by ourselves.

This photo was my all I packed for the entire trip (only thing missing is my camera and the two lenses I brought along). Everything fitted into a small carry-on backpack.

The floating market is 2 hours drive south of Bangkok. We made a bargain with a taxi driver to drive us all there in a minivan. In the process he tried to take us to the wrong place 5 kilometers from the market and tried to rip us off by saying we should pay an exorbitant amount to take a boat from there - Kim and I had been there before and remembered that it was possible to drive there. With the assistance from Kim's colleague, the driver was put in his place and took us to the right location, so we still came out ahead and it turned out to be a nice day trip.

The market is very much for tourists these days, but they still have the original boats selling food, although the market itself is all souvernirs.

It is however interesting to observe the other tourists and I managed to capture a couple of good moments.

Religion is an integral part of Laos society where the majority are Budhists.

The monks dressed in orange and red ropes are still visible everywhere and it is largely seen as becoming a novice (junior monk) is seen as an opportunity to get an education and support your family if you come from a poor rural area.

The high influx of tourists, especially to Luang Prabang is therefore a bit of a win-win situation for everyone. The tourists support the temples in the area by paying their admission fees to visit and on both my trips I have found that the monks are keen to have a conversation as it is a way of practicing their language skills.

In Luang Prabang the monks walk in procession every morning to collect rice from worshipper along the roads. Before sunrise there are hundreds of monks walking the streets in every direction. There is an equal horde of tourists trying to take photos of these monks and equally tourists handing out (sometimes dubious) rice to them.

There are posters around the city encouraging being there and seeing the monks as well as providing some guidelines such as keeping a certain distance, not using flash photography and if you hand out rice then where to get it from. Most of it common sense really, so it was sad to see how some would be blocking the paths and sticking their camera phones with flashes into the monks faces.

Sacha and I went there a couple of mornings, but because of the time of the year everything was dark and because the monks move quite fast through the streets it was a challenge getting good shots.

One afternoon we walked past a temple and a group of monks were in progress of cutting down a large tree and afterwards trimming off the branches. They were going to use some of the tree trunk for traditional drums and the rest for ornamental purposes inside the temple.

In the late afternoons you would hear them chanting in the small rooms of meditations, chanting and prayer. These are often smaller places of worship and not part of the main temples which are used for more ceremonial purposes.
One evening I heard such chanting and went to investigate and found these monks. Definitely one of my favourite moments in Luang Prabang.

A common assumption and misconception is that the monks live by an ancient code with a simple life, so it is quite interesting to see that even they have adopted modern technology with smart phones and cameras.

The locals are still relying on motorbikes to get around. They are far cheaper and more convenient in the towns. It is even possible to fit an entire family onto a single motorbike.

Younger kids and high schoolers ride their push bikes for transport.

Although Aiden and the other kids definitely preferred the motor bikes.

Nothing too flash for weddings - a normal new car will suffice. If you notice the sign on the door, then I am not sure if the bride was expecting to come home to 'Meat & Sausage'.

There are also some vintage cars around which have survived since colonial times - like this 1952 Citroen.

Aiden and Lucas sometimes loves to play with boxes and other items that are in the recycle bin inside.

One morning they had used the boxes to create a farm...not bad!

...and then there is the silliness...

Now that Aiden is a school and Lucas at daycare they are invited to heaps of birthdays.

One evening Kim took Aiden to a birthday and in the meantime I took Lucas for a little desert treat at Choc Top in Rosebery.

The menu looked delicious and not know that they were so big I ordered one for each of us. They also gave us a free ice cream because they were slow.

I felt so sick afterwards and we didn't even finish it.

Years ago Aiden got a little fluffy toy tiger as a gift.

Over the last couple of years this has been the most treasured toy to the degree where him and Lucas is sometime fighting over it. They sleep with it and they bring it to school to do show and tell.

It reminds me of the comic called Calvin and Hobbs - with a little boy and his toy tiger often getting up to mischief.

For a long time I had wanted to introduce the boys to Camping. Since Kim had never been camping either and wanted a certain level of comfort we looked around for suitable location within easy reach from Sydney.

We eventually settled on Cattai National Park as it has a lot of amenities such as flushing toilets, hot showers and allows camp fires.

Kim also asked some of our friends if they'd like to join, so we ended up going three families together.

We bought a new tent which by most standards is huge, but has plenty of space on rainy days (which we didn't have) for cooking and eating inside the tent as well as air mattresses for sleeping on.
We also had a camping table and chair and amazingly we were able to fit it all into the booth of my car.

Apart from Lucas getting a little cold during the night it went very well. The boys had a blast of a time making up games, eating food (constantly), fishing (no bites) and eating roasted marshmallows.

I also tried a Danish specialty, 'SnogBroed' (Twisted Bread) which consists to of a sausage and bread dough wrapped around a stick and then baked in the fire. Mavis made one that turned out perfectly - unfortunately everyone was too full from eating to really have a go at it (Maybe next time)

In the evening and morning there were lots of kangaroos in the camp ground, which the boys quickly chased away.

It has been a while since we did a family trip with the family. Kim's dad is getting older and it is getting harder for him to do longer extended trips.

The family found a nice house at Scarborough just an hours drive from Sydney. It was a beautiful coastal home with room enough for the whole family and with the conveniences of a large kitchen, a fireplace and TV for the kids.

The inlaws recently got a dog and she made it on the trip as well.

More importantly, it was just a short walk to the Scarborough hotel for coffee in the morning.

And also plenty of beaches nearby.

We are trying to keep the boys (and ourselves) more active on the weekends. This weekend Audrey asked if we wanted to join them for an easy walk at the Royal National Park (about 30 minutes drive from home).

The walk was along an old horse carriage trail (Lady Game Trail) and was fairly level and easy walking the whole way. We made it well past the half way mark where there is an old watering station for the horses before turning around.

I think the kids eventually managed to walk almost 7 kilometers without too much complaining which is pretty far for their little feet.

Last night we went out for Japanese dinner. Lucas wanted to use chopsticks, so I improvised some training ones using a rubber band.

For Aidens 6th birthday we invited his friends to a game of bowling.

This Easter we rented a small cabin out at Oberon. It was a beautiful little place on top of a hill with a beautiful view.

The place was full of cattle, kangaroos and wombat holes (with wombats in them).

Along the way we stopped at Wentworth Falls.

We also went to Jenolan Caves one day.

And afterwards Kanangra walls (Lucas never made the 200m walk there...too tired from all the walking. Pity, because it was the perfect spot and light for a family photo).

Next day we tried going to the glow worm tunnel, but the easter crowds made us turn back once we approached the car park. So instead we went up to Blackheath to have a nice lunch and enjoy some of the lookouts.

Later I tried another family photo at the cabin...very windy.

Overall a nice trip and the boys had a lot of fun.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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2. April 2016 19:04
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Australia Day - Citizenship

2. April 2016 19:04 by Admin | 0 Comments

Australia day was a very special day this year. I have been living in Australia for over 17 years and have been waiting for the moment Denmark would accept dual citizenship.

Although I have been been calling Australia my home for a long time I am also a Dane and didn't want to give this up.

I actually thought that it would never happen, but finally in late 2015 the law was finally changed and I lodged my Australian application immediately. On Australian day I took the pledge and can officially call myself an Australian now.

Kim and the boys, KA and Aaron as well a few friends attended the ceremony.

I felt very proud and was very honoured.

And I was pampered with Australia day gifts.

7. January 2016 18:01
by Rene Pallesen
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Hunter Valley Christmas 2015

7. January 2016 18:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Between Christmas and New year we went to the Hunter Valley with Sasha and his family.

We stayed overnight in a cabin in Lovedale.

During the day we tasted wines at the various wineries (found some good ones).

The kids also loved playing at the cabin in the evenings.

7. January 2016 18:01
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas 2015

7. January 2016 18:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This year we decided not to celebrate on the eve of the 24 and just stick with the 25th at KC's place (too much cooking otherwise). I was responsible for the Christmas ham (with limited success).

It was a relaxing day and the kids were very exited about their presents.

16. December 2015 13:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Silliness

16. December 2015 13:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sometimes when I am setting up for a photo especially Aiden likes to jump in a get silly.

It is a good way to test the lighting and sometimes I managed to get a 'keeper' such as this one from a few weeks back.

16. December 2015 12:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas family photo 2015

16. December 2015 12:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is almost Christmas and I've just completed our annual family Christmas photo and this is the final version.

It was an interesting process getting to this photo this year. Last year we did a photo in the kitchen of us baking a cake, but this years photo has so many more elements to it.

The idea came from a combination of Kim and my ideas. Kim wanted to do a photo of the boys through a crystal ball. I actually bought the crystal ball right after Christmas last year with this year in mind.

We did a test in front of the tree in early December which was reasonably okay, but Kim didn't like the feel to it. She wanted more snow (pretty ambitious on a summers day here in Sydney Australia).

My idea for our family photo was based on me wanting to do a story of us as a family out in a snow storm 'Looking for Santa'. I had purchased a bag of artificial snow and a Christmas cape a few months back and we had some lanterns downstairs so I pretty much had all the components in place for the shoot.

I knew I had to do it as a composite with the boys as there was no way that I would be able to get the photo with all four of us at once. We did the photo over a couple of days, on the first evening (after the kids had gone to bed) I took the one of Kim and myself holding the lantern. Once I had this photo I could show it to Aiden and Lucas so that they knew what we needed them to do (Lucas just had to copy Aiden).

I had Gaffa taped markers on the floor so everyone would know where they were supposed to stand. Inside the lantern I had hidden a speedlight gelled with CTO to make it look light the lantern was lit. We are actually lit by a large Einstein strobe also with CTO, grid and barn doors to control the spill of the light.
At the back left and right were another two speedlights providing a bit of rim light to emulate moon light.

Because of the first 'failed' attempt of the crystal ball I got the idea to extend my 'Looking for Santa' photo into Santa's shed where he would have a crystal ball where he could look at us looking for him.
This would require three components - The crystal ball, the lights from the Christmas tree to create atmosphere and then Santa himself. I created Santa by hanging a hat on a chair which was easy to light and then I had another light which I used to balance the ambient with the lights from the tree.

The final photo all combined looks like the following, but in the end we decided to just use the tighter crop in the first and final photo.

1. December 2015 12:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden Graduation and Christmas Concert

1. December 2015 12:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It was time again for the annual Christmas concert with Aiden and Lucas' daycare.

Aiden is starting 'big' school after Christmas, so this was also his graduation.

Kim and Aiden had both practiced some dancing and songs for the concert and were both dressed up, Aiden as a doctor and Lucas as a pumpkin.

Although Aiden was very excited leading up to the concert and was telling everyone how he was going to sing and dance, he absolutely broke down once we got there overwhelmed by all the people and the noise.

It was heartbreaking to see him like that on an evening where he should be enjoying himself. He was crying and didn't want to get on the stage. Eventually we managed to get him up and he did try and participate.

Lucas on the other hand had a great time, unfortunately I didn't get a lot of photos of that because I had to try and comfort Aiden.

After the show Santa turned up wit presents for the kids and he was a lot happier again.

After that the graduates had their photos taken and had cake.

1. December 2015 12:12
by Rene Pallesen
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7th Anniversary

1. December 2015 12:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This month Kim and I had our anniversary.

I cant believe we have been married for 7 years...still love her to bits.

29. November 2015 22:11
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Ballet - Sleeping Beauty

29. November 2015 22:11 by Admin | 0 Comments

Saturday Kim and I went to the Sydney Opera house to watch the Sleeping Beauty performed by the Australian Ballet.

It was one of the better ballets we have seen. The story was great and the dancing (lots of it) was of a really high quality.

The even managed to weave in some of the Red riding hood story, Puss in boots, Cinderella and other stories.

It was beautiful to watch.

25. October 2015 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Velvet - 2015

25. October 2015 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night Kim and I went to the show Velvet at the Sydney Opera House.

It was a combination of circus, burlesque and boogie nights (70's music) in one show.

The show had great music with Marcia Hines and Brendan Maclean and the performers were great. I think everyones favourite was the guy with the hula hoops.

1. October 2015 19:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Some more baby photos

1. October 2015 19:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I don't know for sure which ones are Claus and which ones are Rene.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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11. January 2010 01:14
by Rene Pallesen
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Restaurants with my dad

11. January 2010 01:14 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

While my dad was in Sydney we went to a number of different restaurants. We tried to find venues of the sort he hadn't tried before or that is unusual for his side of the hemisphere.

There was the Yum-Cha (For those that are not familiar with this...it is a sort of chinese dumpling place where you just point at the items you want from trolleys). And my dad was brave enough to try the chicken feet this time.

We also did Japanese a couple of times (once at Liverpool St which was terrible) and then later at Wagaya at the entertainment centre (which was excellent).

We also did brasilian (no, we did not all get a close shave). This was a lot of meat and we were all very full afterwards.

We also did French food at Tabou in Surrey Hills.

And one evening we did hot-pot at home with friends.

And Kims dad cooked his famous crabs.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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19. March 2004 12:48
by Rene Pallesen
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Canada 2004

19. March 2004 12:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

2004 was the year I started working for Captaris. One of the first things I did was to visit our office in Calgary to learn about our workflow product.

My visit coincided with the Calgary Stampede, so lots of cowboys in town, indians and rodeos. I also too a bus ride up through the Canadian rockies through Banff, Lake Louise and up to the Columbian Ice Fields.

Click here to see more photos from: Canada 2004/Slideshow

19. March 2004 12:24
by Rene Pallesen
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Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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11. October 2013 05:16
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas Walking

11. October 2013 05:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas is starting to be able to walk by himself and stand for long periods of time without holding onto furniture. The longest we have seen him walk so far was around 2 metres.

11. October 2013 05:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas cleaning the toilet

11. October 2013 05:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A couple of times now we have caught Lucas in the process of cleaning the toilet using the toilet brush. We really have to watch him, because he is quick and within a few seconds he will be in there up to his mischief if we don't watch out.

11. October 2013 05:02
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden in hospital again

11. October 2013 05:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden recently ended up in hospital again...this time really bad.

He had another seizure similar to the last time, but this time a lot worse and he didn't wake up from it.

At the hospital they couldn't get him to respond either and he started having neurological damage symptoms.

They decided to put him to sleep on a breathing aparatus and go through the whole process of CT scans, Xrays, spinal fluid examinations etc.

Kim and I were really scared and I stayed with him for 4 days in the hospital until he eventually recovered enough to go home.

The doctors were unable to find out why he seizure was so violent so now we are really worried that he may get another one.

11. October 2013 05:00
by Rene Pallesen
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Fathers Day

11. October 2013 05:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Recently it was fathers day...the kids surprised me in the morning giving me a new coffee mug.

11. October 2013 04:28
by Rene Pallesen
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Little Dynamo

11. October 2013 04:28 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sometimes we take the kids to Little dynamo to play. It is this 4 level play centre for the kids.

11. October 2013 04:23
by Rene Pallesen
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Sammi's 4th Birthday

11. October 2013 04:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend Aiden and I went to Sammi's 4th B'day.

It was held up at Mona Vale and involved a small bush walk for the kids.

Some of the way Aiden and Sammi were holding hands.

Afterwards we had cake and played with clay.

And after the party Aiden and I went for another little walk and spotted a hug red belly black snake.

11. October 2013 04:21
by Rene Pallesen
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Potty Training

11. October 2013 04:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We are in the process of potty training Aiden...so far ain't working.

He is reasonably happy to sit on the toilet in front of the TV...but so far he is holding it in.

10. September 2013 02:49
by Rene Pallesen
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TEDx at work

10. September 2013 02:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Some time ago we had a TEDx session at work...it was great to be part of an international phenomena.

I hope they will run more sessions in the future and that they will be able to get some really interesting speakers in the room.

26. August 2013 10:35
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden in Fiji

26. August 2013 10:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden is a bit of a worry...although he is a social kid he is quite scared of a lot of things and requires a lot of help doing things.

Because he has been delayed on a lot of fronts including his comprehension he would like to play with the other kids but doesn't understand the games they are playing.

This means that he in a lot of cases finds comfort just playing by himself rather than with the other kids.

It does mean that whenever they have group games then he will require someone who can give him step by step instructions until he understands the game.

Mind you when he does find someone who is interested in playing the games he does understand then it is great to see.

26. August 2013 09:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Fiji 2013

26. August 2013 09:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last week we made the trip to Fiji with the kids.

Kim is just about to finish her maternity leave and my work asked me to reduce my accumulated annual leave days by taking some time off so we decided to go away for a week.

We stayed at the Hilton close to Nadi (we found it too far to travel with the kids to the coral coast). This is the view from our room.

Aiden and Lucas had lots of fun playing on the balcony (Lucas enjoyed throwing toys off the balcony).

And we did spend some time in the sand as well.

And trying to teach Lucas to walk (he can almost stand by himself now).

But all the swimming was done in the swimming pool at the hotel.

We didn't venture out much, but on most of the evenings we would walk over to the local Marina to eat (the food was better and cheaper).

One day we hired a nanny to look after Lucas (with little success as they were unable to feed him and settle him, so we still had to be there).

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