A Spring Picnic At The Beach | Life Love and Hiccups: A Spring Picnic At The Beach
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Monday 2 November 2015

A Spring Picnic At The Beach

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Brought to you by Coles

There are so many awesome things about Spring that float my Spring loving boat; the end of the big freeze and the return of the warmer weather, the garden coming to life all green and lush and full of promise and hope that I will manage to keep it alive, the first sound of the cicadas clicking and the crickets doing their thing at night and the sight and smell of fresh summery fruits appearing in store.

All of those things get me all excited and are a sign that it is time to shake off the last of the winter blues and get out there and enjoy our Aussie lifestyle.

If push came to shove however and I had to pick just one thing that has me literally crossing off days until Spring, hands down it would have to be daylight savings.

I mean Helloooo - the prospect of those extra few hours of daylight has the ability to boost my mood faster than handing me the keys to a fully stocked gin cabinet, because anyone who works full-time will appreciate those extra few hours that come with daylight savings that allow you to actually do something other than just work in a day.

For my family, daylight savings means trips to the park after work, early evening swims at the beach and dinner packed into the baskets on our bikes and eaten somewhere other than at home.

Yep, daylight savings - I could and I would smooch you if you had lips.




OK, so after my back to school debacle, we all know I had some major sucking up to do to wipe the slate clean with my somewhat traumatised children. And even though I had promised them a last day of the holidays beach dinner / picnic, and I totally screwed up the last day of the holidays bit I made amends with our twilight picnic and a basket full to the brim of their favourite picnic food and we are now friends again.

Even Mother Nature must have felt mildly sorry for me and threw me a bone in the form of one doozy of an evening for us.

A balmy twilight picnic at the beach.

Is there anything better?!



Taking dinner on the road neednt be a big production. No seriously!

Freshly baked baguettes with smoked salmon, cream cheese and baby spinach, a section of cheese and crackers and pile of juicy watermelon and plump sweet strawberries was all I needed to throw together a picnic delicious enough to satisfy my hungry mob.

15 minutes prep time and we were on the road not bad when you consider that a typical dinner cooked and eaten at home usually takes much longer than that.

Add to the basket a couple of cold drinks, a rug and a ball and mums and dads I tell you, you are on to a winner.





Work, school, sport and other commitments are all part of the typical routine in any familys life, but routine can be both the best thing for your family and the worst at the same time.

Whilst routine obviously keeps us organised, on track and knowing where we are going or where we need to be it has a tendency to sometimes make you feel a little stale, maybe trapped and possibly simply bored.

One night here and there where you break the rules and stray from your normal routine, is pretty much all you need to truly appreciate this time of the year for all of its awesomeness. Those extra few play hours that come with daylight savings well I cant think of a better way to use them than connecting with your family and taking some time out to just be together.



If you are keen to pack your own routine buster Spring picnic, Coles has everything you need. Freshly baked goods, succulent seafood and just wait till you get a whiff of all those plump mangoes and summery fruits in the fruit and veg section.



Shop online or pop into your local store and take advantage of the weekly fruit and veg specials. Coles always try to source their fruit and veg locally and most of it comes from their network of over 350 Aussie growers - which is an awesome thing for our hardworking Aussie farmers!

As for the rest of the specials in store, well they vary from location to location, but you can check out all the specials in your area by viewing the latest Coles catalogues here.

Are you a fan of taking dinner on the road?
Whats your favourite thing about this time of the year?
How do you break from routine and reconnect with your family?