Nothing like some art for a bit of inspiration

For the past week, the Swell outdoor sculpture festival has been on at Currumbin Beach. We take the kids for a look each year. It's become a bit of a tradition for us to go with friends of ours who have two daughters around the same age as our two boys.

The above photo wasn't taken by me, it's from the Swell website. I only ever discover creative ideas for photographing all the different works when I get home and find other people's (better) shots on the internet. I gave up taking photos about halfway through our walk this year because Rosie (in her sling) kept grabbing the camera and it was too hard for me to bend down to check out the best angles for shots. So Chris took most of our Swell photos this year.

Interestingly, when we go it is always our friends' two girls who want to get in there and climb all over the sculptures. Aidan always wants to read the little book you can buy that has the artists' descriptions of the meaning of their work. In fact, he often reads the book rather than actually getting up close to the sculpture itself. It's hard to get the book away from him so we can read it ourselves. Liam needs lots of encouragement to get in close enough to something so I can take a picture of him with it. Then there's a lot of comments along the lines of "put your nice smile on, pleeease", "stop making silly faces while I take the photo" etc etc.

Still, we always have fun. We have been to see it every year since we moved here. Last year it was one of Rosie's very first outings after we came home from hospital. This year, our church volunteered on a couple of shifts selling programs as part of our mission week. Every year we run into more and more people that we know when we go there. So it also creates a sense of belonging for us, of being part of a community.

But even if you don't live locally, this is highly recommended entertainment if you're visiting the Gold Coast in early September. You might see us there!