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Early in the new year, Sarah's aunt Fiona and her sons Galen and Cyrus came over for lunch. Piet was delighted with yet another Thomas train for 'his' train track - his parents still think Emma has rights to it as well. After lunch, we again used the pool. We have been trying to get Piet and Emma more accustomed to water as we have registered them for swimming lessons this year. They are still rather shy. Fortunately, their first cousins once removed had more fun in the water.
Late christmas in Bendoc
On Thursday, we drove to opa and oma in Bendoc (some initial pictures were posted on
facebook). When we arrived, the kids greeted Kelly's
dogs with curiosity. For the first time, Piet was able to tolerate their presence nearby.
The next day started with a play on the back veranda with a wheelbarrow laden with saplings and a walk through the poppies. Then, grannybunts took the kids for a walk during which Piet caught up with oma on everything that had happened since his last visit, including the growth of the trees he had helped plant, and Emma spotted a horse in the distance. We continued helping opa with putting up a christmas tree, watering and decorating it. We put the presents under it and had to wait a long time before we could open any. We killed time by having a cuddle on the lawn, chasing each other around the fly tent, having oma read us a book about a yellow balloon and getting the mail from the mailbox. Finally, we all sat down for lunch at the table in the fly tent outside. After lunch, we distributed the presents and were allowed to unwrap ours. An instant hit were the kites, which we duly tried out on the hill.
The next day, we said goodbye to Kelly, Glenn and the dogs and life at Mountain View continued as 'usual'. We had a paddle in the paddling pool, we jumped over the spraying sprinklers on the lawn, we did more kiting with opa and we watered the young trees with oma.
Emma threw balls near the back veranda and spent more time on the wheelbarrow. Piet used the wheelbarrow to shovel some dirt around and was delighted when oma offered him the secateurs to help with pruning. Mum, dad and Emma went on a daytrip to Canberra, three hours north, to visit some friends. Piet happily stayed behind and was in bed by the time his parents returned. In the final days of our visit, we put up the trampoline, which found avid users in Piet and Emma. Piet can name his friends with trampolines, while Emma has become able to jump around herself, see series on the side.
The beach
On Monday 24th January, we left for
Balnarring where friends were staying in a beach house. We put up the camper trailer in their backyard as a test for us and the kids before the camping gets real. The first night was interrupted by some screaming, but the second night we all slept soundly. We walked to the nearby beach for a play in the sand. We also drove to Stony Point to see some tug boats. On our way. we discovered a little
wall, which was fun to walk on for
all. After enjoying the
marvelous sky, we took off our
shoes and looked for little
crabs and fish among the rocks on the mud flat. Emma and Callum stayed
behind on the sand.
Wednesday was Australia day. We enjoyed the celebrations at Hastings, where Campbell and Callum rode a little train, we waved the flag while eating our sausage and drinking our coffee.
