A trip to Austalia - Narrandera

After a relatively short drive (a smidgeon over 5 hours) during which both children slept half the time and we'd seen one of the biblical plagues (locusts) and had them smeared all over the car, we arrived in Narrandera and unpacked everything at Grandad and Grandma's house. This was going to be a special stay because we were going to be joined by Aunty Annie and Cousins Chelsea and Kalan for a week.

In fact we had few visitors during our time in Narrandera. Uncle Matt visited when he had a break in his header (harvest) driving due to the rain and Uncle Michael also visited for a few days - and he brought his boat! He managed to squeeze in a visit on his way to a fishing competition (and I have a sneaking suspicion he cut his fishing short to say goodbye to us). Sebastien took an instant liking to Uncle Michael, might have had something to do with how Uncle Michael had a striking facial similarity to Daddy - complete with beard - or perhaps that he let Sebastien drive his cars all over him. Wouldn't have been the VB (beer) ad phone ring that he played - nah, definitely not.We also had the opportunity to have other family members read us stories:
GrandmaUncle MichaelAunty Annie (Where's Wally/Waldo?)Uncle MattAunty KarenCousin ChrisWe were very taken with Grandma and Grandma's friend Mary playing the piano and we decided we could do that too - here are Alex and Chelsea serenading Aunty Annie and Kalan...Sebastien is interested in whatever toys found their way onto the ground.Later on, Alex played the piano by herself, but not before putting a sticker book on the shelf so that she had music to read!While we had lots to do in Narrandera, Aunty Annie had brought a packed car of toys to play with and she "had" to leave some behind for us to bring back with us - such a hardship!Kalan has become somewhat nervouse around his (2 month) younger cousin as Sebastien is yet to learn that you don't just take what you want - which is usually what the other person has!One thing we really wanted to see was how Grandad and Grandma had covered their outdoor pool. We like it! Unfortunately there were too many "gung-ho" kids for the adults to adequately supervise all at once so the boys and I watched the girls swim with Grandma and Grandad whilst Aunty Annie had a rest (I think).Can't guarantee that there's still no "P" in it...
But eventually Sebastien got to get wet - Grandma even blew up a floatie for him!The girls were crazy - up and down the pool with their noodles. By the end they were doing it by themselves with just a careful eye from the adults. Oh,and the dive rings were popular...so long as they were on the stairs and the girls didn't actually have to get their heads under the water - oh well.We even managed a nice walk along the channel (irrigation) in Narrandera - though any possible sightings of koalas was nixed as we were way too noisy!It would have been much easier to only have the two girls as both Kalan and Sebastien were pretty determined to go "off the beaten track" - which meant either water on one side or scrub on the other!

Mummy also got some lovely time away, or should that read that Grandma and Grandad got some lovely one-on-one time with the children?! In any case, it allowed her to buy some books for China and discover this stand of eucalypts (unmolested by the electricity company) that she loves - now she just has to visit them to take a photo when the light is just so...The best part of being away was coming home to find...

...this.
Alex had taken an opportune moment to empty the dresser of all the good china and cutlery and lay them out all over the couches, table and on the floor. We were lucky that they were all in one piece and hadn't been taken over the tiles!

There was even another christmas tree to decorate in time for the Pharmacy Christmas Party!Santa (albeit a younger version) made it to the party too.
There was a bounce house/jumping castle.And we had a surprise visit from Aunty Karen and Cousins Chris and Ben. Sebastien took an instant shine to Cousin Ben.Grandad was a hit, letting Sebastien wear his hat and convincing him to fall asleep early (and I mean early) one morning.Although they no longer live on the "Arrambee" property, they still have a couple of goats. Alex even got to ride one! Maybe next time I'll get a photo :P

Part of the Christmas season in a small country town is usually some type of fair, complete with sausage sizzle, jumping castle and a visit by Mr & Mrs Claus. Organized by the service organizations (Rotary, Lions etc) we had the opportunity to check it out. Thanks to Grandma, who was flat out serving hungry hoardes, Alex had enough money to:

Go on the jumping castle (our favorite thing is sliding down backwards)Get her face paintedRide on the "train"Plus we also got to watch the primary school children perform christmas songs. Alex sat in the front row whilst Sebastien and Mummy hung out at the back.There is also the "Carols By Candlelight" tradition in many Australian towns and cities - although it rained it out of the park we went to the club and had battery-operated candles. We watched Grandma sing a couple of songs including a couple as a Wiggle!Then our time in Narrandera came to a close and we went to pick up Aunty Chelle from the train in Wagga. It was off to Bright in Victoria for us.

As an afterthought - We took this photo not one hour after Aunty Annie and the kids had left - just to show her that Cousin Kalan was not the only one in the wars - after Sebastien ended up with a bloody lip and a goose-egg on his eyebrow - though nothing yet that needed stitches (touch wood)!