A trip to Australia - Bright

We had picked up Aunty Chelle at Wagga from the train and headed south towards Bright. It was nice to have someone else in the car to talk to and sing travelling songs with. We arrived in Bright after dark so we saw the few houses that had Christmas lights - including Aunty Lyndall and Uncle Pip's - and were impressed that the best one in Bright was a couple of houses down the road. Australians don't yet "do" Christmas lights like the Americans- perhaps because it is summer at Christmas which means it doesn't really get dark until...well, past my bedtime!

Aunty Lyndall took no time to put Alex to work preparing dinner for the dogs. But this was no chore as both "Y-Obi" and "-oda" were very much loved by both children. So much so that they had to seek shelter behind Aunty Lyndall and Uncle Pip's legs and under various chairs and tables. But they were soon joined by the children. Alex worked out that if she sang to "Y-Obi" she'd stay where she was.
During the few days we were in Bright, Uncle Pip and Aunty Lyndall were working at their schools so Mummy and Aunty Chelle had breakfast in one of the cafes while waiting for Sebastien's doctor's appointment.
Then they checked out the Christmas shop - filled with all sorts of wonderful knick knacks and with a special seat out the front - Alex was really excited when Aunty Lyndall took her to "big school" for the morning. Alex got to see where Aunty Lyndall worked and see lots of children. She was also excited to know that we would be watching a concert - where Aunty Lyndall was conducting one of her choirs.Alex insisted on wearing her "beautiful gown" to the concert and we bought three raffle tickets at the entrance to support the school's preschool. Having watched a great portion of the concert - much of it dancing in the aisle - and watching very-tall Uncle Pip manning the lights - the raffle was drawn. Lo and behold, we won! Alex was sent up onto the stage to receive "her" prize (after a minor readjustment to her gown - it had been very hot in the hall so she'd pulled it down to her waist to keep cooler) which looked to be almost as big as her! It was a box filled with Tupperware items.When we got home, everyone was being a bit silly. Aunty Chelle and Alex loved pulling faces. Sebastien, though unwell, was enjoying the balloons from the concert and the fact that we were all still up. Alex managed to work Aunty Chelle's phone and took some photos herself.
But with all the activity, Alex still managed to get a story read by Aunty Lyndall - thank you Aunty Lyndall.
The next morning we piled into the car to drive back to Canberra. We had to say a sad goodbye to Aunty Lyndall and Uncle Pip's house as they will be living in Canberra when we see them next. We did have fun hanging out with Aunty Chelle, Aunty Lyndall, Uncle Pip and the puppies.A couple of days filled with funny faces - though Alex is yet to get the hang of the evil eye! We were lucky to get the chance to make some lovely lemon tea and other items in their back yard - Aunty Chelle helped.
Sebastien likes for Alex to hold his hand when he's falling asleep in the car, and she is perfectly happy to do so.On the way out of Bright, we came across an interesting sight.