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)!

A trip to Australia - Canberra (II)

We had decided to "share the love" and stay this week with Aunty Shell and Cousin Tristan - we didn't want to push our luck and impose on the same family members the whole time...thanks so much to all you guys who had us bunk at your place!

We had all kinds of fun - not only did Aunty Chelle leave us a basket of toys from her toybox, but Aunty Shell and Cousin Tristan had their own toys to share - computer games, PS2 games, buckets of cars, twirly fighting things on the tray (that I'm sure Tristan will comment and let me know what they're called) and basketball. Sebastien was still working out this walking thing - but the wooden floors were more forgiving that the marble of China! He was happy just so long as he had a book, some clothespegs and a clothes basket.Those who know us, know that storytime plays a big part of our bedtime routine. Mummy likes to get other people in on the act (afterall, reading the same book one hundred times gets pretty old so she figures a fresh perspective on the story works for all concerned) so we had Aunty Shell helping us this time - maybe next time Cousin Tristan could give it a go.There has been such a lot of construction in Canberra over the past five or six years - such that Mummy finds it hard to keep up with what is new in town. After watching Cousin Tristan play a game of basketball, he and Aunty Shell took Mummy out for a chocolate extravaganza (while the other Aunty Chelle babysat).We were quite the social butterflies, also arranging to have a lovely lunch in town with Uncle Craig and Aunty Sarah. Now you'd imagine a bloke in a suit, with cool shades, would be retiring, and somewhat sedate, wandering the streets of downtown Canberra and heading over to the carousel to check things out with his neice.
But you'd be wrong! There was dancing in the street!Have you seen her with a bigger grin?!
We also managed to get in another playdate with Cousins Chelsea and Kalan. Aunty Annie always has exciting things to do - she had playdough ready for them once they tired of dress ups and the other toys. Sebastien also got into the dressups - though necklaces are more his thing.Mummy managed to get in some alone time as Aunty Clare and Uncle James babysat one day before heading off on their honeymoon - such dedication is truly appreciated ;) No photographic evidence though I am told that the house was left in one piece.

Before long it was time to hit the road again - go west young man, go west...onto Narrandera, the town where Daddy spent a lot of time when he was growing up.

A trip to Australia - Sydney (I)

After a full day in the car, Mummy was really excited to finally see the apartment that Aunty Kylie had bought. It was a great opportunity for Mummy to catch up with Aunty Kylie though the champagne had to be put on ice for a later date - Sebastien's early rising (often before 5am) was playing havoc with Mummy's energy!

Probably the best thing in the whole apartment for the children was - Mr Gibbs. Aunty Kylie had a new kitten that she'd only brought home a month or so ago. Poor Mr Gibbs was somewhat perturbed that his idyllic surrounds had been overtaken by two rambunctious monsters - err - toddler/preschooler. But he managed to survive the two night stay in one piece. Though he did not sit still long enough for a photo.

The second best thing in the apartment was the tv - it was huge and had Sebastien, if not Alex, mesmerised.
Alex was more taken by Aunty Kylie's magazine collection - a harbinger of her teenaged years perhaps?
Alex and Sebastien enjoyed eating their meals out on the balcony - this also helped to keep the apartment somewhat clean.Mummy was making the most of having potable water in the pipes and Alex helped Sebastien enjoy one of several baths in Australia. The possibility of drinking the water that you're bathing in is not a good thing to have in China so it's showers all the way there.
It was sad to say goodbye to Aunty Kylie but we will catch up with her on our next trip. We had to continue on our way to Canberra for the next part of our holiday. Mummy was amazed to see a wind farm just before the ACT border heading into Canberra - she can't remember ever having seen it before.

A trip to Australia - Armidale

Now that we had put Daddy safely on the plane back to China, we headed north to where Mummy grew up. From Sydney it is a long drive and both children were quite good for the majority of the drive...but those last couple of hours...the less said the better!

We had plenty to do at Grandie and Poppie's including gardening, surfing sand, decorating their Christmas tree, celebrating a belated first birthday at Dorrigo with extended family, and visiting a friendly wombat. Oh, and planting Sebastien's special tree to go with Alex's tree we'd planted almost 3 years ago.

I was under the impression that I had many more photos - but as I didn't have our camera and was kindly lent Grandie's - they must be located on a computer somewhere else. But of the photos that I do have:

Here is Grandie getting into the swing of things, using the pick to dig out rocks so Sebastien's tree can be planted.Alex learned that it is important to put a full bucket of water into the new hole so that the tree has a chance to drink and establish its root system.
Then Alex helped Grandie fill in the dirt around the tree and helped to water it (I'm sure Grandie or Poppie will add in the comments what type of tree it was that was planted).Poppie helped hammer in the stake to mark where the tree was - don't want any accidents when the lawn is being mown! He has years of experience skinning knuckles doing this in many gardens over the 5 acres of their property - so by now he knows the best way to do it without skinning your knuckles!Sebastien had been held back, out of the way of flying picks, shovels and buckets of water, and it was now his turn to get in on things (after all, it was his tree) and help "push in" the stake - nice helping big sister!
Alex was curious (and so was I) about her tree and how big it had grown. So we walked down the slope to see it. It is well over her head now! Alex decided to give her tree a drink of water though she needs to learn that you water it at the trunk, not the leaves.
Then we were heading off back down through Sydney on our way to Canberra. We were going to stay with Aunty Kylie in her new apartment. But first, we needed to recover from all that hard outside physical labour!