Tuesday saw me back at work for year end which is always a less enjoyable part of the year but at least we get it all over and done with in 3 days which makes it much more palatable. Jules had the week off work and Stephen was here so the 2 of them decided to take the kids away for a short break. We spent Monday evening phoning around holiday houses which were all booked and then thought to look at lastminute.com where we found Lovedale Cottages situated in the Hunter Valley with an indoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts and a small golf course - everyone's boxes were ticked! The boys headed off with the kids on Tuesday morning - 2 hours of being in a car with a 5 and 7 year old who bicker most of the time threatened to be the end of family life for Stephen but he soldiered on and it was worth it once they arrived. The cottages were best-termed "Australiana" but Stephen found them quite creepy with the abundance of dust, old furniture and quaint "relics" all found, no doubt, from the nearest charity shop.
One of the relics..................I mean the lawnmower!
The kids loved the place and rode around constantly on their bikes, swam in the pool, played tennis and generally had a ball. Tom's visit was made when it rained one evening and he slipped outside to be found several minutes later divested of his pyjamas and clothed in the most glorious amount of mud.
So invigorated were the boys by their short break that on arriving back in Sydney on Thursday afternoon they took the kids out on Okavango Delta for a quick sail with Tess helming for the first time.
Friday morning started slowly for us all after the excesses of the week and a decadent dinner out for the adults the previous night and, whilst I shopped for provisions to take to Scotland Island for the weekend, the boys and kids made a special trip to Whitworths where Jules purchased a doughnut after some gentle persuasion by Stephen. Thus armed we piled everything in the boat/car and headed to Scotland Island and our new holiday house "Chez Rumbolada". Leanne and the boys were waiting for us on the jetty as we arrived and whilst the kids and girls headed up to the house Jules and Stephen decided to zoom around Pittwater with a few beers waiting for John to get home from work - I think they needed (and very much deserved!) a break from the incessant chatter of the children. I would like to comment more on our first evening on the Island but it's beginning to blur so suffice it to say that we cooked up a storm and were all in bed by 11am.
We woke on Saturday to a glorious morning so immediately started planning our first outing with the doughnut. Jules, Stephen, the kids and I headed off to Morning Bay, got everything prepped and gave the children a few goes until the Diggins arrived.
Angie was wise to stay on the island with Leanne whilst Liam and Oscar joined us. I sat on the Rumbold's boat and fed the hungry seagulls (aka "the kids") whilst the boys drank beer until they decided that it was time for them to show off their prowess on the doughnut. I must just mention at this stage that John did also take the kids up the creek and caught fish with them by herding them into a small circle and kicking them up onto dry land - the kids were in heaven! Once back on the Island there was no stopping the boys who took up residence at the Rumbolada's rooftop bar and proceeded to delight the neighbours with their witty conversations and vague attempts at singing and air guitaring along to Def Leppard and Guns N Roses. Need I mention that the evening thus deteriorated (the girls took the kids down to the jetty for a last swim before dinner and not surprisingly Tom found some more mud to play in) and ended with a fierce game of Cranium which, rather unusually, was won by the boys!
The girls were up bright and early on Sunday morning and a rather subdued (hungover?!) John drove us over to the mainland for Angie's baby shower. Although Angie has 8 weeks to go before the baby arrives, this was the only weekend the 4th La-La, Alayne, was in town before moving to Bellingen (6 hours north of Sydney) so we had to grab the opportunity to celebrate together. The boys spent the morning on the island with the kids and more swimming off the jetty before racing home with just enough time for Stephen to shower, pack his bags and catch his plane back to the UK! So I sit here typing feeling exhilarated (from having spent the most amazing weekend with some of my closest friends), exhausted (from having drunk too much with said friends!) and sad (from having said goodbye, hopefully for only a short time, to one of our closest friends).
1 comment:
Great weekend guys! Come again soon, I promise to hold off on the Def Leppard .... Took Charlie and Noah fishing on Sunday afternoon. Charlie caught his first fish baited, hooked and fought all by himself. Found an excellent place to take all the kids fishing next time you visit..
Post a Comment