More Xmas pics...

Xmas Eve and Xmas Day 2009

Xmas Eve was a lovely, noisy evening with the Highnams and their four kids over for a swim/dinner. Great to see them all before they go camper-vanning in Tasmania for two weeks.

On Xmas Day itself it was quiet with no visitors again this year. Last year was a novelty having no visitors as we had never had that before and Iona was still tiny. This year it was still a lovely day but felt slightly empty without family over here so hopefully we can entice someone over next year! The weather was disappointing so we managed a pre-brekkie/pre-champagne swim but after that the day was spent outside trying out new bikes, scooters etc or inside watching new DVDs. Isabelle had not been to sleep all night, having celebrated Xmas Eve the European way as the big event so she nobly came back at 8am just to be there when the boys and Iona opened their presents! She stayed up for our champagne and scrambled eggs (fresh from the chooks) then collapsed into bed for most of the day. Dunc and the three boys braved the beach in the afternoon while Iona and I prepared the turkey.

Kristie & Andy's visit.

The day after Manly Dam we had a lovely BBQ with the McPs and Kristie, Andy, Sam and Anna who are over from the UK. Some swam, others drank, dinner was loud as always but with Iona's fear of crackers and Tenzie's over-tiredness we were drowned out by stereo crying. Welcome to the Wakes-Miller household!!

Manly Dam with the boat and friends...

Mon 21st Dec was a great day. Schools broke up mid last week and we had booked the whole of Manly Dam for our boat and the Morell's boat. We invited a few families to come with picnics, eager kids and wetsuits for some wake-boarding, knee-boarding, donut ring, biscuit and water skiing. Lots of fun and happy, tired faces all round at the end.

Moresby Place Xmas Party

The annual Xmas party took place in our cul-de-sac on 19th Dec, complete with bouncy castle. There are a ridiculous amount of kids in our street so it pays well to occupy them for a few hours. Santa made an appearance and miraculously had a present with each child's name on! There were a few tense moments for Arthur and Barney as he got close to the bottom of his 2nd and last sack and seemed not to have anything for either of them but right at the bottom there was a huge sigh of relief from two small boys!

Wakes-Miller Elves

Check this out for a laugh...

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/nLBxo8li7kE1Grrh

Christmas lights - Borgnis St, Davidson

Last Friday the boys and I braved the infamous Borgnis St (Davidson) Christmas lights again this year. Dunc and Iona stayed home while we set off at 8.30pm having waited for it to be dark enough. The boys' eyes popped out on stalks when we arrived - partly because of the array of lights and partly because of the queue of Mr Whippy vans parked along the street! When they asked if I would buy ice-creams with sprinkles, chocolate sauce and flakes (fully expecting me to say 'no' as it was so close to bedtime) they nearly fell over when I said "Yeah - whatever you want!" So armed with huge ice creams they proceeded to touch and investigate every single Santa, snowman, reindeer on display. There were heaps of small people in pyjamas similarly stuffing down a good old sugar rush before bedtime!

One family were outside their house happy to talk about how it all started. Apparently 12 years ago two couples had decided to try and out- do each other with their Christmas lights and it had a knock-on effect with the rest of the street. A few years later people started putting cash into their letter boxes as a way of saying 'thank you'. So four years ago it was agreed that they would officially collect money for Bear Cottage in Manly (a residential holiday house for sick kids and their families) and now you can find fluoro-jacketed rotary club volunteers collecting money every night in Borgnis St for a month over the Christmas period. A couple of houses choose not to be involved but most of them have got into the spirit of it all. One house even had a full inflatable Nativity scene, complete with a blow-up baby Jesus which Arthur instinctively bent down and kissed! Great stuff. I love Christmas!!

The Christmas Tree...

I had a lovely surprise on Sunday when I came downstairs from changing Iona to find that the three boys had put the tree up and decorated it without any help! Iona loves being able to sit in front of it and stroke the branches. The boys all have daily jobs to do (feeding chickens, rabbits, collecting eggs etc) and Tenzin has decided that Iona's 'job' is to touch the tree and take a couple of decorations off whenever she feels like it so that he can be helpful and replace them!

Allambie Heights Public School Carols...

Sunday night was the hectic Allambie Heights Public School Carols. The kids' favourite bit was no doubt the disco, Santa arriving on a fire engine preceded by elves on Harley Davidsons, and the buckets of sweets thrown out by Santa. Not sure how interested they all were in the carols themselves but we oldies always enjoy an excuse to throw down a blanket, bring a picnic and sing our little hearts out. Never as good as in Blighty mind you. A carol concert here is always more of a performance that one watches, rather than joining in heartily. Iona was taken home early by Isabelle which made it easier to stay close to Barney and Tenzin in the crowds as the lights were all turned out in anticipation of Santa's arrival and then the fireworks. Arthur was so busy having fun with mates that we met up at the end but saw very little of him all evening. Dunc was on BBQ duty and pack up at the end with the usual suspects of helpful Dads, hence his lack of appearance in the photos!

Kids R Christmas Parade

On Wed 2nd December, Dunc and I took part in the annual 'Kids R Christmas' parade at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick. Dressed as Snow White and a large Elf, we joined 20 other Christmas/Disney characters and were split into four groups. Led by hospital volunteers we were taken around different wards handing out bags of presents and balloons to all the babies, kids and teenagers unfortunate enough to be spending this time of the year in hospital. My special friend, Dee, has been organising the parades (also at Westmead Hospital) for the past ten years with a friend of hers. It is a mere drop in the ocean but the parents and doctors are thrilled for the kids to have a brief distraction from often long stays in hospital and the kids loved receiving the goodies unexpectedly.