Sunday, December 27, 2009
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!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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!!
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