there was this one time…
for an amazing time. for the memories. for taking the time. for your generosity and kind hospilitality. we felt truly loved. and we love you.
thank you so very much.
and thank you to all the grandparents who stayed home and watched our 3 babies. they had a wonderful time with you guys. we could not have left them in better hands. every minute we thought of them, we knew they were okay. better than okay. thanks you guys.
the boys went out for a saturday afternoon footy game.
bunch of cousins, uncles, a brother and a dad… reuniting after about 8 years.. to enjoy this national pasttime. beer and meat pies were consumed. and my man did a good job with my camera. from a girl’s point of view, i like the name footy better than football. doesn’t seem as brutal as american football. just a friendly, little manly game of footy. sounds better doesn’t it??! 🙂
early yesterday morning, auntie joey found a koala in her front tree. chris climbed up and had some quality time with it. 🙂 look how close he was! he was able to get some petting in. such a cool thing to see a koala in the wild. the day before we were out on a walk and saw another in a neighbor’s tree. and joey told us that one time a baby koala came down into russell’s arms and they played with it for hours. that would be the best. my kids would love it. i would love it. the ability to have the wild pet in your yard sometimes, but not really the responsibility of actually living with it. haha.
cute though, huh?
andrew, chris’ 23 year old brother (remember him, Kira?!) not to be confused with his 16 year old brother Tudor (21st Century families are waay confusing, aren’t they) took us out for a little walk around the Toorak neighborhood. this neighborhood is the equivalent to Beverly Hills, i think. lots of cute boutiquey shops…cute little restaurants, pubs and cafes. definitely gonna come back in the daytime and do some serious shopping. 🙂
sorry so short. gotta run… koala and kangaroo seeing today… everyone’s waiting for me. later!
our loves. today we hung all day. doing just normal family things. last minute errands, eating out for lunch, driving around town. kira and i got pedicures, the guys got jambas. it was normal. the kids played gameboys in the backseat. they fought. they made up. they sang. it was normal… but it wasn’t. while they fought, or did these everyday things, chris and i would look at each other, and sorta make that parental lovey look… like, awwww….. and bat our eyelashes at each other. we both knew that normally the fighting would drive us insane, that we would be grumpy from the heat… but we weren’t. we looked at it all like it’s the last time we would see/hear this stuff for 17 days. 17 days. it seems so short, but so long. why is that? how do i know that we will replay this day of normal, everyday stuff in our head for the next 17 days? it will go by fast. we will have an amazing time. we will miss them. they will have fun. caleb may miss me at night. but we will be okay.
we know that.
so long– next time you read from us, we will be down under. 🙂
trying to squeeze in as much quality time as we can before we go. (which is next wednesday) beach, zoo, barbeque, and even camping on the lawn. but mostly just lotsa snuggles and kisses… lotsa smelling. 🙂 there is something about the way our kids smell. from when they were babies till now. i can smell their hair, their neck, their hands…and be happy.
we are working on things to keep in touch with them. the blog, of course. checked our computer cameras and made sure they are set. gonna record mommy reading some bedtime stories. gonna write them each a separate letter. gonna have one on one with each of them before we go. gonna leave them some spending cash. 🙂 grandparents are sure to take them on many shopping sprees. 🙂 i’m sure kira will step to the plate and show grandparents the way caleb likes his PB&J’s made. i’m sure cam will give caleb snuggles at night. i’m sure caleb will be fine. i’m sure he’ll be fine. i’m sure he’ll be just fine.
the man in the middle is my father in law. he turned 60. he is one of the most amazing men i have ever met in my life. he has the grace, compassion, and love of no other. he amazes me. and i am so proud to be part of his family. the boy on the right is my brother in law. he turned 16. a really awesome guitarist and water polo player. my dear husband on the left. love that guy too. he pretty much rocks my world. 🙂 we had a snazzy dinner party complete with slideshows the other night. it was good fun, good food, good company.
it’s kinda neat to go to these events, with all 3 of our kids, and be able to sit and enjoy it. i remember when they were still toddlers, and i would have to sorta wait on the sidelines… rocking them, soothing them, entertaining them…and missing out on bits of whatever was going on. but now, they can sit and be cool for a good few hours. proud of them. we are at good spot in our child rearing lives.
my sister in law and her family are coming today. we all will have a friend to play with.
she has 3 kids too. they live in WA so we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like. their youngest is this cute little boy, and my kids just think he’s the best. they get all kitchy-cooing around him… so adorable to see. especially from cameron- since kira and caleb both have someone their age to play with, cam tends to hang with the baby. i think that is so endearing…his tender side. it gets kinda crazy with 6 kids running around… but that’s what family visits are for! and as for my sister in law, she is super sweet and kind… a joy to be around. we will be enjoying ourselves this weekend.
happy fourth of july to you!
like sitting with our legs up on the couch while watching ‘The Incredibles’ together.
finding his Star Wars guys for him.
pushing him on the swing till my arm hurts.
logging him into his neopet account.
taking his sweet smelling self out of the bath.
making him his 3rd PB&J of the day.
reading him story after story.
these are a few of the many things i will miss when we are away. this morning chris was talking to caleb about our trip. about where he will be… how long we will be away. caleb was clueless. he has no idea how long 2.5 weeks are. the last time we went on a date, he said that he missed us so much after only being gone for 5 hours. i know he will be fine. he is in good hands. he will have his bestest buds with him. he will be FINE. WE will be having a great time…. but we will miss them ALL so much.
how well do we know our kids? i mean we know things about them. like that they leave remnants of toothpaste on the sink when they brush their teeth, or they prefer their toast without crust, or that they enjoy two and half scoops of ovaltine with their milk. but these things, they’re like shadows, or socks that you pick up when they’re gone. they’re not them. Cam just finished first grade, a year that marked the most time we’ve spent apart as mother and son. entire chunks of his day passed without me at his side. and you know what… he changed. he matured. grew up a little. learned a whole lotta new stuff. summer can drag, but despite this, i see it as my time to reconnect. get reacquainted with the little boy who’s going to be a little man before I know it. when I look at cam I see an athletic, creative, smart, snuggly, damn fine looking kid. and i love him.
watersix 