25/07/2022
Eloise was in a great mood this morning because Super Mum had found her a new bike on Marketplace. As she darted around the room in excitement Lachlan got sucked into an enthusiastic Big Sister hug.
In the morning they were all off to pick up her new bike. Eloise was ecstatic when they got home. She quickly grabbed her old bike, “Lachlan, this old bike for you now, Lachlan’s bike”. Jeez, thanks Eloise. After trying it out in the front yard, Eloise was not happy that Foxie was not secure so modifications had to be made. Meanwhile Lachlan was zipping about on his Scuttlebug.
As soon as Liam finished work in the afternoon it was to the local loch, pram free! Eloise was working on pedalling for the first time, “a bit tricky”. Super Mum’s back was feeling it.
In the end Super Mum broke up the Brompton Bros and hijacked the bike. Eloise and Liam went “super speed” to try and catch them.
It was a long push home. Eloise was doing alright in the steering department, she was less convinced with pedalling. Surprisingly the wobbling did not phase her.
After whizzing around the loch, Lachlan was asleep, again, we had to keep checking he was alright. Lachlan was so tired we could even take his seat off.
After Eloise’s first test ride it was straight out the back, her cupcake bike needed a bit of TLC. Luckily she is obsessed with tools.
After fixing her bike she decided to decorate the table for dinner, but Lachlan did not agree with the decor and it was swiftly removed.
Assuming our arithmetic over all these days has been correct. Today marks one year since we left Australia on what could possibly be our largest adventure ever.
Looking back on Day 1 we were excited and scared. It honestly still feels like it was only last week. We had the Federal Government’s permission to leave the border, Singapore Airlines had flown an empty aircraft into the country for us, Adelaide airport had just banned all international arrivals, we had a toddler who had never flown longer than a couple of hours and a newborn who had his passport photos taken at nine days young. What were we thinking!
The first week was incredibly exciting, there was fresh air and the sky was the limit. However, we then ran into the logistics of trying to do admin in the UK. Why the hell do you need a UK mobile number to be able to get a UK mobile number, What?! My god, was that painful. It was a challenging jetlagged juggle until we were out of the wee serviced apartment and had found our own home. The search was tough, inspections were limited due to COVID-19, we were tired, we were not street smart, everything was upside down, did we mention we were tired? We snapped up a place without even looking at it, time just goes quicker over here. Luckily we had pulled off seven flips and three barrel rolls and landed firmly on our feet. We were extremely lucky to meet a large range of helpful, caring, supportive Glaswegians (or honorary Glasgwegians) that made us feel welcome. Without their support, we are not sure how we would have got by.
Don’t worry we are not going to step you through every day of the past year. We have a long video to do that for us. The kids love watching themselves flash up on the TV like Bluey does, hopefully, you will too. It is long so make sure you grab an Irn-Bru from a Woolworths near you and some chocolate digestives. Apologies for the missed beats, you cannot do much with 16GB of RAM these days. Fun fact, this video covers 36% and 82% of Eloise’s and Lachlan’s life respectively.
The intention was a short highlights clip but the video grew a series of arms and legs, very much like this blog. The UK has been an incredible place to raise the wee ones. The weekends have been jammed pack since we got here. The weather is not as bad as you think, but don’t let the English know. The rollercoaster has been challenging but rewarding.
Lachlan has grown lots of hair, so his aunties should stop teasing him, he has ditched the training wheels and loves exploring. It is nice watching Eloise play with her friends and we enjoy hearing her stories. Liam has a few more grey hairs but enjoys tackling the the challenges. Sophie aka Super Mum, is enjoying spending her time with our kids and our UK family which we are very thankful for.
We have missed our Radelaideans, and looking forward to catching up with you all over Christmas time, if any of you have a couch that will fit the four of us, let us know.
Love Fensoms in Kilts
Thanks for the video-such a lot you have all seen and done. Lovely to see how much the children have changed in that time. My favourite picture from your latest blog entry was Lachlan laying asleep in his bike seat on the ground.
Well done on your 1 year milestone. What an adventure. love to you all, Sue and Paul