Day 518: Ho Ho Home for Christmas

25/12/2022

After our recent travel, it was not surprising we all had a solid night’s sleep, Eloise in particular slept for 14 hours, the majority of which was with Becca. She enjoyed how big Becca’s bed was because she could roll about. Lachlan must have been tired too because he slept for as long as a normal human usually does.

In the morning Lachlan was enjoying all of the toys that Grandma had brought home for him to play with. Lachlan loves giraffes, the Lego giraffe was a big hit, he had to show Delilah. Although Delilah was not allowed inside at this stage, Lachlan is still warming up to her.

Eloise was super excited to make a Milo with Aunty Becca, chocolate in the morning, what could be better? Having stirred it all in though she was unsure, something about it did not sit right with her and she was scared of the Milo. Also, when did Milo become so powdery, it certainly isn’t as granular anymore, back in my day…

It was a nice day, not cold and not too hot. It is continuing to heat up. We will have to make sure our wee Glaswegian Lachlan can stay cool.

We headed off on the great-grandparents run. Eloise got a thrill spotting horses as we drove through the Adelaide Hills. It felt bizarre that everybody was following the speed limit, it was nice that we did not have to worry about black ice on the roads or getting stuck on a hillside. The first stop was at the Nicholls, they were overjoyed at the sight of their great-grandchildren. As soon as Great-Grandma Nicholls pulled out the toys, Lachlan had his lock on the big red bus, the day could not get any better for Lachlan.

Unbelievably, Eloise and Lachlan got more early Christmas presents. They don’t really understand when Christmas is, they are going to think it is a month-long celebration. Great Grandma had been reading the blog and thought Eloise might need a new Football Buzz ball, even nailing the colour. Lachlan was a big fan of his new hat from Great Grandpa, although he found it tricky to unwrap as he did not want to put his ball down.

The kids warmed up to the great-grandparents after a few Great Grandma biscuits and before we knew it there were balls whizzing around their house.

After some quick lunch back at home, we headed down to see Great Nanny Sinclair and had a lovely visit. By the time we had made it there both of the kids were fast asleep but Great Grandma Sinclair had to peep.

Just as we headed off, Eloise arose, still not letting her new ball out of sight. Great Grandma could not believe how big Eloise was, we don’t think there will be any more walker rides.

We then went up the road to Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s for the annual Fensom’s Christmas Eve shindig. Eloise helped Nali finish off the welcome sign, still with her ball in hand.

It was nice, almost surreal to see everyone again. It felt like we had only been away for a few days. The kids were shy at first but warmed up to people. Eloise looked confused by the Australian version of Hazel and Tom but eventually convinced Tom into the swimming pool.

Uh oh, the boys were at it again, sprinting about the house. The kids have seriously loved spending time with Xavier.

Linda, had done it again, spoiling the kids, the Aussie koala chocolate was an exciting hit!

We had lost track of time, this time of year the sun is setting in Glasgow just before 16:00, whereas we had just passed the Summer solstice in Australia. It was already past the kids’ bedtime, we made our way back up to Becca’s house and like always they both fell asleep as we turned onto their street. Super Mum transferred Lachlan into his bed, while Eloise set up our new Christmas board, thanks Xavier. Eloise thought Santa might like some Aussie Shapes.

Reading the news Saturday night we realised how lucky we were to get here. There are lots of Aussies still stuck in Denpasar, “passengers waiting for Qantas flights to London from Sydney — as well as others to and from Denpasar — have been left stranded in two locations around the world”. Back at our other home, it is shaping up to be a very different looking Christmas, “it could be a white Christmas for many Scots after a winter weather warning was issued… Up to 10cm (4in) of snow is expected on higher ground, with blustery snow showers forecast”.

It was an early Christmas wake-up call, a bit too early, 02:00, turns out the kids have not beaten the jetlag yet. After a hullabaloo, they were eventually back in bed for a day saving extra couple of hours. The false start resulted in a leisurely start to the day, for some.

Eventually, the kids woke up, any later and we think Grandma and the aunties would have dragged them out of bed. They sprinted straight past breakfast in the kitchen and were surprised to see what Santa had left them. Eloise was jumping with joy, Lachlan took a bit longer to work out where we were and why he was upside down, excitingly it was his first Aussie Christmas.

Let the unwrapping commence. Lachlan had already won the day with a new bubble wand. We had to convince him to keep unwrapping the others.

Eloise had asked Santa for a scooter, she had been concerned that Santa would not know she would be in Australia, luckily Elf Becca had been on the case.

Even Delilah lucked out with a new tartan collar.

Super mum had whipped up a new baby blanket for Amy that a sleepy Lachlan tried out.

By this stage, the kids were on an unwrapping rampage. Lachlan liked to try each toy after unwrapping, Eloise just powered through with the unwrapping.

The matching Delilah socks were a hit, Eloise had to put hers on straight away.

Lachlan’s new fleet of diggers were keeping him occupied as he skated about the house.

We had just recently mentioned how Eloise had grown out of her Country Road collection and was handing it on to Lachlan, a well-timed trip back to Australia has resulted in some more for them both. Lucky kiddos. There were also a couple of new AFL footballs.

After having so much fun with Emma’s magnetic toys, the kids had been hoping Santa would get them some, not sure how we are getting all this back to the other side of the world.

The scooters were out in force, Eloise quickly got the knack but the steering was tricky, she will have to get some tips from Juju. Lachlan was more than happy being run around on it, super speed of course.

We thought the Bunnings top was a bit funny.

Definitely, a different Christmas compared to last year, “how some Australians spent Christmas Day 2022 with most cities enjoying favourable weather”.

Just before lunch, we all jumped in the car and swung past the Nicholls, by this time it was Christmas in the UK too, “King Charles has used his first Christmas message to reflect on the cost-of-living crisis”.

It was just a quick one at the Nicholls, great to see friendly faces. Sadly we had to duck out before the majority arrived, but the kids left spoilt again, struggling to carry all their presents. Eloise was quick to tell Great Grandma Nicholls how much she had loved her new ball.

We kept rolling down the hill to Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s for Christmas Lunch and many more hugs.

Super Mum unveiled another two baby blankets, she has been busy the past couple of weeks.

Eloise had to explain to Xavier what a coo is and aunty Liv had brought Lachie his very own “sunny glasses”.

We appreciated the koala wrapping paper.

Appropriately the Glaswegian knight we had brought back fit perfectly on Grandpa DAVE’s Glaswegian blend.

Eloise absolutely loved her new special ‘E’ bag. It was perfect, thank you Belinda and Co.

As per tradition, Mike had arrived with more prawns than we could should have eaten.

Already full of prawns, it was then lunchtime!

Sadly Paris could not be here, so there was still a Christmas Facetime call, the kids are pros at them.

In the afternoon, Liam took Lachlan for a walk around the new wetlands for his afternoon nap, it was only thirty-odd degrees but Liam was admittedly struggling a wee bit with the heat. Uh oh, a worrying sign for things to come.

The only way to recover from the heat was to jump in the pool, thankfully Eloise was already in her swimmers when I got home, dehydrated. The new inflatable boogie board was a winner. Xavier jumping into the pool was impressive.

Lachlan woke up after a short nap. He must have sensed that he was missing the fun. The boy does love swimming.

Everyone was in a food coma, slowing down, when Lachnado ran up his aunty’s chest and booted her in the nose while trying to do his signature backflip dismount, classic Lachnado.

After eating too much, Liam had to heroically finish off the pavlova, what a hero! Thanks Chris.

Lachlan was still buzzing and requested a ride on Great Nanny’s walker, happily climbing up there himself.

Xavier then made for the door with HMAS Xavier and Christmas lunch was officially complete!

Well almost complete, we had one more Christmas get-together to rush off to. Exhausted at this stage, but still with lots of people to see. As we arrived at the Feijen’s, the kids finally got to meet Harvey, they were all quick to bond.

Eloise and Lachlan had a lot of people to catch up with who were all very interested in their stories. Eloise participated in the Kris Kringle helping out Grandma and Grandpa before we tapped out, ready for bed after an eventful day.

When we got home Eloise had to show off her new bag to Delilah.