01/01/2023
Saturday morning, the kids had a quick play with Delilah before we packed into the car and headed back to Adelaide. On the way we checked past our house, the cherry trees look like they are loving the sun.
We were only at Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s, our base for the next few weeks, long enough for Lachlan to throw his lunch on the floor and then jump into Grandpa DAVE’s bark piles. Xavier’s dog, Kylo, formerly known as “the Lion” was also visiting. A good test for Lachlan who impressively was not bothered. He seems quite comfortable with: Maya, Delilah, Lily and the Lion now which is good to see.
We feel a bit like fugitives, constantly on the run. Like a well-oiled machine, the car was unpacked and repacked and we hit the road, continuing south as we headed to the kids’ fourth new home in almost as many days, no wonder Lachlan finds sleeping tricky. As soon as we arrived at the Minuzzo’s Moana house we hit the beach… Just for a change… The kids did not take much convincing.
The full clan (almost) was finally back together, with Hazel and Tom returning from London earlier this year and the Paterson’s and Paterson’s-to-be over for the festive period. As we were getting a good setup, the kids headed straight to their toys.
As all our possessions are scattered across the state, thank you all who are temporarily storing our stuff, we were sadly unable to locate the cricket equipment for the Fensom’s Christmas Eve party. This was the perfect time for us all to get our cricket fix.
After a few hours at the beach swimming, SUPing, cricketing and frisbeeing we were all exhausted and started to pack up, well almost all, the waves were still rolling and Lachlan was just as excited as when we arrived. Luckily he had found a friend who was equally as passionate about the hot weather and beach life.
We all took a time out when we made it back to the house and pulled up front row seats to the Lachlan aerobatics show, he was clearly eager to get this party started.
Meanwhile, sick of her brother’s antics, Eloise was helping in the kitchen to prepare a yummy salad.
Lachlan had already finished dinner and Dad had walked him to sleep. Eloise wanted to stay up with the big kids and we headed out to the deck to enjoy the glorious sunset.
Just before 2023 ticked over a little someone had sensed they were missing out and appeared with only minutes to spare, again. He is good at that. 2022 was the family’s first full year (pretty much) abroad. It has been such an interesting adventure learning about the world, ourselves and the kiddies. A couple of the family’s highlights were the tulip fields in the Netherlands and our Italia tour. With no real plans, we are excited to see what challenges and adventures 2023 brings. It has been lovely seeing all our family and friends the past week and it sounds like lots of you will be in the UK THIS year, which will be lots of fun.
In Scotland, “fireworks, street parties, bonfires and torchlit processions were held across the country… About 30,000 people attended the party, in a scaled back event from the 60,000 of past years”. Similarly, in Australia “more than a million spectators flocked to Sydney for the city’s first New Year’s Eve fireworks display without restrictions since the pandemic began almost three years ago”. We wonder if Juju had a good view? One thing for certain, there will be lots of adventure stories to catch up on back in sunny Glasgow.
Eloise had a great night’s sleep, even sleeping through all the fireworks, she is not a big fan of them. Fireworks, like everything else, are illegal in South Australia but there was a lot going off down the beach. Dare we say, Lachlan slept pretty well too, he did have a big day, perhaps a new year, new Lachlan sleeping?
We were still the first up so started the day with a leisurely stroll down the esplanade. Lachlan of course bringing his “sonic boom” racquet along.
After a yummy breakfast, the kids’ interest in dogs kept on growing with Arthur lapping up all the attention.
Starting the year running, the kids were keen to show off their Football Buzz skills but Tom and Hugh quickly showed them they have a long way to go yet.
Hugh then made the mistake of giving Eloise a rapid run around which opened the floodgates for what seemed to be a never-ending amount of Hugh rides.
After tiring out Hugh, Steve was the next target. With a questionable track record of watching kids jump onto bean bags, Lachlan was in full flight.
It was another hot car ride home which of course started with another Froco.
Hot and feeling energetic by the time we got to Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s it was straight back into the pool with their partner in crime.
[…] favourite hammock. It has been a nice slow start to the year, very much needed after a massive 2022 where we travelled around the world 1.3 times and visited 118 cities across 12 […]