Day 532: Crackin’ croquet

08/01/2023

The kids were excited when they woke up Friday morning. Eloise had to tell Lachlan all about the Big Bash and gave him his special Strikers trading cards.

Just like most mornings, the kids enjoyed some waterplay in the bird bath.

We left the kids with Nali as we had to dash into the Big Apple to pick up a couple of things.

Super Mum was thrilled to stop by the ‘famous pigs’, apparently called, ‘A Day Out’, you learn something new every day.

On 3 July 1999, Rundle Mall welcomed four new residents —Horatio, Oliver, Truffles and Augusta. Made completely from bronze, these life-sized pigs look to be having a great day out in Rundle Mall as they walk the Mall, dig through the bin for food scraps and greet passers-by. The art installation officially known as A Day Out was created by Marguerite Derricourt, the winner of a national sculpture competition instigated by the City of Adelaide in the final stages of the Rundle Mall upgrades in the late 1990s. The people of Adelaide loved the pigs so much, a competition was held to name them and you can find a plaque next to each pig stating its name and the name of the person who named them. Children and adults alike are often seen hugging, sitting on and posing for pictures with the popular pigs on their days out in Rundle Mall.

It was getting hot again, the perfect time to clean the Beccamobile. The kids sprung into action, they knew all about this from Cocomelon.

Evenings are usually spent chillin’ in Lachie’s 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 countries.

The kids are getting faster down the hill, Lachnado has advanced to no hands. It is funny how Eloise always shouts “Mum, Mum, Mum” to make sure Super Mum is paying attention before she zips down… Each… Time…

Saturday started with the morning Xavier chat, the cousins check in with each other at the start of each day to compare sleep stories, or in Lachlan’s case, lack of sleep stories. Nali is getting used to cold coffees.

Liam was then off for the day with the lads for Chris’ bucks, or ‘Stag Do’ as they call it in the UK. The Paterson’s were all smiles and dressed the part as some terrible flashbacks were brought to light early. There had been some concerns for Chris’ safety, so close to the big day, so he took the necessary safety precautions.

The mercury almost punched through 40°C but the real heat was coming from the tense affair on our croquet course. There was a tense battle of the titans: Simon and I vs TomPat and Nathan. Luckily Simon hit croquet’s ‘shot of the century’ as we snatched a vital win at the end. Better luck next time TomPat. It was then to town where we realised how old we have all become.

Back at HQ, Eloise was working on her somersaults, they are coming along nicely, she has probably learnt a thing or two from Lachlan and his fifth-gen supermaneuverability.

Super Mum and the kids were then off to Hayden’s 18th, Eloise was excited as soon as she lay eyes on the swimming pool. She had a lot of stories to catch up with her second cousin.

Sunday morning we headed back up to ‘the gateway to the hills’, Stirling (SA), the modern Stirling (UK). The kiddies and Super Mum were pumped, we were heading for breakfast waffles.

After a delicious breakfast at Red Cacao, Lachlan was starting to get restless, time to hit the Steamroller Park.

The kids have enjoyed reconnecting with their Aussie playgrounds, it has been perfect weather for them.

The kids got sick of the toddler playground and Eloise pulled Bec across to the big kids’ playground in the hot sun.

Before we completely melted, we rolled back down the hill. Super Mum and Bec enjoyed catching up on all the goss leaving no time for Stirling Castle today.

It was only getting hotter, Froco rides are becoming essential to get from A to B.

In the afternoon Great Nanny and Maya were dragged up to HQ to spend the afternoon eating scones.

Full of sugar, the best way to blow off the energy was walker rides, much to Great Nanny’s amusement.

Eloise, aka the Cuddly Koala, seems to have acclimatised well to the Aussie temps, although Grandpa DAVE does seem to love freezing the house.

We rounded off the day with Dr Simon using his data analytics powers to build a rad monorail track with Eloise and another lovely BBQ dinner with the Mckenzie clan.