Perfecting the art of play...

With so many long hot days we've had lots of time to play outside in the evenings. Here is a collection of some photos taken during the summer.

The first set of photos were taken after a box for the new pool filter turned into a temporary cubby house. You know what they say about kids & boxes, they rather the box than the object that came in them. Well as you can see, this box was big enough for even Derrick to climb in - just!

The dogs are a regular feature in our outdoor activities. Just so everyone knows who they are - this is a photo of Gemma.

and this is Podger.

The mini has been out of action for a few months now, so it hasn't been out of the garage for a while, but every now and then it comes out so we can get to things in the back of the garage. This was one of those times and Maeghan seems have great fun playing in her big 'toy' car.

Derrick - On a break from working on the paving around the pool.

We've just had the Australia Day long weekend and after all the work that's been done on the house up at Umina, we were back up there for a few days break. The weather was sweltering. I think it was up in the 40's on the saturday, but thankfully a cool change came through on sunday and the temperatures dropped nearly 20 degrees overnight.

The water has been beautifully warm and we managed a trip to the beach each day for a quick swim and a play in the sand. Umina beach is one of a few beaches in the area that allow dogs to play off-leash & the dog's obsolutely love it.

Susanne and her crew came up for a day or say and in a rare moment, Maeghan and Isaac are actually playing happily side by side. They are getting better, but sharing is not one of those skills that comes easily at this age.

Happy Summer Days

We've been back at work for a week or so, which is rather depressing but with the count down on till our trip back to Ireland at least we have something to look foward to. Only 6 months to go. The weather has been blistering hot this week and due to get hotter. The forecast for thursday going to be close to 40.

Our Christmas holidays were spent up the coast at Umina. There is nothing like a lazy week doing nothing but lying on the couch watching the cricket or reading a book. At least once a day we'd drag ourselves into the heat for a swim down at the beach. Maeghan loved the water. The beach is perfect for kids. It's very flat and shallow so really safe to paddle around and play.

I'm so paranoid about getting sunburnt, Maeghan was fully covered up and given no chance of getting a tan. We're still undecided about who's skin tone she has inherited. Despite all of my efforts, she does look like she has a bit of colour and has also developed two freckles! I've tried to wash them off in the bath, but no luck. Here is a collective photo of our family of feet. I'll let you decide who's skin tone she has so far.

The poor dogs never get much peace and quiet when there are kids around. Maeghan has decided that she likes to take the dogs for a walk, so the dogs are often being dragged around the back yard by their lead. Isaac is constantly pushing the boundaries of Podger's tolerance. The poor dog is forever watching his back against Isaacs obsession with picking him up by his tale.

She's such a funny little thing now. A real little personality. Last week she decided to pack her bags and leave home. She went around the house with a bag slung over the shoulder. Picking and choosing which toys were worthwhile packing. Then with a grin and a wave she headed to the door. Just like a real little grown-up heading out for work.

Christmas 08

Christmas morning started for us this year with a respectable 8am wake-up. Maeghan is obviously a bit too young to get too excited about the arrival of Santa and the best Christmas present she could give us was a small lie-in. Problem was, my parents were doing the rounds around the grandkids houses so that they could see the kids open their pressies, were were actually woken by them at 7.45am.

I suppose she must have been good this year because Santa certainly came. There were books, jigsaws and table & chair sets, there were Thomas trains and sand & water tables and not to mention the Christmas stocking full of bits and pieces.

We had to turn our spare room into a toy room just to cope with the overload. Time to start planning that house extension, Maeghan is taking over the space we have.

After breakfast we all gathered over at my parents house for the usual Christmas lunch. Seemed that Santa ran out of space under our tree because he also left a load of present over there as well. Bikes and dolls and more toys!!! If Maeghan was a little bit more interested in the present than ripping the paper off it would have made all those hours shopping worth it. Next time, I'll just wrap a load of empty cardboard boxes and let her go for it.

We of course had the customary baked ham, roast pork and roast chicken and vegies. Since turkey is not a regular tradition in my family, Derrick decided to roast his own turkey for us to enjoy on Boxing day (St Stephan's Day). Kept us going on turkey sandwiches for a week.

Thanks to everyone that sent cards and pressies over to us, Maeghan will have plenty of clothes to wear back to Ireland next July.