Broadford/Surrey Hills/Caulfield/Strathmore/Home!

Yep - another weekend away.
This time, the main reason was the FCC (Families with children from China) Christmas Picnic. I was the organiser so I simply had to go. Graham had hoped to come, but at the last moment it just wasn't possible. Sadly.

We headed off on Friday and stayed the night at our friends Bruce/Karen/Hayden/Matthew/Lachy's at Broadford. They hadn't seen Eb since she'd been home 2 months - so it was a huge difference for them. But she still fitted like a hand in a glove. The 3 boys are 14/12/10ish but it didn't seem to make an ounce of difference - they all had great fun......

First there was the trampoline.....now my daughter LOVES trampolines!



and she loves 'rocking horses!'


...and being 'one of the boys' :)


...and 'rides' on ladybirds


Then we moved on to stay with Steve, Sandi, Molly and Ming. Ming was adopted from China earlier this year and is such a delightful little guy. Molly - well Molly is just a very beautiful and very special little 8 year old that has a special place in my heart. Ebony had lots and lots of fun with both Molly and Ming as you'll see ...

In the bath together...


Then 'playing together'.....




We had such a lovely night. This family is amazing. They are renovating 'big time' and yet they agreed to have us stay. How special. I loved my time with them all and as you can see - so did Eb.

Then it was off to the FCC Picnic. It ended up being a wonderful day for everyone - it was totally exhausting for me for many reasons - but what really didn't help was the forecast! it was meant to be showers in the afternoon top of 20 but ended up 28! I was living in a sauna all afternoon because I decided to wear a woollen jumper! It made the whole afternoon fairly uncomfortable, not to mention trying to be organiser and watch a very active 3yo! But everyone seems to have enjoyed it and that's the main thing. Santa was wonderful in the eyes of MOST of the children - but not mine! Ebony was absolutely terrified! - she absolutely screamed in fear when she saw him and did her famous 'koala clutch' where she just grabs hold of me for dear life (complete with an 80% finished ice cream in her hands!). She finally kinda took her present of Santa - via mummy's hands of course!

A frightened Ebby...


A happy Mei....


I was SO exhausted in the end I decided I couldn't possibly drive home safely - so I landed at Kate, Jim and Eliza's who were more than gracious in letting me stay! We had one more night of fun for the girls before I collapsed into bed.

Two little friends....




I couldn't even bring myself to get the cot out so for the very first time Eb went to sleep on the bed with me beside her.....I got up briefly and then happily rejoined her. The next morning I was able to get up, pack etc without her even waking - I couldn't believe it. It was a good choice to stay.