Santa, Lakes Entrance and holiday fun with family

We only got 5 days in...and it wasn't enough - but it was great fun. I even got some Scrapbooking done!
Of course Santa made himself known too - but Eb's reaction cracked us all up! .......

Checking to see if Santa actually came??




it did get a smile eventually......and she COULD ride it! :)


Fun opening presents...




2 gorgeous cousins together...


Sadly poor Beccy (almost 7) and Bernie my SIL both got a tummy bug which kinda took away from a day or two for them - but I'm very grateful we didn't catch it!

Eb and Lizzie playing with Bec's Nintendo DS


My third attempt at face painting!...


Five beautiful cousins....


Ebby and Lizzie at the beach....



For me, the best part (other than the shear enjoyment of watching my little girl at Christmas time!) is simply catching up with family. It was a lovely relaxing time - the children had a LOT of fun together. Renee, my 12yo niece got "Singstar" for PS3 for Christmas and gosh did we have some fun times with that! Especially at night when the children had gone to bed. It was a really nice way to spend time together. You can have a laugh over a few video's of my darling daughter giving it her all! She loved it too.....








and then one absolutely exhausted little girl....

3 years ago....our 'Forever Day' anniversay

3 years ago sweetheart you - a beautiful, scared little girl - was placed in my arms.
My life will never - ever be the same for all the joy you have brought into it.
Time has gone so fast - no longer are you the baby you were on that day. You are a beautiful spirited, happy little 4yo. You are sunshine on a rainy day - you are love and joy on a sad day - you are fun when I'm grumpy....and you help me look forward to the dawning of each new day. Even if my body hurts - as soon as I hear those words 'Mummy' first thing in the morning - I could almost skip my way to your room to hold you close. Your kisses and cuddles recharge my battery. You are the greatest - most wonderful gift. I'll never need another gift now I have you.



Beautiful child, what are you thinking of when you see the world and all it's beauty?
Dear daughter, what do you dream of when you hold your baby doll and pat her back?
Blessed girl, what do you contemplate when you lay your hands down on the table to pray?
What do you know?
What do you remember?
What do you think about most?
If the words could come easily, what would you tell me?
Precious, precious child there is so much swirling and whirling going on in that little head of yours.
I see it in your eyes as you gaze across the ocean
I see it in your eyes when you look right through me
I see it in your eyes when you look right at me.

I want to know if you have figured out the little things.
I want to know if you even know about the bigger things.
I want to know what you are telling me when you babble out a sentence, because I know what you have to say is important.
I want to know if you miss me when I am gone.
I want to know if you trust me.
I want to know if you love me.
And more than anything in the world, I want to know if I am doing you justice.
Beautiful child, I just want to know you more.

I am doing everything I can to show you how much I love being your Mummy. I am in complete awe of you. You are fragile yet strong, vulnerable yet in charge. A little pixie dancing around our home and our lives. Your laughter is so loud that I wonder if people can hear you in our neighborhood. You are a stunning beauty, you draw attention and hold it, you give love and then withhold it. You are an old soul I cannot wait to know better, a hand I love holding every day, a face I can't stop looking at, a dream I just can't believe has come true.

Christmas Day fun!

Today was an amazing day. I guess it always will be, but today we had a LOT of fun! We arrived at Pat, Mish and Stu's at about 11am and had a celebratory glass of bubbly and a little breakfast and then it was straight into helping Mish prepare for all the guests. There were about 34 guests coming! I don't know how Mish did it - but she did! We had such a lovely day. These were all Pat's family and most I had known from years ago. It was lovely to catch up with them. Graham, of course, fitted in like a hand in a glove. Eb was the feature of the day at times...dressed up in her little Santa costume! She did so well and kept the younger members of Pat's family amused. I didn't take many photo's but I sure did enjoy the day! After all the fun was over we decided to stay the night again rather than driving 4 hours to Lakes Entrance, so it was a relatively early night!





...a yummy breakfast first! for a little 'santa's helper'


Keeping the 'big kids' occupied....


Opening her very own and very special present....from Mish and Pat


Having a dance with Pat


A little helper in the garden having a dance!

'Twas Christmas morn.....

Oh my gosh - Santa didn't arrive! we couldn't work out why and then - of course - we realised he may not know where we are! So we explained to Eb (who really didn't understand any of it anyway!) that he would come - but we just weren't sure when.
We had a small gift for Eb so we gave that to her. She was happy but was ready for whatever was next! (it was a gorgeous Cotton on Kids tutu).
Then we checked out (because we missed breakfast!) and headed back to Pat, Mish and Stu's for Christmas lunch!



bye, bye 'home' for the past few days...

Christmas Eve

Well - the time arrived. I've had so much excited anticipation for this night!
Sadly it didn't quite work out as planned - but all in all it was a special night. The fact that it rained most of the night didn't help but the problem really started when I didn't want to eat in China Town for the second night running. I was happy to have Thai food - but not in China Town. So - we walked.....and walked and walked! We stopped for a few photo's here and there - but just couldn't find the 'right' restaurant. I ended up saying we should go to Southbank and surely we'd find something there. How silly of me! Christmas Eve in Southbank - hugely expensive and filled with groups or couples! Not 4yo friendly at all. I also stupidly thought the food court might be open. As I said - stupid!
After having a bit of a disagreement outside the front of Crown Casino we headed on back into town - tried to catch the City Circle but we were too late and missed the last one. We were going to head out to Harbourtown - but it wasn't meant to be. We headed back to - you guessed it - China Town! where we enjoyed a lovely (and very quiet) Thai meal! After that we headed back into town to Federation Square. We stopped in at the very beautiful 'St Pauls Cathederal' and sat for a short time to listen to the choir - it was very special and very beautiful just sitting there listening and taking a moment in the frantic city of Melbourne. In Federation Square they had Carols on the big screen so we stopped there for a while. The rain (which had been happening most of the night) had stopped so we stayed until it finished and then headed back to the Hotel.
I've tried to work out how far we walked and I'm guessing it would have been about 6km's - I carried Eb on my back from Federation Square to our Hotel in Lt Bourke St (down near Spring St) - so I was pretty exhausted but we were all happy and ready for our special day tomorrow. The day Jesus was born for us and the day He gave us the greatest gift of our lives.....our daughter!

Fun before we headed out...








China Town - right on our doorstep!


It took a bit of convincing but Eb finally took hold of this friendly 'person'...


Taken at Federation Square as they prepared for Carols by Candlelight (well a viewing place)


Views around Melbourne - gosh it has changed a lot since the days when I rowed along the Yarra River!




Right in the heart of Crown Casino they had beautiful Carols happening....


....who loves rice????? I lost count of how many plates she had!


Full tummy - happy girl!


One of the gorgeous trees around Melbourne


Not a particularly good photo - but St Paul's Cathedral


Federation Square listening to the last of Carols by Candlelight.....once again Eb was not too happy about the volume!






Guy Sebastion performing.....

The fun things

One of the things Eb has asked for more than anything else over these few days has been the City Circle tram. She has loved it. We have spent a bit of time on it - but the majority we have walked!
We have seen so much and done so much and have had an absolute ball as a family. It has been worth every cent just to see the delight on my darling girls face.
We were exhausted when we got back to our room so we all had a good rest before the excitement of seeing the lights tonight and another late night!





And going to bed certainly hasn't been a problem...'cause she's exhausted and it's all just a bundle of fun!

Melbourne Aquarium

Yes...another adventure.
The Melbourne Aquarium is sensational. I really enjoyed it...we all did.
Here's a penguin that greeted us at the door!




The Penguin display was actually one of the best as far as I was concerned. It was amazing to watch.






This was one of the very well put together displays...made you feel like you were there!



Another display I enjoyed was where the Aquarium is all around you - you walk through a tunnel and the fish/sharks/stingray are literally all around you.


The colour of this fish amazed me - it was really beautiful.


As you came out of one of the last exhibits there was, of course, rides for the children!