London Mob visit (3)

For the London mob's last full day in Canberra the city turned on a near perfect late Winter day. We headed out to Freshford in the morning with Cath and Ivy ready for some horsey fun. 

Josh, Jody and Abi had prepared a great morning's entertainment there with Sammy, obliging mobs of kangaroos, flocks of parrots and even a wombat burrow or two. 

Sammy was on his best behaviour this morning, obviously realising he had an appreciative audience. He put on an amazing display in the lunge ring with Abi, as a warm up for showing off his (and Abi's) jumping skills in the main arena.

Afterwards it was time for Ivy to make friends with Sammy boy. She wisely took it quietly to start with........

But by the end they were like old mates (with carrot benefits!).

Did someone say carrots?

Meanwhile the boys had been hanging out together exploring the joys of shopping in Canberra.

The young ones spent the afternoon bouldering at Block Haus at Dairy Flat in Fyshwick with Rob and Joshy in charge. Bouldering is familiar territory for Eddie, Ella and Abi but Ivy found her mojo here as well on the white and blue courses.

I went vintage shopping with Jody and Cath while all this was going on with all of us meeting up afterwards at Capital Brewery for a rushed beer and a few bites of a Brodburger before closing time.

We extended the time for saying goodbyes as long as we could. The obvious rapport and easy humour between Abi, Ivy, Ella and Eddie back at our place later that night doing a lot to lighten the mood.

Davey, Cath, Eddie and Ivy left for Sydney the next day hoping to catch some promised sunshine there after their week of rain last week. 

Goodbyes are so hard. Their visit has been magic, and left us all wanting more!!

London Mob visit (2)

Saturday was a very big day here. At 1.00pm Rod's house in Jerrabomberra went up for auction. Regrettably it was passed in - with only one bid - and a bid that didn't meet our mark unfortunately. It's a very stressful business selling houses. We were very grateful that Davey was here for all the tricky negotiations around all this. We remain hopeful the house may be snapped up before too long - but we have a ways to go yet obviously!

Saturday night was the occasion of Claire's long awaited 50th birthday party (and celebrating Ollie and Angus's birthdays too!). There was a dress up theme - sound, screen and stage. Rob and I pulled out all the stops for the party, paying homage to the characters of Moira and Johnny Rose from Schitt's Creek. Rob pulled off an amazing Johnny - complete with the eyebrows, a gift from our lovely Braddon hairdresser (also named Rob).

My exceptional wig was on loan from lovely Rob (the hairdresser) too.

The birthday girl was a Viking Queen for the night ......

This spectacular pair came as fave characters from The Sopranos. Jody found the best bits of their costumes at Dirty Janes and other vintage sources!

We made quite the entrance too at the fabulous venue - Grainger on Geelong in picturesque Fyshwick.

Everybody who was anybody was there .........

The young ones all had a fabulous night - as did the not so young ones ........

Davey and Ivy delivered the sweetest, funniest speech ........

which was the highlight of the night, especially for Papa ............

... and Ivy wrote and read the sweetest, cutest poem for Claire - which brought the house down!

The awesome live band, Parallel Lines, got everyone up dancing

The young ones partied so hard!!!

I had a moment when I was accosted on the dance floor by this creepy looking character. It was only later I realised he was a friend (and a dear friend of Rod's) beneath that mask & wig. What a relief!!!

This girl had the best party ever!! That Mighty Ducks Ice Hockey shirt she's wearing is actually a 1990s era original - owned by Josh - it was great to see it again. That shirt also had the night of its life (as did this wig).

Another fabulous, memorable night for all of us - the best birthday party ever. Thank you Claire!

London Mob visit (1)

Somehow the London mob survived their 4 days of torrential rain in Sydney last week. They still got around, but often under duress. Visits from Ollie and an outing to the (undercover) zoo at Darling Harbour must have been a welcome distraction from the weather.

We were all so excited to see them arrive in Canberra on Friday - travelling in style from Sydney in a true blue Aussie UTE ..... and clear warm(ish) weather here to greet them!

The whole extended family met up on Friday night at our place - so much to celebrate - and also Angus's birthday. We were all beside ourselves to be together!!

It's been years since we were all together - but instantly it felt like we'd never been apart! Even the kids who were mostly too young to even remember the last time they'd met were instantly at home with each other.

Ivy took some of the best photos of the night ......

We ordered in some delicious food and spread out in our building's common room over dinner. Afterwards, Ivy kept us entertained with some of her best card tricks. This girl certainly knows how to hold an audience.

Back upstairs Angus played along with "Happy Birthday" time. Ollie delivered a beautiful brotherly speech - that this gorgeous young man so richly deserves ....

 

We ended off the night in characteristic fashion - with a hand stand-off (the last one was 7 and a half years ago in the back yard of that Airbnb in Randwick). Neither Davey nor Ella had lost their handstand schtick - although Ella could hold hers for much longer!

Ivy wasn't in the Randwick hand stand-off but she was certainly in the game in this one......

This was the absolute money shot of the night (thank you Angus). Such a happy, memorable, unforgettable night - our hearts are so full!!