Gorgeous girls

This is our gorgeous Ella, strong as a high performance athlete, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, hands all calloused over from weeks of practising her best moves on the monkey bars, no flying fox holds any fears for her. She's awesome...AND she's now made the leap to successfully riding her very big girl bike - with no extra wheels.

 .....and after a few months of espousing her passion for ninjas and love of all things boyish Ella has just started to admit that some of her previous girly interests might be able to be incorporated back into her new busy, active, big schoolgirl life.

Since this pic was taken 3 weeks ago Ella has lost her second front tooth, leaving her with a very gorgeous gappy smile.

And this is our gorgeous Abi, just 12 months in this pic, and now walking strongly everywhere at 13 months. She's very opinionated, and a passionate lover of her family, blueberries and birdies. She's able to understand almost everything you say to her and is an absolute whiz at unpacking a dishwasher.  I was amazed this day at the park to see her wobble walk over the tanbark and grab hold of the ladder to the slippery slide and try to climb her way up it just like she'd seen her big sister do it.

And this is the gorgeous Maddie and Sophie (16 and 14 respectively) - back at the Hyatt Hotel again for their shared birthday high tea with me (last weekend).  I really look forward to this yearly ritual and the chance for some uninterrupted girl time. Maddie has a particularly big year ahead of her...driving lessons and challenges at school, but great opportunities to test her growing independence.  Sophie is preparing for her French Breve mid year..and then their wonderful holiday in the US straight afterwards - lucky girls.

..... and this is the gorgeous Claire (today). She was up to her usual trick of making Easter special for the younger ones with her cryptic clue Easter egg hunt. While the boys found their chocolate nirvana we indulged ourselves with Maxie's Easter seafood feast and two bottles of Majella. And we spent a lot of time talking about the exciting times ahead for all of us!