The girls were here for a sleepover at the weekend. They seemed to enjoy a change of routine and the way the rules are not quite as tight over here. Like …… getting the paints out whenever you feel like it, eating chocolate Easter eggs when it's not even Easter, going to bed way later than usual...…..
Sunday dawned clear and COLD, a real Canberra Autumn morning - probably our first COLD morning for the year (but no not like London COLD!). A great morning for some park play.
The girls love our Hassett Park. Ella can't resist creating beautiful poses - with perfect control!
I love the way her pose echoes the Y shaped frames in the front courtyard of the newly built Koben Apartment building in the background.
Josh and Jody joined us mid morning for coffee at our fave local Intra.
Giving them a chance to sample Intra's kimchi (and provolone cheese) jaffles. They now understand our passion for them!
I took these pics with my brand new camera - the Fujifilm X-T3 with its 18-135 f3.5-5.6 zoom lens. It's gonna take me WEEKS to work out the way to use it in a smart way. It's a lot more hi tech than my 6 year old and fairly battle scarred little Fujifilm X20!
We've just had 3 beautiful days in Coogee with J & J, A & E, having lots of fun and laughter together at our favourite city beach, great meals and LOTS of physical activity.
After noting the presence of the very imposing Wallabies RU Team (and the Q'ld Reds) we were all settled in our ocean view rooms at the Crowne Plaza by Saturday afternoon. The girls were primed to hit the big grassed oval at Grant Reserve and test out one of Abi's new birthday ball and racquet games.
Abi's recently mastered the art of cartwheels. She can do them PERFECTLY and is now practising doing them NON STOP!
A duet of cartwheels!
It helps when you have a big sister willing and able to teach you the next level....
We walked up to La Sen at the Spot, Randwick for a beautiful Vietnamese meal on Saturday night, adding a 3 kilometre walk (there and back) to our afternoon of running around Grant Reserve.
Sunday dawned cloudy but warm, good enough for a perfect morning on Coogee Beach.
Abi did hundreds of cartwheels up and down the length of the beach this morning.
Abi is "at one with nature" wherever she finds herself - always watching out for birds, insects, crabs and any other form of nature (and marine life).
A laid back lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel and a 2 hour sleep after (for an exhausted Abi) ended off a perfect Sunday morning at our Coogee Beach.
We celebrated with dinner at our fave (but crowded) Barzura's last night...…. Coogee was as lively as a January summer this Canberra Day long weekend!
We were all down the beach again as early as possible this morning...…...
And just to make sure we all got the most out of our long weekend at our fave beach we ended off our stay with a walk to South Coogee and the beautiful rock pool (the Ivor Rowe Rock Pool) at the end of the Bondi to Coogee coast walk
Ella and Abi find lots of hidden treasures on these rocky platforms.
We ended off a perfect weekend with a late lunch at the Pool Café at Maroubra before the long drive back to Canberra. It was such a joy and a privilege to spend uninterrupted time this weekend with my gorgeous, funny, fit and always whip smart family - and there is no bias at all in that observation!
It's been a pretty special week for us …….. starting off with a brilliant super moon sighting early in the week ……...
and then Abi's 7th birthday celebrations.... starting with the long desired ear piercing event …..
… presents from distant aunties …...
birthday afternoon tea treats (not another photo Granny!!) …..
and celebrating a new skill (after much practice) - perfect cartwheels at last.
Davey from London has been here for the week too - a very precious time for Maxie and Rod - but special for our whole family too. We loved our time with him this week.
Josh and Jody hosted a beautiful breakfast for the family yesterday morning to celebrate Abi's birthday - such a happy and precious time together - the only cloud being Davey's imminent departure for the airport at 11.00am!!!
A picture of four of my favourite men ………. I only wish I had asked them to move to a more even lighting situation ……. but still a beautiful pic (to me)
There was a feast of beautiful food (as usual) …..
.. and Abie managed to convince some of the guests to play her current fave card game with her .....
The "puny Uni" present especially chosen by London Ivy was a big hit....
…. and the science behind this gift was a source of wonder!
Abi was determined to cut the cake ALL BY HERSELF this year!
We all found the farewells to Davey very hard …. so we were lucky that Abi asked us to accompany her on a "nature walk" after the party......
to her favourite rocky outcrop on Fadden Ridge ……. a great space to settle the emotions ……..
……
and off for a bit of kangaroo, dragonfly and bird spotting (and catching crickets). The puny Uni had to come on this nature walk too - quite a shock after all its time in grey London winter I'd say.
There were lots of crickets to catch in this grassy patch.....
A special week indeed!
Sunday dawned clear and COLD, a real Canberra Autumn morning - probably our first COLD morning for the year (but no not like London COLD!). A great morning for some park play.
The girls love our Hassett Park. Ella can't resist creating beautiful poses - with perfect control!
I love the way her pose echoes the Y shaped frames in the front courtyard of the newly built Koben Apartment building in the background.
Josh and Jody joined us mid morning for coffee at our fave local Intra.
Giving them a chance to sample Intra's kimchi (and provolone cheese) jaffles. They now understand our passion for them!
I took these pics with my brand new camera - the Fujifilm X-T3 with its 18-135 f3.5-5.6 zoom lens. It's gonna take me WEEKS to work out the way to use it in a smart way. It's a lot more hi tech than my 6 year old and fairly battle scarred little Fujifilm X20!
