The London branch were well set up in their stylish Randwick Airbnb during their Sydney stay: lots of pool time for Eddie, fantastic toys to play with, great eating options nearby and plenty of shared time with Nanny and Poppa (and us)! It helped (just) make up for the loss of Eddie and Ivy's Canberra playmates, although I think Eddie lost his Mojo for a bit - it was so quiet ...........
We didn't do too much in Sydney the first two days - it was too hot to venture far from the a/c and the pool. However by Monday we were able to set out on the ferry to Manly Beach - the classic Sydney visitor destination......
Eddie had recovered his Mojo by this and was a very animated traveller....
Manly had all the attributes Eddie looks for in a beach (namely seagulls!!)..........
Ivy had recovered her sleeping Mojo by today and we didn't see much of her until after lunch.
Lunch was truly amazin. We found the best restaurant eva..... chip pizzas on the menu... 3 thumbs up from Eddie!!
Ivy finally woke up - properly - on the ferry ride back to Circular Quay.....
Hope she doesn't forget seeing Sydney Harbour.......
Our last night together (last night) was lovely. We celebrated Eddie's 7th birthday with a cake and presents ..... The rockin rollin laughin kookaburra was a huge hit (yay!) - resulting in big smiles from Eddie....
and great hilarity all around....
... only to be relieved when those batteries wear out (soon I hope)!
Such precious times with these beauties.........
Can't bear to write how it felt to say goodbye!!!
There were two magical days in early January when we saw the London and Canberra cousins together - the last day of the Mollymook Beach holiday...........
Ivy had the Canberra boys wrapped around her little finger!
And Eddie was best buddies with Angus and Ollie........
Then, just the day after, at Randwick in Sydney, Eddie and Ivy met Ella and Abi (just back from their holiday in Bali). Ella hadn't seen Eddie for six years or so, but they got on (both water babies) as though it was only yesterday.......
In all the excitement Abi avoided nap time all afternoon....
but loved story time, tucked up in bed, with Ella and Abi.....
They all found Davey a great playmate.........
Ella set him her handstand challenge (which Davey fulfilled - just!)
Eddie and Ivy have found all their Australian cousins amazin fun!
We'd all been looking forward to this Christmas celebration SO much. The London branch flew into Canberra yesterday so we all pretended today was the 25th and celebrated the whole Christmas thing all over again, but this time with ALL of Maxie and Rod's family together - just amazing!
Eddie's been to Australia before of course (in September 2011 when he was just a baby). This time with the benefit of age and experience he's really looking forward to seeing some cockatoos the most. So he was thrilled to find these cockatoo print boardshorts under the Christmas tree, from his cousins Ella and Abi.
Eddie's found two wonderful playmates here - his two big, handsome boy cousins: Ollie and Angus.
This is Ivy's first visit to Australia - and she can't decide who is her favourite big boy cousin just yet.
But she does like the selection of toys Abi left for her, as well as all the new toys under the Christmas tree.
After lunch Eddie shocked us all by voting to join the big boys (in the charge of Jeremy) to head off down the coast for the night. It's such an Australian thing to do that (he'll be ok Mummy and Daddy)!
Ivy was happy to stay behind and catch up on some quality time with her Nanny (they'll head off to the coast in the morning).............
.. and wear this beautiful hand made dress (exquisite work by her Nanny).
We'll be catching up with this branch of the family again, and another branch too, over the next two weeks - stay tuned!
50 years ago today (25th November 1967) this beautiful pair got married, on a sultry afternoon in Brisbane (and I know they did because I was there) - a very happy excuse for a family celebration today at Josh & Jody's.
in 1967 they looked incredibly young to be married - but oh so beautiful! Maxie was a week off turning 21 and Rod was 21 and 4 months (that's how it was done in those days!).
The pic below was taken in Canberra about 15 years later (New Year's Eve 1982-83). In the first decade of their marriage Rod and Maxie had moved to Canberra, built their beautiful architect designed house in Torrens and welcomed Claire (02-07-1975) and Davey (23-09-1977) into the world. They had a lot to celebrate!
The pic below was taken a year later in January 1984.
The pic below was taken on Christmas day 1988. Rod and Maxie had been married 21 years by now!
The pic below was taken in August 1995. Maxie and Rod were parents of a 20 year old (Claire) and an almost 18 year old (Davey) by now and they were both approaching their 50th birthdays (and looking good!). Exciting times!
I can't find a date for the pic below - but I think it would be in the early 2000s. It must have been before they sold their house at Torrens after the devastating Canberra bushfires of January 2003. Maxie and Rod became grandparents in 2004, by which time they'd moved into their beautiful new home in Jerra (close to Jeremy and Claire and baby Ollie). They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in 2002.
The beautiful pic below was taken in April 2009 at Erin's wedding. They'd been married 42 years by now and had two beautiful grandsons (Ollie and Angus) and had seen Davey happily settled in London with the beautiful Cath. Have you noticed that Rod is nearly always on the left when a picture of he and Maxie is taken?
In amongst all this celebration of a such a magical (and inspiring) partnership Abi's big news today was her newly missing bottom front tooth.
Let's get the big news stories in perspective here!
Eddie had recovered his Mojo by this and was a very animated traveller....
Manly had all the attributes Eddie looks for in a beach (namely seagulls!!)..........
Ivy had recovered her sleeping Mojo by today and we didn't see much of her until after lunch.
Lunch was truly amazin. We found the best restaurant eva..... chip pizzas on the menu... 3 thumbs up from Eddie!!
Ivy finally woke up - properly - on the ferry ride back to Circular Quay.....
Hope she doesn't forget seeing Sydney Harbour.......
and great hilarity all around....
... only to be relieved when those batteries wear out (soon I hope)!
Such precious times with these beauties.........
Can't bear to write how it felt to say goodbye!!!
Our last night together (last night) was lovely. We celebrated Eddie's 7th birthday with a cake and presents ..... The rockin rollin laughin kookaburra was a huge hit (yay!) - resulting in big smiles from Eddie.... 
