It feels like Autumn

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!

Back to Coogee

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!

40 years

Joshua James (J Boy) came into our world, changing it forever, on this day - 40 years ago. He arrived in the middle of a Canberra heatwave (just like this week) and he really was as calm and sweet a baby as he looks in this picture (and he hasn't really changed in this way over the intervening 40 years).

 Joshy at almost 10 months ………

Joshy and his mate Davey creating havoc on holidays at Broulee Beach (Joshy 20 months, Davey aged 3).

 Joshy aged 3 years and 4 months -in Brisbane (after the memorable split lip incident requiring 2 stitches!)

Looking a bit tentative on his first day at school (aged 5 years)

 Joshy (growing up fast) aged 9 and a 1/2 years.

From his 10th birthday onwards (for about 6 - 7 years), Joshy's life was focused on Ice Hockey. In Dec-Jan. 1993 - 1994 he played with the Australian U/15 Ice Hockey Team in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

 I took this pic 5 years later in 1999 (in Brisbane again at a family wedding). Joshy was lucky enough to meet the love of his life, Jody, when he was young. By the time they were both 20 (in this pic) they were an established couple making plans for a future together.

 By the time they married in February 2004 Josh and Jody had moved into their own home in Kambah, taken on the responsibilities of owning a dog (Nellie the Beagle) and were both making great strides in their choice of work/study.

 Three years later in May 2007, baby Ella arrived, changing their lives (and ours of course) forever!

By the start of 2010 Joshy and Jody had bought the Auto Torque business and Jody had completed her degree and was getting regular work in local schools. Josh was injured at work in April that year, giving us all a terrible fright, but he has recovered well. This pic was taken in November 2010 - Josh was in his thirties by now! 

 Then, in February 2012, Abi (Abigail) arrived, changing their lives (and ours of course) forever AGAIN! 

This pic was taken December 2014 in Coogee - a favourite holiday and mini break haunt for Joshy, Jody and the girls. Joshy works hard and plays hard and is always there for his girls.

 In April 2016 Josh and Jody and the girls joined us in Ubud Bali to help Rob and I celebrate our 65th birthday year. We all love our Ubud stays and it was just magic for us that they were able to join us for this special celebration.

 This is probably my best, most recent picture of Joshy - a calm, sweet boy and now a completely wonderful young man (while still calm and sweet too). He hasn't really changed over the years apart from getting even better at everything he does. We are so lucky to have been able to share your life Joshy. Happy 40th birthday dear man!!!