Summertime

We have had a long summer break. School ended early last year and started late this year which meant we had seven weeks of summer school holidays – a week longer than usual. We had good fun during the festive season. We had a lovely time with family after having our first Christmas lunch with just the four of us. We enjoyed eating ham, prawns, mashed potatoes, salad, shortbread and other goodies.

It was off to Merimbula for Boxing Day where we stayed for 5 days before returning on New Year’s Eve to catch the fireworks in Canberra. The aerial at the Merimbula house wasn’t working so no television to watch the cricket. We all caught up on a lot of reading, beach cricket and playing in the ocean.

Click on the photo to view Summer2017/8 Album

On New Year’s Day, Phil made a most delicious pavlova. The next day we celebrated our 19-year wedding anniversary with dinner at Belluci’s with the kids. Then our newest nephew and family came to stay with us for a few days. It was so nice to spend time with them. Nicholas and Catherine loved meeting their new cousin and hanging out with their uncle and aunt.

The rest of the summer was filled with various activities from movies to catching up with friends. Lego is back on the radar and they’ve recently acquired a taste for watching Dr Who and superhero movies. It’s been a very hot summer, so a lot of time has been spent indoors and having some late nights and some sleep-ins.

Along with the break being longer than usual, it’s been a different summer with Phil taking most of the time off from work to look after the kids. I also had more work to do with my project and job finishing up.

Now we’re already done with the first 2 weeks of the new school year and my first week in my new job at ANU. Nicholas is in year 6 (!) and Catherine is in year 2. It’s their last year of school together. Both are happy with their teachers and classes. Lots of change and adjustment for our family. Our school and work routine are a bit different with me working 5 days of the week now. I work school hours 3 days of the week which allows me to do most of the school runs. And Phil was able to arrange working 1 day a week from home. No more Friday lunches for Phil and me but we were able to meet up for afternoon tea on campus today. We also had our yearly live show date night a couple of weeks ago - the talented Ben Folds playing at the Canberra Theatre.