When do we go back to school?

More summer photos here

We have heard this question at least a couple of times a week from Catherine since school ended last year. Someone is eager to start year 3. She even made a year 3 sign which she put up in the kitchen.

In the meantime, our summer has been filled with festivities and travel and with work, movies, play dates and sleepovers in between. Our Christmas was lovely and mellow but already a distant memory. Mom came to visit soon after. Before the year-end, we hosted a picnic at Cotter Dam and caught up with some family and friends while the kids had fun swimming in the river.

We attended a party on New Year’s Eve and caught the 9pm fireworks at Civic Square. We then celebrated New Year’s and our 20-year wedding anniversary with family photos at Lennox Gardens followed by a buffet dinner at the Hyatt. Then we escaped to Merimbula for a few days and got some relief from the Canberra heat. It has been a long hot summer!

Some highlights during Mom’s visit was hiking up Mt Awarang, discovering the great views of Canberra from Telstra Tower and watching the New Year’s Eve fireworks. Merimbula’s highlight was our last day at Short Point Beach enjoying the water, rock pools and the beautiful day.

After Mom left, we had a short week at home before heading out of town again to Sydney for a week. It was a working holiday. Phil worked while the rest of us played. Our home for the week was at Meriton Suites Bondi Junction. We had a couple of issues but it was overall a good place. We had easy access to public transport and to Westfield Bondi Junction.

On our first day in Sydney we had to go into the city for our U.S. passport renewal appointments for Nicholas and Catherine at the Consulate. We were running early so we dropped off our backpacks at our friend’s office at Martin Place. It was lucky we did because security was strict and tedious. The security people were not very nice either. Anyway, after that was all over with, we enjoyed the rest of our time in Sydney. We went to the Australian Museum, Taronga Zoo, Sydney Cricket Ground for a Big Bash game, saw a movie, The Kid Who Would Be King (C gave it 5 stars), caught up with friends, ate delicious food and had plenty of pool time in between. It was also quite warm and humid in Sydney but not as hot as Canberra (40+ C | 105+ F).

After all that excitement, the past couple of weeks have gone by slowly. It feels like we’re all hanging out until school starts. It’s just 5 more days until all the fun begins.

Mountain stats: Urambi Hills (elevation 728m|2388ft) in 29 minutes and Mt Arawang (774m|2539ft) in 27 minutes.

Movie stats: The House with a Clock in Its Walls (3 stars), How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (3.5 stars), The Kid Who Would Be King (3.5 stars), Mary Poppins Returns (3 stars)