Christmas - The Aftermath

I know who has had a great Christmas this year - Mr Nerf. James and Patrick have an arsenal sufficient to defend a small country.

Christmas

After all the build up Christmas finally arrived.  With the family scattered around the world, we love the available communication technologies.  Grandma, Adam and Kate and family came to breakfast.

And it was not long before the business of the day was underway.

It was discovered that champagne followed by croissants and a beautiful cab sav can render one particularly mellow.  I had a slow afternoon.

Once revived, we caught up with Lisa and Justin who are up in Canberra with Justin's family.
In the evening we had an extended Skype call with Brett and Cathy and the family in the UK (on their Christmas morning).  It was fantastic to be able to chat to them all and see some of the Christmas presents that had just arrived.

Birthday Dinner

Last night we had the official Lisa and Justin Birthday dinner.  As they are heading for Canberra it was suggested that Christmas presents should come early.  The Kid Caucus found no objection so that's what happened!

Then it was on to dinner.  Lamb roast and chocolate mousse with cream puffs, rock cakes, iced cakes and chocolate eclairs.  Mixed in we had 2000 Wolf Blas Shiraz and a 202 St Helga's Riesling.

 No one went away hungry.

Close Now

Not long to go now - only a few more sleeps and then we get down to the serious business of opening the presents!

Lisa's Birthday

It was Lisa's birthday so we decided to give them a night off for good behaviour.  Before the night out there was the obligatory present session.  The kids decided Mum needed a great deal of assistance opening all her presents.

They were happy with the proceeds and particularly happy at the prospects raised by the inclusion of a ginger bread man cooking tray.  Once the kids were in bed it was time to slip the mind into neutral for an hour or so.

Jack Has A Top Day

We attended the school assembly this morning to see Jack receive his Certificate for his work on Junior School Council.

 A short time later he was up again.  This time it was to receive the "ERRIC Award" which is essentially a citizenship award given to only one student in the school each week.  Jack looked quite nonplussed as he was called out to the front to receive his certificate and have his badge pinned on.

Jack's day was off to a flying start!

Justin's 40th

In an attempt to reinforce the perception of great age and wisdom, Justin decided that for his birthday, we would all learn lawn bowls.  While this inherently fragile strategy failed immediately, the celebration was a roaring success.

The assembled company was plied with excessive amounts of food and drink and the birthday cake produced to complete formalities.

Then it was onto the greens for instruction and competition.

Justin took to it like a duck to treacle so it was up to some of the older and wiser heads in the crowd to instruct him in the way of the green.

It was a fantastic day.  The weather was perfect, plenty of food and drink and the bowling was great fun.  The Club catered brilliantly for both the adults and the children who were given their own bowls and instructors.

James' Team Wins Again

James and his team ventured into the Land of the Giants this week.  Check out these photos.

Early on, I thought the only way they could win would be to bite the ankles of the opposition.  However skill and persistence payed off and they came home with a clear, if not easy, win. James was certainly not deterred by their size as he employed a few of his football skills on the court.

As always he accommodated his fans.

Pat's Team On a Roll

Patrick's team played Eltham today and came away with another good win (over 20 points).  While Pat did not score any goals, he played well and did what the Coach wanted as a defensive player. He is getting better every week.

Patrick likes to acknowledge his fans.  Here he is showing Granny what it will be like in a year or so.
Sophie is also on the way up.

Cooper's Christmas Concert

As the end of the year approaches, the round of final concerts and parties is in full swing.  Cooper invited us to his Kinder Concert today, his second last kinder day for the year.

He enjoyed the whole presentation. They sang a song, danced and then danced with their parents. (Cooper is keeping an eye on Granny to make sure she is watching.)

Lachlan watched the show and he thinks it would be a good idea if he went to kinder next year.

More Play

Sophie, Cooper and Lachlan visited today for some play time.  Activities included sand pit cake baking -

and frightening Granny with scary stories.

Christmas Approaches

When we visited Adam and Kate's last night for a family dinner, we were able to inspect part of the day's activity.  The Christmas tree had been erected and decorated in preparation for the great event.

Grandma Hits 92

Today is Grandma's 92nd birthday and even though she is singularly unimpressed by the event, we thought some acknowledgement was in order.

In the lead-up to the birthday there were hints that some of the old fare would be appreciated and in particular, chocolate eclairs were a favourite that had not been seen for many years.  As a consequence, Claire prepared herself for the challenge and produced a platefull of the delicacies that Grandma declared a great success.

Another Win for James

The Vikings Under 12 played Collingwood today and had another good win.  The conditions were oppressive (warm and humid) and the stadium was old and dark and while it was not their best performance, our boys rose to the mid game challenge and pulled ahead toward the end of the game.

 As can be seen, Granny likes to keep an eye on proceedings.

Play Time.

Sophie has finished Kinder for the year so she joined Cooper and Lachlan for play time on Friday.  She came ready for a party.

They had a good day and played very well together.  Sophie even played dinosaurs for a while with the boys.

That Time of Year!

Hmmmmm..  Now let me think ... What 's the date again?

Jack's Basketball Training

Jack takes part in "Aussie Hoops" basketball skills training each Thursday night.  He has a fun time with his friends and is developing his skills for games in the future.

Each night there is a knockout competition where pairs compete for the ball and tonight Jack was the winner.  Here he celebrates with his fans.