Christmas - Part 2 of 4

It never fails to amaze me how much stuff you need to pack when holidaying with children.  It doesn't seem to matter if you're only going away two nights or two weeks, the amount seems to be the same.  Michael does an excellent job of packing the car and finding gaps to fill with our belongings.  I never envy him this job, and he probably doesn't envy me putting everything away when we get home.

So with the car packed and us all ready, off we set on our Christmas holiday.  I had been looking forward to getting away for sooooo long.  After a big year of school, markets, Michael's work and commute, this was our time to get away for more than two days as a family.  

Wired for sound and visuals.

I'm not going to lie.  The portable DVD players were brilliant.  The drive to Coffs Harbour was going to take 5-6 hours with minimal stopping.  We didn't hear much of a peep from Henry, who only stirred from watching his DVDs when he was restless.  Buster watched Milly's movies with her and had his afternoon nap.  And Milly was mostly content, but needed a little whinge every now and then, and always seemed to be hungry. 

The drive was pretty good and when we arrived in Coffs we were all happy to finally have the holiday begin. We were all staying with Dad and Tracey (Corin and family arriving later that night), and the kids were super excited to spend some time with Grandad and Nanna Trace, but probably more excited that the build up to Christmas was reaching its climax.

Christmas morning, dressed, fed and ready to open presents.

On Christmas morning, the kids emptied their stockings and kept themselves amused whilst us adults got organised.  Henry was keen to open some presents, but like all the kids was pretty good at being patient and having to wait until after breakfast.

Just when we thought we might get started Corin had to take out some garbage.  Then there was a knock at the front door and who should stroll in ...... Santa Claus of course!  He'd forgotten to put a present under the tree and had popped back to deliver it and seeing he was there he thought he'd hang around and hand out the presents.

Santa was very orderly and everyone had to take turns in opening a present. It was a shame Corin missed it. He really did take a long time putting out that garbage.

Look Boo, it's Santa.

Dishing out the pressies.

 

Thanks Grandad and Nanna Trace for my laptop.  I love it!

 

This is the best Christmas ever!

With presents all opened it was time to prepare ourselves for the main event - Christmas lunch.  Dad and Tracey are both such great cooks that I don't know anyone who doesn't look forward to a meal at their place.  They are generous with their food and wine, as well as generous with the true Christmas spirit.  They had a couple of friends join us for lunch who otherwise would have spent Christmas alone.

Christmas cocktail.

An Aussie Christmas.

Aside from Christmas, on our other days in Coffs we ventured out to the beach.  Henry and Milly loved being in the shallows jumping waves with Michael.  Buster didn't want anything to do with the water and spent his time chasing seagulls or digging sand.  If he saw a ripple of water approaching he would sprint up the beach in a panic out of it's way.

THE HUCKERS TOURNAMENT 

Whenever myself, Corin and Dad are together at Christmas time the Ludo board comes out and we play a version of Ludo called "Huckers" until a champion is crowned.  Traditionally this happens on Boxing Day, and we play as many games as required, that is until one person has won two games.

Corin, Dad and I used to play Huckers with Grandad from when we were kids until he died.  It was he who taught us the Huckers rules, as it was taught to him when he served in the Navy.  Michael now fills Grandad's seat and we play for a trophy filled with some of Grandad's ashes.  We play on the original Ludo board given to my Grandad and Nan as a wedding present in the 1930s.  A lot of swearing usually accommpanies the playing of the game, and it was noted this year that swearing was almost non existent.  We put this down to Corin and I now being parents and having curtailed our langauge.

And so the battle begins.

 

Dad retains "the ashes".

On the morning of our depature there were some solemn faces.  We had all enjoyed the Coffs Harbour part of the holiday and although looking forward to our next port of call, repacking the car and driving for three hours isn't always easy with three young children.  Also not easy was trying to get them to pose for a photo with their cousin Casper.  No one wanted to participate or oblige.



Not another family photo.

And there ends another Christmas.  Another Christmas of us all together, healthy and happy.  Many thanks to Dad and Tracey for their hospitality in housing and feeding us, and keeping us hydrated.

The Bartley/Hobson family Christmas photo 2011.