Christmas in Coffs

We had a five night stay in Coffs over Christmas.  On the morning of our arrival, Nanna Trace had fractured one of her toes and was hobbling about quite painfully on crutches.  Not what she wanted for Christmas with the five of us, my brother's family and one of her daughters all arriving and staying.  Also the first two days poured with rain and we were house bound for most of it.  We managed a trip to the Big Banana and took the kids to FlipOut trampoline park to keep them entertained during the rain.

Come Christmas morning the sun was shining and we were lucky enough to have Santa stop in on his way back to the North Pole to personally hand out the presents.

 
As always with Santa in charge the present opening is a very ordered affair.  Each person had a turn and before long our children had a bounty of presents being piled high on their Dad.  Michael was very busy assembling lightsabers, supplying batteries, unscrewing toys from their boxes, and reading instruction manuals.

The aftermath of the present opening was Christmas chaos.  With more people arriving for Christmas lunch it didn't take too long to fill the garbage and recycling bins with the carnage.

Meanwhile, the kids set about playing with their new toys.

Milly had a great time in Coffs Harbour with her two aunts, Nikki and Yin.  They made jewellery together, Nikki braided Milly's hair and played hand clapping games.  Yin taught Milly some Cantonese words and writing, and they did lots of colouring in together.

Buster and Casper had fun together.  They are both little chatterboxes and self-willed.  It was lovely to watch all the cousins playing together.

Grandad Bryan received an XBox for Christmas, complete with car games, a steering wheel console and accelerator pedals.  The kids took over and had difficulty playing it.  He was probably looking forward to us all leaving so he could have it all to himself again.

Another thing the kids look forward to when visiting Grandad Bryan and Nanna Trace is their dogs.  Poor Rusty had passed away since our last Christmas visit but his brother Harry was very keen to accept the cuddles, pats and tummy rubs offered by the kids.  He now has his half-sister Lucy as a companion, but she is still a puppy and was overwhelmed by all the extra people in the house.    

Finally, what is a trip to Coffs Harbour without having your photo taken with the Big Banana.  A huge thank you to my Dad and Tracey for their generous hosting and feeding us all.  We had a wonderful stay and they are probably now enjoying the peace and quiet.

Beach babes

Hooray for school holidays!  Hooray for weekends!  Hooray for Michael who happily likes cold water and taking the kids for a swim at the beach, whilst I try and stay warm, dry and avoid the sand as much as possible!
 

Timber

You may or may not recall a few years ago on Christmas Day we needed to call the SES out to deal with a large broken gum tree branch that was threatening both our house and our neighbours.  At the time they told us we should get the tree looked at by an arborist.  Given the cost of such an exercise we put it on the long "to do one day" list.

So as we approach Christmas again the gum tree dropped a big branch (see picture below).  Fortunately the kids were not playing in the courtyard at the time but  it served as a reminder that the tree was dangerous.  It was time to bite the bullet, so the tree was moved to the "we'd better get on that now" list.

Several heart stopping quotes later and we were lucky enough to get a contractor who could remove the tree (plus another overhanging the driveway and neighbouring preschool) before Christmas.

On the day of removal it was stinking hot.  The team of tree boys arrived early with their breakfast of Red Bull and cigarettes.  They set to work and did a really great job.   What they predicted would take only half a day took a full one.  Plus they cleaned up afterwards.

Milly's bucket

With the kids now finished school for the year I've been sorting through all their books, craft and other things they have brought home.  I found this cup in Milly's bag and it's her "bucket" that was filled with positive notes from her classmates.  It's purpose is to teach kids how to express kindness and appreciation for others by "filling their bucket".

Only a ginger can call another ginger ginger

There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked gingerbread biscuits.  Except maybe the taste of a freshly baked gingerbread biscuit.

One of our advent calendar activities was to do some Christmas baking.  I made the dough and the kids helped roll and cut out the shapes.  They had lots of fun icing their own biscuits and they even let me ice some too.

Christmas cheer

It's that time of year again.  That time of year we like to call the "silly season".  That time of year where kids start bringing home their Christmas craft and everything else they have done at school that needs to be cleared out in preparation for the new year.

The tree went up without any issues.  I even surprised myself by letting the kids do it all themselves.  Milly and Buster did the bulk of the decorating and for once I just went with the flow and didn't fuss about it.  Turned out to be one of the most relaxing Christmas tree decorating sessions we have ever had.

Kudos to the kids for a sterling job.

Matilda the musical

Over the weekend we had a special girl's day out.  It involved a train trip to Sydney and seeing the musical Matilda.  The character Matilda is a favourite of our book loving girl and in many ways she is a little Matilda herself.

Little girl in the big city, next to a big Christmas tree and a big clock.  She did well dealing with the bustling crowds and overcrowded trains.

A quick lunch and then it was off to the theatre.

It truly was a magical production with lots of laughs, terrific performances, amazing set design and wonderful songs.

To finish off her big day and long trip home our little Matilda nourished herself with some macarons from the famous Adriano Zumbo (flavours were Finger Bun and Malted Milkshake).

Milly doesn't give much away but I know she enjoyed it because I've heard her singing the songs and she is constantly reading the programme and looking at the pictures.