After all the effort of coming up with and then acquiring useful, thoughtful gifts for everyone and planning and executing special food, Christmas comes and goes in a couple of days. Makes me wish I was a little person again, whose only job is to write some thank you notes before school goes back! Nonetheless, we did have an enjoyable few days - a big picnic by the river with D's extended family on the 21st, lunch on the 24th with D's immediate family and then lunch with my immediate family on the 25th.
Our small folk were suitably impressed by their loot - or at least E was, C was still mainly oblivious and more interested in eating wrapping paper than gifts. Santa delivered on E's request of "a Frozen movie, a Frozen necklace with a gem showing Elsa and Anna, and a Frozen bracelet." I consequently went from not having seen Frozen at all, to having seen it four times in the four days following Christmas. I still don't quite know what its secret is - it's practically cocaine for the preschool set - but am willing to concede it's not a bad effort on Disney's part - at least the princess gets rescued by her sister and not a prince, and it makes a mockery of the concept of marrying someone you've just met.
After Christmas we enjoyed having my sister S and husband B around. They shared their time very equitably between the various family members, and the mornings of the two nights they spent with us we enjoyed early morning beach swims at Swanbourne. Both days turned into scorchers, but at 7am the beach was beautiful.
On New Year's Eve we had two of E's friends and their families here for early BBQ dinner. They arrived around 4.30pm, we had finished our sausages, rolls, salad, and chocolate by 6.00pm, everyone went home by 7.30pm and we were in bed by 9.30pm. It may not have been very rock'n'roll of us, but it was perfect - we're finally at the stage where more big kids is less trouble than only one. The three big girls disappeared into E's bedroom immediately upon arrival, with the three year old brother trailing hopefully around after them (alas, he was not wanted and was forced to play with the grownups). They reappeared not long before home time to "put on a performance" of Little Red Riding Hood. All very earnest, except for O's Dad, who had to play the wolf, as there was a last minute panic when they realised they had forgotten to cast a main character (?!) He was not at all earnest, and was comedy gold.
Since then, D is back at work and the girls and I have been treated to a week of gastro. It started with E having a stupendously big spew, all over me, C and the playgroup rug. It was quite dramatic - one minute she was fine, having just finished her lunch, next minute - not fine. The other playgroup mums were lovely about it, offering to help me clean, and holding and changing C (who let me just say was in no state to be held by anyone but me). After the world's biggest cleaning effort we made it home without further incident and E enjoyed a couple of days of convalescence - icy poles, jelly, unprecedented amounts of tv and iPad.
I am now counting down the remaining two weeks until we spend five nights on Rottnest.
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