From April 21st....

Hello all, its Monday morning and I am sitting in bed after a hectic week. We all have the day off today for Memorial Day (US Anzac Day – battle of Normandy), which I have to say, for such a patriotic country is surprisingly low key. Bruce and I were talking to Paula about it yesterday and it’s like Anzac Day used to be. Before what I am proud to say we have now, when no one really cared too much, no crowds at dawn services or parades etc, before we got our pride back. We were telling Paula about all the great things that we do to remember on Anzac Day and it was with a lot of pride. Looking at it from another country we do it well, and continue the tradition on which is the most important thing. Anyway, back to the week that was. It was an interesting week by all accounts. The week started out like any other, we wake up to a beautiful spring morning, like all the other mornings. The boys all got ready for school and rode their bikes and I was off to work as per usual. The office was buzzing as per usual; Paula was actually in today, her usual meeting was in our offices, which was good for her that meant that she didn’t have to drive for 2 hours to get there. Everyone had stuff to do and was getting it done, the place is just going along great guns and OLA (Engineering firm that shares with us) is slowly getting better and more organized which is really good for me and them. There are a few more crucial things that have to be implemented before we can really dig our heels in and get going, hopefully I will get them done in the next couple of weeks. Our afternoons were the usual, the kids would get home and get their homework done and I have been getting home around 3.00, which isn’t too bad as far as working after the kids get home from school. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on too much, I still do feel out of the loop, as you all know, the first thing you want to do when you get home from work is sit down and take a breath, not tidy up and do homework, which is something that isn’t sitting well with me. I liked it when I was ready for them to come home, after everything else was done. That’s going to take me some time to re-adjust too. The weather for the week was gorgeous, something that bothers me is that there is no hat rule at school, so the boys have been coming home with the red under the eyes, Bruce asks them to wear a hat, but who knows and sunscreen, well by the time lunchtime comes around, it’s done, so we are on the mercy of the kids wanting to do the right thing. I asked a couple of people about how hard it would be to get a rule introduced and they did that laugh, you know the one, that means, GOOD LUCK (sarcasm!!) It was worth the question. Bruce rang on Wednesday morning with some happy dance news; we got a very big order for some angels so that was a bonus for the day. SO the sweatshop is opening back up and off we go for the next 7-10 days. I ended up having a really busy day, out of one meeting with OLA (overview all their projects etc for the next 3 years) then into another one for PMD (that’s us), it was nice to be really busy, then the clock hit 3.00 and I was out of there. Wednesday is out staff meeting day when all sit down talk about work and other stuff gets thrown in there too, which is good times. We are currently trying to work out a good afternoon to have a bonding session for all of us, trying to figure out a good time with 5 girls calendars, plus kids, meetings and husbands etc, it’s not easy and we are up to July. Wednesday afternoon and evening was spent baking for Jamieson’ s last game bbq. (I made a double batch of brownies and 42 cup cakes) as well as throwing dinner in the mix. The basketball finals are on so the boys are glued to the screen (depending on who’s playing). Which is good and bad, the peace and quiet is nice, unless I need something done, then bad luck for me. Thursday was a warm day, the office was really quiet, just me, Paula is always in Plymouth, Kelly was out sick, Darcy works from home and Andrea is out for the week in Colorado for her step daughters graduation. It was so weird, but I got heaps of OLA work done, lots of billable hours, which is good for Paula and I. (especially Paula considering she bills me out at double what she pays me) We were off at baseball at 5.00pm all the goodies in the back. I also organized the parents to contribute some money and we got the coaches gift vouchers the say thank you. We parked under a tree so I left all the cakes etc in the car thinking they would be all right. I went back an hour or so later and the frosting had all melted. Oh well, I tried. The boys won again and it was a good game. The coaches made sure the game finished right in time so we had enough time to eat etc, the kids had a great time and it did get a little chilly. That Delta breeze can get cold the bonus for the day was little Dylan who is the Yankees batboy got to play. It was so gorgeous, he’s only 4 and he played in the out field and also got a hit and was at third base ready to run home when they got their 3rd out, bummer, that would have been a great moment. They all got a trophy and cheered and carried on. We got home around 9.00 and the boys (eyes popping out of their head) went off to bed. Friday I didn’t end up going to work, it had finally caught up to me, the boys went off to school and I went back to bed, and slept until after the kids got home from school. I must have been tired. I got up and tidied up around the house, and then I sat down with the boys and helped them make some angels. We had a nice little production line going, we all had our little jobs and it was a bit of fun. 600 angels later Bruce and I went off to bed. Our Saturday was kind of quiet, meaning we didn’t really get out of the house. Paula called to see if we wanted to go to the Jazz Festival but the boys didn’t so that was that. 100,00 people in this heat is not something that I wanted to do either. We just did stuff around the house. Paula called later in the day and we went over so the boys could have a swim. Then they came over to our place for dinner and we did some more angels while the kids all played. Justin ended sleeping the night; they had a late night and were in bed at 11.00. Our Sunday was also a chilling out one, which is perfect, the boys have a few late nights and they need to chill out. Paula and the boys were here for breakfast, then I spent the morning cleaning the house while Bruce watched the Indy 500 on the TV. The boys played outside and Bruce and I spent a little time in the sun, only a little. It’s not the same when there is no pool. Paula came over after she dropped her boys off and we went out and grabbed a movie. We decided to do the Harry Potter series. We got back and the boys were still out fishing. The boys went off to bed and we knuckled in 1.00am I kicked Paula out with movie 3 & 4, which she would go home and watched. It was about 1.30 by the time I got into bed. So it was uneventful but kind of busy weekend. GO figure!! I hope that everyone is well and staying warm. I hope Elise and Ros had a great birthday and I want to hear all the details…..

From May 14th....

It’s Monday afternoon and I thought that since I was actually on the computer I thought I’d better actually put something down, before I have to rush off and do dinner and the whole bed thing and by then I’m pretty much done for the day. That’s the way things are with me at the moment unfortunately. I’m still getting used to the working extra hours then getting home and doing all that stuff too. Last week was another busy week for us all; Jamieson had the usual 2 baseball games, which he did really well at as per usual. Our week was really great, the weather is really warm, which always puts everyone in a good mood. Bruce is ticking along in the office, or the cave, which I’ve called it. The boys are doing really well at school, Jamieson had a bit of a woo hoo week, just not listening which hopefully he is over, time will tell. Conner is doing really well and has made a really nice friend in Davis (Rivera, son of Kristie and Carlos) so he is going really well and happy which is fantastic and makes Bruce and I much happier. Jamieson had a game Tuesday night which they won, even though they don’t keep score. Go Yankees!! He got his usual hits, which he loves. It’s kind of his thing and he loves that. He still gets bored in the outfield. Between that and the boys watching all the NBA playoffs its’ been a sports frenzy in out house. Bruce is just loving it, sitting watching the basketball with the boys and chatting about it, you can imagine he’s in heaven. Him and his boys!! Work for me is really busy, and will be for a little while but that’s ok with me, it keeps me busy which I love, sometimes a little too busy but it keeps me out of trouble. Ha ha. I’m going to get busier while I’m getting through my new project with Ed, but when I’m done it’ll be very rewarding. You have no idea how unorganized this guy is, so it’s baby steps and hard work. I’m enjoying it!!! Thursday night was a late one for Bruce, he ended up going to the Rivera’s and sitting with the kids while Kristie dropped a friend off in San Francisco and Carlos was in Germany. Poor thing, she had been to Tahoe to pick up this girl from Sydney and then drove her to San Fran to her friends place. That’s their schedule, with the two of them flying so it’s not really out of the ordinary for them, I couldn’t do it. Hat’s off to them. My Friday was so busy it was out of control. I worked until 3.30 then came home and cooked 2 different dinners (the Charles’s were coming over) kids dinner and adult’s dinner, which took until 5.30 when they arrived. We had a great night catching up properly while the kids all played outside and in the garage. They move across the other side of Sacramento to the Hills area in July over the summer break. Our other friends the Hawkins leave next weekend. It’s going to be sad couple of months with friends moving away. We were up and out of the house for a 9.00am baseball game. Another beautiful morning sitting in the sun watching the boys play. Jamieson played catcher with our fastest pitcher (Carson) pitching and he caught those pitches really well. His hand was hurting by the end of the inning but he was really proud of himself. Bruce had a couple presentations to do, one in the afternoon and then one at night. I did some cleaning in the afternoon and then Jamieson had a party, Bruce dropped him off and Conner ended up staying at the party. Then he did his promotion and picked the kids up, we went over to the Rivera’s around 8.00 and the kids played and we caught up with them for a couple of hours. It turned into a late night, but it’s always fun when we go over there. Our Sunday turned out to be a big one. We all slept in which was a nice change. I did the bed linens as it was going to be a really warm day. We were out of the house just after 11.00 to go to a Rivercats baseball game. They are Sacramento’s baseball team, they are the feeder team for the Major League team the Oakland A’s. It was a special day for junior baseball leagues; all the teams got to walk around the field before the game started. It was a thrill for them all, more so for the kids that have watched them play before, but Jamieson and Conner enjoyed it even thought they didn’t realize how cool it was. The game was lots of fun, but it was really hot so we didn’t end up staying for all 9 innings. It was a great afternoon none the less. We went over to Paula’s so the kids could swim, had some dinner and got home in time for the kids to get to bed. What a week we’ve had, no busier than anyone else but it’s always fun. It seems to be the pace we are at here so we are getting used to it. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Sounds like Elise had a fun party, wish we could have been there for that. Have a great birthday on Thursday, which I will add she shares with Ros Livingston, so Happy Birthday to you both!!! See you on the other side of the next week!!! FOR ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED… All the shows are finishing up for the season so there are a lot of finales on at the moment and sadly some series finales. I sat and watched the last Gilmore Girls this week, which was a little sad but does free me up to pick a new show to watch. A tip for anyone who likes to cheat, a lot of the big shows you can actually watch aired episodes on their website. So anyone can actually watch epos odes before you get them at home. Otherwise if you want the gossip on them just ask.

From May 7th

Another week is coming to a close so it’s time I sat down and wrote about the week that’s been. There’s been nothing out of the ordinary to report really. The boys went to school this week preparing for Mothers Day, well, for Jamieson anyway. I got my invitation to a Mother’s day tea on Thursday afternoon, which he was really looking forward to. Work for me was not too bad, still tidying up the loose ends, which is getting a little frustrating but the good thing that I have learnt out of it, is that we need to go through everything every 6 months, so there’s no slipping through the cracks. The weather is really warming up, it was 30’s at the start of the week, but by the end it has become nice and mild in the mid 20’s. The boys have been riding their bikes to school which they are really enjoying and it also means that we don’t have to go to pick them up from school every day. I will still be making an appearance a couple of times a week to make sure I’m not missing out on anything. It’s also the only time I get some of the girls and I can’t not do that. On Thursday morning Bruce woke me up at 4.00am and we were out the door and in the car driving to the airport. Bruce is off to Vegas for a few days to go to a Nike camp. I was back in bed by 5.30 and up again at 7.00am to get everyone up and out the door (me included to do Parent helping) at 8.00am. I left work early to go to Mother’s Day tea with Jamieson and his class. We were treated to gifts, songs and we all had cake and ice cream. It was really nice and they practiced hard all week on the songs. Jamieson had a baseball game and as per usual it turned into a late night, as it usually does. We didn’t get home until around 8.30 although we did have to stop and get some presents for the boys teachers, as it is teacher appreciation week this week. Bruce called to say goodnight and was stuffed. He had walked the strip all day in 98F (36c) weather and his legs were killing him. Paula came over for a drink. She lost her dad 12 months ago so I had a drink with her and we just sat down and chilled out for the night. Our Friday was a weird one, feeling very unmotivated, I only spent a couple of hours at work, I had to pick the kids up early anyway so I really only took an hour off. We had a really quiet afternoon, went over to Paula’s for a quick swim and then spent the night in. The boys played quietly until around 9.00. We did however get some good news for the Korostin family. It seems we may have actually found some family from Russia, I am really excited and I hope that they are the family we’ve been looking for, for a very long time. The rest of our weekend was not too bad, Jamieson had baseball and Conner had a birthday party, so I had some driving around to do. Jamieson played really well, and Conner had a fun time at the party. I cleaned the house in the afternoon and we went over to Paula’s so the kids could have a swim and Paula and I decided that for our girls weekend to celebrate her Divorce we are going on a road trip for a couple of days. We are hiring a convertible and heading down the coast for the weekend. It should be a lot of fun. My mother’s day was not too bad at all. I spent the morning putting photo’s up on the blog, and the afternoon we met Paula and the boys at the park and spent the afternoon at the park. The boys all rode their bikes and played baseball and basketball and Paula and I sat in the sun and chatted. Then we went to Paula’s for a swim and dinner and went to pick Bruce up at the airport from his trip to Vegas. It’s been a nice week and the weather is definitely getting warmer, 30c most of the week. We are getting into the swing of summer time and finishing up the school year. It’s getting to be a sad time, as The Charles and Hawkins are moving over the summer, which won’t be fun. It just means we have to make an effort to see them, no laziness anymore. Again, say it loud and say it proud – GO CATS!!!!!!

Pics from our Trip

From 29th March....

Results of the should Bruce keep the facial hair poll are in.

0% - KEEP IT

100% - GET RID OF IT

Well, I guess you all told us. Thank you to those who participated.

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Well it’s the end of another week and it has been a busy one for all of us. Our first week back into the routine and we got back into it pretty quickly. I had a really busy week at work. We have a new lady doing admin who is really great and if all goes well should allow me to cut back on the time I need to be there. Which is a good thing for Paula, and good for Belinda as well cause it would let me have some time off. As always after someone leaves there are messes to tie up and sadly it’s worse than I thought. Renee pretty much did a whole lot of nothing coming up to her leaving. So we are in the process of fixing that and moving forward.

I worked nearly full time for the week, which I didn’t realize until I’d done it. It was a good week for me though. The boys settled back into school and seem to be doing fine. The homework has started and getting that done is not hazardous YET. Bruce is working lots as per usual and loving it.

Jamieson’s baseball is going really well. He’s definitely a hitter, don’t want to put the mozz on him, but he always gets a base hit. He’s played catcher and does really well and has pitched as well. Hitting is definitely his strength. There are probably 6 boys on the team that have an idea and do really well, so when they all come up to hit together they usually get some runs out of it. It’s a long 2 hours sometimes but it’s a good time spent outside, especially considering the weather is really gorgeous at the moment. The mid week games make it a late night, but it’s not forever.

Our weekend was a good one. Saturday, Jamieson had a baseball game in the afternoon. They played really well and won. He played catcher and did really well, caught all the pitches that came through. It was a hot day so we sat in the shade most of the time. Cooper was wandering around and Paula came to watch for a little while. Jamieson got the game ball (so to speak) which as you can imagine made his day! We had a quiet night in front of the TV, Bruce and the boys went to get a movie. They came home with Night at the Museum, which I didn’t really want to watch. They really liked it, so that was good for them.

I woke up Sunday morning and baked some muffins and cookies; I also made cup cakes for our lunch date. I did some cleaning and washing to put out to dry cause it was suppose to be a hot day. The boys all chilled out for the morning, and I cracked the whip around 10.30, as we were due at our new friends the ‘Riveras’ house for lunch at 12.00.

We spent the afternoon with Carlos and Kristie and their 5 kids. It was a nice icebreaker; Jamieson and their son Carlos are both on the Yankees. They are a really great family and they are both flight attendants for United, so one of them do at least 1 trip to Sydney each month. In fact Kristie was flying out to Sydney on the 11.30 Sunday night. The other great thing is that every trip she stays with their friend and before she comes home, she makes a trip to the supermarket, and said to just let them know what we want and they’ll pick it up for us. YEAY!! It’s also really nice when you chat about home stuff and they have at least some idea.

Anyway, we spent the afternoon chatting and the kids all played and we left there around 5.30 and had a nice quiet night in. We watched some TV and we were all in bed at a reasonable time after a really busy week.

I hope that everyone is doing well and the weather isn’t getting to cold.

GO CATS!!!!!

Just a side note from Bruce here: To my precious nephews who follow that sorry group in the “yellow and black” – WHAT is going on? Suffer in ya jocks!!!!

Australian Trip.....

I encourage you to grab and cuppa and get comfortable for this installment. As you read it might get a little confusing. I started out writing this blog while I was away, when I got back, then after bring back for a week or so I thought that I should finish it up and get it out, so you will notice that some of it has been written a bit after the fact. But never the less it’s now been done (thank goodness) It’s a load off for me, now I just have to find the time to put up some pics for everyone, there is so many to choose from, not sure how to make that decision. Anyway, enjoy the details and towards the end the vagueness of our trip. Well, I’m sitting in my lounge room and it’s nearly lunchtime on Tuesday (24th). Conner has just risen and Jamieson is still sleeping. (Bruce is out at a meeting) I’m sitting here in my pink dressing gown and sipping an American Hot chocolate (which I did miss) out of my big pink heart cup that Bruce gave me for Valentines Day, as per the American way. It’s a beautiful sunny day outside and I am about to start a load of washing to be dried outside which I am very excited about. Side Note from first weeks, sorry about the lack of details regarding my surprises, I will fill you all in on them later. My head wasn’t really on straight yet when I put up last weeks blog, so they will come later. It’s technically the start of our 2nd week here and feels like we’ve only been here a couple of days. All 3 of us seem to have slipped back into it fairly easily. Our Easter Monday was suppose to be very quiet but ended up quite busy. Conner and Jamieson were bored so mum took them over to Rael’s for a play while I go organized for lunch with Pete. Went up to the supermarket and saw all the Egg’s 50% off, but didn’t buy any, god knows we have enough and Bruce and I don’t need anymore. Got my pumpkin soup stuff and then some, as always when you go to the supermarket and headed back home. Chatted with Bruce through out the day as I do, he was having a good Easter Sunday, gardening and then heading over to our friends (The Hawkins) for dinner, which will be nice for him. Pete, Fleur and Sandi came over for some lunch, Kristy arrived in the afternoon which was GREAT!! I called the Livingston’s thinking they would be away for Easter and Ashley and Peter were home, so to Conner’s absolute glee Kristy and I drove over to grab the boys then drove Conner into Ash’s place to stay with him for a couple of nights. I was so great to see them both together again, they were as happy as each other to see the other one. Conner was really happy. We drove back had a cuppa and Kristy was on her way back up the highway. Hopefully we will try to catch up with them before we go. We chilled out in front of the TV and Jamieson and I were off to bed around 9-9.30, I’m a partier from way back, these early morning’s are killing me at night. Tuesday was my workday for me, so it was a bit of a day. Just doing all the usually monthly banking etc, but had to go to storage. Let me just say that by the end of the moving day that Bruce was tired and they just through the stuff in. I found some of what I needed, but I think I’ll be spending a day there next week if I want to find some stuff that I wanted to take home. It was lunchtime by the time I got back and the twins and the kids were there. We just chilled out for the afternoon and I chatted with Bruce and Paula before heading off to Rael’s for the night. We went for a walk over to the front beach and the kids played in the playground, I forgot my camera, of course, so hopefully I will get footage to take home for everyone to see. I think we’ll go out in the morning before heading back to the Grove and take some. We had some Burrito’s for dinner and then again, Jamieson and I were off in bed round 9-9.30. Funniest thing in the night, I was in with Felix and Rael’s said that he may wake up, which he did, he was just making noises so I left him, then he stood up and was getting a little upset. So I started getting out of bed and he saw me, he started jumping up and down going “YEAY, YEAY” it was so funny, I will remember that forever. He won’t but I will. So I took him into Rael’s poor thing not sure how much sleep she got. I woke up to the sounds of Oscar and Felix up and Simon making them breakfast before he headed out for a walk or surf I assume. Today is the second day of our house hopping until technically Saturday night. We have a busy schedule but it should be fun. We are heading out to stay with the Trace and the kids today. We woke up and I got online to Bruce on my laptop, it’s dial up so I could only do one thing at a time. It was nice to be on the laptop again. We all got dressed and Mum came over and picked us up to take us home. We got home and I practically packed everything that we bought over as we are not going to home until Saturday night. We dropped into the Livingston’s and picked up Conner then mum dropped us off at Tracey’s. The kids and I (all 5 of us) went for a walk, we walked down to Tracey’s work then had a look to Rebel, off to the post office then to the supermarket and back to Tracey’s. We chilled out for a little while and Tracey got home and started dinner. We had noodle casserole (Jamieson’s favorite), watched some TV. Bruce called for a chat before he went off to bed, sorry honey I can’t come home yet. He’s not doing well with the whole being at home by himself. We chilled out and then around 9.30 started to arduous task of bedtime. Jamieson finally got a light on that he liked and they went off to sleep. Thursday Woke up at 6.30 again and chatted with Bruce until everyone woke up. Trace went off to work and the kids and I just chilled out around the house. Lunchtime we walked to Tracey’s work and grabbed her car. Off to Emu Ridge to get uggboots and then take away it was for the kids BLAH!!!! Dropped the kids off at home then dropped the car off at Trace’s work and walked home, which was a nice peaceful walk. Got back to Trace’s and packed up then around 3.30 Liz came and got us to go to her place for a sleepover. We had our usual cuppa and chilled out while the kids all played, then lasagna for dinner YUM and of course the usual when are you coming home conversation. Then Liz and I went off to hit Target. We got back and all the kids finally went to bed. The adults gave in around 11.00 (late for me) and I was out like a light, with Jamieson next to me. I slept ok considering I had wriggly next to me. Friday morning, up again at 6.30 looking at the roof. Got up and made myself a cuppa and read the paper (that was a novel experience) Finally everyone rose around 7-7.30 and Al went off on his golfing weekend and Liz went off to work at the shop for the day. Soph and I jumped in the car and went to grab her paper for her paper round, then back to the supermarket to buy food for tonight at Tracey’s and family get together tomorrow. We got back I made sure all the kids were dressed and fed and ready for the day, cleaned up the kitchen then Jolly turned up at around 11.00. YEAY!!! It was great to see my old friend again. We just caught up on all the gossip and talked about what we were doing. Ross turned up to take the kids out for lunch with Elise just as Ros and the kids arrived to see us. They had just gotten back from Thailand and hadn’t seen us yet. SO that’s always fun. All the girls sat around on Lizzy’s back porch and had a great catchup and chat. It was so great to see them all. Ross dropped the kids off, Jamieson was having an out of sorts day, which he does when Bruce is away, I call it his missed dad quiet. He’s just chillin out and not being his usual happy energetic self. The girls all left and I took off to do an inspection on our house. It was so fabulous, the lady seemed really nice and it looks like she takes great care of the house. So, not that I was worried but now I know that it’s in good hands. So that’s one less thing to worry about. I got back in time for Liz (Robbies mum) to come and get Jamieson and they went off for a play date. Jamieson perked up a bit as you can imagine. The other kids went for a quick swim (cold water) and Jamieson came back a couple of hours later and Liz and I had a quick catchup then before you knew it, Trudy was out the front to pick up us up. She dropped me off at Tracey’s and the boys went to her place to stay for the night. Had a great night at Tracey’s with the girls. It was nice just to chill out and chat. Had a couple of drinks and called Bruce at 2.00am to say good morning. My girl Nic Griff stayed till stumps and left around 2.30. That’s my girl. Woke up again early on Saturday morning. Packed my stuff and walked over to Trudy’s. They went out for a couple of hours and the boys chilled out and I did some laundry and had a shower etc. The rest of the family arrived and we had some lunch and caught up. Everyone left at around 5.30. We had some dinner and a couple of drinks to celebrate Dad’s birthday and left Trudy’s place around 8.30. Sunday morning came around and we were up out of the house and on the bus at around 11.30. The bus ride was nice, the kids had some fun and the rest of us just chatted. We got to the ‘G’ and surprised some family which is always fun. We got our great seats, even if it was really warm. The game was a good one and what made it fantastic was the Cats won by 80 pts. Woo Hoo!!! We had a quiet bus ride home and was in bed at a reasonable hour. Thank goodness!! I picked up the hire car on Monday morning and off to storage with the kids and Lizzy. Spend a couple of hours going through some boxes, and finding a few things to bring back. Found some little surprises which was a bonus. We finished up and ended up in Torquay doing a little shopping. Back to Highton and off to Bellaire Primary for the kids to surprise all their friends. Which they did; and really enjoyed. The boys went off to the Livingston’s with Ros and Ash and I ran a couple of errands. (Ooo, there’s the US coming out in me) I got to Ros’s and we had a chance to catch up, we had some dinner and the kids played and the adults caught up. We were home at a reasonable time and had a good night sleep. Tuesday was the start of a few busy days. I had an appointment and then we were off to Melbourne. We made some stops on the way; I was on my Doona cover mission. We got to Maureen and Peter’s around 1.00pm and had some lunch. We chilled out for the afternoon and they took the boys out to the park that they love to go to and I sat in the quiet and hooked up the internet to chat with Bruce. Ali came over for dinner and we all caught up, the kids watched some TV and off to bed as did the adults. We got up and ready and were out of the house driving to the Melbourne Zoo at around 10.00. We found a park and off they went. I took off to DFO to continue my doona mission, not really interested in clothes etc, but we’ll see. Mid afternoon we met back at the zoo and an exhausted Maureen and Peter made their way home and the boys and I went to Highpoint for a look around. We arrived at Guy’s place at around 4.30. We went out for dinner, La Porchetta, YUM!!!!! Gnocchi Bolognese and real Pizza, YYUUMM!!!! We all caught up, the boys were a little out of control, which Guy thought was great and you can imagine me. They are all fantastic and Ebony is getting so tall. We got back to mum’s late, but the boys slept most of the way home. We chilled out Thursday morning, which was SSOOOO great and very much needed. I of course woke up early, but it does give me a chance to chat with Bruce, which was great. I had a little more stuff to get so we were packed and ready for the next couple days out of a bag again. The boys went to Ross’s for a sleepover, they went to the footy club for dinner and stayed up till really late with him and Rhys and Elise and told stories, which was their favorite part of the night. They must have been some really great stories!!! I stayed at Tracey’s and had a quiet night in, Brad came over for a visit and I chatted with Bruce. The boys got to Tracey’s early and we were out and about for the morning. I went to the Lolly shop and got our supply for home, did a little shopping, much to the kids disgust. Then went over to the Griffin’s and saw their new gorgeous house and caught up with Nic and the boys. They have grown so much. Before we knew it was time to go to school and over to the park for our play with the kids and catch up with the mum’s. The boys had such a great time and found out all the Bellaire gossip. We went back to the Bell’s for dinner and a sleep over. It was a nice night, the kids all played and the adults just chatted about the year coming up. The weather turned on Saturday and Soph and I took the car back. Liz came and picked us up and we did some filming around town. They dropped us off at Mums’ and had a cuppa before a quick good bye, before we both got too emotional. Lara arrived in the afternoon, which is always fun. We just chilled out for the afternoon; the twins and the kids came over. We all had some dinner and chatted, watched a movie and off to bed. Sunday (our last full day) was to be a busy one. Lara and I went out and did some filming. Mum went into Geelong to watch the footy and we had some visitors. Jill and the girls came over for a catch up which was fantastic. Tracey and the kids arrived after Elise finished work. We said our good byes, which wasn’t too bad. Then we had family over for dinner, fish n chips which was nice considering not sure when we will have them again. We were in bed at a nice reasonable hour, packed and ready to go. We woke up early and finished the little packing that we had left, which ended up taking more room than I thought. Ooppss!! We were out of the house and on the road at 8.00am. We arrived at the airport and stood in check in line for around 30 mins, you can imagine the kids. Why can’t we go to that line? Cause we’re not with Dad, he can go in that line. Maureen and Peter came and we all sat down for a quick hot chocolate, and put Jamieson’s new travel sickness wristbands on. Then it was time to go through the doors! Mum did really well, no crying that I could see. Not sure what happened after we went through the doors. Even the boys said, Mum that was better, everyone was crying the last time we did this. Our flight to Auckland was great; we all watched our TV’s and had some food. Which Jamieson was very proud of himself for keeping it all down. Our flight to San Francisco was blah (for me). My TV didn’t work, you can imagine how that made me feel, having nothing to watch for 12 hours. The upside I think was that I slept a little more than I usually do. The boys had some sleep which was good, we woke Jamieson up to land. Conner was awake for breakfast, although none of us ate. It had that yucky hot food small room smell. We landed and got through Customs and security without a problem thank god!! It had really been worrying me since we got on the plane. We walked through the doors and there was Bruce. Complete with a HUGE hairy grin on his face. We must have bought the weather with us, cause it was a gorgeous day in San Fran. We got back to the car and Paula called to say welcome back on her way to her meeting. Funnily enough, she was counting down the days like Bruce was which was nice. I missed that Southern accent. We got home and yes you guessed it I had to unpack. We had a quiet night and early to bed. We were all awake at 2.00am, which wasn’t good. It took is a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. We were tired and didn’t really get out or do a lot. Pretty boring week, the kids needed the quiet too. Their sleep pattern didn’t get right until the weekend so it was good timing coming back with the few extra days. Kristin and Alfie sold their house while we were gone and are moving to El Dorado Hills, which is where Bruce wants to go, eventually. We’ll see about that one, we’ll keep you posted. Jamieson had his baseball and the weather was nice so we spent some of the weekend at Paula’s pool. We have all recovered and normal life has started again. Back to school and work this week. Which is always a good and a bad thing. Hope everyone is well and life is being good to you all.