Uncle Pat and the Helmet of Awesome

Uncle Pat popped in today, on the last leg of his mainland road trip. Sadly, his road-trip clashed fairly significantly with our own, and he only had time for a quick visit prior to jumping on the ferry back to Tassie. Alicia was shy as always (plus, you know, Uncle Pat does look a bit scary even at the best of times...), but Lucas was all over him like a rash, primarily in order to get him to lend him his helmet.

Pat wisely advised patience, in order to give the helmet time to cool off and the accumulated sweat of a week's worth of riding time to evaporate a little, but eventually gave in and let him put the helmet on.

A fantastic lunch with friends (old and new)

Some more photos of our Sydney road trip, this time of a lunch that was hosted at our good friend Di's house. We had a good showing of our friends their as well - Speedy, (Big) Alisha, Wiggy, not to mention our good friends Sam, Sue, Jac and Josh, who were also kind enough to house us for the vast majority of our stay.

A swim for some, a moment's respite for others...

In the midst of the hectic schedule of our Sydney visit, we were able to schedule a sleep over at the Gidney's residence, and Lucas and Alicia were delighted to catch up and play with Harry and Callum. They were also deligheted to take advantage of their swimming pool.

Daddy was also quite happy to take advantage of the facilities, and when he discovered an inflatable chair with a stubby holder, he was in seventh heaven.

Mother's group reunion

The Birds went on a road-trip up to Sydney shortly after Christmas. The trip itself is almost worth a blog entry, alas we did not have the presence of mind to take any photos while in the car. In summary: thank goodness for portable electronic entertainment devices!

Anyway, once we were up in Sydney, we went around visiting all our old friends, not least of which was Lucas' old mothers' group! We all met up at our favourite park - Buffalo Creek Reserve. The parents had a good ol' chin wag, while the kids went crazy playing and riding together. We had a fantastic time - it was almost like we'd never left.

Christmas in Melbourne

(Beat you this time Mel - nyer, nyer, ner-nyer ner!)

The Birds had a wonderful Christmas Day here in Melbourne. To start off, we had a nice little family gathering under the tree, where we proceeded to loot it of all its presents. Both kids were quite happy with their hauls this year!

After that, we went over to the Hohwy-Barclays to celebrate Christmas lunch with them. A lot of fun and cheer (not to mention food!) was had by all. Right now, we're all just focusing on digesting (no need for dinner!), and resting up for our big road trip up to Sydney via Wodonga!

Here's wishing that you've all had a Merry Christmas as well, and hope to see you soon!

Story time...

For years now, the Bird parents have been reading stories to their children. They have been very happy and comfortable in the role, up until now. It would seem that someone else is keen to take over the role of story teller! Perhaps we'll subcontract the position out for a probationary period, and see how it turns out...

All I want for Christmas is...