School Holidays come to a close.

It’s the last day of school holidays and I can’t believe that they have flown past so quickly. I had planned a few activities and day trips to do with friends and with the kids, but had thought I’d get more done at home.. or something like that.

Admittedly we did go up to the farm for five glorious cold days, but even they flew past, consumed with cleaning, cooking and getting ready for the rally. Morgan and Lillys greatest delight is it go on the back of the ute and feed the cattle. Seeing them clinging to the rails, sitting one big bale of hay, rosy cheeks and laughing out loud to the wind; brought many smiles to my face. It didn’t seem so long ago that I had been sitting up there with my sisters, the chilling wind biting into our faces, freezing our breath.

We have been to Lollypops three times over the holidays. The larger one at Cannon Hill has been wonderful as I have secured a room to the side of the masses and set up my laptop in order to write. The kids run wild for hours, checking in every so often for snacks and food. The coffee is reasonable and service friendly. It’s a fully gated space, where the kids have arm bands to identify who they are and who brought them along. This is policed vigilantly, so I have no concerns as I am writing , if I don’t see Morgna and Lilly for up to half an hour at a time. I know that they are on a bouncy castle or climbing a rope bridge somewhere. The peace of mind alone, I believe, is worth the $12 per child entry.

We ventured out to the Ipswich Rail Museum once. It used to be a favorite haunt and we have had season passes for years. The price of petrol has stopped me traveling so far now. It was pretty cold and miserable and although much of what we played with was indoors, the huge sheds they are housed in did not offer much warmth. Most times we go, the kids will beg me to stop at a huge park we pass; but each time, something else pressing has occupied our time. I can now see we will make special trips out to go to the park. Queens Park in Ipswich has had a huge facelift and offers many exciting challenges for the adventurous child. Long Flying Foxes, a huge hill to roll down, twin slides, an A frame climbing structure, bridges and paths.

A very special day for me was my Date Day with Morgan. Lilly went off to daycare, and Morgan and I had a delightful day together. We had brunch at the Coffee Club,where he learnt that sharing a cooked breakfast can be much more fun than having one on your own. He was so polite and had such beautiful manners, my heart nearly burst whilst sitting across from him. He chose a movie and whilst the theory was that we were going to share the popcorn, he inhaled it before the title credits rolled. Meeting Dave ( the new Eddie Murphy movie) was perfect for his age group. Full of bodily noises, fart jokes and slapstick humour, it had the entire audience laughing most of the time.

A beautiful day was spent at home with a dear friend Michelle and her two kids as well as Jodi and Dylan. When the kids were younger, we used to get together at least weekly. However they moved down the coast and are now a good 2 hour drive from us, and visits have become sporadic. It saddens me to lose touch with beautiful friends – not out of any other reason – but lack of contact – you get busy with your life and just.. don’t call.. just … don’t visit.

I have been beating myself up for not posting to this blog every day, but have decided to be gentle on myself. Its been 6 weeks of ebook frantic writing and assimilations as well as the surprising arrival of Captain Juan. He alone has taken my waking moments up, researching lonely coastlines, boning up on the mechanics of early cannons and understanding the difference between a frigate and a sloop. Not to mention the time consuming tasks of answering Yahoo answers.

I will commit to updating this at least once a week. I don’t think many of my family or friends read my posts in any case – so it’s an diary exercise – and a valuable letting off steam thing.