Pretty little creek near my parents place
Returned home yesterday from a great little mini-break to my hometown, Melbourne. 7 year old E and I just flew down Sunday afternoon, and back home Wednesday morning. Al and 3year old O stayed home this time. Al had to work, and it’s much more costly for us all to go, so that will be next time. But E and I had a great 2.5 days! Here is a short recap:
The flight was SO easy. Flying with a 7 year old is such a joy- after years of feeling like travel is a huge effort to be endured, a new era is upon us! Well, at least when I leave the 3 year old at home. Flying time was just over 2 hours, we got snacks, I got a wine, E played her iPad, I read and then had a nap, and woke up as the plane was descending. And mum and dad met us at the gate! Too easy!
Plane selfie
After a relaxing evening with mum and dad on Sunday, on Monday we visited family friends who we hadn’t seen in a year, who had since had twin babies. E absolutely adored the babies, was so gentle and sweet and captivated by them. Our friends were lovely with E and it was so good to catch up.
After our visit E had some birthday money so we went to a local toy shop to look for something for her to buy. She looked over all the dolls, unsure, and then her eyes alighted on something up on a high shelf above the counter, and she raced over in excitement. They were Russian (Babushka) Dolls! We had seen them in a book and had big discussions about them, and here some were for sale. She proudly used her money and took her new dolls home. I was thrilled because they are beautiful and high quality and not just another plastic toy.
E’s new favourite possession
Monday night E stayed home with mum and dad to watch Matilda and eat popcorn, and I caught up with an old friend at a Vietnamese restaurant (Melbourne has lots of great Vietnamese food and I miss it). It was wonderful to catch up, it’s always like no time has passed, and we chatted away until closing.
Tuesday morning I braved the freezing cold to have a morning walk down on a beautiful local creek trail. I rugged up but it was so cold my nose and ears hurt (should have worn a beanie!).
Feels like 1 degree Celsius! At almost 9 am!
But it was worth the effort. Beautiful clear morning, fresh air, beautiful trail.
Then I met another old school friend for breakfast at a cafe, which was so lovely, (I definitely feel old when I start to say that I’ve know that friend for 30 years!). Again, just like no time has passed (it has been probably 18 months since we last caught up).
And then E, me and Mum and Dad headed over to pick up my 4yo niece from daycare mid afternoon and head back to my brother’s house so the cousins could play (my brother and SIL were both working until about 5.30). The cousins hadn’t seen each other in person for two years, so it was very exciting.
Look at that joy, as E cuddles her cousin.
And play they did! For hours, absolutely doting on each other, two peas in a pod despite the age gap. It made all of our hearts happy to see these two cousins living their best lives. My two brothers and sisters in law all arrived by about 6, and we had a lovely evening of pizza, wine, donuts and lots of catching up. The girls stayed up way past their bedtimes and the evening was over much too quickly. I promised we’d be down for a longer visit before too long.
And that was that. Wednesday morning we slept in as late as we could be by 9am we were off to the airport. Poor E was so upset she didn’t get to see her cousin again, and she declared that she hoped we missed our plane. There were tears saying goodbye to mum and dad, but we will see them again in a month, when they move up to live near us!!!
The flight was fairly easy, I got in another nap, and then Al picked us up and we picked up O and we all hung out at home in the afternoon. It was great to see the boys, apparently O had been upset mummy wasn’t putting him to bed on Sunday night, but the next two nights were fine. It was lovely having that afternoon off before work the next day. I did a mid-year planning session as suggested by Sarah Hart Unger on Best Laid Plans podcast this week. It was fun, and calming, and I will share the results in my next post.
This sounds like an amazing trip! And- your daughter is so sweet. I say this as someone who has a daughter who... isn't sweet. She has good qualities of course, but 'sweet" isn't one of them. I love the way your daughter played with her cousin and doted on the babies. I'm glad you guys had such a good time.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your mid-year planning! I listened to that podcast episode but haven't done a planning session yet.
What a fun visit for you 2! Cousin time is the best. My boys’ cousins are all much older than them with the exception of my younger sister’s kids but she lives the furthest from us. But the older cousins are so good with my boys and really dote on them. They will only see 2 cousins this weekend and they are way older - 16 and 19! But the 16 year old will play with the boys which makes them feel so special.
That cold weather is a shock to the system! But it can be so refreshing to go for a cold morning walk if you are dressed appropriately!
This all sounds amazing, Sophie. Isn't it amazing how cousins can pick right up where they left off. There is something about that bond that is incredible (my own kids often go years in between seeing cousins, but there is always a "spark" of familiarity that is unique).
Brrr. We're fully into summer weather. Thankfully, the heat wave has passed. Now it's hot days and cool nights which is PERFECT. It's so nice to be able to go outside in the evening and not feel like it's middle of the day.