Gardening, a successful day!

My arms were not happy about my gardening efforts today!  I think I had a slight allergic reaction to something!  Note to self: wear sleeves that cover all my arms next time!!  But at 20'C and sunny, how could we not spend the entire day in the garden with the kids?!  It was just beautiful!  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place & I think we will all be a little sad to leave, but we will be seeing so many other beautiful places on our trip, I am confident it will be worth it!

Amelia would have much preferred to be inside reading today, or watching a movie, but Oliver & Luca enjoyed themselves thoroughly, despite Luca falling down a step and scraping his nose.  We got so much done, it felt great to step back and look at our progress!  By mid afternoon we had completed much more than we anticipated! 

Due to having such a successful day Tony suggested we take the night off and go to Docklands to watch the fireworks & so off to the city we went!  Amelia and Oliver said they were too loud, but enjoyed the colours, and Luca was completely impressed! I couldn't help but think what a waste of money they were and how it could be better spent on the community, but I was grateful to be spending family time together & the children enjoyed seeing the luxurious looking boats docked! They were also fascinated by the changing colours of the ferris wheel.

All in all a wonderful, successful, enjoyable day! 

Learning to swim

Amelia (5.5yo), Oliver (3.5yo) & Luca (16mo) have been having weekly swimming lessons since the beginning of this year. Amelia and Oliver attended lessons on and off previously, but not consistently (I do not recommend this approach!), and it has made the whole process a whole lot more challenging! 

We can immediately see the difference in the children's level of confidence in the water. But they are getting there! And we are so proud! 

Amelia could just about be swimming on her own but she doesn't realise that she can do it yet so is refusing to let go of her teacher(!). But she is inches away, and Oliver is learning to swim with his face in the water and then he won't be far behind her either!  But, the one I am most very proud of is Tony. He had his second private lesson today. He never learnt to swim as a child and he fears the water.he will take the children in to the pool provided he can touch the bottom and is close to the edge. But with our trip looming he realised it was time he learnt to face this fear!   Today he put his face in the water, blowing bubbles, and began learning about his breath. It is incredible to see how much he has learnt and how far he has come with only an hour's tuition! The adrenaline must be pumping through his body during that half hour because last week and tonight he has been completely exhausted!  I am so, so proud! What he is learning for himself, in a broader sense, will be life changing, and unknowingly he is teaching the children so much through this process too!

Our dream, a step closer!

I have been talking about having my hair cut short, since before we got married a couple of years ago! I haven't had short hair since my early twenties, which is a decade ago now - showing my age now!

And now we are about to go on our trip, I thought this would be a great way to mark the end of one chapter of our lives and the beginning of the next!

And wow, has it been liberating! I should have done this all those years ago! I feel lighter, I feel motivated, I feel inspired! 

We are at about the half way point of having our house ready to go on the market. I knew this point would eventually come and I have been hanging for it! And my gosh it feels good! 

...We are one step closer to our dream!