WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, AND A SUNNY NEW YEAR!

Our wish came true. And how. We enjoyed a somewhat typical Christmas morning. Wyatt slept in till 7 (pretty good considering), he seemed pleased to see that Santa had in fact delivered some presents despite his behaviour in recent days. He sat on the potty (just to make sure the presents stayed) and even waited patiently while we woke Cooper and Maddy up in the neighbourhood of 7:20. Then he gently knocked on Catty’s door with a clear “Merry Christmas Catty” and waited for her to emerge before touching anything. Jeff and I were very impressed with his restraint. We called Grandma and Granddad for a video chat so that the chaos could be witnessed from across oceans. The excitement level was average.
Their stockings had tons of little cars, socks, and other random things I picked up from the local op shops and second hand stores. The most exciting thing for Wyatt was his KungFu Panda Pez Refills – upon opening them, he exclaimed “Look mom, refills!”. Amazing how their vocabulary can be so developed and yet so tailored towards their interests. Cooper got lots of Bob the Builder stuff, Maddy is into Dora so that was a pervasive theme in her presents but she got a purse (which she quickly filled with HotWheels cars), and Wyatt, well, he is still hooked on HotWheels. Their main gifts were complementary hummers, and they each got a LEGO kit of some sort.
Otherwise, we kept it pretty lowkey. Lots of pjs which they needed because try as I might to stop it, they just keep growing!

Once brekkie and a second video call with Grammy and Grampy were done, we decided our Oz Christmas NEEDED a trip to the beach. This marked the end of the traditional part of our day. We packed a lunch and headed to Brighton Beach for some sun and sand, along with all of the other expats in Melbourne. Definitely a notch up from loading up the car in a snowstorm! Jeff and Catty got their requisite Christmas shovelling in - digging trenches and trails for the hummers, while I sat by with my camera realising that I could easily get used to this life. Don’t worry. We are still coming home this summer.


Then home for nap, not us, just them. I cooked a turkey roll full of stuffing, mashed potatoes and some veggies and we enjoyed a very non-traditional Xmas dinner OUTSIDE. Again, not much to complain about! Hope you all enjoyed time with family and friends. We missed you (when we weren’t at the beach) and we look forward to celebrating with you in 2009.