Back to the beach

Busy castle building and paddling with the Swedes up at Mudjimba. The beach was too rough so the river was busy. What was super exciting was Bronte swimming! On the 2nd Jan we had two play dates at houses with pools. At the first one she wore a backpack and was brave enough to go off the step by herself. At the second, she wore a vest (like the one pictured) - and she was head down, big kicks, and big arms all over the pool. She even jumped in - and - near the end - swam a few strokes without the vest! So, from not putting her head in/staying on the step to solo swimming in one day. An amazing thing to watch. Here, at the river, she happily swam out to Tony in the deep.

On the way home

New years eve, followed by a beach play, led Zach to fall asleep on the way home - chip half swallowed, hand still reaching for more. 

Happy new year!

Carool - a nice place to wake up on the first day of the year. 

NYE 2012 at the beach shack

Beach play

By great fortune, we stumbled upon multiple days of great beach fun up at Mudjimba. Bronte's swimming skills are rapidly improving - such that she was even trying body surfing.

Little baby

Frozen baby, safe in the hands of granddad. 

The cousins

Presents from Santa

 After a morning of manic opening, the kids settled down in their presents from Santa - with a circus tent for Bronte, and a car garage for Zach. We then spent a lovely day at Nanna's - with all the Aunties and cousins and some excellent food. A forgotten camera meant no photos - but Bronte did have a nice tummy graze going from the slip-n-slide.

A quick ride

A quick ride before Christmas to push through the 4 o'clock battle, and a chance to catch up with Zoe. 

Rocking it out

X & Q stayed the night - leading to a rock-it-out session before breakfast. Unfortunately, the experiment entitled "Xavier and Bronte sleeping in the same single bed" was unsuccessful, leading to a very late night, and tiredness repercussions for the next few days. But, as both were so desperate for it to work, we thought it was worth a try.