Full & thorough reporting: the school holiday edition

Gosh I love school holidays. I LOVE THEM. The change in routine, the not getting up for an alarm and running around all day every day until the point of exhaustion. The slowing down, time spent with people we love. These holidays had it all in spades with LOTS of time sitting around tables with people that I love. Now it’s time to limp towards the finish line of this bloody year with term 4. Thank goodness we had 2 lovely weeks to fill our cups on our way.

We started at home with lots of time with cousins around the highlands. Picnics and bushwalks, haircuts, movies, sleepovers and basic fun that used to be the stuff my school holidays were filled with.

Rob then took the girls to the beach for a few days while I stayed at home and worked and powered through some chores at home that needed doing. Bedrooms cleaned out, cupboards culled, garages cleaned and lots and lots of trips to the tip along the way. It was exhausting and FABULOUS as I got so much done without distraction. Daisy’s room in particular and a cupboard of doom that has haunted me for years got done. I also managed to sneak in a girl’s dinner at Lucy’s place before I joined the others at the beach for 2 nights. I will be suggesting this with Rob again if at all possible. It was a game changer to get so much done.

I jagged the weather at the beach, sneaking in one full beach day on Saturday with everyone (Lucy came up with the kids for the night) we had a great day at the beach, happy kids swimming, a lovely BBQ dinner and time sitting outside watching a blood moon rise over the water without shoes on. After a long cold Highlands winter it always feels such a treat to have some warmer weather. Sunday we had my nephew’s 18th birthday – poor kid having such a shite year 12 was allowed to have 3 x events over the course of the long weekend with 3 groups of 20 people. We were the last day but had such a lovely hot afternoon and evening with all my family (missing my sister and her kids in Melbs of course). Lots of eating wonderful food (my brother is the BEST cook), kids in the pool, good wine and best of dancing into the night. It was just the best – again, the typeof days we had when we were teenagers with our family. Zac is the first grandchild on our side of the family so it seems a big deal that he is now an adult! I remember when I first met Rob saying I had my nephew’s 1st birthday party to go to and now he’s THIS big. Such a great kid, we are all so proud of him.

Monday morning we hightailed it to the farm for a few days to spend time with Rob’s step mum. As Maggie said to me “the farm is our special family place Mum” and she is right. We had 2 full days outside of two days travel (it takes about 6.5 hours to drive there from our place and DEAR GOD WHEN WILL THEY OPEN THAT BLOODY TUNNEL on Pennant Hills Rd?! As soon as we arrived though, time stops, blood pressure drops and we had the best time. Lots of swimming, great meals and chats under the wisteria, lots of buttery chards and good sleeps. Every trip to the farm heals a little of the year we have had. So precious to all of us.

We left there Thursday and drove home in time for a catch up with work and some time at home before school started Monday. We had a lovely weekend filled with visitors for lunch or drinks in the sunshine in the garden. Things here are looking so beautiful, these few weeks of October are always the best in the garden. It never fails to impress!

So now we are back into the swing of things, routine back but as I said hearts full from a wonderful two weeks. I know how lucky we are that we got to do all those things – thinking of VIC and all the endless restrictions on your guys. Sending you strength and love to get through it all.

But enough about me, tell me everything.
What have you been up to?
How are you?

Comments

  1. Sounds like the best school holidays. I loved holidays when mine were at school too, time to rest, play, regroup and reconnect.
    Cheers Kate

  2. Beth, this sounds like the ideal school hols! The wisteria looks beautiful. Whenever you post garden photos I want to google teaching jobs in your are so I can come join this Highlands crew. Oh and you wrote up there earlier, “Bedrooms cleaned out, cupboards culled, garages cleaned and lots and lots of trips to the beach along the way.” By beach, do you mean ‘tip’?

  3. Beth, about 3 years ago I came back to revisit your past posts about your decision to have a 3rd child. I read every single post as we were trying to make up our minds as to whether that was the right thing for us. Well, it’s taken a while, but we decided to go for it – and I am now very newly pregnant with our third. I am so excited. I wanted to thank you so much for your honesty and bluntness about your feelings and sharing with us how you came to your decision. It really helped me and it makes me so pleased to see your cosy family of five, and how happy Maggie made (makes!) you. I look forward to that for us. Thank you.

  4. Oh man what i would give for a few days at home without anyone to get shit done!! I am super jealous of your clean out achievements- i feel like i just move stuff from one pile to another around the house in an adhoc fashion until about a month later it eventually leaves the house and ends up in a giant pile of crap in the garage which we can now not even walk into..sigh

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