Christmas dinners.

We all piled over to the Kukunes home a little while ago for a celebratory dinner and present swap. It was a lot of fun. They have decorated the back room (the kids play room slash dining room) and it is all covered in lights and tinsel.
The children all made a bee line straight for the back yard to play while us adults sat in the lounge area and talked for a bit. Funny the children weren't interested in food straight away, but more in playing, but they gradually came around to the fact that there was munchies to be had, and a little while longer to realize that there were presents to be opened, lol!
I am always amazed by the size of the mess a child can make with the unwrapping of the present, and there were eight of them, so you can imagine what the room looked like! And it took Martha and me almost till it was time for us to go to get on top of the mess. It was all the little bits you keep finding after you think your done that took most of the time :/
Needless to say after a tearful fair-well the children were all asleep very quick when we got home.
A few days after this we drove up to Mum and Dad's house, via my sisters home, and did it all over again!
Miriam and Ryan welcomed us and little Ebony was full of smiles.

After a lunch of home made easter buns  we wandered down to the park where there is a water fountain area and the children had a mad time playing in that.
I, um, sorta didn't take into consideration the water, as every time we have gone there in the past the dang thing has been broken. This time, however, it was working! And we had three saturated children!!

Fortunately my sister came to the rescue in the clothes department, and they all had something dry to go to Nanna's in!
When we got to Nanna's the excitement started all over again as the Aunties commandeered the children and they all took off. This enabled me to disappear quietly up to the other house and settle us in while the children were busy.
We had dinner all together as a big family at the pink house that night, as we were joined by Miriam and her lot as well, and we all opened presents together, before we said our good byes and I packed my tired children in the car and went back to 7 Smith for sleep.

The next day I had my sister, Tamar come up to the house and she helped me with various bits of nothing. First she did the little girls hair while I made the beds, then she helped me fold a stack of clothes, then she helped me forage out in the yard for food, which she then helped me chop up and make some sauces in preparation for dinner that night.

Naturally she was invited back for dinner, which she accepted.
The afternoon was full of shenanigans, and when we got home for dinner Tamars hard work was a success (which was good, because she had never done any of this before!)
The following day saw us driving home again with a brief stop in at Bairnsdale for some hot chips for lunch. A lovely little holiday indeed!