Following the baptism we jumped on a plane at St Louis for a flight to Los Angeles and then onto Brisbane. The flights were LONG and we were so glad to see Dad at Brisbane – but not looking forward to the 2 hour drive to Mullumbimby. The kids were ok on the flight – the twins needed to be held a lot and Eleni was wiggling all over but we made it. When we got on the plane at LAX there was a heart-stopping minute where we thought we would not get 2 baby bassinets – apparently there were 12 babies and only 6 bassinets – but we were lucky and got two!
It was great to finally get to the farm and settle-in. The first two weeks were hot and humid so we were able to use the pool. Leo and Sofia both had their first swims and loved it. Eleni was happy to stay on the step and not venture into the deep water. Before Christmas we headed up to the Sunshine Coast to spend time with Tony – he has a new pool which is gorgeous. We also caught up with David and Jane – and with Lana, Zoe, Jake and Jacob while we were there. It was too hard to spend time on the beach with the twins but we managed some coffee shops across the road from the beach. It was also Lana’s 16th birthday whilst we were there so we joined her in enjoying some yummy chocolate cake.
On 18 December little Sofia got her very first tooth! Both she and Leo have been rolling onto their tummies and back again for a few weeks but so far Sofia seems to be the first to do most things. Both of them were terrible at sleeping during the night – driving us all nuts but at least Sofia had teething as an excuse.
We had a really nice visit from Kristin for a couple of days and took her to the Dingo Lane Christmas Party at Sue and Phil’s. All sorts of interesting characters were there for us to meet! Ken and Liz also drove up from Sydney for a quick visit – it was great to see them too.
On Christmas day we had Tony and Julie (with baby on board); Anne, Mark, Matt, Alex and Helena; David, Jane, Lana, Zoe, Jake and Jacob – so it was a full house. David put up his tent which managed to withstand some pretty heavy rain! One of my favorite things about the farm is listening to the rain on the metal roof at night – and we did a lot of that before we left!
Mum is doing really well with her cancer treatment and was able to host a small get-together of friends – only about 50 people! Christos was worried the deck might not stand up to the combined weight of everyone – but it was fine.
Before we left we also had visits from cousin Mark, his wife Linda and son Billy. Billy and Eleni had loads of fun running around the house after each other and fighting over the various toys – I think they became good mates though as she still talks about him. Peter, Neridah and Catelyn also came for a visit. Peter drove up from Sydney (slept in his car) and Neridah and Catelyn flew up for a whirlwind visit. It was just a shame the other 6 kids could not make it too!
The last two weeks were spent lazing around the farm and listening to the rain. It got really muddy and Dingo Lane became 4 wheel drive only for a while. Just before we left Mum finally got a new refrigerator after much lobbying to Dad from all of us. Oh, I forget to mention that we finally got a Santa picture with Eleni in it this year (she was terrified of Santa again but he bribed her with candy so she relented enough to sit on my knee next to him).
The trip back was again very, very long. We bought some sedatives with us for the twins but ended up using them on Eleni as she was so hyper. Getting on the plane was very hard but it is lovely to be back home too.
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