Last week I forgot to post that our cat Oreo died We got a message from our house sitter on Saturday morning. She sent me pictures, which were unnecessary, to confirm it was him. She said it looked as if he had been run over by a car. In spite of that he crawled back to our house and they found him under Stuart’s car. I felt so badly for her and her boyfriend who had to take care of the cat. The kids were beyond upset. We decided to tell them right away as we didn’t want them to feel we had kept anything from them. At any rate, we were all sad, but I’m not going to lie, I’m glad he died while we were away.
We shopped for a bit and then met Lou and James in Barangaroo, a new development in Sydney.
The boys had all purchased 6ers cricket shirts and had names and numbers put on them. Jack now wants to play cricket. Really?
We went bowling and that was when the extra night was decided upon.
Once the bowling was finished we headed to the Sofitel which housing a wonderful pool on the roof. That was the reason we decided to stay there, oh, and because Lou had points and we could stay there for free.
Poolside with drinks and snacks was a wonderful idea.
We had decided to take the kids to the food court at Darling Harbour to get them something to eat. Then the parents headed down to the Champagne Bar and had dinner before meeting Nicole and Matt at the casino. The babysitter that showed up was Irish and brilliant. She brought a Monoploy game and the kids seemed to like her.
We stopped for a kebab on the way home from the casino.
The following morning we were up for breakfast and then a bit of arcade time for the kids. We then went back to Oyster Bay to prepare for the new year. We actually lounged around for the afternoon. Stuart and James prepared food while the kids played outside.
New Years was relatively uneventful. Cricket on the lawn was a must as always. Lou and James’s friends, Darren and Varity, as well as their three children, came to help celebrate. Auntie Joyce and Ev (Lou’s mother) we’re there too. The neighbors and their kids also popped over. It was a chilled evening and Millie was asleep before the stroke of midnight.
Tuesday morning we were up and the kids went bumper tubing. The boat started overheating so bumper tubing was cut short.
Bumper tubing is always a favorite.
Since the boat was overheating, Uncle James got the slip ‘n slide out for the kids.
Fortunately, we also had another activity planned for the day, so not all was lost. Lou, the kids (minus Josh and Zoe) and I went to see Mary Poppins Returns. What a fun film that was. The only issue I had was that the theater was so hot. It made me sleepy and it’s possible I missed a couple of minutes of the film because I was snoozing.
We went from the theater to the RSL which is a support organization for Australian veterans and active personal with their Defense Forces, originally founded in 1916; with the latest name change in 1990 to reflect current times. It stands for ‘Returned Service League’. It’s a restaurant and has a pokie room, which is my favorite. We had some delicious seafood and then took the kids for an ice cream and a run around on the beach.
Our view from the RSL.
A play at the park was in order as well.
We came home and the kids showered. Jack got a bit disrespectful because he claims I promised him we could go into the spa, which I did not. He then called me a liar. Oh, I can’t wait until the teenage years.
We got up Wednesday morning. James went to work, Stuart and I went to get everyone bacon sandwiches and then we shuttled everyone to the mall. The kids went to Sky Zone, which is a rock climbing and trampoline place, and Stuart, Lou and I shopped the mall.
Rock climbing.
We ate lunch afterwards and then headed back to the house.
Stuart’s cousin, Haley was to be at the house between 4 and 5, but didn’t show up until just before 6 pm. In the meantime, the kids fished while the brothers attempted to fix the boat. Millie caught a huge fish. Well, it was huge to her.
She was so excited!
Once Hayley and her new boyfriend, Dallas, arrived, we had drinks down at the boat house.
We then boated to the Thai restaurant and had a gorgeous dinner. It was the last dinner of the trip. It made me sad, but I always feel that way when our holidays end.
I was in the second boat crew to go to the restaurant.
But I was on the first boat back to the house. I assured the kids took showers and baths, even Zoe.
We didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I had started to develop a horrible, barky cough, so that would prove to be fun throughout the night. I coughed so much that evening that I woke up with a horrible headache. It was way down in my chest and it made me dread the upcoming flight.
Thursday morning we got up and went to Gannamatta Bay and let the kids have a play in the water and on the beach. We didn’t stay long as it was roasting.
The kids began to build a ship on the beach.
The finished product and the crew on the boat.
We got back to the house and decided to go to The Prince pub for lunch. It became a longer lunch than initially planned. So once we were back at the house, we had showers, finished packing and left for the airport. We had scheduled an Uber, but it didn’t come. So in the end Louise had to take us, which was much appreciated.
Our arrival at the airport and checking in was virtually seedless. We got through security a bit faster than normal because we had Emirates fast track security passes. We got those from Louise. She is our hook up for most everything.
We had a bit to eat at the airport and then began our 13+ hour plane journey home. We had a layover in Bankok, but just long enough to get off the plane and get right back on the same plane. Both journeys were uneventful. The kids slept quite a bit as did Stuart and myself. Once we arrived in Dubai early Friday morning, we caught a taxi home. As soon as we were home we opened the presents we had left here from Grandma, Grandpa, Grammie, Pop and us. Millie was excited to play with her new dolls, but Jack just wanted to get on the PS4 and reconnect with some of his buddies here in Al Ain.
The kids went out to play with Lara and Brian’s kids, Ian and Keith. Stuart and I lazed around and Stuart may have napped a bit while I unpacked the kids and myself. I also packed up the Christmas decorations, which always snaps me back into reality a bit. I made a trip over to see Lara and Brian and then came back to a sleeping Stuart. The kids came back to the house around 5 pm and showered. We had nachos for supper and then Millie fell asleep on the sofa at 6 pm, followed by Jack at 6:30 pm. I knew Jack would be up super early as a result, but fighting jetlag is a useless battle.
Stuart fell asleep on the sofa just after 8 pm and then I headed to bed shortly after that. I’m not sure when he came to bed, but I had to get up at midnight and find some cough syrup and I was hacking up a lung. I ended up propping myself up on two pillows as to not let drainage flow down my throat. I did stop coughing, but was awake at 4 am, as was the rest of the family.
All of us ended up downstairs, just waiting for the sun to come up. Stuart and I had several cups of coffee and started watching a new series. Around 5 am we heard Jack talking to someone on his PS4 upstairs. Stuart went up to investigate as it was too early for him to be speaking to someone in Al Ain. It turns out he was playing and speaking with his friend, Griffin, who now lives in China.
Jack was collected by his friend Adam at 10 am. They went to the Hilton for a swim and then to Adam’s to play for the afternoon. Stuart and I sat down to watch television again while Millie went outside to ride her new skateboard.
Stuart left the house around 12:30 pm to pick up our friend Sean and his daughter from the airport. Millie and I headed to the pharmacy for cough syrup for her cough. Seems we will all be sick soon. When we got back to the house we sat down to begin the 4th season of Fuller House. We love that show.
We spent most of the afternoon watching Netflix. Stuart got home just after 3 pm and I went to pick Jack up at 4 pm. Cathy came for dinner around 5:30 pm and Sean joined us before that for a fast catch up. The rest of the evening was just relaxing and getting to grips with the fact that we had to start back to work the following day. The end justifies the means.
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