I've been back at work for a couple of days now and I must say it was very hard after having last week off. We all had a great time camping, and the 5 days we were away went very quickly. The weather was great, and the biggest problem we had was chasing the shade all day. The afternoons were spent around the pool because it was much cooler than the shade of the trees.
New Years Eve there was a fancy dress party and there were lots of pirates. One family won a holiday in one of the cabins, so if we go again I'll be much more particular about the costumes.
This is Alex as a "Punk", Zeke as a little pirate with Daniel (another punk), and Carly was Pretty in Pink.
Lauren and I both took advantage of the relaxing time and read as often as we could. I took the laptop with us and we watched DVDs of an evening, sitting under the stars. It was great. The first couple of nights were freezing cold, and we wrapped up in blankets, but the nights were great for sleeping. Even the beds were good. I had a camp stretcher, while Carly used an inflated mattress, and Alex had three pieces of foam for a bed. No complaints from anyone. Lauren and Daniel had a big inflatable mattress and Zeke had a foam lounge. He was so good on his first camping trip. He got a bit excitable with all the kids on bikes, but didn't wander too far without making a game of it and wanting us to chase him.
Emily spent the day with us on Saturday, and came back Sunday to do the same. She should have stayed the night and saved herself the driving to and fro. On Saturday we all went to the Ettamogah Pub near Albury and had lunch, and looked at all the Australiania. I got a couple of souvenirs but as with all that stuff, they're rather over-priced. A bonus was a drink bottle each for the kids for only $3 each.
Alex took advantage of all the activities at the Great Aussie Resort, and he and Daniel did an activity a day: abseiling, flying fox, night laser shooting, archery, tennis and fishing (although there was very little water in Lake Hume).
It rained one night we were there for about 2 hours (much needed rain!), and on Monday we managed to get everything packed into the cars and trailer before more rain. We were home around 3pm on Monday afternoon and I spent the night washing before I had to be back at work on Tuesday. We had a good bit of rain on Tuesday, and although everyone is talking about drought-breaking rain, we're yet to see it.
I have less than a year now to give up smoking, I promised the kids I'd give up before I turn 50. The count-down has begun.