Day 15 - The Hunter Valley

So we arrived at the house that Mum had organized for us to stay in and it was just stunning. I don't know why I didn't take any pics of the inside as it was lovely and light and open. Our bathroom was great with a lovely atrium style window. We were all so busy thought we really didn't get time to enjoy the way that it deserved to be enjoyed.

Here's some pics of the peaceful view that we had.

Those are grapevines on the hill.



Storm and the girls.

Now I cringe when I see the following shots and wish that I could take them back in a heartbeat and get better pics. It was dark in the pub and I don't know why I just didn't change my camera settings to resolve the issues that I was having but I didn't and now I have all these blurry photos. I hate them but I'm putting them in so that you can see my family catching up after many years not seeing us all in one place. Surprise! It's a pub!
My cousin Gemma, Sydney, Lauren, cousin Jessica, Kendall and my Aunty Ruth.

My cousin Ben, Uncle Dave, Simon (my brother who was getting married), my cousin Jamie and Uncle Steve.

Simon with Sue (the mother of the bride) and our mum.

Lauren and Kendall. Again, can she smile any harder? I don't know why but she started to do this a lot when we were there. That smile is so contagious!

Now you cannot tell from the pictures that Kendall did not like her Uncle Simon. Every time he even looked her way she would burst into tears and cry hysterically for 5 minutes until he went away. (I think that Simon kept looking at her as a way of getting back at me for all of the physical harm that I gave him when he was younger as it was me who could calm Kendall back down!)
But Sydney had no problem with her Uncle Simon.

Days 13 - 14

North Brother Mountain - a beautiful sight and even though it is tiny compared to the ones we find here in Vegas it's still good enough for us in Oz.

Everytime Storm and I go to Laurieton we always go up the mountain and check out the view.

Aww, the gratuitous family pic..

And another just for kicks!

Kendall and Storm.

Grandy with Kendall and Syd.

Lauren, Grandy, Me and the girls.

Aww, the view completely uninterrupted in its beauty. I have such memories of this place - mostly all good (except for when I ran away and the dog followed me but that is another story that needs a stiff drink to be told. So embarassing!)

This is in front of the RSL (Returned Servicemen's League) club in Laurieton. Mum's team's dragon boat is stored there. Unfortunately, since Mum has been winged she cannot go out rowing with them. She's so disappointed -read Sarcasm - especially now that it's winter and frightfully cold and yukky out on the water. I swear she did her wrist on purpose just to get out of paddling for the season! We were on the dock that you can see at the bottom of the winding channel near the yachts in the pic of the view from the mountain.

My favourite bird - the pelican. Beautiful but scary big! Wonder if they're good eatin'?

Mum trying to feed the girls. I swear the way these girls eat she was busier than a one-legged man in a buttkicking contest! Can Kendall smile any harder?


This is the first time the girls had been able to get to the ocean and beach. Sydney really enjoyed getting her feet and scrounging them into the sand.

The water was decidedly fresh that day but the girls were quite happy to check out the water until Storm put Kendall a little close to a wave and she burst into tears.

Grandy and Sydney.

Storm and Sydney checking out the surf. Cowabunga!

Me carrying both girls. I swear I thought I'd drop one of them! (I know.. you're wondering where the surf that I keep referring to was. Can anyone say white lie?)

Aunty Lauren and Sydney.(Check out the chickey doing the bond girl impersonation behind them. Makes me sick - sick with jealousy! Skinny wench - pass the hotdog!)

This photo pretty much sums up the girl's personality at the moment. Sydney is pretty much fearless and prepared to try anything (can anyone say Storm?) and Kendall is much more cautious and will wait ages before trying anything (can you say Nikki?)

The night before we left to go to the Hunter Valley for the wedding we all went down to the local pub for a meal. Me old mate Troy now owns the pub so he popped out to say g'day. He, another friend Paula and I all used to hang out when we were younger ...

Days 10-12

So we arrived at my Mum's a little worse for wear. The girls didn't really like the last hour of the road trip and the sound of both girls crying wasn't my most favourite thing especially in a car!

Now my Mum had broken her wrist the week before we arrived. She had to have surgery and several pins and a plate were provided to repair the damage that the poorly planned stunt fall off the verandah and roll across the pergola had caused. She is also deaf in one ear due to the severe whiplash injury that she received as well. (We'll see if it's a permanent thing or if it's like my gran's tinnitus - comes and goes when she needs it to...) Just joking mother!

So as a result of the break she was unable to give proper cuddles to her granddaughters nor able to hold them to carry them anywhere. But she did her best to enjoy them as best she could.

Mum and the girls.

Kendall posing with a very cute smile.

We thought the girls would miss their jumper so we bought this one that hangs from the door frame. Poor Syd looked like a puppet on a string (isn't that a song?)!

Thank god for travel cots! Best $90 I spent in a while.

My sister Lauren. She works shifts so the vacation for her was a sleepfest and the babies a wonderful but earpiercing distraction. As she was sleeping on the pull-out in the den she would have to go and sleep in our bed to get away from the girls' screaming/crying/laughing etc.

I love this photo of Kendall. Look at her eyes! If I could only get that thumb out of the mouth....

Both girls with their headbands. Storm hates those headbands...

All Storm wanted was seafood so one of his first stops in Laurieton was the co-op to get some prawns, bugs etc. He was as happy as a pig in poop!

A close up of a Morton Bay bug for those of you who don't know what he's talking about!