The Festive season

Stew and Emily arrived the morning of Jamie's birthday and so we have enjoyed the festive season together. The volume increased considerably, with children getting more excited and Magnus being added to the games. They were quick to play together, but inevitability it has also led to many tears, tantrums and tellings off.

We have enjoyed some delicious feasts, a fair few bottles of booze and shared a lot of banter. We've been to Redcliffe and to Bribie island.

Christmas eve we had a barbecue and then took a walk of the estate to see the incredible light displays. I have never seen anything like it, one house has singing Christmas trees. The decoration is unbelievable. Afterwards the kids got excited about Santa, left him food and pranced around the lawn laying reindeer food.

In the morning on Christmas day I was woken at 5.15am by Sophie and Samantha who had their stockings. They were so excited and loved everything inside, then dashed downstairs to see the heaps of presents under the tree. They waited patiently, but in the end were allowed to open presents before magnus woke. When he woke he was equally excited, but spent more time playing with each new present and lost interest in the pile remaining. So he has been opening a few presents each day instead. The whole thing has been very exciting and quite magic to be a part of.

We had 32 people round for dinner on Christmas Day, of Renee's family. It was a delicious spread of salads and countless meats. We all overindulged and then us Maclean's States up drinking a little too much and playing with the kids. I have bruises on my leg from overenthusiastic wrestling with Magnus!

Boxing day we took a dip in the sea and tidied the mess. Then the next day we drove up to Bribie Island, a sand island in the sunshine coast. It had the busiest beach in have ever seen in Australia, the sea was swarming and it was hard to find a space to sit. I overheard a family describe it as 'holy moly, this is like a beach in England!'.

By now Samantha and Magnus are holding hands all the time and getting on like a house on fire. And meanwhile Sophie impresses us with her countless handstands and cartwheels. She's teaching me and I am getting a lot better!Read more