28th December 2015 – 3rd January 2016
Hello and welcome to 2016!
2015 positively flew – I was extremely fortunate to be able to, not only record this past year, but thanks to my hardworking hubby and some generous maternity leave, spend a year away from the workforce and watch my gorgeous little man, grow! I’ve already done an ad hoc milestone post celebrating many of Jack’s firsts, in an attempt to remember what we have done, In all honesty, Jack has achieved many more things than what I did by the time I was 21! I think my first flight wasn’t until I was 21 or 22? Hubby will probably correct me – all I remember is James attempting to scare the you-know-what out of me, before we took off! He’s been to a heap of sporting events, traveled overseas, the list goes on really. A very lucky little boy, who, to be honest, probably won’t remember any of it! But at least we have very cool photos and video.
While work closes down over the Christmas break, James and I actually had some time off together and rather than wasting the precious days sitting around at home, we headed out and about! Over the break we headed into the city for a bit of Christmas shopping at night and checked out the Lego tree and Myer windows. We also ventured up to Mount Dandenong. We checked out the view from the top at Sky High, and we didn’t get lost in the maze. There was a bit of haze in the sky from the Christmas day bushfires but we could still see the city and other locations. The following days we decided to head to the country, and drove up to Daylesford for the day. I always forget that Daylesford just isn’t all that far away – just a touch over an hour. We just had to go to the bakery on the main street and have a pie for lunch, before we wandered the shops. We drove down to the Lake and let Jack check out the ducks, geese and other birds. He is obsessed with the ducks. Every day that I can, I take him down to the ducks at the front of the estate that we live in. He gets all animated, pointing and exclaiming loudly. I’ve heard him say both ‘duck’ and ‘quack’ or at least, that’s what I assume he is saying! Before we left to head back home, we swung past Creswick and dropped in on Nanny.
So, having been to the city, the mountains, and now the country, the only other place left to tick off our list, was the beach! We decided to drive down to Rye, and we swung past Arthurs Seat on the way. I’ve never been to Arthurs Seat before, and i must admit, it’ll be interesting to see the new chair lift, or whatever the proposal is. The drive winding up to the lookout was amazing. We had originally thought about going to the Enchanted Maze Garden, but when we drove past and the cars were literally stretched for kilometers, we decided to perhaps come back on a less busy day. We had lunch at the Pig & Whistle Tavern, which had heaps of tables, both inside and outside, and a great big lawn area for the littlies to stretch their legs and check out the flowers in the garden.
We drove towards Rye/Portsea, and we headed towards the beach. James went for a swim in the surf, between the flags of course, and Jack and I sat and watched. I dipped my toes in the water, but the water was absolutely freezing, so I headed back to the safety of my beach towel. So thankful to have my carrier with me – made navigating the sinking sand, and carrying all the necessities, so much easier! We were on a mission for ice cream after our beach trip, but only made it as far as the beach carnival. James, being the thrill seeker, decided he just had to go on a ride! We wandered the shops, but still couldn’t find an ice cream shop, so continued out drive towards the ferry. With less than 15 minutes before we needed to be at the gate to board the ferry, we found a shop, and James parked and ran to get an ice cream for both of us. By the time he came back, mine was dripping down his arm.
It was the second time that I’d been on the ferry before – once when I was holdaying with the family. All I remember is that the weather was so warm, and I had on this long t-shirt and pants, and the parentals convinced me that it was perfectly acceptable to just wear the t-shirt as a dress. I must’ve had some half-decent legs back in my childhood! Hahaha! Oh that and when we arrived in Sorrento, all I could smell were the freshly baked waffles! My mouth was drooling, and I still wasn’t allowed to get any! This trip however, was much less eventful. The actual trip flew! By the time we parked the car, got up on deck, I ducked downstairs to go the toiler, and we got sidetracked playing in the kids play equipment, there was only 5 or so more minutes before we docked into the Queenscliff Harbour! After disembarking we did the slow drive through Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale, before beginning our trek home.