Thanksgiving

Since gradually packing things away over the past few months and getting things more organised it's been awesome to entertain friends and family a lot more. One of my favourite things ever is to have people over for meals. I love feeding people and just enjoying good food and good company. Our house is the ideal size to entertain and we love our big yard so the kids can just run around. 

For a couple of years now I have really wanted to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. I just love the concept and it seemed to have all the ingredients of Christmas but without the expectation of gifts. Just the things I mentioned above - good food and good company...and a feeling of thankfulness (obviously). I began writing a list of people I wanted to invite and when it reached 50 Peter gently pointed out it may be a little tricky! I would have loved to invite so many people and get to know a lot of families from church but we chose 4 or 5 families in the end and it was great to allocate them a dish and share all the yummy food. I cooked a Turkey for the first time ever and made a pretty yummy stuffing too. I cooked a Roast Pork as well...just so we could stretch it out a bit more. I was really happy with the Turkey and all our friends made yummy dishes to serve alongside. The candied yams was a real talking point for us Aussies and it was kinda nice to have something so different. I'm glad we didn't do a pumpkin pie as I've never been fond of them...We were thrilled with the Cheesecake the Grangers bought and the kids were super impressed with the Jelly too...and a few adults too I might add. 

It was a hot summer day so the kids had a ball running through the sprinkler and playing on the trampoline. Funny to think that my American friends were all cosied up with heaters and fireplaces. Something on my bucket list is to experience a Thanksgiving and/or Christmas in the USA...at least a white Christmas would be pretty magical. 

Henry was loving it. He would stay basically right on top of the sprinkler until we'd move him along!

We all had a great night and have already said we'll do it again next year. One of my friends may or may not have even put it in the Calendar already ;-) 

A visit with Granny and Grandad

As I mentioned in my previous post, dad is battling cancer for the second time. Whilst physically he is doing as well as can be expected and appears stronger than the last time he was going through chemo, he and mum have been feeling pretty flat. Things with my younger brothers aren't good which of course worries my parents and that on top of dad's treatment and mum's commitment to work and having to support dad has been hard on them. I decided to visit them in Tassie and timed it to be there for Dad's birthday and mother's day. What better way of giving them a boost than bringing their precious grandson to see them. Dad describes Will as the 'sunshine in his life' which I think is pretty apt!

These photos of from an outing to the City Park with Granny and Grandad.

Easter 2012

We were very happy to spend this Easter in Adelaide. It had been exactly a year since we'd been there as a family. I'd been lucky to visit a couple of times with Will but Pete wasn't able to get the time off to come until Easter. We were really excited about this trip as it would be the first time since Siona's wedding over a year ago that Pete would be with his entire family and the first time since our Wedding that all the Watt siblings and their kids etc had been together. 

Will loved being with his Grandma and Grandpa Watt. I wasn't sure how he was going to go with them as it has been a while between visits and he doesn't know them as well as my parents.I shouldn't have over thought it because he was soon snuggling into them and loving being spoilt everyday. 

Will tucking into an ice-cream

Pete and I were really happy we got to see his Uncle George during his brief visit from China. We look forward to the day we are living back in Adelaide and Uncle George moves back there to retire. I have a soft spot for his Uncle George and Pete is the first to admit he's his favourite Uncle :-) Will loved Uncle George and I was glad to get a couple of photos before he left. 

Uncle George and Will

Uncle George and Great Grandma Watt with Will

The day after George left, Pete's sister Karyn arrived from London and the family reunions began. Siona joined us 2 days later and it was such a lovely relaxing time with the family. We didn't worry about flitting off trying to cram in as many visits with friends as we did last time and it made our trip so relaxing and more enjoyable. We ended up having a couple of BBQ's and had people come to us. So much better than trying (and not succeeding) to see every friend and family member.

Will with his Aunty Karyn, who he just loves!

Pete's brother Andrew playing with his kids Jamie and Meagan in Bill and Sue's huge backyard

 Our friends Adam and Diana Russo came out for a BBQ with their gorgeous girls. We all had a blast running around like crazy people in the backyard for ages.

Will absolutely loved the space and the company of his big cousins.

Pete chasing Meagan

Cuddles with Grandma as daddy plays peek a boo

Will being very cheeky with his Aunty Karyn taking photos.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we took advantage of the beautiful surroundings near Pete's parents place. They are a 5 min walk from Port Willunga beach and Pete and I went for some beach runs to try and stay motivated with our fitness. I must say I was a lot more motivated than Peter. I even went to the Gym with Sue a couple of times. The last thing I wanted was to stack on a heap of weight after working so hard over the last 7 months to get back into shape.


We decided to go for a swim one day with Karyn. The water was so warm but it was very rough so I spent most of my time in the shallows with Will.

Enjoying the water at Pt Willunga beach

Car ride home in the nud!

The photo below many will have seen on Facebook. My Father in law Bill is a self-confessed chocoholic who even has a mini fridge in his bedroom to store his chocolate!! I did eat more than I planned but for the most part I was very sensible.

Will loved eating chocolate. He hadn't had any chocolate since his first real taste during his 1st Birthday party. I think he enjoyed becoming reacquainted with it - wouldn't you say?!!

Tucking into his Cadbury chick from Aunty Siona and Karyn

Enjoying a little treat with mum

Before everyone started heading home Bill and Sue spoilt us with a lovely dinner at The Snake Charmer in Unley. It's the best Indian restaurant in Adelaide. Siona and I ended up unbuttoning our jeans a little as we ate way too much!

Watt siblings out for dinner. L-R Andrew, Karyn, Siona & Peter

Will loved playing with some new toys at Grandma and Grandpas. We even bought him a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas has become his new obsession and has replaced Giggle and Hoot as his favourite show :-)

Riding his horse nude - as you do!

Ready for family prayers with Grandpa

We were glad we got to spend time with our very good friends, Kyle and Alicia Smith. We miss them terribly.

kisses with Will's gal pal Kira (Kyle and Alicia's little girl)

Will is not the only kid growing up way too fast. Our nephews Jamie and Ben have grown so much and Meagan is a real little lady. They affectionately call their cousin "Big Will." It's pretty cute and so true :-)

Jamie, Will & Ben

Will got a bit over all the attention from his cousins in the end ;-(

Pete becomes like a little kid again when he goes home to mummy and daddy!

One of our highlights was experiencing a family photo shoot with our lovely and super talented friend Kelly. I'll do a separate post on that so stay tuned.

Stopover in Perth

On the way back from Bali we had a short stay at Perth, Western Australia. I've been hearing for ages what a great place it is and was looking forward to having just a taste of it. Perth is a really pretty city right on a nice lake. Not like the yucky Torrens in Adelaide or the equally yucky Tamar in Launceston (though both of those rivers have their charms too I guess)

Will with the Grandparents

We got in about lunchtime and didn't leave until midnight the following evening (on a red eye flight to Melbourne)

When we got to Perth we went straight to our accommodation in Kings Park. It was basically old flats they'd converted into apartment style accommodation. It was old but fairly spacious and right on the edge of Perth CBD. Kings Park is a really pretty area and the city of Perth was really easy to navigate and very easy to walk around with a Pram. Will loved being in his Pram and would lean over the edge as far as he could, stretch forth his arms and yabber away. It looked like he was calling out to the world as we were walking. Very cute!!

I didn't get a photo of said description but this is Will in the Pram

We had a yummy dinner at Hogs Breath Cafe and a nice walk around the city before an early night. We didn't venture too far the next day either but walked down to the wharf and caught the Ferry over to the other side of the lake and visited the Perth Zoo.

Pete and Will on the Ferry

Will loves looking out of windows

A pelican ready to devour his lunch

Dad's still working out how to use his new camera and accidentally took this shot.

It was a gorgeous day and we were just loving being outdoors. I think Will was a bit too young to appreciate the Zoo. I have no idea what his visibility is like for long distance but he didn't seem to notice or indicate interest in the animals we pointed out along the way :-(
I enjoyed the Zoo though :-) The highlight though was the Carousel. I noticed it as we were leaving the Zoo and insisted on taking Will on his first Carousel ride. Now that, he did love. I also loved every minute of it.

He loved the bright colours. He kept trying to suck on the gold pole and was looking up at the lights all the time.

I think dad found it hard to time the photos as we came around
as lots of them were blurred but he captured Will's joy in these shots don't you think?!


Will was still so excited after the ride was over!!

The thing I was dreading the most about our holiday was the flight home from Perth. We weren't due to leave until 11:50pm, fly for 3 hours but arrive in Melbourne at 6am due to the time difference. When we booked the flight Will was only 2 months old and I thought, he's a baby, he'll sleep well anywhere...Anyway, to make things easier on us mum and I searched for some sort of Moses basket to take with us on the plane that he could sleep in across our laps. As most of these baskets and basinets are so small and Will is a giant baby we nearly gave up. A few days before we were due to go to Bali mum found a nice long baby bed in a Babyland store in Hobart. It was a real lifesaver let me tell you. I fed Will to sleep at the airport around 9pm and placed him in the carrier thing across the chairs and he slept right until we had to board the place. Then once we'd taken off he fell asleep again and slept the entire flight - what a little legend!!

This is Will in his carrier at the airport. I propped up the stroller in front of the chairs and draped a blanket over him to block out the light and little of the noise. It was like a portable little man cave :-)

When we landed in Melbourne Will didn't even stir as I got him out of the carrier and carried him from the plane. He remained asleep draped over my shoulder even as we collected our luggage and waited for a taxi in the Melbourne cold! He remained asleep all the way home and I just put him in his cot once we were home and he was still completely out of it. All of us had a 3 hour nap while Will slept. I couldn't believe how good Will was. I am so lucky to have such a relaxed and happy bub. I was so proud of him and kept telling him that all day!!

He must have been so stuffed from all the holiday excitement and travel because I put him to bed at 7pm that night and he slept until 10am the next day....and almost slept for the same amount of time the following night. It meant Pete and I were able to get the rest we needed too.

So there you have it, that's our amazing trip in a not so little nutshell. Hope you guys enjoyed the update :-)