Sunday 25 May 2014

before - part 2

Extending the said love from the previous post we also spent some delicious time with this new family of FOUR*. Ah, beautiful time spent with wonderful dear friends fills me with so much nourishment and joy. Even though we don't get to see each other on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis, due to distance, the time we do get to spend together just oozes with richness and a focus that was not quite there when we lived a mere few minutes away from each other. The time is lapped up and milked for every second in each other's company.
I really find that for me distance has worked in largely two ways, one by creating an emotional distance and a loss of connection with some friends but then in other cases the distance has fostered something that is so very special and rich. So although there is sometimes a remnant sadness of those relationships that have fallen by the wayside there is an overall sense of wonderfulness as other relationships have absolutely thrived and grown. I guess this also just happens in life, as people change and grow.
* Excuse the excessive baby photos of Marcel but really as you can see he is totally adorable and ridiculous irresistible.




Saturday 24 May 2014

before

Before the great campervanning adventure of 2014, we somehow also managed to squeeze in some very wonderful times with loved ones including one very special family that we haven't seen for quite  a while. We first met Sara, Gary and Stella at an attachment parenting group in Newtown, when our first borns were only a few months old. Aside from bonding over having new little babies and all that comes with that we also bonded over our Malaysian connections and Gary's newfound love of Bluegrass, which pretty much cemented our friendship forever. It was an utter delight to have a special sleep over at their place, to watch the kids dive straight into the most beautiful and imaginative of play for hours on end, to sit and drink tea, read books, prepare food and catch up. I truly feel that the bond that was cemented as we shared and supported each other when our children were but babes has created such an ease and familial environment with these dear friends. 


Wonderfully Scott and I also managed to squirrel some time away, just us, yes the two of us, for a day and a night, we celebrated us, we celebrated ten years of marriage. We arrived in Sydney on a glistening day, with a harbour that sparkled to us as we hopped off the train (yes, the train, we spent an hour and a half sitting and reading and gazing out the window) and headed straight to the movies at Circular Quay. I savoured every moment as I sunk into the seat and prepared myself to be taken away by the wonder that was The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was the perfect movie to be emerged in, to gaze at the beauty of every scene, to forget all around and just laugh and be. It was a very happy two hours, I felt sated as we walked out, back into that glistening day.

The next 24 hours consisted of so many more moments of simple pure joy. Walking about with this wonderful human (Scott), whom I love and admire so dearly, around a city we used to call home, eating delicious tidbits, having perfect and challenging conversations about love, life and yes parenting (and much more), and just being with each other, was an honour and so much fun. At this time in our lives, after being with each other for thirteen years I have realised after seeing so many loved ones separating from their own dear ones, that sometimes love just does not last a lifetime, that people do change, that children change you, they force you to learn and grow in ways that you can't even imagine beforehand and that sadly not everyone keeps loving and growing together.
And then I look at Scott and I look at our relationship and even as I acknowledge that at times it has been really, really shitty, we work through it, we grow and we do this together. We have gotten through lots of hard times but we just love and admire each other more and more and that makes me feel so damn lucky. To still be having fun, to be growing, learning, laughing and yes lusting after my dear one, wow, how cool is that.

To further this festive time we then celebrated Scott's birthday by confirming the purchase of our new home (wooohhoooo) and by holding a little surprise birthday dinner for him. Oh yes, a lot of this holiday was all about the love.

Thursday 15 May 2014

a little big adventure


Over the holidays we went on a little yet wonderful campervanning adventure, our last little hurrah before our life gets taken over by the world of building and renovating. We had a plan, 5 nights of camper van fun with our dear beloveds, Jen, Rod, Lily and Saul, with the destination being Dubbo Zoo and the intention of having loads of fun in-between. It is safe to say that we succeeded on all accounts, this holiday was so much fun.
The adventure was full of squeezable moments, those kind of moments that happen when you are exploring new experiences with those you love, a kind of wide opened excitement, a readiness to have an awesome adventure.
The first day consisted largely of packing said van,  laughing at the extreme delight of the children and beautiful one on one chats with Jen (the kids were in the van with Scott). We arrived in Bathurst just on sundown and immediately got rugged up, it was very brisk. We cooked up something easy and delicious and retired early, snug in our beds and excited about our first night. Throughout the night we huddled deeper into our blankets, buried our heads and warmed out hands, perplexed that our thermals were still tucked safely in our bags.
The morning greeted us with children donning layers of clothes, chatting, eating steaming bowls of porridge and unbridled enthusiasm that is often left just for the young. I witnessed this in the comfort of bed, poking my head out windows, chatting with Scott, Jen and Rod, reluctant to step into the cold, it was a luxury.
A quick and energetic bounce on the jumping pillow (see photos) had us all stripping off the many layers of clothes we had donned earlier, hilarious fun.


Onwards to Dubbo, via some op shopping in Orange, of course. And then to a wonderful experience at the Wellington Caves. It was around this area where some Mega Fauna fossils were discovered including that of a giant lizard and snake, these fossils can now be found in the Museum of Sydney. What a special experience, climbing down underneath the earth, studying the stalactites and stalagmites, experiencing total darkness and thinking back to a time when all this area was under water. We visited the Gaden Caves, the smaller caves but there is also Cathedral Caves and the phosphate mine, both of which sound really fascinating.
One of the things I loved the most about the zoo (aside from the Meerkats) was the bike riding, it made the visit very relaxed (once we moved beyond the car zone, let's not talk about my feelings about the car zone). We got to ride through the bush and pop out at varies points along the zoo trail. The Meerkats were Poe's favourite too, he gazed through the window and was very hard to extricate him from them. He even had a favourite Meerkat, the mumma of the gorgeous little baby meerkat, the mumma who stood on lookout and let everyone know when danger was about, she was totally awesome.  
On our way to the zoo and on the way back to Sydney we kept seeing signs for something called 'Ironfest', dismissing it as some kind of blacksmith's festival, I thought little of it. But then Rod, with all his knowledge and wisdom of most things informed us that no, Ironfest* was more than that,          think jousting, vikings, role playing, steampunk and the Napoleonic era, how could we resist.  Oh my goodness, talk about blowing the kids minds. We wandered about mouths and eyes agape, they could not quite comprehend all these adults dressed up in fancy dress, role playing, having an absolute ball. It was brilliant. Seeing so many people living out their passions in a beautiful, safe and supportive environment was amazing. We will definitely go back to Ironfest, mostly to relive and engage in what we have already experience, largely for the children who felt very underdressed, but also to see things that we missed out on; jousting, battle re-enactments and so many other performances.
Our last night was spent at Lake Lyell after a narrow escape where we nearly stayed in a caravan park that was essentially half a tip and half a backyard, hmm words don't quite explain it, hmm, let's just say think Deliverance. Lake Lyell, although needing a little backtrack was lovely (except for maybe the generator being used by someone camping nearby), we lit a fire, went for some walks and soaked up our last night with each other. An adventure that was quite short but full of so much fun and goodness, yet far less leisurely cups of teas than I had envisioned.