I'm Back

Well G'day as they say! We returned from an absolutely wonderful time O/S on Sat pm (Sydney time) and it is now 3.45 am (Sydney time - so clearly the jet lag is hanging around). So far everyone else is still asleep which is great. Yesterday I was making toast and hot chocolate for Kit in the wee small hours as he adapted to no longer being on Roma time. Hannah seems to have fared a bit better - I think because she has been sleeping more periodically anyway.... we flew direct from Roma to Sydney via Singapore so about 20 hours in the air plus another 5 including lining up at Roma airport, a brief wait at Singapore and then clearing customs at home. Hannah slept a bit on both flights whereas Kit basically stayed awake for the whole Roma to SIngapore leg and then slept all the way on the second flight (which meant he slept totally on O/S time and none when it was night in Aus). It felt wonderful to be home but we are all still so excited about our time away. We were met by both of the twins grandfathers at the airport - a real treat for us all - it was nice to see the old fellows! Hannah pretty much raced straight to her dress up box when we got in the door after enthusiastically greeting her Nan. After we had eaten a light supper she put on a concert for everyone. Then yesterday I took her to dance practice (there is a concert coming up soon!) and for much of the rest of the day she played as she usually does at home - except her dolls and any adult she could rope into were now seated on an airplane! Kit too spent the day playing with his remote control helicopter that he got for his birthday as well as doing some craft (from kits that we got in London - we all had a go of that activity) and of course the dreaded DSi. I started on the miles of washing - and am hoping that that will be over soon. The kids room is back to normal with the few souvenirs they bought having found appropriate places. My room is a total disaster because I was too tired to finish putting everything away - plus there are the small gifts we brought back for family and the kids school friends lying about... maybe later today....

The Tower of London was my very favourite tourist attraction....I'd go every weekend if I could! Europe was wonderful. I loved it so much! It was great getting around with just the four of us. In fact I might even miss Phil who goes back to work today. We have not really travelled much - Greece about 20 years ago and Malaysia and NZ before the twins... WOW! I wished we had done it sooner - just so we could have seen even more of it - not because I want to change what we did this time around. I knew I'd love it but I didn't really expect that I would learn so much or gain some of the perspective about my own home country that I did. We are keen to go again but it is going to take some time and determination - it is so very far and so very expensive.

Hannah's Hamleys Loot

Kit and the Kaboom from Hamleys in Kensington Gardens Paris was my absolute favourite. I don't know why. I wanted to go but didn't really have much of an idea about the reality of the city before I left. Oh the lifestyle, the shopping, the fromageries, markets, butchers, boulangers! It had something very special to offer that I can't quite put my finger on. If I could learn the language and return - I would in an instant. I was saying to Phil last night that from now on I am going to be buying tickets in any raffle I see with an O/S trip as the prize. Everywhere else was brilliant too with perhaps Roma being our least favourite but I am not holding that against the city - I think it was more the fact that we went there last and although where we stayed was good - it was right in the middle of the tourist drag and lacked the 'personality' of our other digs... not at all Roma's fault!

Hannah's French look

What Hannah wore to visit Buckingham Palace. This is in St James gardens. I think Hannah's favourite touristy things were climbing (in the elevator) the Eiffel Tower and the gondola ride in Venezia. Food wise there is NO WAY that girl would go past Italy - pizza, pasta and loads of limone gelato. I can still see her blissful face as at one trattoria in Florence (which we returned to to eat at again) she tucked into a bowl of spaghetti and cheese - her true comfort food. She was almost falling asleep in her plate with the relaxation of it. She later moved on to demanding 'pasta and prawns' at almost every other meal! Kit loved our stay in Oxford where we caught up with friends from home a few times so he got to play with their little girl a bit plus Blenheim Castle was magnificant with fantastic play areas including a hedge maze. He also liked Hamleys in London (of course) and the gondola ride and our time in Florence - the food was superb. Oxford Photos:

The view from our Paris apartment - the best place to watch ratatouille over and over Kit and I have been wanting to visit Giverny since he was about 3 - we were not disappointed...

Italia

As anticipated the twins turned 7 in Florence - and I think Kit will remember it for a long time as the birthday where he got to eat gelato four times! Yes party Dad was well and truly out to make sure that the kids (and I - given that my b'day is the day after theirs) had a great and memorable birthday. Now I have about 2 000 photos to wade through to try and put into some sort of order so we can torture our friends and ourselves with them for years to come...lucky I don't return to work for another week.

I am hoping the link at the top works - the wonderful Jill from NSW DSA - who looks after their great blog Keeping Up With DS - posted up 3 of my 'postcards' sent via Hannah's ipad on our journey - so if you are interested in how we managed to gad about three countries in four weeks with two six/seven year olds - one of whom has DS - please go and have a look at the blog posts you'll find there.... you can use the link - if it works - otherwise it may require the dedication to Dr google.... http://keepingupwithds.blogspot.com/2011/10/postcards-from-europe-3-italy.html

So did Hannah having DS change our holiday at all? Hmm - that is actually a hard question because in essence no it didn't - we live our lives accommodating Hannah ( and some of that obviously means adjusting for some of her needs which result from the fact she has DS - like using sign to communicate or watching her safety at activities where gross motor skills are required more closely due to her low tone) ... and in other ways of course it impacted upon our holiday schedule just as the fact that Kit is 6/7 did also. The main thing was just trying to tune into how much she understood of where we were going, what we were doing and when we'd be home - because like most of us feel more tired by new situations - so does Hannah, but it can be more obvious and perhaps have a greater impact if she has to 'cope' with unknown changes quickly because we didn't explain it clearly beforehand. For example - she was so excited to be returning home (as we all were) but did she get that it was an incredibly loooooong flight involving lots of queues and changing planes etc? The other area where her having DS was obvious was in gross motor activities. There are stairs, stairs, stairs and more stairs and then some more stairs and steep slippery marble stairs and still more narrow windy middle ages kind of stairs than we have ever seen in our lives in ALL of the places we went! And Hannah coped liked the trooper she is - but as the holiday progressed - her 'I'm tired' became more frequent and it also meant that after a couple of weeks Dad's shoulders alone were not enough - so Phil and I also took turns at carrying her part of the way as we went around galleries and walked about towns.

Each day - when planning what to do we always had to consider how far things were. Kit also got quite tired sometimes but by far this was an issue for Hannah. Usually we dealt with it in a very pleasant way - we (or one of us) stayed with the kids and did craft or watched them prepare a 'concert' or did some drawing with them... all very pleasant and relaxing activities. It also meant that I had to be more forthcoming than I'd naturally want to be. I would walk up to the staff at each gallery or tourist place where there was a long queue clasping Hannah's hand and asking if they had any facilities for disabled children. It always made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I never did work out exactly the phrasing I was comfortable with but the only place where they were quite indifferent was at the Louvre (so not my favourite gallery to visit - and not only for that reason). Every other place was incredibly helpful and understanding - at the Musee D'Orsay (my very favourite gallery) I didn't have to even go up cap in hand looking for a favour - the guard noticed I had 2 children and simply told me to get Phil (who was in the long queue) and go line up at the shorter queue - to the Palais Del Vecchio where as soon as I asked if we could use the lift to go up - the guard escorted us over with a big smile - or the Uffizi (another fave) where I did the asking - and the guard/officer not only lead us straight in (avoiding an hour wait) but gave us complimentary tickets as well. We didn't see as much as we might have without the kids but we did see more than we thought we would with them. And ultimately what made it a spectacular holiday - one we'll talk about for years to come was not only what we saw - but that we went and we went together and we spent our time as a family in some very special places in the world. SO I have to say it wasn't easy but it was easier than I expected and I also need to add that it was even better than I had expected - and I'd had high expectations before we left!

Ok - jet lag moment passing - so might have to post more pics later on...

G'day .... See Ya!

Well, well.... It is hard to believe it but Sept is nearly over. Spring has well and truly sprung - it is my favourite time of the year and I find myself almost regretting that on the weekend the whole family will be jetting off to the other side of the world where it is autumn. Only 'almost' as of course I am absolutely beside myself with excitement about our very own European Vacation. On Saturday it will be Phil's and my 17th wedding anniversary - and if Mum was still alive it would be her and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. One of my other sisters is also celebrating her wedding anniversary on that date - but don't ask me the exact length of her marriage - at least 22 years cos her eldest turned 21 this year! Things have been busy here preparing for the holiday, coping with the busy cycle of work that is teaching/exams/marking/reports and helping out as much as we can with the school's first fete in 7 years - and the big fundraiser for our P&F. Finally I am at the point where I only have one day of actual teaching and one day of work with supervisions to do. So time to take stock of where we are up to and what has been happening so far in the Dock.... My beautiful mother. Fancy this photo was taken almost 50 years ago... she has been gone for 3 years and we still miss her so much.

School had a minimasterchefs competition as a fundraiser - here is Kit's contribution-

Hannah did a great job joining in with the Year 1 concert at the school fete. You can't see Kit in this pic as he was on the other side of the stage - also doing a great job.

The fete was lots of fun, the kids had an absolute blast. Some time earlier this term Hannah's best friend left school - she is being home schooled. At various times I have asked Hannah if she misses her and she usually just says no - and that Gen is at home for school now. Still, when I ask her who she played with she sometimes says Gen's name - and if I ask her about it she'll say 'just pretend Mum' or when we were away at The Shack and she was drawing she drew 3 people and she wrote her own name and Mum above 2 of the people and asked me to write Gen above the third. The day before the fete I got a call from Gen's Mum to see if Hannah would be at the fete. Gen had been pestering her all week to organise so that the girls could meet and play together there. When I went and got Hannah from after school care I told her all about it. I have not seen her quite so excited before - as soon as we got home she was in her bedroom dressing up and chattering and squealing with delight. It was lovely to see but also made me feel a bit sad as it showed just how much she really is missing her friend. The next day, the day of the fete, I dropped Phil and Kit at the fete and took Hannah to her dance class - she cried and wanted to go with Daddy to 'see Gen now!'. I had to explain that Gen would be there later on in the morning. Needless to say the fete was a great day for her because she got to play with her friend for ages... One of Hannah's favourite pretend games is to be a mermaid - so I had to snap up this bargain costume at the fete. She wouldn't let me tak her photo until she had some lipstick on...hmmn Still she looks great in it and has worn it many times since already.

She is also now sporting a new bob - but you will have to wait to see that in our holiday snaps... we are going to London, Oxford, Paris, Venice, Florence (what a great place to turn 7 in!) and Rome. So excited! We are also very lucky in that my Dad and various relatives will be staying in the Dock keeping the dog walked and the garden watered...Ciao!

Holidays and Travel

Kit made some boats out of quilts for he and Hannah to row...
Neil Diamonds Lyrics for The Boat that I Row say so much about our life here int he Dock and my hoeps and dreams for Kit and Hannah:
I don't have a lot, but with me that's fine
Whatever I got, well, I know it's mine
I don't go around with the local crowd
I don't dig what's in so I guess I'm out
I'm saying these things
So you know me, baby
So, you understand what I'm all about

The boat that I row won't cross no ocean
The boat that I row won't get me there soon
But I got the love and if you got the notion
The boat that I row's big enough for two
Just me and you

There ain't a man alive
Can tell me what to say
I choose my own side and I like it that way
I don't worry about all the things that I'm not
There's only one thing that I want I ain't got
You know that I'm talkin' about you, baby
But you better know before you come along

The boat that I row won't cross no ocean
The boat that I row won't get me there soon
But I got the love and if you got the notion
The boat that I row's big enough for two
Just me and you
(instrumental)
I'm saying these things
So you know me, baby
Do you understand what I'm all about
The boat that I row won't cross no ocean
The boat that I row won't get me there soon
But I got the love and if you got the notion
The boat that I row's big enough for two
Just me and you

The boat that I row won't cross no ocean
The boat that I row won't get me there soon
But I got the love and if you got the notion
The boat that I row's big enough for two
The twins love having a shower at the pool after their swimming lessons.
School had a mini-masterchefs competition - so of course Kit wanted to enter. He made chocolate bombs with marshmallow with minimal help from me...
A friend organised for 4 families (all with 1 child with DS) to go away for the weekend to the Shack. We had a great time! The kids got on really well together and there seemed to be a good mix between them. As we sat around on Sat night sharing a bbq I loved how the weekend was just like other we have been on - with families from school or old friends...that is that even though we were away as a group of people who have a the fact of having a child with a disability as the thing we have in common - our weekend away was so very 'normal'. We wished it had been just one night longer - but came home feeling truly relaxed having got away from it all... and the kids had had a blast - they were so busy with their various activities:
Hannah's digs at The Shack
Two very gorgeous girls sharing a drink for breakfast
Hannah wasn't the only one who enjoyed some drawing and writing time

Scooters were a big hit on the weekend

One of the girls who came away with us just loves handball. The brats loved the idea of it - especially Kit. I will have to get them a couple of balls so they can play it at home.
In the afternoon we walked to the beach. It was pretty windy but that didn't stop the twins from having a blast playing in the sand an the sea.
listening for the sea in a shell she found


Dancing in the kitchen
All the kids had a swing
Hannah set up a bus. It was to take the passengers to the icecream shop and the zoo
Phil loved playing guitar while Sophie sang From Little THings Big Things Grow... a number of the other kids there danced while they sang and played
It was late to bed on Sat night for all but 2 of the children with us...
The twins loved giving Phil the gifts they got from the Fathers Day Stall at school
Packing the car for the return trip
We left Shoalhaven Heads a bit earlier than we would have liked - to be back in Sydney fro a family Father's Day picnic. Worth it though as it was a lovely way to finish off our weekend.

Mr Whippy. I had one too - my first in years...and boy oh boy... it was GOOD!
Hannah and her father patiently waiting for the papasan swing at Livvi's allabilities playground to become available...
Hannah just adores her cousins, not least this little one who has recently started walking.
Now to hope that our holiday to Europe is just as 'normal' whatever that might mean when you are travelling so far with 2 6 year olds....