Welcome to Term 2!

It's Sunday night, the last day of the two-week Easter break. We had an epic 10-day holiday in Thailand, which I'll write about in my next post. We got back on Thursday morning and have spent the past few days unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning up and catching up with friends before we get back to reality and the new school term!

When arrived in Melbourne it was a grey, drizzly morning, and quite depressing after our tropical weather in Thailand! Apparently, it has been very rainy for the past two weeks, so of course I feel very smug that we were not around! The clocks have also changed, so it's darker in the evening now. With the chilly mornings, it really does feel like we've jumped straight into winter!

We have all been a little bit jet-lagged since returning. Thailand is three hours behind Melbourne, so we've been waking up late in the morning and Ollie in particular has had some trouble falling asleep before 9pm. I think we are all going to be quite tired for the first few days of the term. I, for one, am already dreading my 6am alarm going off tomorrow morning!

Yesterday, we met up with our friends Verge and Taryn and their children for an afternoon at McClelland Sculpture Garden and Café on the Mornington Peninsula. Despite feeling a bit sluggish, we enjoyed a great lunch while the kids played outside the cafe, fascinated by some small fish in a fountain. We then spent a couple of hours strolling around the gardens, admiring the different sculptures. We had actually visited this place with my parents a few months ago, but it was challenging to get the kids to walk around the grounds. However, having other children with us made all the difference. They had a fantastic time running around together and even played on one of the artworks they could climb on for over half an hour. Meanwhile, we adults enjoyed a civilized chat and coffee at some nearby tables until they'd had enough.

Next, we headed to the nearby Frankston Pier to do a bit of fishing. Charlie and Theo love fishing, and it's a new favourite hobby of Ella's since our weekend in Metung in March. We lasted about an hour before feeling pretty tired and heading back home. 

Andy and I watched the show "One Day" on Netflix and finished it last night. I absolutely loved it! I read the book when it was released in 2009 and fell in love with the story of Dex and Em. I thought the series did a fantastic job adapting the book. The show is mainly set in London in the 90s, which is ten years before I lived there, but the location and the musical soundtrack still gave me a strong sense of nostalgia for the time I spent in London. The actors who played Dex and Em were perfect. The ending of the show had me in tears (no spoilers!) and I've been thinking about it all day. As much as I loved the show, watching something that was quite sad didn't help with my end of holiday blues that I'm currently experiencing.

On a happier note, we met up with the van Beeks this morning and went for a 6km walk with them and the kids. Again, there is almost NO WAY Ella and Ollie would walk 6km with just Andy and me... but with their friends, no problem! It did help that there was a cafe with a playground that we stopped at halfway!

I've spent the rest of the day tidying up and in the kitchen. I've made myself some homemade granola bars and chocolate fudge as healthy snacks for the start of term. And we're having a lovely minestrone soup for dinner... a good dose of veggies after all the indulgence of our holiday!

The upcoming term is going to be quite busy for us. Andy will be starting his sports season at school, which means he will have games most Saturday mornings. This year, I have been relieved of my school coaching duties, and instead, my role at school involves taking students to competitions that sometimes occur on weekends, though most of these are next term. Ella is playing netball again this year, and she too has games every Saturday morning. Additionally, Ollie has started playing soccer, and his games are on Sunday mornings. So, our weekends will be filled with sports, as is the life of many families with school-aged children. The good news is that Ella and Ollie both play their games at 9am, which means we will have the rest of the day to engage in other activities.

But in 10 short weeks it will be the end of term once again... and the kids and I will be headed to Canada while Andy is off on a school trip to Scotland! So lots to look forward to!