Gracetown (Margaret River) / Coogee, W.A.

---

20 Dec 2011 - 5 January 2012



Smithmas!!

Or perhaps Cyclone Smith is a better description?

Yay, the Smiths landed on 22 December to spend Christmas and their holidays with us. It was around this time that Bohdi's fetish for Oscar's shoes was born. Holy dooly, can that kid go through some shoes in a day! Nearly every time we saw Shell and Steve for the next two weeks they were changing Bohdi's shoes! We arrived in Coogee a couple of days prior to organise ourselves and catch up on housekeeping duties. Well, in true Smith-style, they arrived in a very loud-coloured electric blue car - like they needed to draw any extra attention to themselves!..

It was so great to see them and spend Christmas, New Year's and Sienna's birthday together.

The kids all had such a great time together and it was a nice surprise to see Reef and Sienna get along like best mates instead of their usual (and very humorous) sibling-like bickering. There was only the one occasion that Reef declared: "Whenever we see each other we have these emotional arguments" - pretty heavy conversation between five year olds.

Shell and I stole away to the markets on Christmas Eve and picked up some last minute goodies for Christmas. When the big day arrived, we indulged in pork, ham, prawns, salads, chocolates, sweets, fruit and more chocolates. The five kids opened their presents in the beach chalet - dubbed "the portaloo" by Mr and Mrs Smith.

On Boxing Day, we headed for Gracetown near Margaret River. We stayed in a small house overlooking the ocean which was amazing. The sunsets were super special and even more so as we were able to laze on our big verandah sipping drinks and feel a million miles away. The beach at Gracetown is really nice and it is here that Reef made his snorkelling debut. We were very happily surprised to find him put Alex's mask and snorkel set on and start swimming around with his face under water. He has really turned a corner recently with his swimming and water skills. Sigh of relief from the parents....

Whilst at Gracetown we went to the Colonial Brewery (with the Smiths) and the Bootleg Brewery (without the Smiths) and when the Smiths headed off to Bussleton for the day, we took Reef and Oscar to the Sunflowers Animal Farm. Although a little pricey, the kids loved it as they got to hold or hand feed chickens, rabbits, sheep, emus, wallabies, alpacas, geese, ducks, piglets and goats.

We were able to get out for a beautiful meal all together one night - thanks mum and dad! Nice to splurge once in a while.. We had a little party for NYE with many a glow stick, face mask and blower. Sometimes the more things there are to entertain the kids, the harder it is to entertain them!! Never knew glow sticks, party blowers and face masks could cause so many problems! (LOL) But it was still fun and I got a little dance session in with Tilly and Sienna so I was happy.

For Sienna's birthday we had pancakes for breakfast and then drove back to Coogee to spend the Smith's last two nights. We went to Cottesloe for dinner then had cake in the beach park afterwards, followed by sparklers and more glow sticks at The Portaloo.

For our last day, we went into Fremantle and had fish n chips in the park. The kids went on some rides and Steve finally got to have a beer at Little Creatures. It was such fun to catch up with the Smith five but I'm pretty sure they were going home to have a rest!.. Coogee, for the most part, was a little quieter the following day. I think Reef and Sienna were feeling the separation in the days to come - already looking forward to getting the kids together again. Thanks for making the trip (and for outlaying $45,000 Steve).

---