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Published: April 8th 2012
After weeks of anticipation by Georgia and Bryon, and endless speculation concerning the treats Father Christmas would bring them, Christmas Day and its associated mayhem finally arrived. Byron had made an early morning raid on our bed, but Georgia had gone into the lounge and discovered the brightly covered treasure trove.
Georgia and Byron concluded that Santa had been and left a swag of gifts. He also drank the Scotch that we put out for him, so I hope he wasn't in charge of the sled afterwards. Every gift opened seemed to be their favourite, but it was the scooters that G&B took outside to road test in the garden. One of our neighbours also got a scooter, and he joined our crew in their F1 qualifying laps.
Joggy arrived and we had our family breakfast. Quite different from Hong Kong, which was always a lot of fun; but Melbourne has a quality of its own, and it became clear as we relocated to John and Jenny's lovely house for the extended family lunch. More than the Christmas gifts, the kids loved seeing their cousins, and swapping Christmas stories of early morning bounty. John and Jenny, in addition to
hosting the most delicious feast, had a huge jumping castle in their backyard. No-one under the age of 18 could ask for more, and it was only Georgia's warnings that I was too heavy for the jumping castle that stopped me enjoying it as much as them.
Christmas reminds us that we don't see enough of everyone. Being back in Melbourne helps that, but any chance to see everyone together is special. Zac was there, and it had been too long since we'd seen him. Naturally, Shane and I ganged up on him, not because we're bullies, but rather because neither of us stood a chance individually! Luckily Zac tolerates his misguided uncles.
Georgia and Byron got more hugs and gifts than any child could expect, especially from their aunties Ingrid, Kelly and Jenny. We were all sad to finally leave John and Jenny's home, but it had been a huge day.
While there's much we love about being in Melbourne, on the way home we got hit by a hail storm, literally out of the blue. And so it turned out to be a white Christmas, and importantly, a family Christmas.
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