Returned

I spent the last week conferencing in Adelaide, leaving Nat & Ella to hold the fort. Not a bad week -- the highlight being a half-day wine-tasting tour of McLaren Vale, which we discovered is astonishingly close to Adelaide. Got home on Friday night, after Ella had gone to sleep, but she didn't belink an eyelid when I went in to get her up on Saturday morning. Perhaps she didn't notice I was gone ...

Anyway, I better tell you about the highlight of this weekend (which goes more towards showing how dire our weekends are than anything else). Following this morning's run we went to the Belco Markets for Ella to play in the mushroom and to have coffee & scones while we were there.

While trying to enjoy our food we were treated to an impromptu and amateurish exposition of bellydancing. Most of us were rolling our eyes, but Ella loved it. She started by standing beside the stage swaying around herself. After a bit of practice she decided she was ready for the big time, and climbed onto the stage to join her new-found friends. We spent the next half hour trying to restrain her from the stage (see photo) as the bellydancers brandished swords and sticks while jiggling their hips.