Chilling at Thredbo

We spent most of the day before the Wicked Wombat at Thredbo. Unfortunately out best laid plans were slightly foiled due to the unfavourable weather conditions. After a slow morning, we made it up the mountain in time for an early lunch which was just as well seeing though the bakery was nearly out of food!

Initially we were thinking of purchasing a family all mountain pass which entitled us to a chairlift ride, a few toboggan rides and access to the pool. However with the wind whistling the temperature at the top was a chilly -7ªC so it was not surprising that no-one was keen to participate in the chairlift ride.

Instead we bought a book of toboggan rides enough for each child to have two rides. Off we headed with seven very excited children. Our next challenge was how to complete this task seeing though none of the children were old or tall enough to go by themselves plus Andy and Rob were off running!

We joined the rather long line and decided once we were at the front, we would leave the spare children there letting others though and patiently waiting until a familiar face appeared. The running dads returned just as we were completing our last runs.

Next on the agenda was the pool allowing us to retreat from the weather. Swapping between the indoor slide and big school kept the children entertained for some time. We returned to the campsite with exhausted children ready to devour the takeaway pizza. Our evening was finished with toasting marshmallows over our imaginary fire (thanks to a fire ban!)

New Years at the Wicked Wombat

Resigning from work in December suddenly freed up our New Year period allowing us to join friends for a few days of camping and mountain biking near Jindabyne. Only just before Christmas, we realised that we had the capacity to only take my bike. This was going to be an issue for several reasons namely Ella was getting a bike for Christmas but also the other children were all taking their bikes.

So it felt a bit like de ju vu casting my mind back to Easter twenty10 when we were heavily involved in organising and realised that we couldn't fit all the camping gear in plus the mountain of stuff needed for 2 little girls so we ended up with roof rack and a pod. Must say though we have never looked back at getting the pod.

At various points during 2014, we had (kind of) discussed the potential bike carrying issue but it always ended up in the too hard basket. Anyway now the problem seemed to be coming to a head, so reluctantly (according to Andy) we researched into various systems and decided on a hitch mounted 4 bike carrier.

Just a simple process of going to the roof rack shop right? Wrong! Tow bars are specific to the car and ours needed to be ordered in which would take 5 days thus due to arrive on christmas eve. Ok well we weren't leaving until the 29th so plenty of time right? Wrong! Add in the public hols and a weekend leaves us at the day we planned to depart! Fingers crossed it could be fitted in the morning and on our way.

Unfortunately that was not to be the case - the tow bar hadn't even arrived in the shop. Luckily Andy had a plan B involving borrowing a friends roof mounted bike racks so all bikes were on the roof. This was at the expense of losing the pod however it wasn't too bad in the end thanks to some clever and careful packing.

A leisurely drive saw us arrive at Bungarra Alpine Centre on the outskirts of Jindabyne by mid afternoon. Al, Rob and family had already secured a fantastic campsite adjacent to a few snow gums providing some shade and overlooking the skills track, First to be unpacked were the kids bikes and they were off!! It was nice to watch them explore the skills track from a distance and when things got too hard, they got off their bikes and continued on foot!

A short time later we were joined by Emily, Thomas and family. Once camp was set up there was even time for some mountain biking first with the big kids (Ella and Max) and then the littler ones (Katy and Mira).

Merry Chrstmas

Christmas day finally arrived after what seemed like ages for the girls! They were pleased to see that Santa and his reindeers managed to have a nibble at the goodies they left out. Next it was time to investigate the santa sacks and see if Santa had read their wish lists and letters. This task itself was difficult for Santa as the initial list/letters were misplaced and new ones written which were slightly different to the original ones. Nevertheless Santa did do a wonderful job and both girls we happy with their loot!

We also opened a few postal presents before making our way over to enjoy the last Christmas to be hosted by Andy's parents!! As per normal there were presents aplenty and chaos ensured with lots of happy faces. Ella was thrilled to get a new bike with gears! Katy was overwhelmed with the morning and wasn't too sure about anything. However by the time we got home and set up her basketball ring, she was happy.

 

Back to the morning, the kids were off as presents were put through their first tests. Sadly however soon we said goodbye to Luca and Maki who went off with their Dad to continue celebrating Christmas.

Our roast lamb, chicken and ham lunch was delicious and with the cooler (slightly wet) weather much more enjoyable. Time to relax and recover before heading off down the oval to test out more presents (cricket stuff, frisbee and bike).

By late afternoon we thought about dessert and were horrified to find ants had invaded the pavlova which luckily hadn't been dressed. Cathy and I spent about 20 minutes de-anting and smashing up the pavlova in the process. It was still delicious though. We made it back home by 5pm exhausted from the days festivities but still found some time and energy for more playing.

Christmas Festivities

Carols by Candlelight at Stage 88
We attended our first Carols by Candlelight this year. Despite the warm temperatures during the day, by the time we had set up our picnic blanket, a strong cool wind had picked up. We weren't really expecting this and soon discovered that we hadn't brought enough warm clothes! While eating our picnic dinner we were secretly praying for the wind to drop. The girls huddled under the picnic blanket but this seemed to only work for a short time. We thought we would head down near the front of the stage for some dancing before leaving. Turned out this area was sheltered from the wind, so we relocated our stuff and ended up staying for the rest of the evening. A really nice experience with the girls.

Gingerbread House
Another Christmas first! The girls and I attempted to make a gingerbread village, cheating of course by using a kit. Lets say it was much more trickier than I expected! We got there in the end and the girls loved decorating them with lollies! Our prized village was taken to Andy's work party and shared as part of dessert!

Grandies Treat
Andy's parents decided to treat the grandchildren by taking them to the movies to see Paddington. The late afternoon session fitted in really well as Andy and I headed off to my work christmas drinks for a few hours. We joined everyone again at Haig Park with a heap of pizzas for dinner. Our final destination for the night was to walk through the Sids for Kids Christmas Lights in Civic so after a play waiting for the sun to go down, we made our to Garema Place. An amazing sight with so many lights all twinkling in time to the music! Eventually the heavens opened so we had no option but to head home absolutely drenched but happy!!

Jmcswash Xmas Party Extended
The traditional jmscswash xmas party threw its doors open to all and sundry at Jase and Belinda's beautifully renovated house! The kids revelled in the treasure hunt, each finding a few yummy edible items but more importantly, a letter to the secret message! Once the code was cracked, the santa bag of presents was located in the bike shed!!

Biking, Beaching and Camping Weekend

It was all wonderfully planned - I'd spied a mountain bike race held in October down on the South Coast at the coastal town of Huskinson and decided it would be a fun weekend away. Even managed to convince Cath and family to make a trip down from Sydney too! Then the event got moved to mid December due to a double booking or something which was still fine. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to camp at one of our favourite spots - Green Patch at Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay. Even managed to rope a few more families into riding and coming along.

Unfortunately for me I hadn't managed to find much time for mountain biking (or any other exercise) in October and November except for the occasional ride to and from work. No matter. My current philosophy is just to go and do it regardless of fitness plus I'd made a pact a few years ago with Cath that we should do an event together at least once a year!

November and early December were quite wet and stormy.  I hadn't realised how much and how this impacted on our race until I received an email 5 days before the race informing us that the event had been cancelled as a fair portion of the track was under water. With more rain forecast in the days leading up to the event the trail was unlikely to dry out. Bummer. But we still went.

Despite being disappointed that we couldn't ride, I think if was fortunate as I hadn't realised that the event didn't start in Huskinson (about 30min drive) but rather at Callala Beach (close as the crow flies but more like an hours drive) meaning we all would of had a very early morning. The organisers haven't set another date as yet, but I think we will reconsider where to stay the next time around!

The now six families just enjoyed the weekend hanging out together at the beach!