Recently as you may know, I sold my business. Working in Hospitality I learned a few things...like how rare it is to spend quality time with your family.
I finally have got the family back into something of a normal routine. My littlest one is in Grade 1 which is possibly the cutest grade. I have enjoyed doing tuckshop, maths rotations, going to assembly, reading, sewing and generally being much more present and "in the now".
"Red" themed disco and how she gave out KitKats - NB very popular move
We booked a very last minute trip around the world for 6 weeks for most of term 4! And just like that...off we went with very little planning except for flights and accommodation. We didn't even plan the middle week or so. We'd just see what happened. Time to wing it!
I did a double major in history at university, so I guess I was too busy reading up on the new places we would visit. Plus we'd been to some of the places before, 12 years ago without kids and quite a few less wrinkles/grey hair.
Colosseum, Rome
Traveling around the world for that long with small children seems daunting. But to my surprise, not only did we manage, we thrived!
We saw everything at the usual Nordic glacial pace of small children of course. Poor little H needed to be carried in London and New York... they are Just. So. Big! We calculated G's pedometer to be about 18K steps...which is more like 36K for her little legs. Poor thing.
Kensington Palace Gardens, London
One main activity each day, lots of rest and time spent in the cities' iconic parks. Who knew squirrels were the key to keeping a child happy during a holiday in the Northern Hemisphere? And chasing falling autumn leaves. We spent A LOT of time in parks blowing off steam.
Rosalie Farm, Newmarket
But the best thing to come out of our holiday, apart from the obvious amazing places and experiences we had as a family, was the improved confidence of the children, our appreciation for our family. Seeing them openly discussing their appreciation for the things we DO have and relishing in our happy life. Shaking things up for them was exciting and seeing a slow increase in confidence as a result, was so rewarding. It was little things at first like general self awareness in a large city, to ordering their own meals or getting their own food at a buffet (supervised from the table of course so there were no stray fingers!). Then it became much bigger things like more affection and laughs within whole family. Not to mention the girls making new friends who didn't speak English!
I am guilty of over parenting. I wanted to try to give them some "off leash" time and to learn to just let them be. Grow independently with me in the background as scaffolding if they need it. Amazingly they only fought a handful of times, if that. But they were so engaged and happy to be with their little family doing new things, I don't think it crossed their minds much.
Our trip highlights were...
Santorini
It was just like the postcards, but better. Our view from our lunch table just so happened to be over the famous 3 blue domes. We all agreed it was the best view we've ever seen.
G seeing the Queen! And she eyed him and smiled.
Don't. Even. Ask.
Yes I cried that it wasn't me...bittersweet really. At least he got photos
Yes, yes, I can see you! A rare smile reserved for when she's around horses (and my G obviously!) xo
She's such a gorgeous lady. My hero.
Westminster Abbey - the girls and I were invited by a priest to sit in the choir seats reserved for the Australian High Commissioner. Not even our Prime Minister has sat there! We have such good travel luck.
Seeing Woody Allen making his new film in Central Park in New York.
The Tower of London, the jewels and my personal tour by a Beefeater - a fellow Ricardian, like me.
Everyone had left the Tower that afternoon because of the sand storm stirred up by a hurricane traveling from the Sahara desert headed towards Ireland. Who would have thought??? Note the colour of the sky and Henry VIII's hilarious armour. No jewel photos of course (rules), but I did see the Koh-i-noor diamond and some of the Cullinans - stunning.
And last but definitely not least. THIS! So much love - just the 4 of us.
We grew as a family. We laughed and played. It makes us more appreciative of our little life together and that it makes us stronger as individuals.
Now we are home, let's hope that we can continue to enjoy this by keeping it simple.
xo
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