Was that a big dream?

Well, we're back and we're recovering!
We had a fabulous time visiting family in Victoria. The girls LOVED the plane trip and had a great time telling everyone "We're from Queensland, you know". I enjoyed catching up with my cousins and their children and the girls were in their element running around with lots of other kids. We all coped pretty well with the change from our home with lots of open space, to the house where we stayed in the middle of the suburbs...

Still.. By the time the sun went down on our last night there, we were definitely ready to move on.

Our next stop was with friends in NSW for the Blues and Roots Festival. There were 3 other families also staying with them for the festival and they each had children between 2 and 10 years. We all got along so well it seemed silly not to do the festival together, too, and so the kids all sang and danced and ran and jumped and wandered as one. By the start of the 3rd day our mob of (almost) hippie children were strutting around like they ran the show.

It was also on the third day that my girls had me lulled into a false sense of security. They had coped so well with the festival routine thus far, I was convinced that a late night in honor of the Cat Empire performing would have no effect on their tantrum threshold, what so ever. This late night was easily the best time we had during the entire festival. Our whole family already love The Cat Empire and their live shows are spectacular. We danced for almost 2 hours under the full moon and at the end Miss F looked at me blissfully and asked, "Is this what daddy does all the time now, mum?"

The next day's tantrum threshold was dangerously low. So low, in fact, I looked at J for too long and she blew up in my face.
I decided not to risk a night of loud music and exhausted children, so we headed home 12 hours early.

The girls slept in the car all the way back, barely blinked when I transfered them from car to bed and even slept in the next morning. I think V must have been a bit disorientated after going to sleep at the festival and finding herself at home the next day. When she woke up she asked me, "Was that a big dream, mum?"

We're all still catching up on sleep. This afternoon Miss J insisted she wasn't tired, only to fall asleep with hear head in her lunch plate and bits of banana stuck to her face.

It was a great adventure and I must admit, it is really nice to be back at home.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh wow sounds like you guys had an awesome trip! The festival sounds particularly cool... I wish we did more things like that but my girls don't cope with crowds and loud noises... maybe one day though!

jeanie said...

I think that you did awesomely well - after that, I think I may have been on meltdown alert for myself, let alone children!

But we are very glad to have you back.

Debby said...

Oh, how sweet! 'Was that a big dream, Mum?'

Everyone needs to have some amount of re-creation. I'm glad you all enjoyed yours.

Melody said...

Wow. What an exhausting trip you just had. I would've slept for 12 hours straight too. How nice would it be to fall asleep somewhere and then when you wake to find yourself in your won bed? (Says Melody who has a 24 hour plane trip ahead in the next few weeks!)

Anonymous said...

Found your blog via the Australian Blog Carnival. Love your guest list! We've always had a menagerie of animals too - a byproduct of kids I think. Nah, maybe that's just an excuse. I'm a sucker for animals too.

Reading your post made me miss the time when our girls (5 of them!) were young - we did a camping trip for 4 weeks all the way down the east coast of Australia till I got homesick. Yes me - the rest of the family were fine.