Going to Extremes

On the day I left for Australia, the fog had rolled in overnight and froze everything in sight.

The spiderwebs were even frozen.

Each ivy leaf was individually coated and frozen.

Everything looked beautiful. It was a gorgeous morning even if I did have to white knuckle it on the way to drop Tucker off. So this is what I left.....

And this is what I arrived to! Palm trees....

Cool pool water and fountains....

and palm trees just outside the window behind the Christmas tree. Ahhh... warm weather.

The kids unwrapped their Christmas presents and the adults emptied thier stockings. What did I get? A piece of coal.

Once the presents were opened, the games began. Patti and I have a good xmas Scrabble showdown. A few things to note in this picture

A: we have our bathing suits on. Yippee!

B: We are sharing a beer that is encased in an 'interesting' beer cozy.

C: Our lunch consists of Twisties (cheetos) and mango.

D: I was reading the Goosebumps book off to the left before our mind games began.

Didn't everyone else celebrate Christmas this way?

Getting ready for Christmas dinner, Loel forages for some food.


Success!


Seafood platter for Christmas dinner. Yum!

Loel isn't a fan of grilling up some of the oysters. Definitely not his happy face.


The view from up on Castle Hill. Blue water, warm air - great start to the holiday.


Upon my return, however, I was greeted with LOTS of snow. England had another record snow a few days before my return. Tucker was staying with my friend Nick. Nick lives just a little bit farther out than I do and received more snow than Windsor. To borrow a statement from Nick - it was Narnia like.


I love this picture. Somehow Nick got his dog Gibson, Tucker and himself all looking at the camera at the same time.

From one extreme to the another and then back again - that covers the last 2.5 weeks of my life. Happy New Year everyone! (More Oz photos soon...)