away

With Scott busy on this, the kids and I decided to steal away to the Coast and Sydney for two weeks of quality catching up. Time spent with my parents was, as per usual, full of delight, sleep ins, snuggles, deliciousness and plenty of successful op shopping expeditions.
With our cups full of parent/grandparent love, we headed down the highway to Sydney for a week that was to be full of the perfect dose of quality time with our dear ones and a large number of delightful catch ups with nearly everyone on a very long list.
I particularly treasured the extended stay at Jen, Rod, Lily and Saul's, our family since Poe was 8 months old, the children have grown together and have beautifully maintained such a love filled and delightful connection. For Poe, Lily and Saul are his dearest pals, they know him and adore him and he feels totally safe to be the beautiful soul that he is with them. They spent six days playing and performing, games that were full of kindness, cuddles, cubbies, squeals of laughter, overflowing imagination and lots of singing. Needless to say (but I will anyway), it was wonderful and very, very special.
The sadness that Poe carried with him for the days after we left them was heartbreaking, but knowing the connection that they hold is just beautiful.

Other highlights, besides more op shopping success, included crazy games with Dom, tree climbing adventures with Lulu, Iris and Lenny, scrubbing a kitchen for my brother, a pre dinner catch up with a beautiful, old friend followed by a divine and intimate dinner with Jen here (thanks Omi), a delicious and entertaining dinner and 'show' with Sarah, Gary, Mira and Stella, a new house showing and play with Zoe, Arkie and Priya, fun and wonder at the Powerhouse and a sneaky playground play with Lisa and Otis. Phew.
The rest of our time in Sydney was spent next door to where we used to live, with our dear old neighbours and wonderful and dear friends, Vince, Remy, Jenna and Tracey. Everytime I think of them, I feel their embraces, their warmth and the ease in which we slot into their lives. They love us wholeheartedly and as we do them. Oh these friends who have become as close as really great family (not the average family, or the type of family you never talk to), our chosen family. Ah the love.

Sadly we didn't get to catch up with our dear Ruth, Cam, Edie and Oscar due to sickness, damn that sickness, getting in the way of some special lovin from these guys, oh well, next time.

A favourite moment occurred as we entered the craziness that is Sydney Park on school holidays, it was quite overwhelming. Poe, Ilo and Saul, tentatively slid down some slides, swung on a swing and spent a lot of time fixed to the ground staring at the teeming mass of little and big bodies raging all about. Looking at their faces, I suggested a little walk, as we distanced ourselves from the masses, their legs began to skip about, their smiles returned and their eyes darted about, allowing themselves the freedom to stretch their field of vision. Their eyes fixed firstly on a tree with plans to come back for a climb and then as we reached the top of a hill, I lost them, lost them to a tiny bit of bush, they disappeared beneath the foliage with squeals mentioning 'fairy houses' and 'kindling', I stopped and watched as they created and brainstormed, the perfect playground adventure.

As we drove through the city to Surry Hills to help my brother clean a house, Poe and Ilo stared out the windows, staring at taxis (there is but one lonely taxi in Bellingen), trams, police cars (not many of them either) and buses. Poe had a couple of interesting observations;  "Why are there so many cars with just one person in them?","Why don't all these people in cars go on buses?"and "Why are there so many overweight people in the city?", there were more, but my memory has buried them in a currently unretrievable hole. 

Sorry about the amazingly photo and name heavy post but I couldn't bear to leave any or anyone out.