Beverley and Co. Come Visit

After the week in Austria, Beverley and her family came to stay with us for five days. They now have a newish addition to the family, in the shape of Willow, who was nine months at the time.

We took them to the forest of course

Also to Grun 80, a beautiful local park - where Flynn kindly wheeled me around when my legs got tired

Our new kitchen was completed only a day before we left for our holiday, so when we came back with the Randall-whites it was the first time that we were able to use our own fully-functional kitchen!

Flynn loved being with Ethan again and they are still very good friends. Benjy and Lachlan got on well too and swapped notes on tantrum throwing and disorderly behaviour

Me and Rupert, with Bev's mum kindly doing dishes-service each night

Willow just minded her own business

Finally, kids in bed!

Praise Allah!

We always love to see the Randall-whites and this was no exception! 

Looking forward to our next trip in two year's time!

Christmas in Austria

So, it's been a long while - probably the longest break since 2007! But this has been due to our very busy lives of late, and hence there are a lot of blogs coming.

Back at Christmas we went away for a week of skiing in a 'family hotel' in Austria. We had been there before so knew we were in for a week of great food and hopefully, great skiing.

We went with our usual Singapore group of friends (Charlotte and Beverley's families) plus another Singapore family.

We hit the slopes as soon as we could

Flynn was back in the saddle pretty quickly

Meanwhile, back at the hotel the pool awaits...

The general daily routine was to get onto the mountain early and ski until lunchtime. Then I took the kids for lunch while Blake had another ski, and then he took them back to the hotel while i had another ski. In the afternoons the kids played in or outdoors and then we all met up for dinner at the restaurant.

Charlotte and I

The holiday spirit brings on a loving moment!

There is a kids' club where the kids can come mornings and evenings. They have scheduled activities and a childminder to keep the peace

Outdoors they have go-carts and playgrounds  (and despite the snow, it wasn't that cold)

Benjy orders a beer from the bar

While Flynn ponders the excellent menu

Then a final evening frenzy at the ball pit

 Flynn did half-days at ski-school and then skiied a bit with us or went back to the hotel

Benjy had been looking forward to his first time at ski-school, but the reality fell short of expectations. On the plus side, he hated it so much that he agreed happily every morning to go to the creche.

Things started off shakily

And ended up in hysteria. Ok, well maybe a private lesson to start with next year.

The four-family Singapore crew

The hotel made a big effort to put on a magical Christmas for guests. There was a special show from the kids, with candles and songs. And the Christ-kind (the Christmas fairy/spirit) brought the kids a present each

Christmas selfie

Eating with so many kids had its downsides (one night Elias even threw up in the restaurant). But the food was so good we looked forward to every meal. The kids were delighted since they were allowed to eat dessert every night and didnt need to eat their mains.

 It was a great week, with lots of good skiing and only one day of poor conditions. With the kids getting bigger now, these holidays and really starting to look like fun!