Santa

You know what they say, Christmas stuff hits you earlier each year. It's true. 20 November and we had our kids' Christmas party. You won't hear me complain. In fact, I say bring Christmas earlier yet. January would be good, for example.

We had barely arrived that it got going already. I wasn't sure about the hat at first. They told me it was actually a helmet. That means action. That makes it ok for me, then.

Next thing I know, I was saddling a majestic horse. An Australian thoroughbred. A stallion of epic proportions. In one word: a destrier.

The proud beast (Ruby is her fierce name), subjected to my natural authority - and that of my good lady page, and mum's a bit too.

I concluded that horses are great every once in a while but I wouldn't have one. Smelly, for one thing. And not very fast. Nor comfy. So long, Ruby.

I then met that bearded man in funny dress (it was 30 degrees today). Santa's his name. Smelly chap, not very fast handing out presents nor very comfy. A bit like Ruby, really.

I got an awesome pressie. Can you guess what it was? Here are a few hints: Swiss design, orange, faster than a horse.


Yup, that's it. A scooter. Bloody good one, too! I'm outta here.




PS: Ella can't be bothered with presents. She got a bottle of milk and was happy. Bless her.

Summa!

38 degrees and sunny. My kind of weather.

The plan for the day is fairly simple:

1. Make Ella happy. It's even worth my favourite soft toy. Been there, done that.

2. Get the look right. After all, this is Sydney.

3. Play. Lots.

4. Chill out with the family

5. Take in the sunset. And remember Daniel's star-gazing wind down

6. Look forward to tomorrow. Good night.

Boo?

Is it me or there's something in there? Could Ella be related to Boo, the little girl in Ice Age? She's certainly got the hair for it!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below

They're home! (life goes on)

Dad and I picked up the girls on Friday morning. Good to have them back, though I must say the bachelor lifestyle we had this past week wasn't half bad: quality food (pizza, burgers and the occasional bit of Japanese), culture (mostly loud music and some dancing) and heaps of wrestling.

My furry kiwi mate Funn-Maxum and I gave Ella a warm welcome. Her reaction was the equivalent of a teenager's 'whatever'. Never mind, we're glad she's here.

From that point, pressies started coming in. The big balloons from Tom were huge fun. Kept me going for a while.

The - literally - piece de resistance was Grant and Gino's chicken, corn and leek pie. Just look at that thing! Complete with Ella written on it. Now, in these situations one is always inclined to be gracious and say good things about presents. But that pie was seriously, genuinely amazing. We had this for dinner on Friday and on Saturday. It was that good. I ate half of it. Well, it certainly felt like it.

Little Ella pretty much slept through her first night at home. She stretched from midnight to 7 this morning. Not a bad start, let's see if she can do that again tonight. She's pretty chilled about things, I'm not too worried.

And life goes on. It was a beautiful spring day. As dad would say, it was SKC, 25 degrees with light variable wind. Keep those coming, I say.

Time for me to bid you good night and hand over to the night crew. Catch you soon.

Ella

Ella. Ella Ricarda. It has a good ring, doesn't it?

Mum and Ella have now moved to a hotel room in Coogee. It's quieter and a fair bit more relaxed. Makes for easy cuddly times. Model older brother, me.

She's real nice but boy does she like a chat. Just look at her describing how she was born. A natural entertainer. I could listen to her for 30 seconds*

Stars are coming out. Time for my beauty sleep. Nighty night, sis.

* An eternity, in the physics of F-space

Welcome, sis

Little sis [insert name here] arrived yesterday afternoon at Sydney's Prince of Wales hospital. Talk about a surprise!

Not to put too fine a point on it, my initial reaction, subtly repressed in this picture, was WTF.

Now, to her credit, she did think of buying me a present. A little toy aeroplane that will do nicely thank you. Good girl, that.

I'm happy to report that she's a real cutie and pretty chilled. I reckon she's a keeper.

Welcome to the family, little sis.