TFIM (as opposed to TGIF)

The weekend’s over and it’s back to some form of “normality”.

With seemingly a million things to do, we eventually got out the door late Saturday morning. As time was getting shorter, we decided to take the more direct route. It was a warm trip, thank goodness for airconditioning. The boys enjoyed spotting a couple of very long freight trains and keeping an eye out for destination and distance signage.

We took up residence in a 2 bedroom cabin at the local caravan park with about 45 mins to spare before dinner. Inside was no better than the close to 40C outside. First thing was to turn the aircon on and up full bore. While it cooled the main area, the bedrooms still suffered, particularly the boys’ room.

Brother was running late - he was picking up the guests of honour. The boys were starting to get edgy, as they do when they have to wait for food. DH was plying them with “fizzy drinks” – don’t ask *groan*.

Our plan of a surprise worked – Mum and Dad were also very pleased to see us all.

Pub fare comes in large portions, especially in the country. H downed most of an adult sized Mixed Grill and salad, plus a kid’s serve of pizza. J managed a sausage, some chips and salad.

The pub staff were kind enough to “mind” the cake I’d decorated, and we all (except J – “I don’t love it”) had some of it for “dessert”.


It hadn’t cooled down at all by the time we left to return to our snug home for the night. The boys did not cope well with sharing a bed and room and the heat. It wasn’t until some 1.5 hours later they eventually got to sleep.

Neither DH nor I slept very well, even with the aircon and an overhead fan on, and it all came to a crashing halt when J woke at 5.14am – he NEVER does that at home! It was the start of a very ratty day. Once it was light, DH took the boys for a tour of the park – kangaroos, bird aviary, playground, creek (dry).

After breakfast and packing up, we called in to see my parents briefly. Pa did a good job keeping the boys amused. We got on our way just before midday and thought we’d take the more scenic route home – big mistake!

The boys whinged about the more bumpy and winding roads. We stopped part way and had a bite of lunch on he run (they managed to get covered in charcoal from a burnt log) and again about half way home so the kids could run off a bit of energy at a playground. J had a little sleep between lunch and playground time, he was soooo tired - those alarm bells should have rung loud and clear.

We pulled into the driveway at 5.01pm. The boys had a quick bite of dinner, then it was off to bed, early. Of course J didn’t want to sleep! He eventually went off 2 hours after he went to bed. I think H just dropped off eventually as he was so tired.

Fortunately, they both woke this morning in a good frame of mind.

Mental notes taken from this trip:
- H is a “direct point A to point B person”, J probably is too.
- It always pays to pack more clothes than you think you’ll need – I did this one!
- No matter how nice you are to your kids, they’ll still be little devils at times.
- The proposed driving trip in the April school holidays might be shelved – who can handle the stress.
- Parents do appreciate their kids going to that little bit extra effort.
- “Apartments are people carparks” – according to H.