In true Aussie style, we celebrate our first Australia Day with a trip to the beach for the weekend. This time we stayed at Noosa with some friends.

Mornings on the beach and afternoons by the pool - perfect! Then the babysitters arrived and we got out for a few hours of freedom.

On Sunday we hired a boat on the Noosa river. The kids thought it was great to be able to jump out in the middle of the river and swim on the sandbars. We pulled into a little island in the middle of the river for a barbeque lunch and some more swimming and fishing.

As we were leaving, Bella howled in the back of the car "this is the most beautiful place I have ever been to and I never want to leave". Repeat over at least 1000 times. At last she made us promise to take her back there, which wasn't a difficult promise to make!

For those of you in BrisVegas - something for kids over the holidays.

Take them to see the Kid's Warhol exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art.

Some of the kids artwork from our day there:

On a beautiful snowy day, 5 years ago, our little Bella joined our family. What a happy day it was!

This year we celebrated the occasion with a little cousins party. For the second year running she chose a fairy cake, adorned with her favourite sweeties and little fairy figures.

A couple of days before her birthday we visited the hairdresser to tame the tresses. She came out looking like a princess, complete with glitter hairspray!

The last couple of months have been a bit of a blur to put it mildly.

We have settled into our new abode and seem to be returning to a somewhat normal household (whatever that is). We even have the internet connected, so now I can get on with catching up on all my long overdue chores.

Xander has settled into his new school and is enjoying the outdoor lifestyle, which has been hampered slightly by the wet summer but it hasn't really made any difference to us.

Bella has been a star, helping me out while she waits to start school, again!

And little Margie has started at her new Kindy which she is loving. She can't wait to get away in the mornings - I should be pleased about this, right?

At the end of the school year, in early Dec, we took the kids up to Caloundra for a couple of weeks with their cousins to surf, play and enjoy the sunshine. They had a ball.

In all it has been a great move for us although it really took a couple of months to settle in and get the hang of things again. Everything here seems strangely foreign and probably will for some time yet I expect.