A Family Holiday in Singapore

We ate dumplings, rode roller-coasters, danced in the storm. We swam every day, several times a day, to escape the heat. We took a break from the normal, kicked back with aunties and cousins, let ourselves be looked after for a bit. My three little travellers handled the flights like champions. And we all want to go back tomorrow.

Park

There's a park in the centre of my old home town. It does springtime beautifully and autumn even better. It's famous for its duckpond and the swing sets. Many a childhood afternoon was spent playing there. It was the site of weekend picnics, of festivals and festivities and, like most of my peers, the location of one of my early forays into under-age drinking (on a Saturday morning, no less!). I wonder how many of those teenagers have returned with their own children years later to watch them hover precariously on the edge of the pond, frolic in autumn leaves, pluck marigolds from the manicured garden beds, get drenched at the fountain and maybe lay a sloppy one on a cute boy beneath a big old pine tree.

Easter Hunt

Well, our Easter was lovely. We had three days and nights at my sister's house. There was perhaps a little too much chocolate and the requisite negotiations over how many and when and "Not until you finish your dinner..." Cousins played together beautifully. One big girl cracked the "no training wheels" thing. We caught up with Queensland friends who we rarely see these days, home for the holidays and making the trip back for us doubly worthwhile. And it was the first of many mini-trips I've had with my girls that hasn't left me shaking with exhaustion. Even the driving was a delight. Oh, my.

On Being the Aunty

Approximately 100% of my time is taken up with being a mum - doing mum stuff and thinking about mum stuff and frantically grabbing at moments of ‘me’ so that I can try to be a slightly less shouty and frazzled mum when I’m doing and thinking about the mum stuff.

But before I was a mum, I was something entirely different - something entirely lovely. Before I was a mum, I was an aunty.

I was still a teenager when I became an aunty the first time. My brother and his girlfriend became parents to an adorable baby girl who, in the rare moments I spent time with her, I just wanted to dress up like a doll and play mummies with. That little girl was only as old as my Lola is now when she lost both her parents. It’s a long and complicated and terribly sad tale that one day I may share, or perhaps not. But for all of its sadness, it has a happy enough ending because, despite the odds, that tiny girl has grown into a beautiful and smart young woman who turns 21 tomorrow. There were times when I wasn’t sure if she, or any of us, would make it. And I couldn’t be prouder of where she’s come from and who she’s become.

I didn’t spend a huge amount of time with her as she was growing up, largely due to distance and circumstance, so when my big sister had her first baby, another beautiful girl, many years later, it was like I became an aunty for the first time all over again. I was in the room when this baby was born, and it was a life-changing moment for me, one of the most profound things I had experienced to date - watching on as my sister’s writhings and gaspings transformed into this perfect little creature.

I was besotted by her. I couldn’t get enough. I looked for excuses to pop over for a visit. I grabbed at babysitting opportunities. I showed photos of her to people at work, for godsakes! It was in her that my desire to be a mum was born.

That little girl is now on the cusp of her teenage years. Right now she’s in Italy competing with the Australian national children’s ski squad. She’s gonna be a champion, that one.

A couple of weeks ago I was tidying up, trying to sort through and rearrange some of the toys and play stuff that clogs our house. As I folded the dolls’ blankets and clothes, most of them hand-me-downs from my almost-teenage niece, I felt a bit wistful. It won’t be too long before my own girls will have outgrown all of this stuff. The blink of an eye.

I’m not as good at being an aunty since I became a mum but I’m glad I got the opportunity before my own kids came and snaffled that little 100% of me. Five nephews have followed those two girls, gorgeous and clever boys all of them. But the girls have a special place in my heart. They both made me an aunty for the first time.

(Happy 21st birthday, Ahnika. It's a really big deal.)

Wednesday

A big stack of magazines waiting for a big stack of spare minutes on a lazy afternoon, coffee in hand, children otherwise occupied. I looked at the calendar today. I think they'll be waiting awhile.

And at risk of sounding repetitive, the only thing happening in knitting news is hats. Hats, hats, hats. I have a special order for some newborn pixies, and I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive. So in the meantime, I've been making sure boys are fairly represented in the shop, tricky when all my days revolve around three girls. My funny little nephew Oscar modelled the chocolate Chubby Pixie when I visited on the weekend. He stood very still and followed direction beautifully - we'll have him back any day.

Yarn Along here.

More photos from the shoot here.

Buy the hat, or order something similar, here.

Singapore: Cousins

I couldn't talk about our holiday without mentioning the reason we went in the first place, and the reason I'd go back tomorrow if I could - these guys.

My sister and her family relocated to Singapore a year ago and have sunk right into the lifestyle there. We're used to their absence. They're adventurers, these ones. It might seem odd given the tropical climate they live in at the moment, but they follow the snow - a few months in Utah and Canada each year, then home to Thredbo for the local ski season. Madi just made the Australian children's team. She's in the top three in the country in her age group. And her three brothers are following close on her heels. Just quietly, I'm psyching myself for some aunty-style Olympics cheering in the next decade. 

These big cousins showered adoration on my girls. From holding hands as we walked around the zoo, to pushing the stroller through shopping centres, playing dress-ups, sharing ice-cream, endless hairstyling sessions - they had a ball. And big cousins playing with little cousins meant the mums got to go and do indulgent, relaxing things like have coffee, and go shopping, and have reflexology foot massages!!!

Oh, how we wished they lived closer (but how nice it is to have an excuse for an international jaunt!)

Singapore

We are home, well-rested and tired. It was a wonderful two weeks packed with family and food, sightseeing and swimming, a complete break from our normal pace. With my sister at the wheel, we covered the length and breadth of the island, it seemed, from the zoo to water parks, cafes and shops, and incredible botanic gardens. My niece and nephews showered adoration on my girls, which left me with little to do but stretch out in their incredible home and enjoy the hospitality. I read. I knitted. I sweltered in the heat then retreated to airconditioning. I ate and ate and ate. And on the last day, finally, the monsoonal storm I'd been promised.

Tomorrow, pictures from our break within a break to Phuket.