Christmas Photo Fail

I committed the ultimate expat Christmas sin...not constantly updating friends and family with holly jolly posts via Facebook or Twitter or text of the Aussie Santa play-by-play. For that I am sorry, but it is hard to update social media with a drink in your hand on the beach. Getting photos of Christmas up by Valentine's Day was my New Year's resolution...at least the one I plan to keep. So here goes...

The frenzied lead up to Christmas is only compounded by the fact that it will also be summer vacation! So amongst the party invites and receipts and wrapping paper are stacks of camp applications and vacation brochures. Procrastination is a bit of an art form for me so December was baptism via drowning at El Rancho de Atkinson. Amazingly everything got done and we all survived.

Davis' had an all school Christmas Assembly that featured carols we had never heard before and ended fittingly with Feliz Navidad. From the photos you can make out that it was sweat-through-your-shirt-warm and held outside. No one collapsed and it was fabulous to hear "Surfing Santa" and "Six White Boomers".

Davis and Vee got out for Christmas break on the 20th and it was a downhill run until Father Christmas arrived on the 25th. Our US Postal connection, Norwood Express, made sure everybody in the house got what they wanted- even at postage rates that will turn you into a Scrooge! As you can see Boogie Boards and rashies were the highlight and like true Aussies we downed our mimosas, gobbled our stolen and headed to the beach! 

New Years was a mellow affair, we stayed in and cooked crayfish, which are lobsters without claws. They are smaller than the cray's from the east coast but very tasty! With the help of a YouTube video I learned how to kill them humanely before we placed them on the barbie! Happy New Year!

Next stop Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

To keep the timeline honest, we have just arrived home from vacation, but I couldn't post KI photos before Christmas.

More to come.

Soon.

OX-
Evangeline and crew

P.S. The kids also completed a week long sailing camp called "Tackers" it is a government sponsored sailing program geared to get kids on the water. Notice there are no pictures, as it is the first time my kids have done any sailing without me controlling the whole thing- I had to stay away, old habits die hard. Of course they loved it. It was well run and so organized I have nothing but praise for the program. It's official, I am retired!