I'm BAAAACK!

What a week and a bit it has been.

The Mermaid arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We took her to see the block (obligatory), took her to the 3 o'clock dog group, had fish and chips for dinner (another obligatory activity) and we set off on Wednesday morning after (you guessed it) doughnuts and coffee.

The drive on the first day was brilliant. We drove East up the coast to Cann River where we turned left onto the Monaro highway and over the mountains to Cooma where we stopped for lunch and a bit of a walk to stretch our legs. The countryside was glorious and the weather was perfect. We kept going, bypassing Canberra's southern suburbs, onto the Federal Highway and thus to Goulburn where I had booked an inexpensive but quite adequate room for the night. The chap that booked us in was the spitting image of One, right down to the way he spoke. I asked for a recommendation for dinner ... "Well, I'm Australian and you can't go past a fucking pub and a bloody good steak!" The pub was, indeed, very good. Busy with an open fire and great food.

The next morning we had planned to mosey around Goulburn, have a coffee and fill the car. It was bloody freezing - we had to wait for the ice to melt off the windscreen - so we skipped the coffee and hit the road. 

An hour or so down the freeway my car kindly informed me that I had insufficient fuel! I had about 48kms left in my tank. Fortunately we had hit the outskirts of Sydney and my GPS found me a petrol station and we rectified our lapse of memory on leaving Goulburn (I blame the freezing temps). Thank god it didn't happen earlier or I would have learned how my Hyundai roadside assist works.

I dropped The Mermaid off at her mother's place without further incident and made my way to Two's place. 

It was lovely seeing them all and we did some fun things. In no particular order: Two reminded me how to use a camera (we couldn't use mine because I hadn't been able to find the battery charger - I have since bought one). I went to Audrey's 100 days of school celebrations, her gymnastics and her footy game (I use that term very loosely - one kid seemed more intent on finding out how many spinny whizzies he could do before falling over with no idea of where the ball was or interest in it if it came anywhere near him and the rest of the team were just as hilarious to watch!) We had lunch out a couple of times. We went to the beach and the girls played in the sand. We went to a water park and Granny was in charge of paddling only and failed miserably at that task - thank goodness there was an old towel in the back of the car. The girls and I did lots of craft activities. I got lots of baby cuddles from 8 month old Henry. 

The downside was how appalling behaved the girls are. "NO" and "I don't want to" seemed the default response to any question or request. Throwing things, kicking, biting, screaming tantrums, etc happened every day several times a day. Mads did warn me that they were trying to bring this behaviour under control by not reacting to it. I do think they are trying but I did see some examples of how and why the whole thing has got so bad. It was very hard to stay out of it all and a couple of times I was able to get the girls to calm down by distracting them. Henry was unwell while I was there with a fever and a runny nose so he also contributed to the general level of chaos.

I have been invited to go up in November for a couple of birthdays and if I can manage it I will. Partly to see the kids for the birthdays and also to see if they have managed to bring some order back into their lives.

I think they could do with some family counselling as it is more than just children misbehaving and a lot is down to their parenting style but not my kids, not my business. It was very sad to see, though. Nobody was really happy.

I picked The Mermaid up on Tuesday morning and we left Sydney via the harbour tunnel and I was very proud of myself for braving the traffic and negotiating the roads. I did get slightly lost at one point even with my trusty GPS but we got back on track and had a lovely drive down the south coast stopping for lunch at Bulli.

We stayed the night at Narooma in another inexpensive but comfortable motel. We mosied down to the pub, had a couple of drinks in the bar and then had dinner in the bistro. Another excellent country pub with another open fire and the best pork knuckle I have ever had. The Mermaid had a fish pie which she declared the best she had ever had.

Yesterday morning we filled the car up (not making the same mistake twice in one trip!), had breakfast and hit the road. It was a long drive through some beautiful country. My mistake was having breakfast before leaving. If we had waited for an hour or so we could have had brunch in a country town and a proper break. As it was I drove for nearly 6 hours which was bloody stupid. By the time I realised I needed a break we were in an area with no towns in which to stop so we pushed on until we got home.

Last night we went to our local pub to celebrate the Mermaid's birthday (Monday). We had a lovely meal and came home for a bit more of a chat before I couldn't stay awake any longer.

This morning the Mermaid left for home after a cuppa. Himself and I attempted to walk the dogs but the rain and the wind beat us.

We went into Bairnsdale to have a look at window coverings as we have decided we don't like what we have chosen. We bought some artificial plants to replace the live ones the cats keep eating, a new printer and signed up for solar panels on the new build (whenever that happens!).

A late lunch and a proper walk with the dogs (still bloody cold but I'd rather be here than anywhere else) and I am now chatting to you with a scotch and soda. 

Lamb backstraps for dinner (I missed Himself's cooking) and life is slowly returning to normal.

We have been here nearly seven weeks and it feels a lot longer. I am over the moon that I have no trips planned for another seven weeks when, at the end of September, I will be returning Sally home after a holiday with us and then attending the Mermaid's daughter's wedding. 

I want to feel that Lake's is well and truly home.