A Very Moggy Aussie Christmas

Well, we had everything!  The big man found us, the sun shone and the "snow"came.  We ate, we drank, we celebrated and commiserated. Did I mention we ate....and ate..and ate....

Stephs fudge.  Yumm.

All ready for the kids in the morning.  Nice work Santa.

Out like a light.  No matter where you lie your head...the big man knows where to find you.

A Christmas stoking 'aint a Christmas stocking without the obligatory choc coins.

The only day of the year where it is totally acceptable to have champagne for breakfast....except for Melbourne Cup Day...Grand Final day....your birthday....any day that ends in Y really!

Nice work Santa.

A tad excited.  

We are all dreaming of a white Christmas...right?

Be careful what you wish for.  They say if you don't like the weather in Melbourne wait five minutes.  We had prawns under the midday sun for lunch and by four in the afternoon we had a white Christmas.

Yes....it is Summer here in Melbourne.

With no power it was a quite a Silent Night...pun intendend.

But true to form Melbourne put on a beautiful Boxing day which we spent in the countryside.

With another stash of present to open.  Have you ever seen a cuter pair of slippers?  I tried to wear them but I was like the ugly stepsister in Cinderella trying to shove my 39's in there.

With protection in place it was time to start the Nerf war....NO PRISONERS!!!!

...while mummy settled for something more bubbly.

Did I mention we ate.....

....and ate...and ate.

Cousins.

A game of Bocce on the grass.

A bit of a rest tucked up in a blanket.

The kids had not seen their cousins for a while and as always it amazes me how they just pick up where they left off.  It was so great to reconnect again.

No matter how old you are a tent is hours of fun.  We had a real mixed bag this Christmas but the one thing that was consistent was how great it was to see everyone again.

The Other Big Day in December

A rare known fact is that there is ANOTHER big day in December.  Just because I am not busy enough at Christmas time....Nick and Christopher celebrate their birthdays together.  We had a lovely day enjoying the Melbourne sunshine during the day at the zoo and then paying homage in the evening to that other religion in Melbourne, sport, by attending a Melbourne Derby in soccer, Hearts V's Victory.

Christophers handy work making birthday paper for daddys present.

Ok, so the d's are backwards and I'm Dani not Deni but a good effort I thought.

Scarletts pictures of our family.  Gee I hope it is Nick with the crazy hair.

Scarletts attempt at her name.  Not a bad effort I thought.

A bit of a picnic on the grass....yes....we got to sit on the grass!

Happy Birthday to my favourite boys.

and.....just because we could...a roll on the grass!

We had to have the good old Safeway mud cake.....and it was GOOD!

A birthday hug from Nanny.  Haven't had one of those for a couple of years.

On a beautiful Melbourne night...the roof was off and it was time for some grown up fun.

Out first visit to the purpose built AAMI stadium.

The Melbourne Victory fans having a little bit of a sing along.  So great to see such support for "the beautiful game" in Australia.

Not quite a fairy tale ending as our team lost but a great day in our beautiful home town.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas fom the Moggys. Here in Aus the presents are all unwrapped and the prawns are begging to be eaten for lunch. Thank you all so much for stopping by this year. The Mekong Madness really started just to keep my family up to date with our adventures. Thanks to the encouragement of so many of you it has become a little more. So happy to have been able to give people some holiday ideas or suggest a new place to eat. I hope to continue next year with lots of adventures to be had and food to be eaten. My musings are purely that. My take on our life here. We are blessed to have a chance to experience it and would just like to thank you for visiting. A special thanks for the comments. It's always lovely to know I am not talking to myself. So stay safe this festive season and may 2012 be all you dream it to be.

A Day In The Country.

We just spent a blissful 24hrs in country Victoria.  The kids had an amazing time running though the bush  with the smell of eucalypts and the squawking of sulphur crested cockatoos as our backdrop.  We have just gotten home and they have put themselves to bed for a nap at 2.00pm.  Must be all that country air.

What better way to start than fresh salmon and cucumber sandwiches.

and peanut butter and jam for the kids.  You could tell counting calories was not on the agenda for this 24 hours.

The kids wait all year for this very special Christmas Train to come out of the box.

Time to head off to feed the ducks.

Going nuts on the swings.

Can you almost smell it?  Divine.  There was a little chill in the air and a little spring in our step.

Why walk when you can ride?

Quintessential Australia.

Time for a rest stop.

We just love eating like this.  Little bites of deliciousness. The dark stuff on the right is actually pickled walnuts.

Oh my....it was all so good.  Country Victorian produce is some of the best you will taste.

But there is aways room for a little desert.

I have loved this stuff since I was a kid.

...and then on to a healthy dinner.  How's that for fish'n'chip shop burger?

Searching for four leaf clovers in the garden.  One of them was patient...the other one....not so much.  Bet you can guess who found this.......

Nice work Quiddy!

A wonderful 24 hours getting reacquainted with the Aussie bush.