Holidays!

Howdy, we're baaaaack! We had a really nice time, despite one or two hiccups. Read on!

Tuesday, 3rd Oct.

Ruby wakes me in the wee hours of the morning and she's burning hot, like a little roast chook in pyjamas. I bring her to our bed and dose her with Panadol, thinking "typical!". She dozes fitfully for an hour then sits up and vomits all over me, herself and the bed. Lovely. After that she seems much better and sleeps peacefully until 4.30am, at which time she decides it's time to get up. I give her some dry toast and water which she keeps down, but her temp climbs again. Eight o'clock sees us waiting outside the local Medical Centre for the doors to open. Ruby screams her lungs out and people give me dirty looks. "Bring it on." I think to myself, daring them to make just one comment. We are second in line and the doctor sees us quickly. He's not what you would call a people person, but then if I worked at that place I wouldn't be either. A diagnosis of either ear infection or UTI and some antibiotics and we are right to go.

The car is finally packed and ready to go by 11am and we head north. Ruby is asleep literally before we leave the drive way, but once she wakes up she is a nightmare and screams peircingly until we reach the McDonalds at Wyong just after 2pm. Brett and I are both on edge and I have a sinking feeling that this holiday is going to be a disaster. Still, Ruby perks up after a drink and a couple of chips and I give her a dose of antibiotics and some more panadol. We get back in the car pretty soon after lunch and keep going. Ruby repeats her performance and I spend the trip trying to make her shut up. Nothing works. We finally arrive at Salamander Bay just after 4pm. THANK GOD.

Things look up when we see our accomodation, which is a self contained cabin in a holiday park. We are really impressed- the place has a big lounge room, good kitchen, a laundry and 2 bedrooms connected by the bathroom. Plenty of room for the kids to spread out. We start unpacking, but Ruby is going downhill again and throws up in the kitchen and then again, all over my shirt. I bath her, give her a 'sip' (what she calls her bedtime feed) and put her to bed. She is asleep instantly, poor little darling. Then I make dinner for everyone else and get the boys off to bed too. Brett and I are hoping for a quiet evening to recover from the day, but obviously that was never going to happen! Ruby's temperature goes up again at 9pm so I take her into my bed, give her more panadol and cross my fingers. Eventually she's asleep again, and soon so am I.



Wednesday.

Everyone is up early, and I am so relieved to have made it through the night with no more vomiting! It's the little things, really. Ruby seems much much better and she eats some toast and some crackers for breakfast. We all head into the shopping centre at about 8.30am to get some groceries. The day has started off beautifully sunny, but pretty soon the clouds roll in. We get back to the cabin and it immediately starts pouring rain! Bloody hell. The boys are upset as they wanted to go to the beach, but within 15 minutes the shower has past so we walk down to the end of the road to a little reserve at the beach. The boys run straight onto the sand, but Ruby is quite hesitant at first, not liking the way her feet sink into the sand. She soon gets over that and has a lovely time playing at the water's edge. It's still fairly grey and chilly though, and I take Ruby back early to pop her down for her nap. That afternoon it clears up some more and we take the kids to an animal farm where they can feed the baby animals, pat a koala and all that. Ruby shrieks when a cow looks at her, but she enjoys patting the soft baby goats. Simon and Declan have a go at milking a cow and Simon discovers he is a natural at it. We also go on a tractor ride around the farm. Dinner that night is a much more pleasant affair, now that Ruby is herself again. After she goes to bed, Brett and the boys and I play a couple of rounds of Go Fish. Declan tells me to "Go Fish, baby!" and laughs hysterically.



Thursday.

The day dawns gorgeously warm and sunny. We take the kids to Shoal Bay beach and show them where Mummy and Daddy got engaged. (Sounds really romantic! It wasn't...) We spend an idyllic morning on the beach as the children splash in the crystal clear water. I have a feeling of wanting to freeze them all in that moment, there is nothing I could want more than that. Ruby stumps along on her fat feet to the edge of the water. "I sit! I sit!" she informs me and sits commandingly in the shallows as the little waves run over her thunder thighs. Then a big wave comes in a washes right over her face. Ruby is outraged and has to go and sit on her towel to get over the ordeal. Simon and Declan build sandcastles and play races with the waves. Eventually we have to go as it is getting hot and the sun is high. Brett puts the boys in the car as I try to strip Ruby's swimmers off her and then wash her bottom to get the sand out of her creases. She is greatly put out by that and tells me so. I notice an old lady watching me from the top of the walk way, and when I finally get Ruby dressed and am carrying her like a football under my arm to the car, the old lady says to me, "Oh the things we mothers have to do, dear!" I hear you sister!

We have a quiet afternoon. Brett goes on a bike ride by himself and I take the boys for a swim in the resort pool. In thelate afternoon I take the kids for a walk down to the local shops to buy an ice cream. Simon and Declan feel very grown up when I let them choose and pay for a postcard by themselves to send to Jack and Nathan. That night Brett gets fish and chips for our dinner, which is followed by more Go Fish.



Friday.

Our last morning, so we pack up and ger ready to go. The weather has turned again so we choose something indoors for our last activity and go to the Williamstown Airforce Base to look at the museum there. The kids are excited to get to sit in the cockpit of an old fighter jet, even Ruby who enthusiastically wiggles the joystck saying "bang bang!" WTF? where on earth did she learn that? We spend an hour there before heading back home. The trip back is slightly better then the one going and Ruby spends most of it asleep. We get back home in the late afternoon and I go on a looong walk all on my own to clear my head.

All in all it was a lovely time, and even Brett wants to go back next year. Will wonders never cease?