The Dower Family

As a real little boy, Ollie is a big fan of anything that moves fast so it isn't a great shock that we would be hearing "ready setty go!" a fair bit as he launches himself down the hallway, off the couch or around the yard. But this week it has evolved with the addition of his favourite day of the week - as in "ready, Saturday, GO!". I love it. A great cheer for the weekend! Something else that I am loving this week is our neighbourhood Christmas party. We went to our friend's Jim & Jenna's house on Friday night for a neighbourhood get together. I didn't realise that there were a few kids in such close proximity to our house so it was lovely for Ollie to be able to play with kids close to his own age. He rode down there on his little bike so he was pretty popular, especially as he was willing to share it with the others (well, sort of willing). Perhaps it was this cool accessory that saw him win the heart of a little lady, Lou Lou from nex...

10 more sleeps until Christmas and there is one word that is getting used a lot around this place - Santa! Last year Christmas was just another day for Obear (albeit one with lots of presents and food) but this year he is definitely aware that something is going on. The area where we live is in Christmas overload and there is one particular big wooden sign of Santa which seems to adorn the roof of each and every business nearby. It is quite weird, I've never seen anything like it but it is lovely and festive. Plus it keeps Ollie occupied in the car spotting them all. If only Ollie's enthusiasm for Santa extended to the live variety. The other week we took him to see Santa with the hope of getting another beautiful photo (see December blog last year to refresh your memory). We were the first in line at opening time and after 20 minutes of waiting he got his chance to talk to the big man. No surprises for guessing that he was not a fan. We let the next kids in line go ahe...

It always get to this point in the year when you've just had enough of work and desperately need a holiday, even though the Christmas break is just around the corner. Well this year we recognised that we just needed to get away a few weeks ago and booked ourselves into the most amazing house for a week at Peregian beach. This beach is not far from Noosa but a million miles away in terms of its laid back approach. We were lucky enough to spend a week with just the three of us rattling around a giant house on the beachfront with days filled with nothing more than walks along the beach, swims, delicious meals, baby cinos, snoozes and some drinks in the evenings. I think one of the best parts had to be our early morning walks along the beach. Once upon a time a holiday would involve a good sleep in. Not so with Ollie bear but you do really get your value for money when your days are twice as long as the average person. Most mornings we embraced this by taking our bucket and goin...