Hot, then cold, then wet, then dry

It's a long weekend here in Oz, and in the typical style of bank holidays around the world, the weather has been rubbish. It's bizarre because on Friday it was 35 degrees and with Rob at work, I decamped to the beach with the girls. Even that offered no respite as though there was a breeze, it was a hot one. The girls discovered the joy of having a front verandah, set up the deckchair and plonked themselves down with a few books. We all slept badly on Friday night and I even had to get up at 2am for a cold shower to help me sleep.

Bizarre then to wake up on Saturday to torrential rain. We managed to fill the day however with ballet, a bit of shopping and an afternoon visit from my friend Cerentha and her children Jack and Lu.

Saturday night Rob's quite inebriated brother Craig arrived for the night. Every year he and a bunch of mates come down to Sydney for the Rugby League Grand Final. They start drinking on Saturday morning before they get on the plane from Brisbane (oh to be a passenger on that flight) and then are transferred by minibus to a bar on the northern beaches where they continue to drink. At some point while he can still stand, he then usually gets in a cab and comes and sees us for the night. This year Rob and Scarlett drove into the city and picked him up from his hotel and while the rest of his mates hit the bars, Craig came for dinner with us. As always there was much to talk and laugh about and more wine and scotch was drunk.

The clocks went forward on Sunday morning so, as well as waking an hour short of sleep, we were all a bit worse for wear. Rob had to get up at 6am and go to work after only 4 hours sleep. The girls and I waved Craig off in a taxi at 8.30, heading back to the city to meet up with his mates for a special rugby breakfast complete with more drink, before the game that night. I don't know how he does it. Funniest of all, they don't even go to the game to watch it live - they watch it on a big screen tv in a bar, something you think they could do from their homes in Brisbane.

Yesterday was a bit of a strain for me, stuck indoors on a rainy day with a hangover and sleep deprived with two children who were raring to go. Making use of piles of previously unplayed with cuddly toys served us well for a couple of hours as did a trip to the park in the afternoon once the rain stopped. Once he got home, Rob popped out again to the dr to be diagnosed with bronchitis. Needless to say it was an early night for us last night.

Today the rain has cleared, the sun is shining and we are off to the park to start teaching Scarlett to ride her bike without her training wheels. I can still remember my Dad running alongside my bike in our street and me cycling without training wheels for the first time and turning to my Dad, only to find he was back at the end of the street and that I had done it all by myself. Knowing Scarlett's temperament I doubt the same fond memories will be formed today.