Eli and Liam took the pink scooter for a ride together and had a cuddle

Everyone having some fun building together (when they were not moaning about who had the tool/truck/wheel/etc.)

Father’s day’s have come and gone without too much fanfare, but today was different. It is just not a day that I’m fussed about, so I’m not really worried if anyone else makes a fuss about it or not. Yet, for some reason when I got out of bed this morning, and the first thing Grace said to me was, “Happy Father’s day, daddy,” and then later she said, “Today I really love you,” and then she brought out all the cards she and Donné had made, and gave me the gift Donné got for me, I just felt really loved, and special, and cared for. I love my family and I am blessed to have them. Thank you for making today special.

And thank you dad, for loving me. I love you dad.

Eli, the smooth operator

We had the lovely opportunity to go and meet Emma Bradshaw today. Grace says, “She’s so cute!” and “Look at her thumb, it’s so small.”

Thomas made a paper plane for Grace at school today and when she took it out into the garden she was worried it was going to fly over the wall. Donné says to her, “Grace, it won’t fly over the wall, there is no way that it will go over.”

Grace, in the wisdom of a 5 year old, says, “Yes it will go over,” marches up to the wall and throws it over….and then has a meltdown that the paper plane has gone over the wall and is lost forever. Sigh.

Fortunately it was pretty easy to get back. Unfortunately I’m unsure if life lesson sank in, even though we did try to emphasise how she decided to do something silly and hurt her own feelings. My words to her were, “Don’t be stubborn to the point of hurting yourself.”

Marius, one of my colleagues, was working at my office today. He arrived early and joined us for breakfast and was impressed that the plates were warm. Then Donné pulled this one out of the bag for lunch…

I was taking this photo when Marius came in, and he said, “Ah, photos for the Hotel Drennan blog.”

Thanks my love for taking care of us all in your brilliant way.

Grace’s swimming keeps getting better and better. Keep watching the video for the last part when she uses her special racing technique to beat the instructor.

Grace and Eli enjoy birthday parties. Grace finds some girls and then just has fun playing with them, and Eli potters around, eating chips, smiling and making friends, playing with toys and giving cuddles. We were are Matthew’s party today, and Grace got to hang out with some friends she hasn’t seen for a while.

The three girls, Grace, Isabel and Leah, hanging out and having fun at the party

Eli and Ben got some help checking out the musical table

Both of our children are feeling much better, with lots of laughs and giggles this afternoon. Both of them were laughing on the swing while I was dodging them, Eli was having a cackle in the bath when I said, “Don’t eat the baby!” after he put one of the little bath dolls in his mouth, and he was giggling away when turning the book back to the first page while we read. And his laugh is infectious – it especially seems to get his sister laughing along with him. We’re just very happy that they are both doing better.