Goodbye to the Australians

Having kids has made time speed up faster than it ever was when I was a kid and time, particularly in the summer, seemed to stand still.

But this year has flown and today we had to say goodbye to our friends and neighbours for the past 8 months. It has been so lovely having built in new friends from the moment we got here, and way back in September May seemed a long long way off. There were rarely two kids around the place this year, it would range from none (they were all next door) to 5 on any given day.

Henry in particular became a fixture around our kitchen table, showing up each weekend morning at promptly at 8 a.m. (because his folks wouldn't allow him to come earlier) to play Dungeons and Dragons with C. They could get lost for hours in their make believe sessions, once the weather turned warmer - their games took them to the neighbours backyard and the forest beyond, slaying creatures with sticks, or spying.

And sometimes they would spend ages just rocking gently in the hammock - talking about who knows what.

M misses Henry too and though his parents gave us all three boys' ug slippers, M won't take Henry's off.