Sunday at the beach

I'm terribly behind in updating this little blog of mine.  The new year is well and truly underway and it's off to a positive start.  Tim started back at work after a few weeks off at Christmas time and Ella has started day care two days a week and is absolutely loving it.  Although I'm not quite used to the quietness of the house when she's not here, I've already seen changes in her confidence when she is around other children and my favourite part of the day is when we are driving home and she rattles off all the things that she did with such excitement that she is almost stuttering because the words are spilling out so quickly.  Family life has fallen back into a nice little routine after a haphazard break over the new year, I'm finding my feet again with a renewed sense of positivity.

The weather has been stinking hot here lately so when the kids woke early this morning we took advantage of the fact and drove down to Clifton Gardens to go for a swim.  Our early start meant that there weren't many people around and we were free to swim with barely anybody around.  The water was a beautiful temperature.  Tim took Ella in and I took Lucas into the water for what was his very first beach swim (coincidentally this was the same beach that we took Ella to for her first swim).  He loved it.  His trademark grin was plastered on his face the whole time.   Because there are no waves at this particular beach, it's a much more relaxing experience when you're with kids than going to a surf beach.  We spent quite a bit of time in the water all playing together and it actually felt quite relaxing.  Usually I'm a bit on edge because Ella has no fear of the water and usually just charges straight into the waves without understanding the consequences.

As much as I wish the kids would sleep in past 5.30-6am each morning, I am thankful for the early starts in a way when we get our butts into gear and actually make use of the time like we did today.  The best part was that we were on our way home at 10.30am and it already felt like we'd had a full day!  We were home before lunch which meant I still had so much time to potter around and get things done around the house.  I feel like I accomplished a lot today.  I like that feeling.