Christmas Morning Happy Snaps

Christmas morning was so fun...... and busy! The girls opened their presents - Santa brought them a new doll each which they were so excited about, and then we had an ichat with the Carmichael's and with the Challis'. It was then go go go to get ready and out the door on time for lunch at the Ainslie's house. We had a wonderful day - it was very different from our normal Christmas day - usually spent with family, but it was still really nice. Maria cooked us a yummy roast turkey with all the trimmings and it was nice to share in some of the Ainslie family traditions. We stayed there all day and were having so much fun we didn't even take a photo (I stole the one below from facebook that Laura, Maria's daughter took!!!)

Leilani and Emily on Christmas morning...

Last Day at Hollies

I think I was more sad than the girls on their last day at the Children's Centre! Although I actually felt quite calm on the day - it was the week before that I was getting a little emotional! The girls were sad to say goodbye too though, but I think they were just as excited to give everyone a special goodbye treat and collect all their things to take home. Sending the girls to Hollies this year was a big decision for us and we just hoped and prayed it was the right thing to do.... and it was. The pre-school system here is fantastic and we have all been so impressed with Hollies Nursery. The girls have loved it and learnt so much from the other children and the wonderful staff there. The girls were each given a book to take home which is full of art-work, photos and writings about some of the things they have said and done throughout the year, as well as a development chart. It has been nice for the girls to get to know so many other people here, but it has also been nice for me to have a weekly chat with some of the staff. We would never talk for long, but living here with no family around I really appreciated getting to know the staff and having a friendly chat a couple of times a week.

Leilani is really ready to start school and this year at Hollies has definitely helped prepare her for it. I'm so glad she is just going 2 days though as I don't think I'm quite ready to give her up for a full 5 days (which is what she would have done if we stayed here any longer).

A Visit with Santa

Just over the road from our place is Debenhams, which is a lot like Myer. I took the girls over to see Santa about a week and a half before Christmas - they were very excited and loved talking to him. He asked them to leave him a glass of milk out on Christmas Eve and a carrot for the reindeer. The girls answered all his questions and told him what they would like for Christmas!

Rainbow Colours Everywhere

Innsbruck Airport was tiny! Kind of like Hobart used to be before it had its massive upgrade and became huge!!!!!! We didn't have a long wait here, which was a bit sad really because there was a great play area for the kids (always the way!) They had a fantastic time in this ball pit and just a couple of minutes before we had to board the plane Emily finally got the courage up to go down the slide!

Leilani loved going down the slide and landing in the balls!

I think Emily looks so different in this photo - her hair is all straight from wearing a hat and even though they piked up for the play area they were both looking quite tired.... and hot from all the jumping around!

Innsbruck airport was small but awesome and walking out to board the plane felt, once again, a little surreal! We flew with EasyJet and the plane was nearly empty.

Looking back at Innsbruck Airport.

Out the plane window before take off...

... funny story actually - I was sitting by myself opposite Mick and the girls and for some silly reason I choose to sit near the isle. I had the camera sitting on my lap and thought I might take a photo of Mick and the girls later. When the Flight Attendant saw it she kindly told me I couldn't take photos during take-off, I said 'no worries' and weirdly thought to myself - as if I would want to take a photo during take-off anyway! So I quickly snapped this photo before we took off and then relaxed in my seat.

A few minutes later we were in the air and all of a sudden I remembered where we were and wondered why the hell I didn't choose to sit near the window. I'm sitting up trying to see as much as I can when it hit me why wouldn't I want to take a photo of THAT!!! The view was amazing and I'm so mad I couldn't take any pictures! Once the seat belt sign went off I quickly jumped over to the window and started snapping away. I'm leaning over to Mick saying how amazing it looks out there and he agrees - but not with as much anticipation as I would have expected! This was now my view.....

And it was only getting better.... the sky was filled with clouds, but now we were above the clouds and so were some of the mountain peaks! It just looked like a fairy tale!

The rainbow reflections from the window were a little annoying, but I guess they add some cool colour to the photos!

When I showed Michael the photos later I learnt that his view was actually different than mine.... and not quite as good. He could see mountains but then mostly cloud, with no peaks poking through (kinda weird that the view could be so different on different sides!) and he was wondering why I was so excited because although his view was pretty cool he didn't quite think it was all that great.... 'now I understand' he says! Later Mick took this shot of the sunset!

Our flight was only an hour and half and we flew over a couple of countries and back into the United Kingdom!!! Sounds so odd to us Australians! Back at Gatwick airport the girls found a massive Christmas tree to look at! We loved Austria and had a wonderful time, but once again it was nice to be heading home!

An Austrian Horse and Carriage Ride

Another market just around the corner from where we were staying was the Christkindlmarket. We decided to buy a Christmas snow globe here - it's pretty nice and will be a reminder of our (pre)Christmas in Austria. We also bought a little bell.... which was a bit random, but we like it! The atmosphere around these markets was nice and there were always lots of people around, mainly drinking Gluhwein - a popular and traditional beverage (mulled wine) drunk at Christmas markets in German-speaking countries (but now served at lots of other European Christmas markets). It's a warm drink and is usually spiced with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, citrus fruit and sugar. On our last night we tried some Kinder Punch - which is the non- alcoholic version. It was really nice actually but very sweet.

Don't these trees look lovely. The best thing about Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere is that it gets dark early - so you get to see the Christmas lights from about 4pm (and they are actually quite effective for most of the day too).

Emily wearing my shoes...

The local music making santa... he seemed to be around every corner you went! Danke!

I'm not real keen on those photos where you hold the camera up and click - cause I always look weird in them, but it's a bit sad that Mick and I never get to have our photo together - so we did it.... here we are in Innsbruck... together... freezing our butts off!

On our last morning we decided to fill in the time with a horse and carriage ride. It was really good and our guide was fantastic - although a little hard to understand at times! He told us heaps about Innsbruck and each of the buildings and how old things were and what they were used for. It was a really nice way to finish our holiday.