24/52 - together, again

Lily

The departure happened so quickly, I didn't even get time to comprehend that my little girl was flying to the opposite side of the country without me... for six days! Goodness, it was strange and my oh my, how I missed her! At the same time, it was beautiful to hear of the very special time she was having with her extended family and of course, Daddy. 

When she came home to me, it seemed she had aged at least a couple of years... walking all the taller from the experience of multiple air flights and a whole lot of adventure and attention! Girl of the world, and all that ;) 

After we welcomed our travellers home late Sunday evening (it was quite the exuberant airport reunion between the five of us!), Lily and I shared many snuggles as she poured out all her news about her journey. The next morning, we set ourselves up in the lounge room together, to do a little craft activity she had been given. We needed some time to reconnect - and how better to reconnect than over sequins, right? ;) We chit-chatted as we glued sequins to cardboard and all felt right in the world once more. 

'I love having girl time with you, Mama. I really, really missed you...' she told me seriously. 

Me too, baby girl. Seriously. xx

Eli

He missed his Daddy a lot. Like, a whole lot. 

While Lily and I glued sequins in the next room (and Miles napped), the boys set to work on their own project. Mark had bought Eli a very special gift while he was in Perth... his first Lego set. Something to add to Mark's own vast childhood Lego collection the kids now love to play with.

They bunkered down in our bedroom first thing in the morning, still cosy in PJ's and the joy of being together again. Step by step, they read through the instructions and Eli worked sooooo hard to build the entire kit pretty much by himself...a police van and a criminal's getaway car :) Mark mentioned several times to me how impressed he was by Eli's careful diligence at following the instructions and maneuvering all those tiny pieces. (Proud Dad moment!)

I snuck in to get a few snaps of this precious Father/Son time and Eli's beaming smile pretty much said it all, don't you think? He loves his Dad.

Miles

Meeting up with new friends for a playdate at the park, Miles found a new love. 

Pretty sure he could have spun around on this little spinny-thing (name???!) all day, he was having a blast. I think he felt pretty clever too ;) I couldn't stop laughing as I slowly spun the pole and he just stood there, rotating and admiring the view. So funny.

Argh, he's so cute!!

Mark

Patient hands, guiding his son through the instructions.

He provides help, but holds his hands back so that Eli can have the satisfaction of building with his own tiny, eager-to-learn hands. 

Project 52: A portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2014.

More highlights from the week that was...

I think the policeman has just made a couple of arrests!

Father and Son :)

'Mum, just take a photo of my animals riding on the cars'

Where does this thing go, anyway??

This kid loves to swing. And I'm addicted to his smile!

Just a sneaky little taste of his zipper, mid-swing

Big brother, always keen to make little brother happy :) Argghhh, I love this photo! My two sons :)