Summertime… and the living is easy

Christmas on Sapphire Beach

This will be remembered as the summer holiday where Dylan discovered books. Chapter books that grip you ‘til the very end. Unfortunately he can’t read, so it is also the summer holiday that Jason and I tag-teamed on endless chapters of Fantastic Mr Fox and the Usborne book of Illustrated Stories for Boys.

It will also be remembered as the holiday where Sam slept in a big boy bed for the first time. A trundle bed that rolled beneath Pete’s study daybed. Much comfier than the travel cot, but the cause of desperate attempts to get him to stay there at night time. Up and down, up and down until after 9pm most nights. We dropped the day naps in the end.

It is the first holiday where Dylan and Sam have really played together, constantly and for long periods even though it usually ends in tears. Setting up camps and schools on the deck, digging enormous holes on the beach. Sam really missed sharing a room with his big brother, and on the first morning woke him up with a hearty “I miss you, Di-Da!” Poor Dylan was lucky to get any sleep-ins at all, Sam was always so keen to set off to the beach (with his big brother) from the moment he awoke.

The soundtrack to this summer holiday includes Jingle Bells (sung by Sam, nosily), It’s Raining Men (which Dylan and Sam think is a hilarious concept) and Sk8ter Boi, which Dylan thinks is all about him, as Santa came good on the promise of a skateboard. This hasn’t been tested on a ramp yet though – its main purpose so far is as a make believe car ferry boat transporting matchbox cars up and down the deck. I’m quite happy to leave it this way.

Santa found us, thanks to the various notes Dylan carefully left around the house. He was instructed (by Dylan) to leave his gifts at the foot of the wood burning stove. Dylan explained to me earnestly that Santa would definitely fit down the narrow chimney “’cos it’s magic, mum”. Sam preferred all of Dylan’s presents to his own, but was quite happy with his Lightning McQueen racing track once the batteries made it work.

We've fit our usual north coast activities in between many trips to the beach and lazy afternoons on the deck. Mooching around Bellingen estate agent windows, pretending we have enough cash to buy a Promised Land retreat. Coffee at Riverstone and Lodge 241 cafes, the butterfly maze, the steam train at Glenreagh and the not-quite-as-exciting mini railway at the Clog Barn. We have managed to avoid the Big Banana, apart from the thrilling game of being the first to shout Bingo! when we see it on our many trips back and forth.

Today was the day of the Big Wave – the tsunami of Sapphire that knocked Dylan off his feet and sent Sam wailing. It took out the whole beach shoreline and swept our beach bag out to sea. Luckily Jason rescued a damp copy of Fantastic Mr Fox, otherwise we would never know what happened next.

Crashing back to reality, via the holiday traffic snarl, on Tuesday. It has been such a good break I can hardly bear to think about it. Happy New Year!