So, here (finally) are all the pics from the visit of my Dad, Susan and Rebecca in July. They flew out on my Dad's 60th birthday - and after 24 hours on a plane, he almost looked it!!!It was great to have visitors here, and we only wished they could have stayed longer. The kids loved seeing Papa, Nana Suze and Auntie Rebecca - you can see how excited Ella was here.
Didn't do too much during their week and a bit here (obviously had to consider my dad's advancing years), but did investigate Barwon Heads which is a little seaside town down the coast from Geelong. They were staying at a golf resort just outside Barwon Heads (didn't want to get too close to us...), and we had dinner in the town there one night - our first night outside Geelong!!
Also went for a quick walk along the shore in Geelong and my Dad found a new woman... She looks a bit fake if you ask me!
Packed them off on a tour of some local wineries in a 1935 Buick Sedan as my Dad's 60th birthday pressie - it looked awesome, and it's something that I hope Nick and I will get to do before we leave. This did mean we got to keep Auntie Rebecca for a sleepover and let her get jumped on by small children at an ungodly hour of the morning. 
We went off to Melbourne on the Saturday and absolutely loved it. It's a spacious, attractive, vibrant place with a really great feel to it. We particularly loved the Victorian (era, not State) shopping arcades with the domed ceilings and stained glass. Reminded me a lot of Leeds, or a posh Argyle Arcade if you like! Also really enjoyed the little narrow lanes running between the main shopping streets which are stuffed full of little bistros and cafes of all nationalities with tables and chairs (and patio heaters) for eating outside and watching the world go by.
On the news here the other day they were discussing whether the staff who stand outside trying to entice you in are too 'in your face'. Now, all they do is say something like 'Good afternoon, looking for lunch, would you like to see a menu?' I'm guessing that whoever finds that too much to cope with hasn't been to any of the Mediterranean tourist islands where it's nigh on acceptable to scoop family members off the street to get you to eat at their restaurant... but I digress...
Took just around an hour by train from Geelong and was cheap for all of us to get there, so bound to be an exercise we will repeat over the course of the year. Ella, of course is the unstable element in the train equation... To be fair, my Dad and Suze were sitting opposite (black) Sideshow Bob, but Ella staring at him, silent and unwavering, for the best part of an hour is bound to have given the poor man a complex which he may take some time to get over.
Decided we had to go to the top of the Eureka Skydeck
- the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere with a viewing platform on the 88th floor... which (considering that my Dad has always hated heights and I'm going the same way) was quite an undertaking. To be honest though, unlike, say, going up the Eiffel Tower, where you feel every clanking inch-by-inch rise, the lifts are so quick and smooth to the top that it feels very surreal when you step out on the 88th floor. But the views are amazing...
And finally, Fat Sponge and Rose Bigsie: Two dollies of freakishly real looks and the same size as Phoebe. Only one, I should point out, belongs to one of my daughters. I am saying no more... And, I would explain their names, except that it was so funny when it happened, and so not funny when I write it down that I don't think I'll bother! But you can be weirded out by the pictures anyway. Just imagine how I feel every time I walk into a room and find Rose Bigsie face down on the floor/under a chair/limbs akimbo. Sometimes I leave her in the driver's seat in the car to freak out passers by...
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