You didn’t think that was it, did you? HA! Much more Christmas photo spam coming your way, this time of the seaside variety…
After the usual Christmas fanfare with my family, we always head down to Matt’s family at Inverloch. We have debated doing it the other way around many times, but I really like the way we mosey on down to the sea on Boxing Day and, altogether now…exhale. We spend a relaxed few days at my in-law’s, with more cousins and much more food. Traditionally we do a few big fish on the barbecue, this year ocean trout with some amazingly delicious salads and vegetarian fare. So grateful that everyone in my family and my married-into family appreciate food and feeding others as much as I do, makes for a fairly good time, full bellies and happy smiles sharing dishes at family gatherings…
We were good parents for a moment and took our children to the beach, I’m pretty sure it was Harriet’s first dip in the ocean – despite having regularly been at Inverloch since she was born, we are not beach people. And still aren’t. We came, we swam, we got covered in sand…and promptly proclaimed that we were still not beach people. Nope nope nope. Back to the grass and freshwater water fights thanks very much!
I always feel lucky to have this place by the sea, our home away from home, gratitude I always try to keep front of mind – but this year particularly I tried to soak in not just the place (which is very special to us, Matt’s great-grandparents generation originally settled the street which now bears his mother’s maiden name) but the people we get to share it with. In my family the girls’ cousins are a touch older, big cousins to help Eleanor and Harriet, but in Matt’s family mostly the cousins are all that pre-school/toddler range, which makes for a busy beautiful mess mostly! Just the way Christmas should be…
Do you have a special place with special people?
One that spans generations?
Gratefully blessed this Christmas, full of thanks and worn down by life with toddlers, but with a new tribe of Westerns to keep the Inverloch love going.
Even if we aren’t beach people.
