'Tis the season!

... to be jolly! and trust me, I love a good time! This holiday season is especially sweet, since Kim's gladly done with her A-levels. This means she's back in the scene after that godawful lengthy study period that we had to put up with - hmph! She's been missing out on some of our family trips because of school, so we wasted no time in making up for it, starting with... A short getaway to Phuket - I'd been there two decades ago, perhaps, and had a swell time! (The all-time favourite memory was... going paragliding without knowing what exactly I was in for - without an inkling of what "paragliding" was! All I knew was, get strapped to this contraption, step off the -- wha?! step off the cliff?! And yeah the rest of that story ended in lots of screaming and laughing, need we say more? Oh the days of youth are great ones... You look back and think "WHAT WAS I THINKING!" and then you look at your kids and go... "Oh be still, my heart!")

Stories of my heyday aside... my best home-pals and I had a great time by the beach this December... and so many of our December vacations tend to sway in favour of pristine beaches and sunny isles...

Kim and Nick went straight into the surf... and were promptly soaked and bobbing about at the mercy of the playful waves, much to Nick's delight!

 And oh, the days and glee that followed... they were such dreams! We watched the sun rise and set on the deck of a fine boat, and drinks were aplenty on board... as you can see, beer was on the menu, also much to Nick's delight!

And on land, there was much adventure too - Ben was very excited to hear that elephants would feature greatly on this trip!

And Kim found a little baby runaway on the beach one morning... just stomping about, minding her own business!

 And, lesson of the morning: elephants have such curious trunks! 

 What did I say... elephants galore! 

Ahh... little trips to new places, especially with family, are one of the biggest joys!

How grand, and how lovely, to spend our days this way :)

So began the annual holiday fanfare! To celebrate Kim's graduation, and to congratulate Mimi on her University pursuits thus far, their Papa Alfie surprised them with a trip to Korea! The girls and I were watching KBS dramas one night, talking about possible future visits... and what do you know, Alfred went and got them that trip, with Nicky as their chaperone! Those lucky, lucky gals!

Mimi was all smiles aboard, tucking into what was to be the first of many Korean snacks~ 

 This was one of the first pictures they sent home... wandering someplace on the way to a cave, I believe!

 

Those cold December days, with a little snowfall every now and then, will surely be some lasting memories!

And it's so nice to find kids that get along so famously, and no matter how far from home, always find time to write back and say "Hey Momma!"

In typical fashion, these kids went out and got ice cream one night, in spite of the cold, because Nick insisted that "In a cold place such as this, you can take your time with your ice cream!"

That cheeky boy...

You never know what to expect from him! And when he returned home, glad to escort his well-looked-after sisters, that little man looked just a little bit taller!

Mel, Alfred, Ben and I had our own little road trip while those three were set loose upon Korean soil, but we were -- as always -- glad to have them home... especially with all that Korean shopping!!!

Good night, and happy December (speaking of which, we finally put those nice ol' Christmas decorations up on the tree!)
Yol

P.S. Kim's got some photos up on her blog here... Click, click, click here for Kimmy's blog! 
so you know where to go for more on that girl's fun!