Mimi's taking on 20!

She caught me by surprise! And now she's the big 2-0! Don't daughters grow up just too quickly, and all you want to do is say "Wait! Stay in that frock just a little longer! Let me put those ribbons back in your hair!" but there they've gone and got all grown up...

I've seen three little girls go from messy-ice-cream-afternoons to tea-and-home-baked-coffee-cakes. I've watched them graduate from pigtails to each of their signature hairstyles. And I've definitely been their biggest fan since the 90's! So of course it thrills me to bits when another one of them turns a year older, and what more when a certain someone hits that big ol' milestone... it's the giant hullabaloo T-W-E-N-T-Y for our Mimi!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!

We had a giant slice of very yummy early birthday cake at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo last week. (Phew, I'm still recovering from the unpacking! Yes, we did THAT much shopping! ... LOL! - an appropriate time to use this internet interjection, I think! Thinking about all that shopping does make me LOL!)

We found Mimi a perfect pal in this little Bobby Dazzler! His tag in the boutique read "I know the words to all the musicals!" Cute, I said, we've got to get him now! Mimi's a big fan of musicals. We all are!

To my all-grown-up Mimi, on your big day:
 The years ahead are full of promise, and you're just getting started. I can't wait to see where life takes you! Go your own way, but always remember this: The shiniest accessory a girl can have is a smile... so grin always, laugh often, and never ever sweat the small stuff!
 Go boldly into the future, my talented daughter with the perfect hair :)

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance... I hope you dance !

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance

  Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance

 When you get the choice to sit it out or dance,

DANCE!

(psst... and we all know you're quite the dancer!)

Congratulations, Mimi! And shine on, you crazy, crazy diamond girl :)

Love always

Your momma Yol

December's thrills!

It's January but my head's still in December! After all, it does feel like it all just happened yesterday... because it did!

Nick, Mimi, Kim and Ben were my happy companions on our year end trip to Gold Coast in the last week of December... And it was thrill after thrill from the word go! We had all our bags packed in lightning speed and once we arrived we went straight for Dreamworld, which everyone was looking forward to! And spent much of the next few days roaming the coast, hopping on a ferry or two, hitting the beach, popping in Ripley's Believe It or Not and pretty much shopping till we could lift no more shopping bags!

Checking out our silhouettes... we sent these to Mel and Alfred back at home and they knew exactly who was who!

Mimi waiting for Ben to have his portrait drawn...

or ... posing for a portrait herself? ;)

We all watched as Ben had his portrait drawn... sweet!

 Holding still and sitting pretty... Ben really concentrated on holding that pose and...
the effort paid off!

 

 The result!

Ben was pleased to share the picture with the tiger, especially!

The kids even took turns getting a ride from Big Brother Ben! He's good at the wheel!

And this was their cute vintage ride!

Yup... everyone was suitably gleeful!

And something I like to do when we're in any city with a viewing deck is to... see what there is to see from up on high at a viewing deck. We went to the SkyPoint Observation Deck for a bird's eye view of the city and it was breathtaking!

Another highlight: surprises from Nick!

Nick took it upon himself to hit the arcade and win the girls some New Year's pressies... in all, that little man took a grand haul of: one cuddly stuffed kangaroo, a yellow bouncy ball, and a bagful of marbles! Way to go!

 

 He's pretty good with claw machines, and we're glad about that!

Of course the girls got busy on a dance machine of some sort... naturals!

The greatest joys of holidays is wandering about and discovering beauty... and I sure know that if there's one place you're going to find beauty, that's going to be the beach!

Off we went...

There was no way we were going to miss the beach... and neither was Ben's new stuffed white tiger!

In a surprising change of priorities, Nick decided not to take a little dip in the Pacific Ocean, but he was very glad to get a little sun and let his hair get ruffled by the sea breeze...

He's been such a dear, being the "muscles" on the trip and watching out for his brother and sisters, and I'm proud of him!

Our days were filled with windswept hair... 

strolls along the boardwalk...

and sunshine on our backs!

 

And wait till you hear this... to wrap up our whirlwind tour of this coastal city, our flight home was a mini adventure in itself... Due to the rough weather, we had to stop over in Kuala Lumpur for a little while to refuel and wait for the skies to cooperate a little more. This meant an additional few hours on the plane, listening out for "Hello, this is your captain speaking with the latest update..." As you can imagine, it was Nick who was thoroughly pleased at the rush of this little turn of events but not so much our fussy Mister Ben!

So all I can say at the end of it all is... boy, was that an adventure or what!

Relieved at finally reaching home, the girls found it absolutely necessary to propose a dainty little toast with their miniature Baileys shots over our New Year's Eve dinner yesterday!

Girlies setting up the little shot glasses...

Well... cheers to a brand new year! 

In this world where we live, there should be more happiness...
So much joy you can give to each brand new bright tomorrow!

Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love!

Yours always,

Yol