So Saturday morning began with Quinn and I taking a tram into town to pick up the hire car. Note for future self: do not hire a car that you have to drive out of a tiny car park in the middle of Melbourne, onto a street that has trams and you have to do a hook turn to get out of. We picked up the Hyundai Staria and popped home to pick the boys up for our trip down to Geelong for the day. It didn’t take too long to get the hang of driving the car, after hiring the same kind of car last year for our ski trip, though I do prefer the Kia over the Hyundai.

We arrived in Geelong just before lunch to hang out with our dear friends Cal and Nathan and their three gorgeous kids. I have known these guys since 2008, and they were the first couple I ever married as a celebrant. Our kids have grown up “together” from a distance and it didn’t take long before they were chatting like no time had passed at all.

I had never been to Geelong, so it was lovely that they could show us around a bit and hang out with us for the day. Cal and I crammed in as much catching up as possible and it was nice not to have to rush to get anywhere. We left just after 6pm, and I dropped the kids back to the airbnb to Gran and Grumpy before heading to the airport to pick up Marty. It wasn’t a particularly smooth pick up, as neither of us are very familiar with Melbourne airport, but we got there in the end and headed back for a late dinner.

The next morning we had another relaxed time getting ready, then set off after 10am to head down to Sorrento to visit Frith’s aunty and uncle and cousin and her two kids. We all adore Aunty Alida and Uncle Wayne, and it was so lovely that Sarah was there with her kids to play with my kids, aka, their cousins.

We feasted on home-made pizza from the pizza oven, the best meatballs my kids have ever tasted, as well as other delicious food (as always). The kids had amazing time playing backyard cricket and then we took to the no through road they live on with a couple of billy carts. There is the perfect slope for the kids to get a bit of speed up without it being (too) terrifying for us parents watching on! The kids had an absolute blast and by the time 4pm rolled around and it was time to go, it was quite hard tearing them away from all the fun.

We had another easy night at the airbnb with Uncle Khicken and Aunty Kate, with game after game of Bananagrams, and not worrying too much about getting the kids to bed at any particular time.

The next morning we met up with Dr Luke and his nearly two-year-old daughter, at Ceres environmental centre for a play date and a (very expensive) coffee (served in an “edible” eco-cup). The kids adored looking after Evelyn and again, as always, it was awesome to catch up wtih Dr Luke, and he loved seeing his Godson (Chance) growing up to be a lovely young man.

We kindly dropped the kids back to Gran and Grumpy for some chill time at the bnb before Marty and I set off to explore some local coffee shops and of course some op-shops! We found three within a very short tram ride that I had never been to before which was a treat! We found a few bits and pieces and leisurely made our way back for our final night in Melbourne.

The next morning we packed up the place with only Chance around, as Aunty Kate took the three younger kids for the morning. We met everyone, including Marty’s sister and partner at Stomping Ground for our usual visit there to finish our lovely holiday.

It has taken me over a decade to figure it out, but I finally know that when I plan a holiday, I need to only plan for one thing with the kids each day. If I do that, the rest and relaxation will take care of itself. I really appreciate all the time K&K spent with us almost every day, and to everyone who we got to have wonderful, quality time with. I returned with a full heart and and two suitcases of dirty washing to get through, but thanks to Marty, even that wasn’t a chore. Thanks to Gran and Grumpy for coming along for the ride, and for everything you helped out with while we were away. This will go down as one of my favourite holidays ever 🙂