hi daddy!

Finally after a week of Todd being in Auz without us, it was time for me and Gordy to join him! So, we packed up, said goodbye to Nana and Niele, fed the fish, harvested as much garden treasures as we could, and boarded our jetstar plane. 

The flight was a little bumpy for long enough that my belly got a bit unhappy. But, after a nice 2-hr sleep, I was back in action. We changed planes in Melbourne and then arrived in Sydney 14 hours later to see Todd, Muzz, and Mickle waiting for us at our gate exit! 

Our bag was the first one off the plane, so we grabbed it from the carousel and walked with our crew to their hotel and our car all the while catching up with the boys. Lots of hugs and promises of visits later and our Sells family was in our Tesla embarking on our 2+ hour journey north to Cessnock. 

Our Aussie adventure has begun!

happy leprechaun day

This year, Gordy decided that he was done trying to catch leprechauns. Despite his teacher and classmates best efforts to convince him that trapping leprechauns was the best thing to do, Gordy decided that he didn’t want to risk hurting the poor guy. So instead, he made a bowl of green confetti with a pipe cleaner ladder for the little fellow to play in. And, boy was he rewarded! The leprechaun left him a scavenger hunt that resulted in 9 gold coins.

He also peed in the toilet and turned the water green before ditching out the back door.  At least he didn’t trash the house like last year!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

surfer dude

Gordy has never shown much interest in surfing.  He'd occasionally tolerate Todd taking him out somewhere, but he'd much rather "bodysurf" tiny shore breaks or play around on his body board...  until this weekend.

On Friday, we went to Ehukai for sprints.  Todd had seen that there were some cool sand bars in front of the tower, so he'd brought a Gogo board just in case.  And, we were in luck.  There was a perfect spot for Todd to push Gordy into some little waves and he LOVED it!  Every time Todd would ask Gordy if he wanted to be done, Gordy would say, "More!".  

So, the next day, we decided to venture up to the same spot and we scored again!  Gordy had a few falls that didn't seem to phase him one bit and quite a few good rides.  One of them was so long that the video I took lasted 26 seconds!

Gordy is certain that he's a surfer now and it sounds like he's looking forward to his next session.  Yay!

december festivities

Gordy had been very patiently awaiting December and all that it brought.  And, now that it's over he's decided that it was the best December ever.  Here's some of the reasons why he loved it so much:

Tutu Ginger came to visit and while she was here we decorated Nana's Christmas tree and made Granny Goodwitch's Christmas cookies.

After many revisions, Gordy completed and mailed his list to Santa.

Gordy's elf came to life and went to the North Pole each night returning in the morning to a new hiding place.

We sipped hot cocoa with marshmallows while watching the Christmas parade from the side of the street in Haleiwa.

We spent a day on Maui with Nana and twins Hayden and Sebastian.

Gordy was pretty sure that he'd started to grow whiskers.

Salvation army gave us a free Christmas tree (still not sure how that happened).

Gordy found a pet toad, who quickly hopped away.

More cookie making with Gordy's friend Alia and her family.

On Christmas Eve, Gordy and I heard reindeer footsteps on the roof and Santa say "ho, ho, ho".

We left out cookies and wine for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, and hung our stockings with care.

And, most importantly... Santa came and filled our stockings!

End of year swim

As is tradition for the last 8 years, we rallied the troops and completed our 78 hundreds (I did 75s) for 2022.  And, for the first time, Gordy joined (he did 50s with fins)!

Gordy only stayed for 5 so he's not in our after photo, but that's more than nothing!

Now we are all ready for 2023 to begin :)

happy holidays 2022

Tutu Ginger's visit

Tutu Ginger came to visit for Thanksgiving and our birthday!

We all had a great time and Gordy is already ready for a repeat trip.  We hope to see you again soon Tutu!