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I have now put my money where my mouth is and entered the Australian Ironman on April 5th.  After 2 months of training the rest of the training plan does not look too intimidating, and if I can do all the training I must be able to complete the race (surely?).

Because it is such a challenge for me I have decided to try and raise money for the Cancer Council in NSW.  This is a charity that is both funding research into cancer and also supporting those with cancer.  I have set up a website to help raise money and the link is here.

Please help me raise as much money for this cause as possible.  And if you can support me on the day, it will also help me get to the finishing line.

This weekend we went down to Sydney to see Wind in the Willows performed by the Australian Shakespeare Company.  This was performed in the Botanical Gardens of Sydney and went between 2 different areas.  It was great fun for the children, loosely based on the story.

The show started beside the main pond, and both Ratty and Toad arrived by boat.  Lots of songs and joking combined to keep the children entertained, and in the middle they had to go exploring the wild woods looking for a lost otter child.

After the show we went to stay with Lana and Goran and their 2 girls.  It was lovely to see them and we spent the night at their house.  The girls all played together all evening, with countless barbies and other dolls, and Goran and Jack spent a lot of time playing with quadbikes and remote control cars.

Yesterday we had a wonderful(!) 4 hours in Ikea before driving home.

The last couple of days before Christmas were spent clearing the house and putting half empty boxes back into the garage.  We wanted to have a relatively smart looking house for Christmas Day.  On Christmas Eve we all went to a carol service in the Cathedral and Carol and Bob arrived down from Forster.

The kids were amazingly not up too early but had emptied their stockings onto the landing going through everything as the rest of us were getting up.  Then it was a very tasty and slow breakfast before we got to open all the presents under the tree.  There was a huge pile and, as always, most of them were for Jack and Grace.

Soon after, both Jack and Grace were cycling around the estate on their new bikes (it is amazing how many other of the kids have shiny new bikes), meanwhile Sarah and Carol were putting the finishing touches to Christmas lunch.  David, Rachel and Blake came over to visit before lunch so there was much unwrapping to be done.  We did not have a huge meal, but there was plenty to eat and still leftovers for later.

The rest of the day was spent at home and chasing Jack and Grace around the estate.

Over the next week it was extremely hot and we spent a lot of time at various beaches.  Jack is beginning to get a lot more confident in the waves and is happy to surf in on the body board.  Grace still enjoys jumping in the waves and will deeper with someone to hold on to.

On New Years Eve we went to a friends house in Merewether Heights.  We had a barbeque out the back of the house and then watched the 9pm fireworks, in the distance, from their front deck.  When we came home around 10:30 there were still a lot of people around the estate pond and lots of children riding round on their bikes.  But we called it a day and retired to our home.

I am now back at work.  But I have had to take today off, we are having the back of the house excavated (again) and we’ve discovered a problem with the rainwater drains which aren’t filling the water tanks.  So the plumbers are here and (after 6 hours of scratching their heads) think there is a broken pipe under the driveway.  At least that means we can continue with concrete at the back of the house.