OK... Lou late for school twice and missed swimming twice. Beaver badges sewn in the wrong places and the studio unfinished. Cooking has forced Jose to turn vegetarian... Rom always on time for Pauline. – I really am a very bad dad.

Hi Deborah,

 In case you thought that I was incapable of matching you talented family with their messages , Mum and I have been following your progress with great interest and the time in Oz seems to have flown past so much that it is about time I made contact.

Make the most of the weather in Perth [in the 80's...I believe ! ] because it is a lot lower here- but we are very much looking forward to seeing you again next week .

In the meantime , hope you are having a great time with Shelly  and , possibly, Andy and the boys- hopefully able to meet up with you , and that you have also met up with a few 'roos !

Give the family our love  and of course , our love to you .

DAD.

  Hi Deborah

                 Only just got to see some of your photos & messages. Glad all is going well with the work & having some leisure-time too. Very envious of your travels & looking forward to hearing all about them on your return. You will have heard all about the snow ? Well we've had hardly any here in the 'frozen' North.--disappointingly!

                        Make the most of your remaining few days& safe journey home

                                                          Lots of Love 

                                                                       Jean & Ken.

Had 20 people in chapel tonight (Sunday) for special 'Singing Bowls' event. Very cosmic. Of course the children were tucked up in bed and heard (or is it hurd Kaye?) nothing. Check your email now you've a proper B&B. There's a few photos to remind you of pending responsibilities.

Pete X 

 

I think you'll find that's how its spelt in Trowbridge. Forgot to say, Pete has creative hour when the children get home from school (I'm not kidding) and in addition to his own children, took Lucy to Imax,too.  He really is a fantastic dad and I feel, not always fully appreciated. He would also not be rude enough to point out speling erreurs. Hope its still going well. See you soon

Love Kay

Thanks for all your messages.Kay, you made a spelling mistake! Pete, you are clearly an exceptional father as the kid's letter testifies. In the end I didn't go to the zoo in Sydney. I leave for Perth tomorrow, so I'm hoping to see some more wildlife. Shelly has horses ,so may get to ride in the bush. Neo, LOL,you can go nextdoor for sleepovers if you like.Romilly- great snowman-building stories !Louis- great to hear you had fun with HughJosie- well done getting that essay finished...have the seating arrangements changed yet ??!! You can always get Kay to sort it out...it's called "in loco parentis"...Bye for nowDeb

Hi there! Bernie emailled me a link to this - fantastic to see what you've been up to. Might actually believe you've been doing some work too! We're all coping without you here at work but feeling rather envious of the sunshine as I sit here looking out at the snow falling. Still, the snowball fight taking the boys to school yesterday was fun! See you soon - Melanie

Hi Debs,

It sounds like you're cramming lots into your great escape.

We are all really missing you but have come to realise we have the best dad in the world. The house has never been tidier, the ironing pile doesn't exist and Louis has had 3 new badges sewn on his beaver jumper (2 in the wrong place according to Ratty). He tries his best to hold a job down whilst his bleeding fingers toil away in the garden studio. St Davids is happening though the new stairs have had to be returned. We can't believe he found time to take us to the iMax cinema to watch a 3-D underwater movie. Yesterday he took Louis to the eye-hospital where  the nice lady didn't believe Louis' exercises would develop his binocular vision. However, he had the full 3-D movie experience just like everyone else, which is only possible with such vision. 

Love from your darling children... and Neo  

Heya mum, How was Auzzie zoo – did you see any funky animals? What's the weather like there? It's been snowing today, had a massive snowball fight on way to school, only just managed to reach the top of the hill as we kept sliding down and bashing into walls and cars. An old lady was laughing at us through twitching curtains.

Love you loads,

Josie 

PS. Massive essay went well in the end (with bit of help from dad)! 

Dear Mum, I hope you have a good time and I hope you don't get bitten by a croc or a huntsman! It was snowing today. I had a go on the sledge with Hugh. I missed school today because teachers wanted to play in the snow themselves. Hugh came round to our house and smashed Pete's favourite glass vase in the chapel. I hope you have a fantastic time in Australia. Love from Louis Jay Judge-Hodkinson XXX

I hope you have a good time and I hope you see all lots of good animals. and I hope you see lots of crocodiles too. I miss you lots and lots and lots. I made a snowman at Paulines and I made a snowman at the field with Pauline too. Kiss kiss kiss from Romilly Gaia Judge-Hodkinson.

Hi Deborah

Hope you got email last week. Children still all fine although cat seems to be gradually moving in with us! He is now sporting a rather girly collar but Pete denies that he had anything to do with this. Pete is remarkably chirpy as a single parent. He tells us its all about being consistent and using positive behaviour strategies. Im predicting he will be reaching for the beer and saying its all about encouraging their independence by the middle of next week. Hope you are enjoying the weather. We were predicted lots of snow for today but only got a bit. Fitzmaurice still closed but the more conscietious of us threw open our snowy doors to embrace learning.(Thats Trowbridge for you) Have fun

Love Kay

PS Pete solved the mystery of the large vans ....apparently meals on wheels