Stevie woke up at about 4 this morning and although he sank quickly back into a drunken stupor I was unable to follow suit. Went in search of some Rescue Remedy only to find that the bottle had been drained and replaced, empty, on my dresser. RR is good stuff, only after a quick look at that wikipedia article I think I may just invest in a bottle of brandy instead. At least it comes in bigger bottles.

Today is going to be a busy day, and waking up at 4 is not ideal. Tomorrow we are leaving for four nights camping at Cobham, one of our favourite haunts. Although Peter and I are a bit finished, emotionally, and in some ways would rather go to bed and sleep for 120 hours, I am really looking forward to getting away from everything and focusing on decisions no larger than where to pitch the tent, which path to walk along, and what rock to sit on beside the river.

Despite the undercurrent of stress, the last week and a half has been pretty good.

Yesterday a miracle occurred and I got a new drivers license! Truly a miracle. I simply could not believe it when, after a mere 20 minutes in the collection queue, I saw my new license card appear before my very eyes (as if by magic, or divine intervention). I pretty much danced my way out of the door, down the steps and back to the car, to the interest of the crowds of other poor souls still in the gloomy depths of eye tests and green forms and fingerprinting.

A couple of days before the end of the year, I finally got my Bike! Went for my inaugural ride at the deliciously named Giba Gorge. The girls and I (and a friend's child) rode the starter ride to the Waterfall. I absolutely loved it. Peter stayed with Danny and Steve in the restaurant and picnic area with our friends. (Next time I'll do the babysit thing so he can ride instead.)

Stephen enjoyed his first swim during these holidays. We had about ten days of uninterrupted heat and the pool was marvellously warm. Peter went in the pool with all the kids (to their great excitement). Stephen also experienced his first visit to the beach.

We also took the kids to the water rides at Ushaka, and managed to fit in Christmas money spending, indoor golf, and tenpin bowling. Danny added Will Turner to his Pirates of the Caribbean collection, and the girls each bought a book and a DVD. Robyn is reading the first Lemony Snicket book and loves it. She was unable to find the next one in the series so bought the first in the Charlie Bone series. I hadn't heard of them before but they look quite fun. I also had a Christmas book voucher and bought books two and three in the Scotland Street series.

Tenpin bowling with the kids was very different from previous bowling experiences. We opted to have the rails up to make it more fun for them. It's a bit disconcerting though. You are no more likely to get most of the pins down with a straight ball right down the middle than you are with a ball that ricochets wildly from side to side all the way down to the pins.

We had a fun New Years celebration with some friends we have been getting to know recently. It was my sort of New Years thing - small, chatty, good food, kids running around raucously in the background, fireworks in the distant sky.

It sounds like the rest of the household is starting to stir. Time to get started on the day, and the packing. I need to check that all the pieces of tents are around as things got a bit split up when I used a groundsheet in an Amazing Race event.

I was hoping to organise a towbar and a trailer for this trip as, with the addition of Stephen, it's no longer possible to get all of us and all our camping stuff into the car (we lose half our boot space having one of the rear seats up). However, there'll be a delay with the towbar as they have to order a suitable one from somewhere. So we'll have to take two cars. Fortunately it is only two or three hours drive. We also won't be able to take the bikes this time (bike carrier thing needs to be attached to a towbar). I have ordered a towbar now, so we should be all set for the April holidays at least.