Anna and Jude hitting the beach on our first day in Sydney

On Thursday afternoon we left Denver for our annual trip to Sydney. The kids were super excited about this trip, particularly about spending time on the beach and with their little cousin Sarah.

The now traditional visit to mum’s grave on our first morning

After an uneventful trip we landed in Sydney on Saturday morning their time (still Friday afternoon in Denver). We rented a car and headed straight for the cemetery where my mother is buried. We have done this every visit since she passed away in 2014 and it nice to spend some time there honoring and remembering my mum. It still feels strange that we don’t get to see her on these visits.

Anna, Sarah and Jude

Saturday afternoon my brother and his family came over to our place at Manly. Anna said the thing she was most excited about for this trip was seeing her cousin Sarah, who is almost three. Both Jude and Anna enjoyed playing with her and then we all decided to go for a walk along the beach and to dinner.

Today, we went to visit my dad in the morning at the nursing home. He has aged in the year since we last saw him but he was in a good mood when we saw him. We sat and chatted with him for a while and I could see that cognitively he has declined a bit in the past year. But he is not doing badly for 91.

Visiting my father, Grandpa Jack, at the nursing home

This afternoon we spent some more time on the beach and then went to visit an old friend from high school and his family. They have a boy just a year younger than Jude and they had a blast playing on the tennis court there. Anna played with their second eldest girl who is about three years older. They both want to go back.