Making Memories in Melbourne

Many years ago (AKA many wrinkles ago)

My friends, this is looooong overdue.  I seem to go through phases with my writing -  I write a lot, then take a long break.  It's really like everything else in my life and it's always been like that - all or nothing.  I'm 40 and it's never going to change.   So I apologize in advance for all future erratic posting!

In 2003, Jason and I moved from our small rented rowhome in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, to our first purchased home in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester.  Whenever you move into a new home you cross your fingers and hope you win the big gamble - your neighbors.  In this case, we hit the jackpot.  Some friendships are just meant to be, and we became fast friends with Aussies Debra, John and their young son, Josh. Sophia was born just three months after we moved in, and as it turns out, Deb and I took turns being pregnant for the next two years.  Deb with her son, Ryan, and then me with Cooper.  Can't a couple of fun ladies share a bottle of wine!!??   It was torture I say!  (like pregnancy isn't torture enough)

The townhouse where it all began!

So for four years, we traded weekend nights at our respective homes, shared many holidays and get togethers with them and their gaggle of international friends (with a few random Americans thrown in - it was quite a group!) and even vacationed together in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Life was good (and even better when Deb would come home late from her retail job and knock on my walkout basement door with a bottle of wine and two glasses, thus relieving me from my late night sewing).

Alas, we moved a little farther away from West Chester and eventually they returned to their home city of Melbourne.  We've kept in touch via Facebook but admittedly that is all.  An actual visit to Australia was something that seemed so far out of reach, but sometimes it's just funny where life takes you...

So fast forward to this year.  We were too far from home to spend Christmas with our actual families, so what better time to visit friends (who feel like family) in a country we've always wanted to see?  So the plans were made to spend Christmas in Melbourne.

A very popular pasttime!

After a wonderful four days in Sydney, we took the short flight to Melbourne (and you must pronounce it "MELBUN" or the locals will look at you like you have one eye) and drove our rental car out to their resort neighborhood of Sanctuary Lakes in Point Cook (about 20 min from the airport, and Jason was thankfully a much better driver at this point in the trip).   The neighborhood gave off a lovely first impression, highlighted by a large lake and golf course with an eclectic mix of homes.  This would definitely be a nice place to spend ten days!  When we arrived at their house (with Josh and Ryan in the driveway awaiting our arrival!) it just got better.  Their home was situated right on the water, with a large outdoor patio area, both covered and uncovered.  The kids were delighted to find a trampoline, basketball net and most of all...a ton of black swans, ducks and a couple of pelicans. 

 

 

Feeding the swans and ducks became a daily occurrence, actually more like several times a day.  And I admit I took part in many of these feedings. How often can you feed a black swan right out of your hand?  Thank goodness Deb is the most prepared and organized person I know - she had a never ending supply of bread in her freezer!  

We arrived on December 23, and spent the first day just reconnecting and relaxing.  We felt no urgent need to get out and see much of Melbourne, instead we really just wanted to hang out and enjoy being together.  The kids just played and played, we barely heard a sound out of them (the entire 10 days).  Even though Cooper didn't remember them at all, you never would have known by how they all got along, and even though they ranged in age between 7-12, everyone found plenty in common (Minecraft for Cooper and Ryan - of course).

Yes, we were quite "happy" at this point!

You may be wondering when I'm going to get around to talking about Melbourne, but honestly that's the least important thing on my mind now.  The best part of visiting the Vogers - their friends and family!!  I got to hang out with one of my favorite people - Deb's mom Barbara!  This chic lady not only has a knack for great conversation and great shoes, but she also showed up with the world's biggest water guns as gifts for every child.   Best part about that - they couldn't fit into our luggage -  tons of fun for future Voger guests and none of the hassle for us!

We also got to spend time with Deb's dad, Ray, sister Michelle, her son, Sean, and her boyfriend, Geoff.  And let's not forget about Aunt Pat!  What a demure, shy lady from the outside, but once you got talking to her....quite the firecracker!  Who doesn't love hearing about the shenanigans at the local assisted living facility!? So between the family members and the special kangaroo and koala stockings Deb and John bought for us...we were right at home.  A special shoutout also goes to John's dad, Slavko, for being a good sport about the silly hat we made him wear at Christmas dinner.

Geoff, Slavko, John, Deb, Michelle, Sean
Jason, Barbara, Ray and Pat

Cooper, Josh, Ryan and Sophia
(Love the shirt choice Coops!)

Speaking of Christmas dinner, neither Deb nor I had ever made stuffing before (real stuffing, not Stovetop...because that would be a travesty at such a special meal).  So we embarked on the great stuffing experiment.  And I must say it was the greatest stuffing ever made.  It all comes down to one ingredient - BACON.

Jah, Pania, me and Deb

And as usual, there was no shortage of friends at the Voger house.  Pania, Jah and Owen (and their daughter Narissa) joined us for a very fun New Year's Eve (gotta love discovering the pics on the phone the next morning, I'm still trying to figure out who hijacked my phone), and came back for an equally fun New Year's Day!  Card games, dice games, pool games, dart games...anyone see a theme here?  The biggest surprise was the New Year's Eve neighborhood fireworks - a fitting end to a fantastic evening (well it was the end for the kids, us adults kept it going for quite a while longer).

Our hangout for most of the day.

 

At least we got some exercise!

 

One of the more amusing moments was our New Year's Day breakfast.  We were woken up by all of the kids offering us a menu.  They had spent the early morning hours planning, typing and printing quite the comprehensive menu for us - check it out!  My selection was a grilled cheese sandwich.  The best value was definitely the prawn platter for five cents!  Even little Narissa got involved in the food preparation, and believe it or not, someone really did order the pasta bolognese (nice work on the spelling kids!).


So after drinking almost the entire Voger inventory of wine and beer (including John's homebrews), it was time to go home and regenerate some liver cells (and begin "no wine January" for me).   We had a lovely time in Melbourne, but more importantly we renewed our friendship with great people.  Hopefully they will make it to Singapore, but even if they don't, rest assured, we will be back to visit them! 


Next post - proof that we just didn't sit around drinking the entire time.  All about some of the fun things we did in Melbourne!

See you next time, Voger Family!  Miss you already!