The Copacabana posts continue. I was up there for 2 weeks and so have many cute photos to share.

Evie and Audrey received a paddling pool from Nan and TD for Christmas. We put it out in the backyard a few times while we were up at Copa and the kids loved it.

They actually liked it much better than the beach. The water was warmer than the ocean (we always put a couple of buckets hot water in), it was just the right depth for splashing, and there were no scary waves to knock you over.



More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Last year, we had lots of fun dressing up on New Year's Eve so we decided to make it a tradition. This year, I decided to go with a Pirate theme as I figured I might be able to use some of the props we bought for last year (we had a Copacabana fiesta theme last year). Of course, I then wasn't able to find any of the props that I'd bought last year. Good intentions and all...

The best costume prize this year goes to Elliot. Clare made him an awesome Parrot costume.

The funniest costume prize goes to Adam and Chris. They dressed up in some awesome Pirate costumes that were more 80s glam rock than loot, pillage and plunder.

Here is Evie dressed up as Pirate. She wasn't too sure what to do with her dagger. She ended up trying to eat it.

"Hrm, what is this new thing I've never seen before? I wonder what it tastes like."

We had a BBQ, we played salad bowl (Goldy says "my hat is so much more awesome than this game") and we celebrated the beginning of 2012 with bubbles and sparklers in the backyard. NYE 2011 was officially a good night.




More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

New Year's Eve is one of those nights that always seems to disappoint. I think it's the expectation that we place on the evening. There is this feeling that it's the last night of the year that you can have a good time so you better make the most of it.

Earlier in the year, Sue and I had been discussing and planning what we should do to make NYE 2010 a good one and had decided that a relaxing week at the beach was the way to go. Luckily, the Bell's 70s retreat at Copacabana was available, so we booked that and invited a few of our friends. Voila! We had the ingredients for an awesome NYE.

And our week away was lovely. We were really lucky with the weather and had sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures for the entire week we were there. I went to the beach twice a day. I had a swim in the morning, went home for a Budgewoi lunch and a nap and then back for a swim in the afternoon. (Yes it really is as good as it sounds.) We played lots of games - Pictionary, Taboo, Gin Rummy, Diminishing Whist, Salad Bowl and the Mulukins introduced us to Croquet. There was only a little bit of yelling.

NYE was a great night too. While organising our week away, our group had joked about making NYE a Copacabana fiesta themed evening. After this discussion I realised what a fantastic idea this was and told everyone to plan for dress ups. Everyone played along (it's not fun if you don't) and on the night we dressed in Hawaiian shirts, leis and grass skirts. We even had a parrot (named Lily) and an inflatable palm tree (named Fernando). We had a BBQ with much meat for dinner, followed by a rousing round of Salad Bowl (I love Salad Bowl. So many in-jokes) and a delicious pavlova made by Clare for dessert. We headed down to the beach for the countdown to 2011 and celebrated with champagne, sparklers and an illegal fireworks show.

It was good end to a crap year and a lovely start to the new one. Thanks to the Copa group for making it awesome and thanks to Annie and Rich for owning Copa.

Now, what to plan for next year...

More photos on Flickr (slideshow) and on Facebook.

We had a great view for the fireworks on New Years Eve. We spent the evening in a city apartment with a fantastic view over the domain to the harbour bridge. It's not our apartment but Paddy and Kat's digs. Paddy and Kat headed to Western Australia over the Christmas break to hang out with Kat's family so, we volunteered to road test their apartment. Just to make sure it was really good venue for NYE. It was. Paddy and Kat, it's all set and ready to go for NYE 2010.

The Sydney fireworks are so impressive, especially with the bridge as a centre piece. Sydney has a reputation as the best NYE fireworks in the world. I think it's a reputation that Sydney is always trying to retain. This year the city spent 50% more on fireworks than they did last year. Last year they spent more than they ever had before. The fireworks certainly went off with a big bang. We hung off Paddy's balcony and oohed and aahed. I even applauded at the end. I'm not sure that they are worth all that money but they are certainly very pretty.



So all in all in it was a good last night of 2009... good company, good music, good fireworks, good fun. We're looking forward to 2010.

More photos on Flickr.

Happy New Year!