March 2024 – July 2024

We said goodbye to Bonnie at the beginning of March this year. He was our shadow and constant companion when we were settling back into Sydney after our last time in London in 2008. We poured all our pre-child parenting energy into his education and were rewarded with Obedience trophies taller than him. We learned to walk with a pram together when Ellie was born, he moved with us to Melbourne, Brisbane, Melbourne and back to Sydney as our family grew. He was the mainstay of all our holidays up and down the east coast of Australia and our travel buddy when we were in Aix in 2019/2020. He became a french citizen, learned the local language and customs (like how to sit in a restaurant and poo on concrete), swam in the Med and travelled across 7 countries. Not bad for a country dog from Singleton. He got us through Covid in two countries, and made sure we settled into London life as a family, in the process adapting to life with squirrels and foxes. Who said you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks? 

He was all we could have asked for from a companion, family member and friend, and when he left us we were devastated. There’s simply no other way to describe it. You just have to say thank you and try and move forward with life. 

Unfortunately that is easier said than done when you lose a pet – because the memory of them is literally everywhere. He was there in the morning when we got up. He was with us when we walked down the street. When we drove in the car. When we did school drop offs or went to sports. When we watched TV at night. Everything reminded us of him, and we all struggled to deal with his departure. 

Thank you Bonnie. We miss you every day. 

March was spent marathon training (for Ant, until he got injured) under ever brightening skies, and interspersed with 2 ski trips. One to Courmayeur with work, and the other with the girls to see Matty, Ali and Dan in Geneva for the weekend. This Friday to Sunday experiment was executed with military efficiency, and we proved that we could have a full weekend skiing without completely destroying the girls. Unfortunately Matty was still recovering from a snowboard accident a few weeks prior and so couldn’t join us, but we had a great time at Les Houches with Ellie and Jessie ‘clicking’ with snowboarding and Sena killing it on skis. There’s no doubt that this will become an annual event. 

The April holidays were then upon us – which we’ve written about separately. 

For the first May long weekend we made our way to Amsterdam for a fun weekend on the Eurostar. We had find memories of going there in May before kids and seeing the city in all its colour.

We spent the weekend wandering the canals and sitting in the park,

visiting the excellent Van Gogh museum,

Lego shop and stroopwafel and other yummy food

and the super fun Upside Down Museum.

It was over a glass of wine during that trip that we decided we were ready to get another dog.

The following Friday, Liz and Ant were in the car driving to Chester to see a Border Collie breeder who just happened to have ten 8 week old puppies who were ready to be adopted.

Liz was immediately attracted to a mostly merle coloured tricolour boy who seemed an appropriate mix of playful, curious and boisterous. We soon left with our new, nameless family member in tow for the 4 hour drive back to London. We were optimistic – as far as we could recall, Bonnie had been a perfect puppy – friendly, obedient, playful and toilet trained in a single night. We were sure that our new arrival would be the same. Right? 

Over the next few days our nameless pup became Gus or Goose, and then finally settled on Gus. Sadly he showed no signs of being ‘the ideal pup’. He did remind us that having a puppy was very much like having a baby / toddler / angry threenager / angry adolescent all over again. The first week we slept on the floor with him.

He was very good at expressing himself and communicating when his needs weren’t fully met – generally by throwing himself at a random family member and nipping them on the foot/ankle/calf/butt or strategically weeing and/or pooing all over the house. He found the girls particularly tasty – which resulted in them spending a lot of time sitting on tables/couches/ledges or anywhere out of his ever expanding reach.

To be fair, he also had moments of loveliness – first thing in the morning when he would sit in your lap for a cuddle or watching him play with other dogs with a gentleness we just wish he would show with the kids. 

Basically having a puppy is all about training. Training the dog is one thing – and moderately achievable. Training the children about how to be in front of the dog is entirely another – and one it appears we are a long way from mastering. 

Liz took the brunt of the training – twice daily trips to the park to play with his ever expanding group of ‘park friends’ (read: other owners/dogs in the same boat who desperately wander Dulwich Park looking for another dog to play with, to get their dog’s wiggles out so that they can go home without being bitten – there are a lot of them as it turns out) all the time whilst juggling an ever expanding portfolio of work. 

After looking for work ‘aggresivley’ since September last year, Liz started two new Board roles within a week – one at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and one at CopperMark. In addition to the existing Australian Doctors International this kept her super busy – much to Gus’s displeasure – which of course he then took out on the rest of the family. 

In addition to adapting to our new arrival, May also included the Eurovision Song Contest (an emerging annual tradition with the cousins),

a visit from Pamela and Ian and Dee,

and of course, Jessie’s 12th birthday party.  

May also saw the start of the cricket season for everyone and the May half term ‘break’ (read: study boot camp) ahead of the exam week in the first week back for the second half of summer term. Fair to say there was a fair bit of study bickies and study stress in the house during this period as all the girls swatted for their end of year exams. All the preparation was worth it however, as the girls all returned fantastic report cards showing excellent effort and outcomes across their subjects. It had taken a year, but it seemed like they were all ‘in the flow’ of school here now and starting to really hit their straps. 

The second half term of summer term feels a bit like a ‘holiday warm up’. Exams are over and there are a multitude of school trips planned. 

For Sienna this year there was the much anticipated 3 day trip to Stubbers activity centre in Surrey – her first residential, which turned out to more than meet expectations.

For Ellie it was a trip to Ypres with her year – another big success. Jess had her trip at the beginning of the year, so just got to watch as her sisters disappeared. 

We even managed to catch the Pet Shop Boys in concert at at PwC Partners work event in Battersea Park – they were awesome.

There was also an election in the midst – where Rishi and the Conservatives were unceremoniously dumped from power and Liz’s Board reconstituted, and our ‘soon to be annual tradition’ of spending an excellent day at Wimbledon. 

Through June and into July the cricket season was in full flow – with matches on both days of the weekend as well as Fridays and sometimes one other night across both Dulwich and Kent fixtures. Liz was delighted. All the girls were doing really well – by the end of the school year, Ellie was sitting atop the league batting tables and scoring runs for Kent Area and Red Caps. and Jessie the same on the bowling tables. Sena was smashing it playing 2 years up. 

And just like that, school was done. Looking back on the last year, the girls feel so much more ‘settled’ now. They’ve all been through their challenges – and no doubt these will continue – but they’ve all made some good friends, they’re doing well at school and they have grown up so much through their experiences here. It’s been wonderful to watch and we’re so proud of what they’re achieved and the people they’re becoming.