Holiday moments

This morning I braved the rain and took the girls to Wildlife World down at Darling Harbour. We bought one of those unlimited passes for WW and the aquarium recently so this felt like the perfect morning to try it out. You know, an indoor activity that'll be fun and educational. Good for all of us. Yeah right...

As we walked across Pyrmont Bridge in the teaming rain, I thought it may not have been my finest idea. As the kids took more interest in the vending machine than the wildlife, I really began to feel the shine dim on my brilliance.
As they screamed and hid in the corner, terrified at the piped crocodile sounds, I was wishing we'd stayed at home and had a Little Mermaid marathon.

It wasn't really that bad (but not really that good either). My mother-in-law commented: "Wow, you're much nicer to your kids than I was to mine," when I told her where I'd spent the morning so gained a few brownie points there.

The part that made my day though (and this is going to sound awful) is when walking back across Pyrmont Bridge in the pouring rain I saw a family of American tourists. A mum, dad, son and daughter. A family who I imagined had spent years dreaming and planning this holiday. Imagining the wonderful time they were going to have Down Under, a lifetime of memories they were going to create. Here they were on the Pyrmont Bridge, in the cold and rain, screaming at each other. Angry and having the most miserable time imaginable. Apparently dad had got them lost, their feet were aching, they were over it and it was everyone else's fault. Then two of them stormed off in huff one way, the other two went the other. It brought joy to my heart! Seeing them made me feel normal. It reminded me of holidays I'd had, many of them in fact.

There's nothing like a family holiday to bring out the worst in us! It made me feel like I wasn't doing too badly as I dragged the kids screaming and yelling at each other across that rain soaked bridge.