Solstice, Xmas, and New Year

Final new decade's resolution: Blog at least 45 times in the 48 weeks that are left of 2010.
Party season is more or less over, and not a day too soon.
Noven and Ngatina kicked things off - as pagans they have a jump on the christians (and the rest of us defaultarians) by having their big party on the solstice. They put on an amazing spread, and as C & I were able to leave K with my mum, much fun was had without having to worry about bedtimes or disrupted sleep patterns (except for ours).
K's birthday was next - C and F organised a toddlers' bash on the deck, and the kids were amazingly fun and friendly - nary a tantrum between them in over 4 hours, and actually sharing their toys and playing together on the swing and slide.
Last year our Christmas day was somewhat desultory, but this year Junior and Vanessa had us round to their new place. People were out in numbers, and Junior kept the braai turning out food at a rate of knots - it was a Christmas day to remember, not least for those adults kidnapped and held captive upstairs by the roaming bands of feral-child prison guards.
The next day, boxing day, Steffan and Iris had a party by the creek at their place, and again people were out in force (some of them, clearly, not having slept since the day before). The temperature was in the high 30s by the afternoon, so a swim in the creek was welcome.
Amongst our friends heading off to Woodford were K&C, keen to have someone look after their place while they enjoyed the festival. My mum volunteered to feed their chooks and keep their swimming pool in good order, and we took advantage by leaving K there overnight a couple of times - bliss. There were a couple of rest days, and then a full-on NYE party at Bishops Creek. No photos from that one, as this is a family blog and the theme of the fancy dress was "lingerie". Let's just say that Junior proved that tight lycra tutus are available in a size 26 in Australia.