Holiday in Hobart

School holidays are slowly getting easier without Aaron and Noah, but they are still really long if we don't have anything planned.  My boys would actually be quite happy to stay at home all day every day, and would just sit in front of the computer, TV or DS screens if I let them.  I don't mind a couple of days like that over the holidays because we are all tired and need some time to just catch up, but if I have more than a day or two like that I go a bit crazy.   I have to get out and keep busy, or the reality of life right now hits me again, and makes school holidays so much harder.

Going to Hobart during the school holidays seems like our regular thing to do lately.  It's so nice and easy to just jump in the car and drive a couple of hours, to have a couple of nights away from our regular routine.  It's always cheaper in the middle of winter too which is great, because it's still fun to get away in winter. 
As we headed into Hobart I mentioned to the boys how we had been there so many times since Aaron had passed away, and how Aaron had said that he didn't want to go back to Hobart because Noah passed away there.   We did end up going back once after Noah passed away, but Aaron found it very hard.  I asked the boys if they ever feel sad about going to Hobart, but they said they didn't and even though I think about Noah whenever we drive past the hospital, I'm glad that Hobart isn't a sad place for us to be.   I think going back a lot since Noah passed away and having there has really helped. 
We were hoping to see some snow, so we went up Mt Wellington and there was just enough snow to keep the boys happy. 

 Kobe obviously put two fingers in one hole in his glove! :)
Kobe desperately wanted to build a snow man, but we didn't expect it to be so cold.  We were all rugged up, but the wind was so cold that it stung our faces.   Kobe kept yelling 'my chin hurts!!'.  It reminded me so much of when I lived in the USA and how cold it would be as I would walk to school in the snow each day. 

Luckily someone else had already built a snow man, so Kobe was happy with that.  Every man and his dog was getting their photo taken with it. 

We ran into the observation area just to escape the icy wind. 

We were lucky to be up there on a clear day. 

Harri was sure he was going to die from the cold or by being blown off the mountain and kept screaming 'I'm going back to the car!!' and left us out on the mountain while he sat inside the warm car.

We were so excited to hear that one of our favourite missionaries from church - Elder Sargeant had been transferred back to Tasmania.  We have kept in touch with him since he left Tasmania, and he has always been so lovely and has written to the boys.  Harri has especially missed him and was so excited to hear he is now in Hobart. I promised him we would try to see him before he is transferred again, so it was great timing with school holidays to catch up with him.

We arranged to meet at a nice fish and chip place at the wharf, which was close to our hotel.

It was so funny when he got out of the car and saw us.  He yelled 'my family!!!!' and ran over to the boys and gave them huge hugs.

We had a lovely lunch together.  It was fun to hear about his experiences since he left Tasmania last year. He is now the 'zone leader' in Tasmania which means he is in charge of all the missionaries here

He is from New Hampshire but we noticed how much he has lost his American accent, and how he says a lot of things with an Aussie accent now. 

It was sad to say goodbye again, but we know we will see him again before he goes back home to the USA next year.

We had a lovely couple of days, and as usual one of our favourite things was just being able to swim at the pool whenever we felt like it.  Whenever we are there we imagine how lovely it would be to have an indoor pool at your house.

Last week my friend Sarah had put up some photos on Instagram of an awesome long slide in Hobart, so before we came home today, we met up with Sarah and another friend Hannah and their kids at the slide. 

It was a freezing day, but some of the boys insisted they were hot after playing soccer and wanted to just wear T-shirts.

Before we drove home we went to a gourmet restaurant for lunch ;)   It was lovely to catch up with them and it was nice to have some laughs together. 

It was nice to break up the holidays with a couple of fun days away. Kobe has been crying tonight because we are home again and he is 'missing the pool'.  Me too Kobes, me too :)