Summery start to the new year

Welcome to January in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is HOT HOT HOT. This week, temperatures hit 40 degrees for the first time since we've been here, and we've been feeling it! Having spent most of my childhood in the South, I can appreciate that this heat is dry...but heat is heat at the end of the day, and it's been wearing us out. The good news comes each afternoon from the Fremantle Doctor, a good wind that kicks up and cools everything (and everyone!) down considerably. Yesterday, we headed to Peppermint Grove again to play in the river. That same huge tree that gave us a perch for our Christmas photo provides wonderful shade that extends into the water, so we could happily splash around without getting fried in the Australian sun. One lovely bonus to the hot air is that our temperature-sensitive baby girl could finally join in the fun. She got her first chance to play in the water with her Papa and big sister. Although the first touch to cold wet sand provoked an unpleasant reaction, she quickly changed her tune and had a blast! Here are my loves, enjoying the water as they do:




The resident family of black swans came by the see the fun close-up: