Christmas and Families

My Dad is the one trying to escape from being held

So last blog I explained that this blog I would explain why I never say my last name on this entire blog. I should try to avoid committing myself to things in previous entries because it always makes me not want to write about it. But anyway.

The crazydutchlastnames are a considerably large family, my Dad being one of fourteen children. They migrated from Holland in 1960? I think? Somewhere around there. One of the odd things about my family is that despite that it is so huge, we do have this weird constant family feel. Every christmas we get together on Boxing day and do traditional things like play dodgeball and everyone tries to make it. This whole, weird family feel thing, is similar to many instances of people googling 'crazydutchlastname'. Actually to be honest I think I started it. The cool thing is, that there isn't that many crazydutchlastnames so you can find cool shit on our family. I found photo's of my granparents and dad and aunties and uncles when they first moved to Australia in some photo archive including that one up there^. So I emailed them around to everyone. Eddy found an ancestory site from Holland that dates back to like forever ago. James found some reunion site.

So basically, there is a high probability that if I mention crazydutchlastname on here. My family will find this. Complete with bitching about my dad. Which none of us want, right? So for now, we're the crazydutchlastnames. Which by the way, if you google the actualy word 'crazydutchlastname' you do find this blog. I checked.

Moving on to mums family...

So every year my cousins come over from Chile for the christmas holidays. They're the cousins that we always did everything with growing up. Like went camping, did Easter egg hunts together, every single holidays either we would go to sydney or they would come to singleton for the holidays. Hell, my first "boyfriend" lived next door to them. We were going to get married and own a coal mine. We used to jump on the trampoline to build up our muscles so we would be able to own said coal mine. Apparently you need to be strong to own a coal mine? I guess they are pretty heavy? It would've never worked out though: he wanted two kids I wanted twenty.

When I was ten we were allowed to do things on our own. Like walk the dog over to reserve across the road to my house. Or down to the shops to buy milk for Aunty Sue and Lollies for all of us. Or even go to the movies all by ourselves. That was so cool. Those years I floated between the world of being a grown up and being a kid. I loved it. I'd tear down to the beach with them, us all screaming to each other using our code names (Major Nori, Luitenent Joey, Colonal Seargent, Professer Froggit) but then stop at the road demand everyone hold hands and pick up Alec. We'd sneak Ice Blocks over at Paul's after going in the pool at 10 to 6 even though Nana expressly said 'NO ICE BLOCKS BEFORE TEA' but I'd watch the time and drag everyone back over to Nana's by 6 because that's what time she said we had to be home. Analysing my childhood I kind of understand the origin of my control and authority issues. hehe.

I cried and cried the year they moved oversea's. But I guess we survived. They come over every January for the christmas holidays and sometimes come in time for christmas. No matter how much we all grow up throughout the year once we're together we are all back to childhood. We roam barefoot between Nana's house, Uncle Paul's pool, Our house and the shop in between. Every christmas that they are home we put on a christmas concert. We play deltora quest, shops, monopoly and hang out in the bush tree house.

Every year I think this year will be different. But every year everything just falls back into place. This year I really thought it would be different. Max has just entered teenagerhood and when I talked to him on the internet his voice had broken scarily low. I'll be 18 in a few weeks and I'm finished school.

But a few weeks before christmas I got an email about the christmas concert. So I guess not, and as much as I feel lame doing a christmas concert again this year, it was kind of reassuring that my childhood is intent on not being left behind.

They arrived yesterday, and I'm completely exhausted and grown up life has been put on hold for slushies and rehearsal. Speaking of, I have rehearsal to attend, tables to decorate and presents to wrap.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!