Kicking off the Holiday Season at the Squady

I have to be honest...I'm missing the white Christmas...it's been quite an adjustment getting used to Christmas trees decorated with emus and kangaroos, store front decorations with sand and Christmas balls, Santa in a Hawaiian shirt and a panama hat, parrots on decorative "Happy Holidays" flags...I miss the coziness of being wrapped up in a soft blanket while sipping hot chocolate and reading a book (preferably in front of a roaring fire).

But Australia none the less has it's charms and traditions...we kicked of the Holiday Season on Monday with a beautiful dinner and Christmas Carols at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The night was filled with great company, fine champagne, a cheezy choir decked out in sequence and lots and LOTS of singing....my heart filled with the holiday spirit and as we toasted to the Queen I realized that there is no other place I'd rather be :-)

I even won a bottle of Squady champagne by finding the "coin" in my Christmas pudding! Stephanie was sad she couldn't find the coin in hers...

We wrapped the night up singing the AUSTRALIAN version of The Twelve Days of Christmas...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

an emu up a gum tree

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

two pink galahs and an emu up a gum tree

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

three jabirus, two pink galahs and an emu up a gum tree

......

On the twelth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

twelve parrots prattling, eleven numbats nagging, ten lizards leaping, nine wombats working, eight possums playing, seven koalas climbing, six platypuses, five kangaroos, four kookaburras, three jabirus, two pink galahs and an emu up a gum tree.