This year, Friedel and I hosted her family’s Christmas lunch at our home. ‘Twas a very German Christmas, with her parents bringing most of the food up with them from Tasmania. The sauerbraten was amazing, to be sure.

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Still full on memories of the feast that greeted us at the family Christmas last year, we headed down to Tasmania this past weekend for an extra-long Easter holiday with Friedel’s family.

Here’s a few shots from the veritable buffet that awaited us, and a couple of other shots under the rule of ‘just because’. Above are my four eggs from the massive batch of hard-boiled eggs we had to get painted before the guests arrived.

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Friedy and I popped over to her sister’s last night for dinner and a few drinks, and as always happens with this little crowd of ours, a few drinks rapidly turned into a flood of wine.

I didn’t know this in the past, but it seems that whenever I buy a cask of wine, it turns into about five hundred glasses worth. Good trick.

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I spent Christmas in Tasmania. Now, more than a month later, some photos.

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I popped up to Brisbane a few weeks ago to meet my new nephew Jack, and while I only had a weekend up my sleeve, I managed to get in a few hours of wandering the city.

The heat and humidity are perhaps a little too much for the likes of me, but I think I could handle those things. Brisbane is honestly such a beautiful place, I think I could really handle a move up north.

Of course, with friends and relationships in Melbourne, it’s tough to make that call. It may never happen, but it certainly gives me pause to think.

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This is my nephew, Jack.

He’s the first of my future nephews and nieces, of which I’m sure I’ll have many, simply because I have five siblings.

Weighing in at 10lb, Jack is a big fella. I did some quick googling – because of course I wouldn’t know these things on my own – and the average birth weight in Australia (based on 2004 statistics) is 7.4lb.

I don’t know why we still use pounds to measure the weight of babies, but hey, I still say I’m 5’10”.

All of my siblings are younger than me, and it’s the oldest of those, Casey, to whom this bundle of flesh and disproportioned limbs belongs. I’ll be flying up to Brisbane next weekend to meet the little tyke – and, of course, take some proper photos.

Most importantly, Jack’s arrival means the pressure from my parents on me to become a father is now diminished by a factor of 1. I am pleased!

Still, it does feel weird to be the oldest, yet not the first to add another face to the family…

Note: I normally only post my own photos to this blog, but this is an important moment, non?