Tragically our short vacation in the big house on the canal at Surfers Paradise was moving at lightning pace, as were most of my grandchildren…
So, as mentioned in Part 2 there was a tiny problem with chlorine levels in the pool, they were a little bit high. While most of us had no problems, some of the kids where doing a lot of diving underwater with their eyes open and had more sensitive eyes than most.
Miss Z was the first one to emerge from the pool in tears with red eyes. So after a quick shower and a dry off, she settled into my bed in the master suite with a cold compress on her eyes and promptly fell asleep.
No sooner did we get her settled, than Miss 12 arrived with the same symptoms and joined Miss Z in my bed.
The queen bed in my master suite was now doubling as an emergency room and was getting a bit full! We had also lost access to one toilet to as we didn’t want to wake the patients up and also there is no door on the ensuite (yikes). And depending on when the patients woke up I might need another bed. Miss 12 had been sleeping on a top bunk, I didn’t think I would be climbing up a ladder any time soon!
Notwithstanding the rising casualty rate and the imminent arrival of 
We had elected to skip cake and singing for Dad’s birthday. Apart from the fire risk of 87 candles, he wasn’t all that keen on a big celebration so soon after Mum’s passing, so we just focused on a family dinner instead.
Around this point
As the sun started to set and everyone wondered indoors, some very tasty prawns and yummy cheese platters did the rounds.
Dad by the way had been enjoying a nap with intermittent big screen TV time and great grandchildren and grandchildren time and that nice view of Surfers, so not a bad way to spend your birthday.
We had 2 sittings for dinner. As you can imagine the 10 year olds and under are not that keen on the same cuisine as the adults, mind you some of them did give the brie and the prawns a bit of a nudge.
Once the kids were all fed, the adults could take a run at dinner… which could be enjoyed in reasonable peace while the kids started watching ‘Zootopia’ on the big screen.
By the way Miss Z and Miss 12 were still sleeping soundly in the master suite/ emergency room.
After the main course had been digested the adults all collapsed onto the couches to watch the end of the movie with the kids.
How did we fit 20 people in the living room you ask? Easy! On the sofa I attempted to gain a toe hold on, the same 5 grandchildren from the morning's bedroom action all sat pretty much on top of me.
So that was 6 people on the smaller of the 2 couches. Over on the larger couch Dad,
Now there are still 2 in the emergency room that’s 14, which left 6 either at the dining table, sharing the single lounge chair or on pillows on the floor.
And to be fair there are usually a percentage of my grandchildren that are in constant motion and therefore do not require seating, so that frees up the space a bit!
One by one grandchildren, not necessarily starting with the youngest, began falling asleep. Finally I was able to climb out from under my lightening load of children and serve dessert.
It's not a party until someone passes out on the floor! Miss 1 had that covered for us on this occasion...
It was at this point that Miss Z and Miss 12 finally emerged from the emergency room, talk about timing. And yay I get my bedroom back, and the ensuite!
Those who were still conscious (or just woke up), did desserts and even some fruit (hey I don’t want to get a reputation for feeding my grandchildren healthy food lol).
Surprisingly Miss Z and Miss 12 were quite happy to go back to bed once the movie ended and they had eaten. Clearly a day and a half of partying had worn them both out.
Our last full day in Paradise was very similar. Lot’s of swimming, ‘Fun Room’ toys and games, big screen TV, enjoying the view, swings and quite a bit of time watching the fish in the splash back.
The kids all had a great time trying to spot the two small crayfish that were in the tank and trying to get a census on just how many fish were in the tank. We counted over 20, but it’s hard when they won’t hold still!
Finally, our last night came and went and we sadly packed ourselves back in our respective vehicles and headed home.
This was our first family vacation away together and even though we couldn’t all stay overnight everynight, as the grandchildren get older and it’s easier for everyone to travel, I hope it’s something we can do more often. Even if its just for 3 days…
Thanks for reading…
Happy 87th birthday Dad!