First up, the ubiquitous family photo. This was taken on 22 January 2005 so it's a little out of date now. What's a few months between friends?

Brendan and Kate were over from Sydney for that weekend too. Laura and Matthew had a wonderful time in the evening playing with the camera and lights in Adrian and Brendan's mobile phones. Matthew was also particularly taken by all the buttons - he's a button freak!

Matthew's had a year of `graduations'; he started sleeping in his big bed on 28 March, moved to a real bike on 7 January and then moved to an even bigger bike on 22 August.

In April we bundled the entire family and their luggage into the Barina and drove to Sydney for a holiday with Sonia and Darryl (two days there, one day back). Being so close to the Grose River (a feeder to the Hawksbury) the kids just had to have a swim. On several occasions they also caught up with some friends who are now living in Richmond.

Of course a holiday with kids under 7 wouldn't be a true holiday unless you've road-tested every playground in the vicinity.

We were able to meet up with Brendan and Kate for a day in (and near) the city. The botanic gardens made a nice location for a picnic lunch.

The next day we ventured to Taronga Park Zoo with Brendan and Kate. Laura and Matthew got up close and personal with a number of animals, while on some occasions Kylie's known `love' of reptiles demanded hasty but strategic retreats.

The children's zoo featured an adventure play area with a healthy helping of water. Neither Laura nor Matthew needed any encouragement.

The excitement of the day eventually caught up with both Matthew and Laura. Matthew nodded off on the bus and kept sleeping as we got off the bus, walked along Paramatta Road and took the lift to Brendan and Kate's flat. Eventually he stirred - thirty minutes after we arrived back at the flat and wanting something to eat. This was in stark contrast to Laura's reaction to the big day which was, shall we say, considerably louder.

On the day after we arrived back from Sydney Laura reacquainted herself with the dressing up box. The next day was Matthew's 2nd birthday which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Both Laura and Matthew are into puzzles. Matthew is close to graduating to interlocking puzzles, while Laura is well and truly onto the 100+ piece puzzles - without needing any assistance from mummy and daddy.

Music is starting to become a prominent part of our day. Laura loves her singing and her piano playing is coming along in leaps and bounds; and when she doesn't have a piano handy, she improvises. Not to be outdone by his big sister, Matthew also likes playing the piano, but also has a soft spot for guitar ("I wanna be a rock star") and drums. In fact, by the time December rolled around Matthew was asking to play his drums at least three times a day.

Laura and Matthew are quite keen to help anyone who is willing to be a little patient - mummy, Grandad, daddy, anyone. Now, all we've got to do is preserve this enthusiasm into their teenage years. :)

Swimming is another activity both Laura and Matthew enjoy - both have progressed well this year, with Laura starting on the `tricky' issue of the freestyle breathing action in November.

As if Laura wasn't already busy enough, she also managed to fit in 4 mornings of kindy every week. She's pictured here with her best friend.

In amongst all this activity, Kylie also managed to squeeze in 3 musicals and 3 eisteddfod competitions during 2005. We therefore have a selection of the many faces of Kylie from 2005: a servant (with the Queen) from `Once upon a mattress' (March); `HMS Pinafore's' Josephine, and Mabel (with Gordan "Puss in Boots" Cable" as Frederic) from `The pirates of Penzance' (Balaklava Eisteddfod, August); and two of six characters from "Scrooge" in November - a phantom and Mrs Dilber. Kylie was also in the 24 hour show in February, but as you can imagine there was very little time to take photos at that one.

No, it isn't her craft desk. To speed up Jonathan's dismantling of old equipment in the garage, Kylie decided to lend a helping hand.