Day 124 - Family Runs, Pancake Mornings & Finding Our Travel Rhythm

Day 124 and another early start. Emmett and I were up early again, coffees in hand, just sitting and chatting while the house was still quiet. Not long after, Maddie came down and instead of easing into the morning, she was actually keen to get out for a run. That set the tone straight away, and before long we were all ready and heading out together.

We ended up doing a nice little loop, running out, circling back, and heading home as a group. It turned into a really enjoyable run. Maddie was into it from the start, no pushing or convincing, just wanting to be part of it. She was even taking off out in front at times. We stepped things up from 200 metres run, 100 walk to 400 metres run, 100 walk, and everyone handled it really well.

After the run, we slipped straight back into a routine we are starting to really love. A walk down to the local shop, grabbing fresh bread rolls, eggs, and whatever else we needed. There is something simple and satisfying about it.

Back at the house, the kids took over breakfast. They have been making pancakes from scratch each morning, eggs, flour, the lot. They do it one at a time, Maddie cooks her batch, then Emmett does his. They have both gotten pretty good at it, and the pancakes are actually unreal. Kia and I cook up some eggs, pour another coffee, and just sit in that rhythm. It is one of those small things that is starting to feel like the heartbeat of our days.

Once breakfast wrapped up, it was time for schoolwork. I set up a memory game for the kids where they had to run over, look at a sheet with drawings on it, memorise what they saw, run back, and recreate it. The first time we did it, it was pretty casual, but this time we added a time limit. It turned into a great challenge and they really got into it. You could see them focusing more, slowing down, actually trying to take things in properly before running back.

We followed that up with a few other brain games, mixing coordination, colours, and directions. Simple stuff, but really engaging. They loved it. After that, it was back into the usual maths and English, with Kia taking the lead there.

I headed upstairs and got stuck into the website again. I have been really enjoying that process lately. Learning, tweaking, testing ideas, looking at how other people do things and figuring out what works for us. It has been a good creative outlet.

Throughout the day, Kia and I were also chatting about the next stage of the trip. We had made a few decisions the night before around when we might finish up, timelines, and a few other key pieces, and we kept building on that. It is still a bit of a work in progress, but it feels like we are starting to shape it properly.

Later in the afternoon, we all came back together. Emmett and Kia smashed out a solid exercise session while Maddie stayed busy with colouring and crafts. Emmett is really leaning into this whole idea of getting stronger and fitter at the moment. He has been doing push ups, sit ups, all of it, and even made himself a calendar that he ticks off each day when he does what he set out to do. It has been awesome to watch that kind of self motivation build.

We had dinner together and then got the kids into bed around 7:30 or 8. Kia and I spent a bit more time talking through plans, but nothing like the night before. Just enough to keep things moving forward.

Another good, steady day. It is all starting to come together.