Dotty’s birthday landed while we were staying in Freshwater, in an Airbnb with a pool that we had rented for nearly four weeks.
It turned out to be a perfect place for it.
After months of moving around, we had space, sunshine, family nearby and a pool, which in January in Australia is basically birthday infrastructure.
Ali’s family came over, the doors were open, presents were handed around, and the kids moved between the house, the deck and the water. It felt easy in a way we had not had for a while.
At one point, there were sixteen people in the pool.
Sixteen.
That probably says more about the day than anything else. It was busy, hot, noisy, splashy and very Australian. Not glamorous, not staged, just a proper family birthday with wet towels everywhere, people chatting, kids swimming, presents being opened and Dotty right in the middle of it all.
She had balloons, presents, cake, family, and plenty of water, which is always one of her happiest places.
After so much travel, it felt special to have a birthday that was not squeezed into a hotel room or fitted around a moving day. We were still temporary, still in an Airbnb, but for that afternoon it felt like we had borrowed a little piece of normal life.
A house.
A pool.
Family around.
A very happy Dotty.
And honestly, that was more than enough.
