Backyard chaos

The backyard of my parents’ place was a hive of noisy activity yesterday afternoon when the Hobart nieces and nephews came around. The cubby house of my own childhood is still in use (Dad has refurbished it), although I don’t fit inside quite so easily any more! However, it is just the right size for the triplets. The sandpit was in use; the little plastic trike was hurtling about with one or other of the younger four on it (the older two being somewhat too big) depending on what had been negotiated/argued/dictated about whose turn it was; a small plastic golf ball was flying rapidly in unexpected directions because it was too much to hope that the miracle of actually hitting it might also be accompanied by some measure of controlled force and direction; and the cricket set also had a bit of a workout, although my childhood habit of climbing over the neighbour’s 1.5m high fence to retrieve lofted off drives has now been replaced by the longer but less risky walk around.

It was a sunny afternoon, and I wanted to take some photos of the clan before I head off again. Of course, none of them ever stay still for long and they were aware that I was taking photos which made getting natural shots that much more difficult. Furthermore, the light was occasionally at awkward angles and the wind was blowing hair in all directions so I just had to seize whatever moments I could. (I’m just making excuses for the fact that I don’t “do” portraits as well as I would like!)

One of the fun things is looking for family resemblances among these six siblings and their cousins, and also across generations. When we were growing up I’m sure my brothers and sisters and I denied any likenesses amongst ourselves (and certainly not with our parents!), but of course we knew it wasn’t true. Here, you can make your own judgements about the similarities and differences; what the photos can’t quite capture are the similarities and differences among the personalities.

But they do give some hints!