We're back... and trying to adjust to real life. The worst part about holidays is having to come back. Woe is us (I'm sure there's a lot of tiny violin playing going on out there right now!).

Anyway, the Fiji trip was wonderful. We stayed at the Shangri-La Fijian Resort which is abou 60 kms from Nadi on the Coral Coast. It is very much a family resort and if I didn't have children I would think it would be my worst nightmare.

The Fijians are just beautiful, the most friendly, welcoming people... they just work on Fiji time. I've heard people complain about lack of professionalism with the service in Fiji; to me it's the perfect service for when you're on holidays. Sure it's a little relaxed but that's what I want when I'm hols and generally I'm happy to wait a while, after all when you're kicking back with a book by the pool it doesn't really matter if your fancy cocktail with the pineapple and umbrella garnish takes an extra five minutes.

We went with three other families, all of whom we know through our adoption group and who we've become very good friends with. There were nine children in our group: four older boys and five little ones. They are all great buddies and apart from a few fatigue induced squabbles they got on beautifully. It was such a pleasure to watch them playing in the sand on the lagoon or running around on the grassy area outside our rooms. There was a really fun kids' disco on every night and we took the kids a few times - they loved it; the limbo competition was hilarious.

There were many highlights:

* The children playing together (I could watch them for hours - as long as they're not bickering).

* The children dancing with the Polynesian dancers on stage.

* Meeting the local school children during our day trip.

* Jason taking Marianna for a horse ride on the beach.

* Laying by the pool chatting and reading with my dear friends.

* Some lovely dinners - adults only (thank goodness for evening kids' club!).

* The "big night out" when we hit the disco and danced the night away (well, until 12:30 AM anyway - that's a big night for us old parent types).

Lots more but I'll just let the pictures do the talking...