Things we've acheived today

1. We walked the dogs, on the beach, and Agatha actually stood on the sand. Usually she points at the sea, shouting "bye, bye!!!" very loudly and tries to drag me off the beach. I'm thinking she probably won't be a surfer chick.

2. We've been to the educational superstore, known as Wooldriges, to get Ruben (and Grace's) stuff they need to start next Tuesday. Unlike in the UK, where all school materials are free, over here in Oz you have to buy a fair bit. Ruben needed 2 text books, a couple of large display folders and a library book bag. Grace needed display folders and..... wait for it.....a towel. Answers on a postcard, please.

3. I'm not saying I'm great at packing suitcases, but thought I'd got everything covered when I packed 5 cases of stuff to see us through until our container arrived. However, I soon found out that I'd only packed summer dresses and HSM dressing up outfits for Grace, and no jeans, or trousers. So we had to go and get her some today. Kids' clothes are not exactly great over here, but did manage to get her some nice-ish skinny black jeans from Big W.

Not bad, eh? Oh, and bumped into Paul and Ian bunking off work like a couple of naughty school boys, going to get a latte...

Dominos ain't got nothing on us

Ok, so they don't look particularly tasty raw, but the kids had a great time making them. We spent yesterday afternoon making them for tea - the kids made the dough, watched it rise them topped them with homemade tomato sauce and cheese. There's no point putting anything more extravagant than this as they just pick it all off.

Agatha ate a startling amount of pizza, and even Grace ate quite a bit, so all in all, a big hit.

The Karate Kids

Some days are better than others

What a bloody nightmare of a day we've had today. The kids have been acting as if posessed by the spirit of Damien. No idea what has got into them, but they've all been bloody horrible.

Yesterday we had to sort out some stuff for our imminent house move. We managed to sort a nice big t.v and some kitchen-y stuff too. It was a very productive day and the kids were really well behaved.

Today, however, everyone seems to have got up on the wrong side of the bed - even the dogs. We tried to introduce Ono and Jess to our neighbours dog, Maverick, which resulted in a not very pretty dog fight. Not sure who started it, or who won really, but it was just not very nice.

We then walked the dogs down to dog-beach for a run around.

The weather at the moment is bloody awful, a mix of high winds and torrential rain - if anyone comments that you have great weather in the uk, I'll be forced to remind you that we only have bad weather in WA for 3 months - tops. The rest is blue skies all the way.

So, a very uneventful weekend, and only written up to keep those vaguely interested of our comings and goings!

Oh, and to top if off, I STILL haven't got my car - the loan company are asking for all kinds of nonsense, so it's back to the fremantle taxi for me for this week......


ETA - aww crap, just lost loads of text and photos - will try again.


Over here in Mcdonalds they have outdoor play areas - today Ruben managed to create this on his forehead in said play area....

A Thursday to remember

Two very memorable things have occurred in the last couple of days.......

1. We collected our dogs from quarantine in Byford.

2. We collected Paul's new Mondeo Zetec from Mandurah

Hoo-bloody-rah! It feels like two mammoth hurdles have been, um, hurdled.

The dogs are fine, a bit nervous, and not sure of themselves, but apart from that, all is good.

I got to drive the new car back from Mandurah, I even had an hour in it without the kids - twas all lovely.

We just have to sort out my PT Cruiser now, which is proving a larger hurdle. The finance company want all kinds of bizarre information and it's taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. It looks like I may be back in the Fremantle Taxi next week.....

Had a lovely day yesterday with Lizzie and her son, Ben, who our kids are seriously in awe of. He is all they've talked about today. Bless em. We went into Fremantle, had some lunch, mosied around the shops and generally had a nice, chilled out time. Looking forward to doing it again.

We'll be shopping for a few bits for the new pad at the weekend - need to get a washing machine desperatley. There will be a 3-4 week delay before we get our container delivered, so need to get some plates, cutlery and stuff.

Can't wait to move in - it'll feel like we're finally settled somewhere.

Lazy days.....

I've done n.o.t.h.i.n.g today, not a jot really. Except for a big shop with 3 kids (no mean feat!), a load of washing and ironing and that's about it. The kids were feeling pretty laid back so didn't mind too much just playing at home and generally chilling out.

We sat and watched Alice in Wonderland after breakfast (again!) and then tackled the supermarket.....is it just me that struggles to control kids in the supermarket? R&G always end up running round like loonies whilst I try to shout quietly at them.

Things I've recently learnt about Perth:
1. There is no amazon.com.au - how on earth are you supposed to buy stuff if you can't get it from Amazon?
2. Potatoes are really no good foor roasting over here.
3. You never need to buy another lemon - they grow everywhere.

Things I'm missing about the uk:
1. Amazon.co.uk
2. Maris Piper potatoes
3. Decent dumbing down tv - far too many sitcoms over here.

The DNA Tower

We went to Freo this morning to have a mosey around the market and generally soak up some atmosphere. We also came across the most beautiful shop called www.pickledfairy.com.au . It sold the most beautiful fairy dresses, wings, shoes and crowns you could ever imagine. It was a gorgeous quaint little shop, with 2 fairies running it, all dressed up and covered in glitter (Bek, I S.O thought of you!!!!!!), Grace was completely smitten with the place, bless her.

We also spent the afternoon at King's Park which the kids loved just so much! We went down to the Synergy Playground which had loads of stuff for the kids to climb on, swing on and generaly arse about with.

All in all, a lovely family day with lots of fun. I've actually had a fair bit of wine now so this may be a bit incoherent - hic! Love to everyone.x

Hands up who likes Inspector Frost?

We don't have Foxtel (the Aussie equivalent of Sky television) at the moment, so our viewing is fairly limited. The kids have found a few things they like, but of an evening it's either Top Gear, or, well, Top Gear. Tonight we've been treated to Doc Martin and now we're enjoying a great episode of Inspector Frost. We did buy the Alice in Wonderland DVD today and the kids all watched it before bed - they totally love it! Ruben is a huge fan of th Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky. Grace is an Alice just waiting to happen.

We've been to Mandurah today, which is south of Perth, about an hour away. It was a gloriously sunny day, with temps around 17 degrees. The harbour was ridiculously picturesque and we ate at a lovely seafront Asian cafe called D'lights. Ruben ate a stupidly large plate of special fried rice (which he shared a bit of with Agatha), Grace had her usual chips and ketchup (tips on how to expand her diet greatly appreciated) and Paul and I had lovely garlicky, chilli-y prawns and beef.

The kids finished off with huge lollies that we've not let them have before......check out Aggie's compared to R&Gs!!