Bloody football!!! It’s great that England are doing so well (ah-hem…..), but give us a break – 11pm kick offs are the earliest! Heaven forbid we get to extra time and penalties – we’ll need to buy matchsticks in industrial quantities. I would just like to put it on the record now that the Socceroos woz robbed! Thank you, I have said it, I shall now move on…..
It’s been a busy few weeks again. I don’t know where the weeks disappear to! This week, Sam has a school trip into Perth. He is VERY excited. I however, have to compete with Mum’s trip to M&S and a bill of £30 to provide a ‘special’ packed lunch for him whenever he went on a day trip with Templewood. I’m gonna have trouble with that one! I might do him a hard boiled egg and tell him to be grateful after his antics last week!
On Friday, Sam informed me it was his ‘news’ day at school, but as he didn’t have any news exciting enough, he made up an elaborate story about Darcie falling off the trampoline and breaking her leg! ‘My whole class feel really sorry for you, Darcie’ he told her! I didn’t think much of it as Sam constantly has a pimple on his tongue from little white lies! On Saturday, we were having a girls night out and one of the Mums phoned me to see if I was still going as she didn’t realise Darcie has broken her leg!! Part of me was disgusted that he would make up such a nasty story as he didn’t have any news, and the other half was proud for his ability to think on his feet! Anyhow, at the time of this phonecall, Sam was at the skate park. I’d given him my mobile just in case I needed to call him home - he rang ME about five times!! – so the next time he phoned, Paul asked him what the Darcie/leg story was all about? Quick as a flash, Sam replied ’ah, yes…… about that……. Gotta go – sorry, bye!!’ How cheeky can you get?? Saturday Sam spent the whole day in and out of the house with friends, down to the skate park, over to the shop, into his mate’s houses….. it was a real Piccadilly circus.
I had a fab night out with some girl friends on Saturday night. We went into Mandurah, had a bottle of wine in a bar and then on to dinner in a nice restaurant. We had a real giggle and it was lovely to let our hair down and enjoy ourselves.
Sunday we braved the local pool and took the kids swimming. It’s quite cool there – they have a water slide, a beach section, lots of bubbles and one of those river things that takes you along in a current. For all of us to swim and Paul to have a sauna cost less than £7. Sam tried the water slide out, and asked the lifeguard how old you had to be to ride. He said that you had to be six – ‘no problem’, pipes up Darcie ‘I’ll just lie and tell him I’m six already!’ are you noticing a theme with my children? Darcie tried it and declared it to be ‘awesome’.
Today I helped out in Darcie’s class at school. I picked a good day as they had a travelling music group and had to do 'stuff all' other than sit on my bum and listen to four people play more instruments than I have ever seen in my life! It was excellent and the kids really enjoyed it. They sat still brilliantly for such young kids and then joined in with so much enthusiasm when they were asked. It was lovely to watch.
One thing’s for sure, we’re all looking forward to Christmas. That’s ‘Christmas in July!’ It’s a big thing here as July is the middle of winter and the closest I suppose we can come to a traditional cold UK Christmas. They have office parties, Christmas dinner/dances in restaurants and decorations. Should be interesting! I’ll keep you posted on that one. There’s even a local nature reserve which offers the following:
Santas Bibbulmun Vacation:
For the young and young at heart! An easy 5km return stroll to meet Santa and friends on holiday from the North Pole at a Bibbulmun Track timber shelter! Enjoy a BYO picnic while listening to Santas stories. Then experience a magical return by torch light following the reflective Waugal trail markers. Location advised after booking. 1 hr from Perth. Ages 3yrs and up. Includes small gift for children. Max 2 adults per child. Max 2 children per adult. Suitable for robust pushchairs.
How cool does that sound! Fancy bumping into Santa on his holidays!! Just a bugger that it’s full already for this year. I’ll have to try and remember to book it for next year – it won’t be the same in December in 40 degree heat and legions of flies.
Adam’s potty training is going from bad to worse. I’m thinking of enrolling him in puppy training classes instead. He’s a nightmare! Knows exactly what to do, just refuses to do it! He’s got a terrible habit of sleeping with his hand down the front of his nappy. No word of a lie, I got him out of bed the other morning and his hand was white and wrinkled like he’d spent all night in the bath! Nice, eh?
Stop Press: Adam has actually used his potty twice today – once as a hat and the other as a step….. only joking! HE DID IT!! We have to ‘high five’ after the event, have a huge self-congratulatory back slapping session and then do the whole ‘bye-bye wee wee’ routine where we smile, wave and wish it well on it’s travels. The joys of parenthood, eh? Not to mention the fact the he goes round all day with no pants on (one thing at a time – he can’t get to the potty AND remember to pull his pants down too), winking at us when he bends over!
We have reached a milestone within our emigration journey. Last week, Paul got a speeding ticket. To be honest, we are surprised that we’ve gone this far without one as they are really hot on it here with mobile speed cameras hidden in bushes, with Police officers that just jump out at you and blind you with a flash so bright, it’s like a shooting star two inches from your nose. I wouldn’t mind but:
(a) they tell you on the TV news the night before where the speed cameras are going to be located,
(b) I had literally 30 seconds before the flash told Paul to slow down as it was a common spot for speed cameras and then (probably MOST annoyingly),
(c) Paul did the same bloody thing two days later and another one flashed in his face at Mach 4!
He did think about contesting it using the Navman software, but thought better of it as the download showed him breaking the speed limit several more times and at a slightly faster speed than he was caught at during the same journey. It’s a huge revenue generator for the government and they will send a ticket for 3kms over the speed limit. Driving whilst drunk (or certainly over the limit) is acceptable though and most Aussies consider it to be perfectly normal!! They have a warped sense of danger when you consider that the average speed limit on a freeway is 80kph which equates to 49 miles per hour!! If and when we ever return to the UK on holiday a trip on the motorway will make me feel like Penelope Pitstop zooming along at breakneck speed (the kids are obviously the Anthill Mob – eh,eh,eh we’re all gonna die………). I’ll feel like bloody Michael Shumacher at speeds of 70MPH! I don’t think I’ll be able to handle the speed after so long of driving at a snails pace.
Just something quick that make me laugh this week..... I'd put Adam to bed and he was crying his eyes out (as ususal - he likes to enter his sleep-state through cried-out exhaustion!). I said to him 'for heaven's sake Adam, stop screaming! The neighbours will think I'm murdering you!!' Five minutes later, a very upset Miss Parcel appears in the doorway. After much coaxing, I get her to tell me what's wrong..... 'well, you just said that if Adam doesn't stop crying, the neighbours are going to come from next door and murder him!' Isn't life strange in a 5 year old's head? It's a scary place in there, and I wouldn't like to enter without a rope being tied round my middle - just in case I got caught up in her vivid imagination and was stuck there forever - and I'm NEVER playing chinese whispers with her either!
On that note I'm off to crawl to the kitchen for another G&T. Take care all xxXXxxP.S. Would just like to say get well soon to Julia's Aunty Joyce and Paul's Aunty Mary who are both in hospital at the moment. Love to both and we hope you get better very, very soon xxXXxx
