And Yet MORE rain!

I have never lived anywhere with such a penchant for rain!  This is truly amazing.  Granted, they say this is a really wet summer, but really!  Enough is really enough.  The humidity was 97% yesterday.  Glad it was only 82 degrees or we would have felt much worse.  I've been told the walls start to sprout mold in these days, so if the walls or the couch starts to look a bit fuzzy or off color to wash down with 3 parts vinegar 2 parts water.  Good to know!  Wondering how the boxes of stuff out in the garage are doing with all this humidity.  We may be getting rid of a bunch of it after the rainy season!!  I also have to point out that not ONCE in the last 2 weeks has my mail been fully shoved into the mailbox to keep it dry.  I have to either wait several hours to let it dry or risk tearing it to pieces.  Thinking I will have to borrow Alex's hairdryer to speed this process up, or put in the oven along with dinner?

Alright, as promised, the recap for the week of adventures.

Alex returned from camp on Friday afternoon tired, sore, bruised, muddy, and quite pleased with herself.  She had to write a letter home to us.  Here are some excerpts.  I was laughing so hard at her responses!  Alex is a very tongue in cheek sense of humor girl and her snarky attitude gets called out once in awhile when she goes to far.  She has also discovered Patrick McManus books-so the tall tale type of humor is right up her alley for her to appreciate.  Here goes:

I'm sending this to you because of all the people in my life you. . . "are the only ones I think they would let me deliver to in Australia without using too many stamps" alluding to the fact any other family members would need 3x the postage to get the letter.  Cheeky!

When I think about how I have gone in the past. . . "Wow, I was so awesome then and look.  I am still so awesome!  My goal was to stay awesome forever and I am still awesome."  Yeah, you are kid.  I don't think she really liked this particular activity at camp.

So when it comes to changing, I think. . . "I already have everything figured out and I just needed something to write about or they get a bit grumpy and some of the teachers get angry very easily.  (Me here, but I think is has something to do with having to stay up until after the kids get to sleep around midnight, and up before them at 6 every day of camp!) I now know how to be awesome and awesome I will stay!  I also think I need a new pair of shoes as these are ruined I think. ( Yeah, 3 days of pouring rain and being outside in the red mud of Australia.  Her suitcase came home with plenty of muddy, wet clothes and bedding.  Glad it was her and NOT me!)

So, camp according to Alex, was a blast!  Mud fights, lots of ropes courses and climbing activities, 25 girls in one cabin.  Fun for any 12 year old!  Some of her pics turned out pretty good.  Lyle has the laptop this week so I will try and do a photo post next weekend.

Annika had Girl Guides Thinking Day Celebration at Southbank on Saturday.  It was one of the few days these last couple of weeks that it DID NOT RAIN, at least much.  So the sun was out, 86 degrees and crazy high humidity.  We caught the bus in and met the rest of the troop by the main playground for opening ceremonies.  They were nicely done, but I wish the sound system was not so spotty.  Over 2000 people were there!  The girls were really excited, but that waned fast as you could hardly hear anything.  Good thing for distractions like Asian tourists coming in the fire doors to see what was going on!  Provided plenty of entertainment as they broke out the video cameras and phones to document their trip.  The ushers trying to get them to leave were really nice at least.  We enjoyed our picnic lunch by the river, then went to the activity stations.  We learned how to make bubble chains with milk caps, washcloths, hair elastics and straws.  Also made a friendship bracelet and tissue paper flowers.  Lots of tissue paper flowers.  Did I mention the flowers?  Thelma, the troop leader treated to icy poles (Popsicle to us Americans) and we bussed it home.  Exhausted!  I enjoyed a nice bottle of chilled white wine once home and the family watched Adventures of Tintin:  Secret of the lost Unicorn.  Highly recommend it!  The power went out 10 minutes before it was done, but Annika was lights out a good hour before that.

Ian LOVES his Tae Kwan Do classes.  He and one other boy were the only ones there this week and the extra attention was good for him.  He is also doing his homework without as much fuss.  I think his teacher sat down and told him he had to do it!  He knows 4 of his sight words on his first list now and loves that I have put the words in an app on my phone for flash cards, so we can practice his words anywhere!  He recorded himself saying the words so if he gets stuck he can hear himself say it.  He is a much different learner than the girls.  They were really letter/phonics aware and he is more shape of word aware.  He will learn-but at his own pace and much differently than the girls.  His favorite book right now is The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and any of the Lego Kingdoms or Hot Wheels readers.  I'll buy him comics if he wants them!  As long as he learns to read I really don't care what the medium is to teach him!

Lyle is out traveling again the next 2 weeks.  Thank goodness he is home weekends!  This makes 5 or 6 weeks in a row.  He had scheduled last week to be in the office to get expense reports and other paperwork that was critical done.  He ended up in Newcastle for 2 days and up in Gladstone for a day trip.  It was a looonnngggg week for him.  We hope to know this week if the job offer will be workable or not.  Once that is settled, time to buy tickets to go home!  Targeting July after the week of the 4th.  The main criteria is that we need to be home by Aug 31 to cash in our Costco bonus check!  We'll have to pull the kids from school for a couple of weeks, but that is just the way it goes.  I am so glad my kids like to travel and are good at it!  Gone are the days of wiggly toddlers in my lap who scream and cry when they want to run! My sympathies to the parents who have to do this, and I will promise to always offer to help out as I remember those days.  But boy, I do NOT miss them!

I also submitted the worksheets to the accountant firm for our taxes.  What a pain in the arse!  I really have to get grouchy with our government because we have to ante up our income for US government perusal and if we DONT pay equivalent taxes to our host country we HAVE to pay the difference to ours!  They don't take into account the cost of living difference either, so the salary Lyle pulls in here looks amazing on paper-until you see that gas is over $6 per gallon, groceries are 30% higher and rent is over $2000 per month.  We were also notified by the electric providers that costs are going up 21% this year across the board and insurance premiums are going up 10% out of pocket.  I know, bitch and moan, or whinge as they say here!  It is a good place to live, but an expensive one!

Love you all!  Hope to have travel plans next week!

Rain AGAIN!

I just got a text and email alert from the local weather service warning of slow moving storms with heavy rain that may cause more local flooding.  Oh, Fun!  It has been much cooler-about 81-83 degrees with lots of clouds.  I prefer the cooler and rainier weather because frankly, with this much rain when the sun does come out the humidity is a killer!  I know Ian's school swim lessons were cancelled this morning due to the weather.  They do the lessons rain or shine, but hard to swim when there is as much water in the air coming down on your head when you are trying to take a breath!  Also, those little ones just have NO body fat and are shivering by the end of a 35 minute session!

School pictures are coming soon!  Alex had hers done last Thursday.  She was miffed as she had to wear her hair back, so she did a side ponytail so we can see how long it is!  The others are scheduled for 1 March and I can hardly wait!  Ian got a haircut (by mom as usual) this weekend.  He really wants his hair to grow longer in a shaggy style that is popular.  I just can't do that yet!  I did leave it long enough that Alex can help him put some gel in it and spike it up a bit.  He looks super cute!

Still working on the Newcastle bit.  Their offer was underwhelming to say the least.  The salary will be matched come March when Lyle gets his raise and with general living and costs such as having to purchase and register a second car we would loose money.  He sat down with them last week to go over it, so we do expect a second attempt soon.  In the meantime Lyle is crazy busy.  He has been on the road for nearly a month now.  He tried to schedule a week in town this week to get caught up on expense reports and planning for the many projects he is working on or getting prepared to do, but is back in Newcastle for 2 days, has 1 day at home, up to Gladstone for 1 day and needs to be in the house by 4:15 so I can do the Girl Guides and swim drops without Ian.  He is already booked the following 2 weeks to Newcastle, so hoping they are able to give him a break to work in town before Easter!

Swimming this last weekend was a gully washer as dad says.  It poured right up until the start of the races, then dropped off to a drizzle, then turned on again as we left.  Good timing at least!  They were short volunteers for timing, so my friend Rebecca and I grabbed the stopwatches and the umbrellas.  I had not been planning on doing this (I wear my thongs if I know I have to be poolside), so left the shoes and socks in the stands with Annika.  Bec was so funny!  "Aren't your feet going to freeze?"  She had on a second layer!  Temps never did get below 78 that night!

Annika and I have Saturday with the Girl Guides at Southbank.  It is the birthday celebration for Lord and Lady Baden-Powell and regional guides will be descending on the park for arts and crafts, entertainment, etc.  She is excited!  Lyle will be taking Ian to swim lessons that morning and Annika and I will be catching the bus, meeting a friend at the shops, and riding to Southbank!  I'm taking my camp chair as I don't have my orange sit-upon anymore!  Besides with all this wet, I think I will take my poncho and gumboots and heck with sitting down anywhere.

Alex has camp Wed-Fri and is looking forward to it!  She had better take the rain wear or she will be miserable with all of her clothes wet.  Don't know if she will be swimming Friday night as last time she went to this camp she went to bed super early and slept in until after 9 am!

Planning Ian's birthday party for next month.  He wants all the boys in his class and a Pirate theme.  I went to the cheap store and got eye patches, swords, and a pirate flag, AND themed invites!  The party favors will be the swords and patches and I'm thinking Alex can lead a pirate hat newspaper folding craft and a treasure hunt in the local park.  The park around the corner just happens to have a big ship play structure, so pictures ought to be fun to do!  Other than the craft I'm just planning on letting them have a good run and play.  I'm doing some regular balloons that once we hand out the pirate paraphernalia they can hack and kick on.  I do know better than to hand out the weapons too soon!

Love you!

School Daze

Ok, so as promised, transport between 2 schools!  Lets just say it is a bit crazy.  Alex's school releases at 2:50.  I meet her at a parking lot kitty corner from the school with a quick left turn and it's off to Camp Hill.  Once there I either have to find a parking spot and walk up to Ian's class pick up point, OR now that Annika is at the big school, she can come down to get him (as long as the teacher known the plan!) and they both meet me at the stop, drop, go car pick up point.  By the time I have joined the queue and inched down to the actual pick up point, it is 3:15 or so.  If I park and walk to get the kids, it's 3:20.  There is also a mom with a daughter at Alex's school and her youngest son in Ian's class and we have worked out a fun arrangement!  One of us picks up the girls and we trade the kids out at the stop and drop area.  Works a treat so we will be doing more often.  The kids think they are big time to be getting to the pick up area on their own, so that is definitely a keeper strategy.

Transportation for Alex is also going to be fun too.  There are metro school buses that drive around for pick up and drop offs.  Don't think we'll be doing the morning run as they pick up at 7:00 ish and drop about 8 am.  This is almost an hour early, so not so good.  The metro bus is almost as much fun, with a 7:55 pickup and a transfer in Coorparoo, then a bus to school.  I MADE her ride a bus last week to get home, she picked the school bus.  At least there she has 2 school bus options after school, both pick up about 3:30 with no transfers and she is in the door just before 4, so a good one there.  Going to Camp Hill or to home on the metro has 1 transfer with a pickup about 3:10 and she still gets home at 4, or to Camp Hill by 3:40.  Either works, and I am going to be a mean momma and make her take the metro buses to get to swimming on Monday.  I'll have to register her bus card and set up automatic payments for sure now!

Ian finally got to try something he has been dying to do for nearly a year!  I will be taking him to do Tae Kwon Do at the local version of the YMCA.  He did his first class on Wednesday and is counting the days until he gets to do it again!  He LOVED it and I am thrilled he does.  The kicking, punching, and yelling are all right up his alley!

The thorny bush that fell over in the storm is GONE!  That was a nasty piece of work.  The thorns on the mature part of the bush were 1.5 inches or longer!  Lyle trimmed enough branches that he could finally just drag the thing by the roots out to the front where city council tree grinders came through this week to take it away.  Nearly every house has a similar pile of branches, palm fronds, etc. for pickup over the next couple of weeks.  The lawns are greening up with all of the water and looking so nice!  Then we have to mow them though.  Boo!

I have to do a bit of bragging here too.  Alex was accepted to Cav Rd on her academic strengths, so good for her!  We got a letter last week letting us know that she was also placed in an accelerated class with similar kids so covering the same curriculum, but deeper.  We are thrilled and so is she.  As she put it, "The kids who are the distractions to the rest of us are G.O.N.E!"  Amazing what a bunch of motivated kids can do when given a workable environment.  In the meantime, there are 8-9 girls and 14-16 boys.  Alex said 7-8 of the boys are total computer game geeks and that is all they do.  The rest are ok.  I'm good with ok at this stage.  They do all of their core classes together too-math, science, English, etc.  They split somewhat for sports, Music/Art, and languages.  She is doing German and loves it.  She is annoyed the rock climbing class was filled when it was her turn to register, so she is doing cross country running instead.  They have all sorts of choices! Aerobics, yoga, bushwalking, basketball.  They did field hockey last week in PE-really enjoyed that!  Chip off the stick Grandma Claudia?

This week, back to school curriculum nights.  Brilliant scheduling here as well-all 3 kids on the same night at the same times!  I'll be going to Cav Rd as I know the teachers and routines at Camp Hill now. Also still sorting out the Newcastle bit.  Once we know where we will be based, we'll figure out the summer trip home and let you all know our schedule!  Love you all!

Ex Cyclones and School Start

Apparently Ex Cyclones are just as much fun as real ones!  Oswald (or Ozzie if you prefer the Australia penchant for nicknames) blasted across the northern part of the state (keeping in mind about as far north of us as LA is south of Portland) and kept trying to reform over the Pacific Ocean.  He never quite got there, but the attempt was bad enough.  Bundaberg, where we visited Christmas of 2011, is still underwater.  Many of the rivers and streams rose phenomenally fast here, but also went down just as quickly.  The high winds caused lots of problems.  Tornadoes in the Sunshine Coast, lots of downed power lines from trees and debris.  We were fortunate that we never lost power, just a few small limbs down and the overgrown thorny flowering bushy thingy in the backyard tore free from the trellis.  We'll be removing that this weekend! Overall the storm kept us in the house for 2 days because of the winds and trees falling.  The kids had a blast playing in the deep water and mud in the yard right before the winds hit!  Figured out the yard drain is plugged as well since the water flowed down the side of the house, through the backyard, and into the yard behind us!  I tried to use the plunger on it, but no luck.  Most likely some critter nested in there so it is plugged and will need snaked out.

At any rate, our schools had power, water, sewer, and were not being used as a storm shelters, so Tuesday meant Game On!  Alex started High School and so far seems to be enjoying it.  She is in a fast track class that does most of their classes together so she is much happier already.  You can learn so much more when the smart alecs are removed!  And yes, I do know that is not politically correct!

The littles are quite happy as well.  One of Alex's teachers moved to 3rd grade and has Annika this year and Ian has the year 2 teacher Annika had when we moved here.  We are all quite happy with the new year!  Here is a picture of the adorables their first day!  Ian is grouchy because I would not let him do a Ninja pose for this picture.  Grump!

Off to swim night with the girls!  Love you all-let you know next week how the transport works with kids in 2 different schools and traffic jams to deal with!

Lost teeth, forts, and lots of RAIN!

We have had a couple weeks of adventures and gear up to starting back to school NEXT WEEK!

The weather has finally warmed up and with it the humidity has skyrocketed.  At least for our perception of if!  The temps were hitting 90 regularly with tolerable humidity, but the rains have begun and with it the moisture level goes waayyyy up!  The AC has been a HUGE relief, especially at night so we can sleep.  I try to not run it during the day as it gets super expensive really fast, and as they only bill you every 3 months here, a $900 electric bill is small potatoes in weather like this.  Me, I prefer to not have those, so ration the comfort.  We just shut the doors to our room and the kids can sleep on the floor in air conditioned comfort!  Just have to watch for them if you have to get up to pee in the middle of the night.  They move from where they started!  With the rising moisture the cicadas really have tuned up as well.  They are deafening at times and go on all. night. long.  Yet another reason to worship the AC!  Shut the windows and turn on the unit and the white noise drowns them out somewhat.

A momentous occasion for Ian this last week!  He lost 2 teeth before our trip to Newcastle!  On was finally pulled out on Friday night, the other on Saturday night.  We were thrilled as was he.  The tooth fairy delivered his dated silver dollars and we traded them for Aussie gold $1 coins for him to spend.  He has been hauling the money around in his pocket for the last week agonizing over what to spend it on!  Here is a pic of the second tooth which he pulled in the bath.  Little dental floss and lots of tugging and out it popped!

This is the first tooth out below.  Please note that he is shirtless because it is really pointless to make him wear much more than a pair of knit boxers in this weather!  When we go out, he does put on clothes. . .

On the change front, Lyle has been working a LOT down in Newcastle, which is about 2 hours north of Sydney.  We spent a week down there with him so we could check out the area as they are interested in having him come to work for them permanently.  It would be a nice position for him as he would be running their technical department.  It was downsized the last couple of years, but they are looking to ramp it back up and want someone who knows what he is doing to get it back.  It is also a facility with plenty of room for improvements which he has been helping with.  It isn't as warm and humid as Brisbane, and some new territory to explore in Sydney!  So, we wait and see what is going to come of it.  In the meantime, things keep trucking along here, and if it doesn't work, we will do just fine here!

I have to close with a picture of Alex's new boots!  She absolutely loves them (frankly, so do I!).  I love her sense of style with them.  She wears with a short pair of shorts, tank and messenger cap.  Thankfully they have zippers, so she doesn't have to do all the eyelets and hooks.  Also, a blast from the past picture here of Alex.  This was our first Christmas in Massena, NY on her bouncy horse.  She was all of 19 months old here!

The weather has been interesting these last few days.  There was a cyclone (hurricane) way north of us that crossed the peninsula above Cairns named Oswald, and with the Aussie penchant for nicknames, it is known as Ozzie.  It is now following the coast and heading south, not quite reforming into a cyclone, but wreaking havoc as a tropical depression/storm.  Lots of flooding in it's wake and some confirmed waterspouts and small tornadoes on the Sunshine Coast.  Just happens to be Australia Day weekend and a big BBQ weekend.  Think 4th of July being rained out for the week and you get the feeling!  Needless to say, we are doing our cooking indoors!

Next blog topic, back to school!  Alex starts High School and the littles continue at the primary.  Pictures will be put on FB, emailed, and put up here next time I write!

Love you all!

Hot!

Well, the summer heat waves and fires that plagued the northern hemisphere have certainly continued Down Under!  Around Melbourne it has been over 40, which is 104, consistently and headed that way here.  Outback stations are reporting temps of 45 and higher.  The national weather service had to add new color bands to their forecast maps as the predicted temps in some inland areas are going to be ABOVE 50C!  These are Death Valley CA temps people!  Unfathomable hot.  Fires have been torching Tasmania.  There is even a picture going around in internet of a grandma and her grandkids taking refuge in the lake clinging to the pier with smoke so thick you can hardly see the people. Grandpa took the pic just a couple of steps away.  They lost their home, but everyone was safe.  Many have lost everything in these wildfires in Tasmania and other Australian states this week, with no end in sight.  Locally there are several fires of concern and the air is quite smokey smelling and slightly hazy, but nothing like Wenatchee was last summer-fortunately for us here.  Brisbane hasn't hit such crazy high temps as Melbourne, but it is trying.  The high so far has been about 95, but indexed for humidity and such feels more like 102.  I'd prefer the low humidity desert 102 to the sticky one any day!  But on a positive note, have finally found an underarm deoderant that actually works!  Nivea has a loyal user for the rest of my days for sure!  Keeps this sweaty person smelling sweet all day long!  That and wearing as little as possible.  Ian has been running around in his knit boxers, Annika in not much else and Alex in string tanks and bike shorts.  Me, I wear flowy skirts with tanks and indecently short, light dresses.  Along with everyone else!  When in Rome, right?

2 1/2 weeks of summer holiday left for us poor saps here.  Swimming starts back up next week and I plan to have the girls swimming most every afternoon to relieve the heat if nothing else!  May have Ian in lessons for those 2 weeks as well, but his session is in the morning.  Bet they'll let him hop in the pool in the afternoon for a quick dunk to cool off though!  He will for sure be back in lessons for term 1 of school in addition to whatever swim schedule they work out for the PE time!  He loves the water now and I am so glad!

Alex now has all of her school uniform elements and school supplies and is ready to go.  The other two fit their stuff still (have I mentioned how I LOVE school uniforms?)  I will be selling Alex's stuff to friends and to the uniform shop for their second hand racks to get a bit back as well.  I'll post up the traditional 1st day of school pics as school starts Jan 29!

Australia Day is Jan 26 (their 4th of July) and the official public holiday is on Jan 28.  Lots of patriotic Aussie stuff going on sale this time of year.  If you have any requests, I can most likely find it!  I plan on scoring beach towels and a plastic backed picnic blanket this weekend!  Fun, Fun, Fun!

Christmas 2012

Hello everyone!  We survived the end of the school year with break up parties, goodbyes, and hello to summer break!  Alex went to a fun party where the girls took the bus to Southbank to play in the riverside swimming pools and then had dessert at Max Brenners, a divine chocolate themed shop.  The girls were smearing their lips with chocolate and dipping them into sprinkles!

Our adventure started with Lyle able to catch an earlier flight out of Newcastle so we were able to get up to Noosa at a very reasonable time.  By the way, things have really heated up for him around here.  Lyle was on the road all three weeks prior to the holiday and was READY for some time off!  Back to Noosa--

3 days of beach and relax with NO COOKING for me was just perfect!  We were able to stay at the same place as last month when we did the aerobics competition with the girls, just a short walk to the beach.  Even got the same apartment!  Ian got so into using the body boards for the girls we stopped in at Target and got him his own.  He LOVES taking the waves into shore and running back out for the next one.  We enjoyed a lunch at the local surf lifesaving club that overlooks the beach (we had to go back to get cleaned up and changed though!  no swim attire allowed!) and a sunset walk along the boardwalk and into the forested areas and back into the shopping district.  The kids were tired!

We built our Gingerbread House while in Noosa.  I think I just prefer gingerbread cake!

A general beach shot here.  The surfers worked the area off the point on the left of the photo and the swimmers were kept to the left out of the photo.  We got to watch the surf club do a mock offshore swimmer rescue with a helicopter and a tethered rescuer dropped in to get them!

This was built just off the boardwalk.  Candles in the alcoves made it very pretty at dusk as we were walking by.  Popular to sing for money on the street, build castles, etc.  Also saw plenty of kids sleeping on the beach.  Relaxed to say the least!

We had to get back in time for Santa to visit the house and to get ready for our lunch guests on Christmas day.  Santa and parents did not disappoint either!  Ian has a good supply of Star Wars and race cars now.  He got a batteries not required race track he cranks and it shoots his cars on their track!  Love!  He and Dad built the Tie Fighter together and he flies it around shooting bad guys.  Annika scored on the craft kits and can hardly wait to make her soaps and bath salts.  Alex got a lot of iTunes music and sock monkey makings.  We all got awesome t-shirts from my family with assorted animals on them-Lyle a bald eagle, me an owl (thanks for the Hooters Dad!), Alex a guinea pig, Annika a meerkat, and Ian a great white shark.  They look great!  We had a lovely family over for lunch that we enjoyed eating a visiting with last year at their home.  I made a roast turkey breast, steak, lots of cold salads, and assorted desserts, including an American Pumpkin Pie.  I was thrilled to have the taste of home here!

As we were recovering from Christmas we got a call from Lyle's workmate, Chris, inviting us down to Byron Bay for an overnight stay at his father in laws place.  Yep!  We'll be there!  The house is right on  the beach just behind the dunes and we had a great time.  Played ping pong, Uno, played on the beach (but not as much as Noosa.  The rips are notorious on this stretch so knee deep was all we allowed) and took a nice drive into the hinterlands to look over a waterfall and enjoy the scenery.  I am still amazed at how green everything is!

This is a goana-a native lizard.  It was about 3 feet from nose to tip of tail!  It was just off the observation deck down about 3 feet on the rocks on the edge of the cliff.

The view looking over the edge.  Vertigo for sure!  This was over 100 m up from the gorge bottom.

We didn't do much for Lyle's 43rd birthday, but relaxed and enjoyed a play at the park.  We made frosted brownies (yum!) which we all enjoyed.  We also have gone to the movies a few times-the whole family went to see the Hobbit in 3-D and were riveted.  Can hardly wait for the other 2 movies to come out!  Lyle and I went to see Skyfall on New Year's Eve.  Loved it!

Lyle is back to work on Wednesday (tomorrow) and heading back to Newcastle.  Looks like he will be traveling a LOT for the first quarter of the year, so we will be looking forward to getting him home every week!

Have a happy and safe New Year Everyone!  Much love!