Cabin crew, Seats for landing please!

So following the Chilean debacle the skies were declared all clear and Adelaide Airport was fully functional in time for Dad and Mums arrival.

So we put the kids to bed early on Wed for an early rise on the Thursday. Tom woke twice in the night to ask if it was morning yet. We got to the airport with about ten minutes to spare and the kids stood clutching their homemade sign, complete with Volcano detail (Tom's idea)!

We got back home and had some breakfast before resuming business as usual as Dad and Mum needed a little sleep catch-up as their flight (and most other passengers) was disturbed by a drunk deaf man for much of the flight. I have always been an advocate of a 'brig' on planes where such people can be confined but sadly as yet the idea hasn't caught on.

Friday morning was the first session for Tom's new swim class so it was another early start.
I managed to get the kids to the pool with ten minutes to spare only to see the cover still on the Kids pool and a few people gathered round looking slightly perturbed. I asked if there was a problem.

' There might be no swimming today. They forgot to put chlorine in the kids pool' She said 'tutting' in an indignant manner - I assume she was referring to the Chlorine Elves that visit all pools at night to dispense chemicals.
So I said 'Can we not have the lesson in the big pool (that is not used until after 10am)
'No, it's five degrees colder that the kids pool'
I assured her the kids wouldn't mind as long as they got to swim.
'Oh it's not them' she said 'the teachers don't like it'
'Oh I'm sorry' I said 'Do forgive me, I forgot for a minute who was paying for the lessons'

Anyway to cut a long story short, another test sample was taken only to show a perfect pH of 7.4 so the Elves are off the hook and lessons resumed only three minutes late.

Following swimming we were to rush to playgroup, not passing GO! and not collecting £200 but Tom decided he wanted to go home instead to see Gogs and Grandpa (Mum and Dad) so we did and went to a the beach and park for a quick play before leaving Dad and Mum to walk to Henley Beach whilst I took the kids to a birthday party. After that we went to meet Dad and Mum at Henley and watched a Sea lion lolling around in the sea under the Jetty which was cool! Rachel then called and said she was coming home so we all left to meet her.

We have bought Lucy a new bike as the little one she had was really a push along rather than a ride on and she loves it. Sadly she has been a naughty monkey recently so it has been fully assembled but in the cupboard for a week until she started behaving herself....which she has...at least for a while!!

Dad and Mum brought some meccano for Tom which he has already jumped straight into and is mastering the art of nuts and bolts with spanners and screwdrivers.....just like dad!!!

Speak again soon xx

Fingers Crossed X

So Chile....what has Chile ever done for you, me or in fact the world. They didn't even invent Chilli. Let's look shall we. Hmmmmm.... ok Conquistadors...yep I remember reading about them somewhere when I was a kid. Oh yes, General Pinochet, well that is really something to be proud of, there's a few poets, some miner's that got rescued and .....errrr...ummm..... nope that's about it.
Right so lets sum it up shall we. A country that has brought virtually nothing significant to the world stage has managed to potentially prevent MY Dad and Mum from completing the second leg of their journey to us here in Adelaide. They are currently in Singapore for a couple of days but as I write this, Adelaide airport is closed for the third time due to ......Chile. I suppose I'm being a little harsh and unfair, it isn't exactly the Chilean peoples fault, just their volcano, the Puyehue ( is that pronounced Poo-hoo??). However whilst the volcano vents, so shall I. ENOUGH WITH THE ASH ALREADY....STOP IT .....STOP IT....STOP IT.... ahhhhhhhhhh. That's better.

OK so where were we?
Paddy and Val (my Dad and Mum) are due to arrive early on Thursday morning, that's two sleeps if you ask Tom and Lucy. I hope the ash thing 'blows over!' Fingers crossed.

So what has happened recently?

Tom has been given his first Swimming Certificate and has been moved up a group which is great for him and his confidence. He loves swimming and actually listens intently to the swim teacher. I am considering wearing Speedo's around the house in the hopes that he might actually listen to me but Rachel has banned me, can't think why??? The downside of him moving class is that we now have to go on Friday mornings at 8.30am ouch! So Friday will now be a manic rush of get up, dress and jump straight into the car and off to swimming. Then Breakfast in the car afterwards on the way to Playgroup that starts back near home at 9.30. Phew! We'll see how it goes.

Lucy loves her swimming too and every so often decides she would like to go so trots off and gets herself ready......well almost!

Our friends, Jess and James with their lovely kids Bella and Livvy are returning to the UK in about ten days. James has been here on a fellowship at the same hospital as Rachel and Jess is also a Doc working part time also at the RAH. This will break up the 'Ladies wot Lunch' circle of which I am an honorary lady! (see below)

Jess, Me, Lara and Katy 'Lunching' and Lucy trying to gatecrash the party.

Leila, Livvy, Bella, Tom, Lucy, Alex, Zain and Dan.

As Rachel is working so much we decided that she needed something creative to do to balance out the Medical boredom. We had two choices, either she began embroidering flowers on peoples abdomens with sutures or we found her an outlet for her creative urges. Thankfully, considering the potential for litigation she chose the latter and we enrolled her in a cake decorating course. She has had the first session and as I write this she is frantically baking a cake to take with her tomorrow for round two. Clearly I am going to get fatter!

Lucy is having a little madam phase at the moment and by that I mean a HUGE 'little madam' phase. 'No' is her default answer and she huffs and puffs and all but rolls her eyes. If this is a sign of things to come then I will be looking at boarding schools.

We have are having our first property inspection by the real estate agents next week. It appears that as tenants we have few rights if any. They say they are coming on a certain date and will let themselves in if we are not there and inspect everything including I assume whether we have folded our undies. What they wont be inspecting is the piles of garbage from the side alley, the mouldy inflatables that I assume were used in the pool, the filthy utility room and the dirty bathroom. Why? I hear you cry. Because we have already sorted all that out for them. They also wont be inspecting the electrics despite the fact that we can't have the heating on in the kids bedroom, the tumble dryer and the telly on at the same without blowing the fuses. When I explained this to the Agent he said "yep, that happens in my house too, it's quite common" 

Oh that's ok then, sorry to have troubled you but it DOESN'T HAPPEN IN MY HOUSE IN ENGLAND! Idiot. Another candidate for 'ADAM Internet' (see earlier blog)

Anyway, time for bed! Hopefully strong wind will blow overnight (not from me) but to blow the ash cloud away and allow flights to resume tomorrow. Fingers crossed X

Sleep well x

Ventis secundis

Bali and beyond

Firstly may I begin by apologising for not blogging for nearly a month!
In my defense we did go away for a week and I have been trying to get some guitar practise in. However, excuses aside I shall begin.

So Rachel has been working really hard and whilst she had booked a week off, we hadn't really got round to booking anything so I decided to take the bull by the horns!
I visited a place called King William Travel with the thought that I would receive some advice of a travel nature from this establishment but this proved to be a misguided notion. Upon entry I was greeted and asked to take a seat for a 'consultant' to become available. As I sat perusing an out of date and well thumbed National Geographic I could hear a 'consultant' placating a clearly irate customer on the phone.
'No madam......I see.....well I'm sorry you feel that way....No, it wasn't a construction zone, they were doing some light repairs......no madam I wasn't there.....No but I can assure you......Well that is of course your prerogative......thank you for your call.' [Slams phone down] ....'stupid bitch'  'oh'
'Hello sir can I help you?'
'Yes I'm looking to go on a working holiday, perhaps a construction site or suchlike do you have anything like that?'
Sheepish grin.

Anyway I explain that I don't really know where to go on holiday as we are new to the country and perhaps they could proffer some suggestions. Half expecting them to say England I was stunned when she said that I had to have some idea in order that I could be sent to the appropriate desk. Deciding to play along I said that I would prefer the southern hemisphere although I was open to suggestion. I get sent to sit a Graham's desk. Feeling mildly like I had been sent to see the headmaster I gingerly suggest Bali as a destination. Within about ninety seconds Graham had read my mind and told me my holiday resort, room type, flight details and price and was asking for my credit card. Stunning considering I had actually only said one word to him, 'Bali'. Perhaps there is only one place with one room served by one flight in Bali.
It was at that point that I decided I would make my exit. I simply stood up and left mildly stunned pausing only to apologise for being such an inconvenience to them.

Undeterred and with the kids in Kindy for another few hours I decide to try my luck again. This time I walk into a place called 'The Flight Centre' at Fulham Gardens. I am greeted by a cheerful chap whose name was Matt. No I was not looking in the mirror but it did bode well.
The experience couldn't have been more different, dare I say polar opposites. Excellent in every way and with advice flowing left, right and centre. Strangely enough I ended up booking Bali and it was fantastic. Thank you Flight Centre Matt!

A few pics for you!

Everyone needs a good holiday novel

Groovy.

butter wouldn't melt.....

human climbing frame

Grin on a stick

This is part of an amazing temple complex buried in a forest inhabited by loads of monkeys.
It was like a mad film set, incredible!

Three wise monkeys

We went to a great water park. The most amusing thing
 being the safety leaflet saying that the rides we not suitable
for pregnant women, or people with a heart or lunch condition.
I'm still not sure what a lunch condition is.

This is how room service made up Lucy's bed.
Too cute.

Just what you need on a hot day, a can of refreshing chilled SWEAT.

Asleep on the Elephant

crying Buddah

The Bali sunshine had remarkable folical effects. very odd!

The harmonica is actually being played by the elephant!

Tom shows his appreciation of Balinese music. I'm inclined to agree with him.

Our guide told us that there was a government programme to increase the population which was interesting. But I was mildly alarmed to see this lorry delivering sacks to the hospital!!!

That is some programme!

Other things that have happened......

Tom is going to start school the day after his birthday. It just so happens that you can start the term after your fifth birthday and the term starts on the 17th October so just in the nick of time! We have had a look around the school and it is lovely and Tom is very excited to be going to Big School. It felt very strange and makes you wonder where the time has gone! Another milestone approaching.

The kids have started swimming lessons and are coming on in leaps and bounds which is actually useless in a swimming pool so I have told them to stop leaping and bounding and start swimming!

Going to and from Bali, the 'Trunkies' were like a tourist attraction. People were stopping and staring and many Japanese travellers took photo's of the kids riding them. mildly odd. The kids really got into riding them and caused mayhem. Excellent.

Welcome to the world little Lexie, a new cousin for Tom and Lucy. Congratulations Colin and Sam and Josh too.

Tom's bike riding is getting better by the day. We have a tow-bar thing that we can hitch him to is he get tired but he really can ride a fair distance.

Really looking forward to Gogs and Grandpa arriving. The kids and us are very excited. Not long now.

Loving the guitar but need to spend more time on it.

Some friends we have made are leaving to head back to the UK in a couple of weeks and will be missed. Travel safely Jess, James, Bella and Livvy. Keep in touch.

Officially the 10th day of winter today. 16C and sunny during the day. However it is very chilly in the evenings and early mornings and  given that they build their houses here in what appears to be cardboard and single 5mm glazing with draughts everywhere and no heating I will be glad when spring arrives. I've even had to buy a fleece! Given the dubious quality of the buildings and their somewhat temporary feel, I have told the children to be wary of any wolves that they see that are huffing and puffing and to tell me immediately so we can avert disaster.

Well I hope that this has made up for my Blog drought.

Speak again soon.
Missing you all. xx

Amor absentia alitur