447 + 343 Weeks

It has been a good week!  Great weather, the school kids are back at school, only a few smokey mornings, activities have started up, and the kids are happy again.  They have had not one but two plays at this awesome secret water park at Conjola, with their carer Wes.  The water park is at a holiday park there, and it's not open to locals, so no one knows about it, but Wes can get them in, so they went twice because they loved it so much :)  We also took Bella to Collers Beach.  We really miss our Saturday night dinners there, so we are going to start them up again soon (not this weekend because Jeffrey and I are ducking up to Sydney for an overnight stay and a Billy Idol concert!).

The kids were back at horse riding on Monday, and tennis on Tuesday.  We have missed those horses so much, and the kids really benefit from the riding, hugely.  They were champs at tennis, better than they were before the break!  Maybe it has something to do with having their own rackets now, which they got for Christmas.  Swimming starts up next week, and they'll be heading to Peak after school care starting on Friday, so they are stoked.

Today we went to a homeschool friend's birthday party, at Narrawallee Inlet.  We had the inlet to ourselves, and my friend Deb brought her kayak, and Yenje's massive floating otter, and then they rented three stand up paddle boards.  It was so great to see all the kids playing together, and Carmie went off on her own on the paddle board, like a warrior woman, exploring the inlet.  It was a great day, and we're looking forward to more homeschool plays over the next few months.

On Wednesday I had to drive up to Conjola to drop the kids off at the waterpark.  Conjola is the community that got absolutely destroyed by the fires.  As you drive through Milton, you see where the fire got to, and several houses are destroyed.  Then you make the turn off to Conjola, and the devastation is jaw-dropping.  It is house after house in ruins, just piles of rubble, burnt out cars, and black trees for miles.  I was instantly in tears.  And I didn't even drive down the roads that got hit the worst, because those are closed off.  The toll that these fires have had on that community just can't be measured.  I can't wait for this fire season to be well and truly over so we know we are all out of danger.  There are spot fires every day still, one in Conjola today, one near Burrill yesterday, only 3km away.  Over it!

Anyway, here's to a good week!

Carmie doing pull ups!

 At Collers Beach

 Waterpark

Back horse riding!

 Dress up :)

 Yenje's party

447 + 343 Weeks

Well, this week has been hit and miss to say the least!  We have had some cooler weather, which actually made it quite nice for some beach exploration and fossicking at Collers Beach.  Bella needed to get out so badly, and it was a nice family trip.  The next day it was cooler again, so we went to the oval and played a family game of Finska, which the kids got for Christmas.  It was so fun, and even though the second game ran long, the kids lasted like champions.  It will definitely be a game in our weekend arsenal :)

On Monday we went out to the back of Milton to my friend Dawn's place, so the kids could have a play with their chickens.  These are the friendliest chickens I have ever seen!  We had them in the house and they were climbing on the kids, sitting in their laps, getting cuddles.  The kids got some real chicken love, it was so cute!  Now of course Arley wants a chicken, but I think we will just be visiting Dawn's chickens, for the time being at least!

On Tuesday it was our first smoke-free, blue-skied, sunny summer day, and we had made plans with my friend Kylie and her kids Willow and Finn, and baby Heather, to have a beach day at Dolphin Point.  We got all ready to go, and Arley seemed fine, but on the way there, he was suddenly sick, all over the car.  I mean everywhere.  We turned around and went back home without ever seeing the beach or our friends, I spent almost an hour cleaning out the car, and poor little Arley was sick all day.  I haven't actually ever seen him so sick.  At 5:30 he fell asleep on the study floor, and he was in such a deep sleep that Bella walked on him, thinking he was a blanket, and he didn't even wake up.  I put him to bed for an hour, and he had a high fever.  Then at about 7pm, he suddenly perked up and asked for some crackers.  He slept with me that night, and woke up well in the morning.

Because Arley was better, and yesterday was another beautiful summer day, I decided to take the kids to the beach.  They had a lovely time jumping waves, but then Arley turned into old angry Arley.  He was digging holes in the sand, and I gave him a little advice, and then the Arley monster came out.  I swear I have PTSD from his anger, and it reared it's ugly head again.  We packed up and left quick smart, but Arley was out of sorts all day.  At dinner he was being angry and rude, and Jeff and I were baffled.  But then we realised that yesterday he would have vomited up all of his medication.  Couple that with his body trying to recover and I think he was right back to his old aggressive self.  The meds that he is on can't be stopped cold turkey, and it didn't even dawn on me that he had brought them up again.  It goes to show just how much he needs them.  He's still a bit off today, but not as bad.

Today we are having a heatwave.  It is 40 degrees outside (100F).  I got the kids all ready to go to Narrawallee Inlet, all sunscreened up, snacks and water bottles packed, and we carried their surfboards and snorkelling equipment down to the inlet.  Within 15 minutes the most monstrous wind picked up and it was just awful.  It was actually blowing rocks and shells up into the air, so then we had to carry everything back to the car in the gale!  What a bust!  And right now, we have the kids' friends Delphi and Jasper over so that their mum Anna can get some cleaning done on their damaged house.  Jasper and Arley tend to clash, so I'm keeping a close eye on them!  With the weather today, a few fires have started up in Milton and Little Forest, only about 4km away.  Stressful, but I think they've got them under control.

So, as I said, very hit and miss!

Back to fossicking again :)

 Super cool fossils

Love how Bella walks with them!

 Family game of finska

 Chicken love!

 Jeff said, "You just had to move to Australia, didn't you?!"

 Poor sick baby Bear

 First beach day!