oh woe is me.

I have been putting off doing a blog post until i could do a proper house one like i promised. but there have been so many things going on that i've let go by because i'm stubborn and wanted to do the house 1st. And also at the moment, I am still (6 weeks later) trying to get our bond back from the previous real estate. I hope to get it all sorted soon, but in the mean time i have to let things slide :(


I will update again as soon as i can, and hopefully in the new year things will be off to a better start???

OX(OX)oxoxoxoxox
B(J)slkcs





My Dad and the Crew at the beach 2 days ago.



Somedays computers annoy me...

Other days they drive me INSANE!!

I'm pretty sure that when i edit a post it doesn't re-email it to you, so if you want to see the full version of the last post you'll have to click on the link below. Blogger lost it, and i published it before i realised it wasn't the full version *hand slaps forehead*


http://wevegonewacko.blogspot.com/2011/07/this-is-how-other-half-live-20.html

really going to bed this time
B

Due to 'popular' demand.....

I have been getting some not so subtle hints, that i need to update the blog..... not mentioning any names, but she does have the same name as my #4 .......

So here goes......

end of April was celebrated with little Clairebear turning 4 - Due to Daddy coming home and Grandma Lesley and Steve coming over for a visit a few days later we fore-goed (??) birthday cake with a promise of one when everyone was there.......uuummmm i'll get back to you on that one :o

but on the day we did do this...

yes, it's a doughnut

So Clairebear's 4th birthday literally went out with a bang as she popped her first party popper....with a few false starts
 - read as ""WAIT! WAIT! not at Samuel's head...HANG ON! don't cover the end with your hand.. OK now. NO WAIT! sit down Sophie... alright ....now!" BANG!!! ohhhh...little disappointing :S


So as i was saying, Monday rolled around and hurrah! Grandma and Steve turned up. we'd tidied like crazy over the weekend especially Samuel - who was giving up his room (and new bed).

So lots of hugs and kisses and lots of prezzies later - guess where we went???..... IKEA!! the plan was to go round Ikea and head down to the beach for sunset fish and chips....nope. By the time we got through Ikea it was getting on dark ('tis nearly winter you know) and what was supposed to be a quick 10 min drive turned into the longest U-turn I've taken in my life!! you see, Serena (you remember her from our travels??) was in a bad mood today - maybe because it's been so long since she was needed?? but i put in directions but mistakenly turned  right when i should have turned left (note to self- practice left and right "with" Kaytie)
so she took us in this long meandering route... to the exit BEHIND Ikea!! so we took 15 mins to get further away then where we started!! and because we were back on the Freeway (which we'd wanted to avoid) - oh yes keeping in mind, Mum and Steve had their own vehicle and were following blissfully unaware, with the 2 big ones in the back. We were back on the freeway in PEAK (2!) HOUR  traffic!! *sigh* fish and chips were not on the menu THAT night.

So I was supposed to pick Jamie up that night, but due to shift changes and staff shortages his flight home was postponed to the next night. Can't think what we did the next day but I got to go to the airport that night child-free!! you know, after 11+ years, I feel strangely naked without a child hovering around me.

So we did some other stuff - oh we must have done Scitech that day because we were Jamie-less.

AWE-SOME!!! LOVE it there! we got a yearly pass 'cos it's sooooooo cheap!! didn't take too many photos as it was still the 'dreaded' school holidays and it was seriously packed!! even with 2 extra sets of hands it was a challenge to wrangle  my 5 safely. we initiated our buddy system, which seems to need some major work in the Samuel/Kaytie sector!

so for your viewing pleasure...

the Entrance - it's cooler then it looks
Samuel is looking at a sliding periscope type thingy
lots of cameras and tiny screens and such.

this was cool too. they have a "playing with Light" exhibition at the moment.
A projector digitized/computerised your shadow and movements.
Here Lily (or Mum?) is clapping, which made 'fairy dust' and bubbles.

these were great, all made from milk bottles and stuff.
they had lights in them changing colours all the time.

and that's about it. Mum and Steve took the 4 big kids into the Horizon Planetarium, where Mum had to 'argue' with the door lady about Claire actually being 4 or not. As under 4 are strictly not permitted. I hope it was memorable, as i doubt they'll get to go back for another 2 years  : D

So Jamie came home and he and we got to spend a night away together to 'celebrate' our 11th anniversary (next week) early, since he is back at work for another 3 weeks. (make sense??)

We stayed at the Duxton Hotel  ooohh it was posh :) we stayed in the Club Rooms with 'exclusive' lift access and free drinks and canapes in the 'club' lounge - unfortunately for us they had begun renovations on the Club Lounge only 2 days earlier, so it was a section of the regular restaurant 'roped off' instead. We weren't planning on the free drinks etc, as we were going to go to the "C" Restaurant instead. But in the end we decided to stay in our room and get room service instead :) For the price we were paying i wanted to stay in my complimentary robe and slippers for as long as possible :) - even though it was the thickest heaviest robe I've seen in my life! it was like being wrapped in about 3 thick towels!! and i considered turning up the A/C to compensate for it :D.

So the next morning after an 'exclusive' lift ride and breakfast in our 'exclusive' seating area with our 'exclusive' personal attendants, I was quite happy to get back to "our" real world and we caught a cab to the Perth Museum where we met up with Mum and Steve and the children for a tour....but mainly for the AC/DC exhibition. was great...Jamie thinks he must be getting too old, because for him, it was too loud :D
I wish i knew how to add video to the blog - there are some very cute ones of the girls 'rockin' out'

oh my - these are the only two photos i took !

i have about 5 little videos though :)

It was a great display, with hundreds of personal letters and mementos, giving you a real insight into the people behind the public persona.

While we didn't get to tour the rest of the Museum entirely, I'm happy that parking is so accessible for my truck and there is so much more for us to discover - going back to the Discovery centre again is high on our must do list!! plus the Art Gallery and State library are just next door!!  I'm all goose bumpy thinking about it.... or am i just cold?? - time for a jumper i think...'scuse me......


OK back now. Brrrrr getting chilly here....

Was gone again but am back for a bit now... Holy heck!! the last half hour was absolute Chaos!!

JAMIE I ADVISE YOU TO STOP READING HERE, AND SKIP DOWN TO THE NEXT PHOTO!!!

It's as if the children were secretly playing Tag-Team Terror!!  Everything has settled down again, but at the time it was incredulous how (I hate to say it!!) stupid each thing they did was! I mean if it had all happened one at a time it would have been fine - so much easier to deal with, but it was like *POW!*  *POW!* *POW!,POW!,POW!*  all at once, one after the other! (is that an oxymoron??)  It started with the usual 'round-up' for bath time/dinner etc. Samuel and Lily had been in painting a huge calico map they had planned out and had been told to pack it up because the little girls were coming inside, meanwhile the three little girls had been outside playing in the sandpit - unbeknownst to me - with water.  So i 'bust' the girls for playing in mud and send them for their bath.  Samuel walks past to put away his scooter and I ask him "what's that smell?, Why do smell so strongly of soap?"  "Oh it's um, I, arr, it's my shirt" "Why does your shirt smell of soap?"  " I umm, used it to get paint off the wall..."  - *Blood Pressure Spikes* calmly (truly i was!) i reply "Why was there paint on the wall???  " uum well, it was yesterday when the little girls were in there and i found some more today while we were cleaning up..." by now i have arrived and found the clean up attempts and start wiping the wall down properly, all the time asking how it all allegedly happened when i notice the skirting boards have barely had a wipe over and their seems to be an awful lot of paint about for the accidental flick as suggested and i also notice I'm NOT crouching to clean!! this paint was about 5 foot high!! *Blood Pressure Spikes again* mostly calm... I 'pounce'  "Why would you do something like this??? WHY would you blame it on your little sisters...!!"   (when it's out of their reach)  - wondering why I"M doing the cleaning I hand the cloth back to the culprit and head off to the laundry to rinse out another cloth, check on the little girls etc etc On reaching the Laundry i discover the machine is on, curious as to why, I discover that another child has put it on, noticing the still overflowing dirty basket, I ask what's in there, and discover that a child who has been using the washing machine since before we left QLD has put on a 'load' with a high and hot water level......for ONE THING!! - We NEVER use the hot water setting and have the fuzzy logic thingo for automatic water levels so it wasn't a confusion in settings. meanwhile the decible level of 3 little girls in the bath is becoming deafening so i poke my head around the door to shush them and i discover... They are using the TOILET BRUSH to clean themselves!! EEEWWWWW!!!....


Have just had a 'discussion' with Samuel about his attitude and arguing back after putting everyone to bed. Upon hearing a drip drip type noise,  I've just discovered that all the pipes at the back of the house i.e the laundry, toilet and main bathroom are backed up with filthy dirt/sand coloured water....from exposure to children is, as yet, undecided.....it has been raining - it HAS to be that, surely it can't be them AGAIN

*sigh* excuse me but i think i might finish this enthralling update of our life, especially the last 2 hours, and go have a lay-down....

wake me when it's over :S

B(J)slkcs   and the Terror Team.

Possibly our new home????

So  as i was saying, "yesterday" we went to Mandurah to see Abingdon Miniature Village and got terribly sunburned at Halls Head beach. 'Today' we were all still keen and headed out on another day trip.

Now on the radio here we keep hearing about this 'chocolate factory' and as well as a old mill that has been converted into a gallery and what-not. so we decided, also on the advice of Grandma Lesley and Steve to visit York, about an hour away from home. Again mammoth planning and camp fridges packed and EVERY other thing Jamie could think of.... including a 'sink'.

So one-ish hours later at about 8:30 in the morning we arrived in a very quiet little town. The tourist info centre was shut, so we were directed to the council/library office next door. Upon asking the clerk about the chocolate factory, i received quite a blank look LOL, not wanting to waste  our morning getting here, i asked about the town's other attractions,  *faith in idea wavering slightly* as i receive another almost blank look with an almost shrug of her shoulders :) After reminding her of this mill we had kept hearing about, FINALLY we had a flood of ideas and sights to see :D Apparently the chocolate factory is a local lady who makes choccies on site at the mill.  So off we went for a drive around town visiting a great park she had mentioned and for a walk across the "swinging" bridge, apparently a highlight for the town.

Me, trying to get 'evidence' of their sunburn. :O

The ramp up to the  swinging bridge

walking across the swinging bridge

almost as soon as I'd taken this shot, the scared cries started from the 3 younger girls as the two big ones started the bridge swinging.  The water below in the Avon river was far from inviting, full of rubbish/lost hats and various other debris :( while at the park we also noticed a sign advising against swimming (not that you'd want too - yuk!) due to the risk of contracting Amoebic meningitis

Also while at the park we noticed another sign, one that made us a little bit more enthused.

....... a FOR SALE sign.

Our new home???????

Across the road from the park, behind the main street in town, right next door to the local grocery store was a 1/4 acre of land, so while the children played, we made some phone calls. $215,000 would buy us that parcel of land........... with conditions, the first 15 metres of land were designated as 'flood zone' ,ok we can deal with that - the block was over 100m long. but when we got home that afternoon and checked out the email from the agent we discovered.....

Can you see the blue dash dot line on the left hand side of the plan?? that's the "flood fringe" Well, with a stark and very recent reminder that "once in a hundred years" doesn't necessarily mean one hundred years apart! We certainly won't be signing on the dotted line for this one!

It has, however sparked our interest in the little town and we have been busily researching land and even "2nd hand" houses, as Jamie refers to them ;) We are quite excited about it,  as the town is undergoing a surge of development, so there are a lot of people selling to make a profit, but there are also lots of great bargains!! including buying 100 acres for $120k......... as long as we supply our own power and water! LOL

any way back to our day trip adventures.

It was now 'smoko', so we headed back to town - a whole street away ;p back to the mill, we had a wander through looking at all the BEAUTIFUL!! handmade/timber carved OVERPRICED!! furniture and pieces, there was one stunning piece - a table about a 12 seater made from sawn timber, you know with all the 'rough' edges and knot holes all kept for character, how much do you think? i know you're already thinking big because i said overpriced, but are you thinking in the realms of  like $25,000!! just for the table!! the chairs were another few thousand i think, and they were UGLY! like something you'd pick up at the dump 2nd hand shop!!Anyway, we made our way through the ground floor, and as usual with 5 children, someone was in need of a potty break, so we found the toilets and you may be asking "why is she telling us about the toilets?" well because they were pretty spectacular - that's why.

So spectacular in fact, you can buy photo magnets of the toilets as souvenirs! Jamie was correct though, after teasing him and asking if his was better (being stinky boys toilets) he replied yes, so i had to stick my head around the door, it was a much darker timber in the boy's toilet, much more dramatic. Apparently these toilets are one of the most  photographed toilets in ..... WA?Australia? the world??, sorry can't remember which. - the toilets at DREAMWORLD are pretty  awesome too, but you're not allowed to photograph them ????

Then we climbed 3 extremely narrow and very steep stairs to the upper 3 floors, the first 2 floors were galleries, so no photos allowed, and the top (4th) floor was empty open space, great views across the town, i was going to get photos, but after shushing the children for stampeding like elephants, and then persuading Sophie and Claire to NOT climb back down the almost vertical steps without us, we thought it better to head back down anyway :)

At the bottom, outside, was a little cafe, and since it was a scorching day, Jamie stopped in for a beer, but due to licensing laws,  he would also have to buy a meal, so considering we would be waiting, we also ordered a 'spider' for me and 5 baby chinos (yum yum ) so $46 later we sat down to wait for our bowl of chips and drinks while the children played on the playground. 5 mins later, out came a beer, a 'spider', a bowl of chips and a baby chino....... hang on... A baby chino? as in 1? how are 5 children supposed to share 1 babychino? all the children were beside us when we ordered, why Oh WHY would we order only ONE babychino?? lol good heavens! so another  5 mins and we finally had our refreshments. While the children played, jamie and I flicked through a real estate catalogue/book we found, wondering what it was doing in this little cafe, well halfway through the book we discovered that the  old york mill was for sale and going to be auctioned next month, we spent the next 10 mins fantasisng about THAT purchase LOL

How awesome would it be to say "yes dah-link, that's my house over there,
the one that's 4 storeys high, do you like what we've done with it?" LOL

look it even has a dolphin slide! Kaytie would be rapt!! :)

Lily taking photos of her sisters :)

So after morning tea we headed across the carpark to the truck, where, before  anyone realised, Sophie burned her little feet on the stinkin' hot dirt, because she refuses to wear her shoes. Thankfully the truck has a water tank under the tray so we quickly cooled them off for her. We went for another drive around town, before heading up Mount Bakewell to the lookout over the country side.

We went back to the park after this and i had the task of cooking 1 kg of spaghetti noodles in a pot too small ,on a portable gas burner! in the wind! Was all good though. we stayed at the park for ages before heading home at about 4pm

Oh yes, the chocolate factory lady, well we didn't even bother asking about her as York is a 'weekend' town, with lots of activities happening, including local markets every weekend, that are apparently different everytime??

So i will sign off on that adventure, and fill you in on the last couple days.

Since i have dragged my feet in posting this, it is now Australia Day and Jamie has gone back to work as of Tuesday.... straight into TC Bianca!, he rang last night letting me know they were in "Code Blue", than again this morning telling me it was "Code Yellow" predicted upgrade to "Code Red" by 5pm!

Never fear though, he was sent 'home' at lunchtime after tying everything down as well as possible and was on time and a half (or double time??) sitting on his bum watching the cricket all afternoon... in Airconditioning! Though he lives in basically a shipping container, the rules and regs are very thorough and his 'home' is more of an aboveground bunker, he has shown us photos, but i can't find the files .His camp is run on generators so there is no worries about power loss. The predicted Code Red was pushed back to 9pm as 'Bianca' was moving Sth South West, so would hopefully only 'skim' them. My only concern is tidal floods and storm surges as they are right on the coast, but then again, i think everyone is nervous at the mention of water countrywide at the moment?

See that little bump near the K in Karratha? that's where Jamie is.

He was completely unfazed by my concerns and was happy to get to watch the cricket... boys ;)

It's getting late and we are going out tomorrow, so i best head to bed.... unlikely story though as i will find SOMETHING to distract me from sleep no doubt :)

OX(OX)oxoxoxoxox
B(J)slkcs

The "Gunna Go" Caravan Park.....

is 'gunna go' down in Samuel's history books, as THE worst place EVER to stay!

Like i said in the previous, Previous post, I was feeling mighty drowsy and felt it safest to pull into the next park we found.
First impressions weren't that bad, a little kitchy perhaps, but under the right circumstances, it could have been........nice, but as you may have been reading, things haven't exactly been going to plan :D

maybe i should have questioned his positioning of us in site 13?- also by the way the same site # we had in mission beach!?! - It's just a number right?? ;) maybe i should rename our blog "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"?!? :D

So, spirits are high, Samuel and I are working as a team (can you believe that?!?) putting up our new tarp, in case it rains, the girls are co-operating and playing quietly, Lily offers to get our washing sorted and dried (didn't dry properly in T'Ville) 'ripper' me thinks  and darkness starts to fall. EASY! thinks I, we get out our handy dandy new camping lights, even find some extra leads and power boards i don't remember packing, so we can spread them out. :)  Plug them in...........NOTHING!!! huh!, change leads over, again NADA! smile starting to crack now as the mozzies descend and we still in the dark, read 'instructions' by torch light "lights must be charged for 24hrs prior to first use"  that's OK *twitch twitch* camp kitchen just over there, *slap, smack,squish* goes some more bugs, Camp surrounded by thoughtfully provided solar lights, we'll manage *twitch twitch* squish, slap,smack* so we head over to the camp kitchen and start cooking, "TV woohoo" go the children, "alright! extra power points for laptop" says mama. Dinner cooking, mama on the laptop 'trying' to stay up to date. *smack smack squish slap*  the children and I are learning a new German/Bavarian (?) dance, trying to keep up with the bugs. dinner eventually cooked, "Samuel, run over and grab the plates" - now remember he is still "crippled" from his 'snake bite' "i can't find them, moan moan whinge whinge" "fine" says mum "lets go back to camp, uummm Samuel where did you put the plates last night after washing up" "i dunno, i put them away" "you left them in T'ville didn't you?" "NAH! I put them.....ummmm......ohhhh oops"  *twitch twitch* "doesn't matter, we'll just eat out of the pot" The troops are rallied we are sitting down to eat mum bends over to try new lights again -nothing-  "eww bug" reach around, grab, look,... AARRRGGGHHH! FL ICK! AARRGGHH FL ICK,FL ICK! OMG! spider  on me EEK! mummy does a funny dance! I swear, its bum was as round as a gumball! 'GREAT! spiders bitten me and i'm gunna die in my sleep,in this bogan infested dump, and my children will be sold to the rug makers and the tulip farms!!!"  blearghhh!!!! eeek  eeerrrp spak attack from me!! everybody hurry up and eat and we'll get to bed ASAP! (it was, by the way, 7:30pm) dinner over, food piles everywhere, bugger that, lets get to bed!!

Everybody getting into bed, i'm just about to get into the truck/tray/canopy/house when i look up at the last second, what do i see??!!!! another (or maybe the SAME!) BLOODY SPIDER!  blleeaaaargrhhhhhh!!! eeewwwww! web on me eeek! Heh heh heh mummy doing that funny dance again heh heh heh!

Anyhoo! morning comes, time to pack up - no spiders in sight! noticing all the little piles of mince we left after dinner in the dark, but so is something else! O.M.Goodness!! the FLIES! they  were the biggest bluest noisiest things i have ever seen ! no doubt they will be big and noisy in WA also, but i've not been there yet :P when you would disturb the swarm hanging around a chunk of mince, i swear it sounded like a F1 race starting! but THEN, after our attention on the flies waned i actually noticed my poor 3 baby girls! it looked  like, no word of a lie, that they had broken out with measles or chicken pox or something spotty! but the funny part was, only half their face was covered! you could almost 'see' the line down the middle where their faces had been on the pillow :) their poor little legs had been hammered! thankfully it hasn't caused them ANY discomfort at all. Why only the the 3 little girls you ask? well Samuel and Lily sleep in the cab of the truck,and samuel 'politely' informed me that they have 'younger' blood then me, plus i actually keep a blanket on at night ;D I am soooo wishing i had a photo of them, but the 'effect' is almost gone now,

we did eventually pack up and leave - by about 9:30am ! a BIG improvement on all previous attempts, things are looking up thinks mum...........

To Be Continued........

alas i must leave it at that as i have 2 baby girls awake..... spoiler alert..... who are sick and whingey :D

but i will leave you with another spoiler alert an almost real time update of what we did TODAY! rather then 4 days ago :D  

Poor old Sophie was fast asleep, she was pooped!

A little 'icky' this statue in my opinion, but the sentiment is nice:)

and ya can't go and NOT do it :D



how cute is this?!?
this was last night, before i came in flashing
 with the camera, they were actually cuddling :) nawwwww!

 well i'm gunna copy that and get to bed also,

OX(OX)oxoxoxoxox
B(J)slkcs