Here's a quick snap of Gareth having fun at his local playgroup. It's held in the grounds of Sian and Rhiannon's school every Friday morning. It's a really peaceful setting, a wooden hall set in the middle of a forest of gum trees. The smell is wonderful as he runs over the eucalyptus leaves chasing lizards back under the hall.
There are lots of kids at the same age as him, and many will go on to the same school.
As you can see, he seems to enjoy his time there!
Phew! It's averaged 35 degrees over the past few days and the wind is warmer than a tumble-dryer.
It was so hot in my office in the house today that I sent Gina out to the local store to buy an air-conditioning unit - over $900, ouch !
The kids are coping really well with the heat, especially at night when it doesn't get below 30 degrees at the moment. It's strange having to put sun-cream on the girls every day before they go to school but they're so used it now that they remind us if we forget.
It was so hot today that the kids didn't even want to go into the pool. At least the fridge is holding out which keeps the beer icy cold.
It sounds like it's a bit chilly over in the UK, we're thinking about you all especially so close to Christmas. Although its only around the corner, it doesn't seem right to see huge Santas everywhere surrounded by fake snow when everyone is walking around half-naked in the heat...
Send snow.........
It's been over 2 months since we arrived now, and we are still getting surprised by the bugs and other animals that are surroundng us every day. The cockroaches are something that always give us a fright but we've got some terrific poison spray that kills them on contact - extremely satisifying.
Other bugs include Christmas Beetles, which are about an inch-around and fly around bumping into things with a wallop; they are forever dropping into the pool and landing on the bbq when I'm cooking steaks - again a very satisfying way to get rid of 'em...
Mosquitoes are a complete nuisance, especially as we're close to water. Each night we have to spray ourselves with anti mozzy stuff that smells like cat wee, very conducive to romantic evenings out by the pool.
Each morning as I go into my office downstairs I do a quick sweep up of all the dead bugs that have died around my desk and chair overnight including hornets, flies, spiders, ants and cockroaches....nice.
Rhiannon had an eventful day in school recently. She kept trying to interrupt her teacher who kept telling her to be quiet and sit down. But, being like Gina, she couldn't keep quiet and eventually the teacher gave up and asked her what she wanted. "Miss, there's a snake hanging from the ceiling". Sure enough, the classroom had to be evacuated while somebody came in with a ladder and scooped the offending creature away. Ah, the safety of school......
I had a fright last weekend in the garden. I was doing my weekly chores, including checking the pool filter which is inside a cubby box and about 4 foot square. I opened the lid, reached into the darkness to open the filter cap and froze.......something was looking at me.......something big, coiled and long......a nice fat snake face was sizing me up and I reckoned it could probably move faster than me. Then it moved, slowly at first, then even slower. Hang on, it had legs, a snake with legs methinks? Nope, after it stuck its tongue out (which was bright blue) we all realised that my "snake" was a harmless blue-tongued lizard; a nice big beasty that eats poisonous spiders. 
It's not all bad though. Seeing pelicans flying overhead and sitting on top of lamp posts is a great sight. Kukkaburras, Rainbow-Breasted Lorikeets and other parrots such as Rosellas and Gulahs are everywhere, not to mention Butcher Birds, huge Magpies and Cuckatoos. The picture at the top was taken in our garden.
By the way, did I mention the Hunstmen spider? Take a look at the following link, Rhiannon found a whopper in our bathroom: http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/huntsman_spiders.htm
Sian has written some poems this weeks, see what you think...
Fairies
Fairies can fly
adorable of course
rushing away if people are near
intelligent because they can hide
ensured!
sweet.
Nits
Nits are nuisances
Nits are masters
Nits are terrible
Nits are spell-casters.
We have just come back from the best afternoon ever!
When Byron finished up work we decided to go fishing! We are lucky to have a little park just 2 minutes walk from the house with a playground, covered BBQ and picnic tables and a small jetty onto the lake- perfect to try out Gareths new fishing rod! We brought a pot of prawns and weren't very hopeful about catching anything when suddenly on Gareths second cast he landed a greatl little fish! He was so proud of himself!
We carried on and Rhiannon managed to catch a few little ones. Kel decided to gamble one of his small fish and put it on his hook as bait for a bigger fish. Sure enough his rod was straining a few minutes later but when he reeled it in he was left with the original tiddler minus a massive bite! Not to be deterred he carried on and yet again reeled in a straining line with a medium sized fish on the end. When he let it off the hook it spat up the bite off his little one- it had been the one that got away! What a great story!!! 
When everyone had had a good go we went back to the communal BBQ area and cooked some kebabs then ate thick slices of home made banana bread smothered in butter! PERFECT!!! 
Happy 3rd Birthday Gareth!
We have had a lovely start to Gareths birthday. We got up at 7am and did a big present and card opening extravaganza! Gareth got so many lovely things and was so pleased with himself as you can see here! Out of all the lovely presents he got, the biggest excitement was when he discovered the mini pack of chocolate buttons hidden in his new Thomas dressing gown pocket!
Anne and Kel joined us for breakfast and gave Gareth his first fishing rod! I can see a few boys fishing weekends sneaking onto the calendar!!! 
Another great hit was the harbour playset which they have flooded the floor with! Even though it is raining it's warm so I have moved it out onto the decking and the kids are playing with it naked in the rain!!! 
P.S.
Byron bought Gar a digger for his birthday, he loved it but I'm not sure where we can put it....
It's Tuesday 22nd Nov and the kids have a no-uniform day today.
Rhiannons class have been asked to bring in cakes and cookies to sell.
We spent ages last night mixing and baking, icing and sprinkling! When we had filled 4 plates with kid sized goodies we wrapped p everything with lots of clingfilm. I woke up at 6.30am in a sweat thinking "What if the ants have got at them" Luckily they were fine and we are just getting into the car to deliver them (8.30am)
Sian has gone ahead of us on the bus but I didn't trust Rhiannon to make it to school without dropping or eating half of the cookies! 
Sunday was beach time again. Charles and Sue kindly suggested that we meet half way between our two houses at a beach recommended by them. Sounded good in principle, except that half way meant a 2.5 hour drive for us and a 1 hour drive for them. Do the sums...
Except for the journey and the lousy weather we had a great time...honestly! Narrabeen is one of Sydney's Northern Beaches and has a surf side and a calm lagoon which is perfect for the kids.
All the kids had a go on a mini body-board, pretending it was a surfboard and they did just brilliantly. Charles also brought a dinghy which kept the sproggs busy for ages...
We had a huge picnic feast on the beach, and instead of having a mid-afternoon snooze the kids had second wind and demanded the boat and body-board was pulled through the lagoon. After seeing Charles demonstrate how hard it is in the sea, Sian showed him how it was done properly, and try as I might I couldn't manage to get her to fall off the bo
ard. That's my girl.
Not to be undone, Rhiannon and Gareth wanted to show their boarding skills too:
Saturday morning and we decide to go to Redhead beach. Apparently this is the most perfect beach to bring kids to; calm gentle seas, no strong waves. We typed Redhead in the SatNav and started driving. It was a wonderful beach, it was sunny and the kids had their bucket and spades. Only slight problem - we ended up on the end of the beach reserved for DOG exercise! There were dogs running everywhere, left, right and centre, but we still had a fantastic day. We'll definitely go back to this beach again but make sure we go to the family end of it!
After the beach we headed on home to get ready for our first official invite to a BBQ with some families from the kids school. We were told to bring the meat to feed ourselves and the kids and some alcohol. We brought steaks, kebabs, sausages, wine and homemade cookies and muffins. Felt a bit smug on the way in with all our food until we saw what everybody else had brought! Pumpkin, rocket and feta salads, potato bakes, brie and homegrown herbs, Asian salad, homemade salsa and cases and cases of beer....the list was endless. Never mind, we'll know for next time.
We Survived! 10 days and lonely nights without Mr B!
He came back this afternoon laden down with Action man, Spiderman, Bratz, Beanie kids, Hoverdisks and the obligatory perfume!!! The kids are hyper to have him home. They made him a big "Welcome home" sign for the garage door! I am on my way down to the local Dominos Pizza to collect a load of Pizzas and garlic bread! Would post more now but my stomach is crying out for nosh!!!
We have a new pet!
The kids have been nagging for a puppy since we got to Oz and after weeks of saying a very firm "NO" Rhiannon has resorted to adopting a snail! It has lived in our garage in a cardboard box for two days before escaping into the night never to be seen again! Poor Rhiannon! We are now back to the familiar coversation of: Can we have a puppy? Please! Why not? PLEASEEEEE!!!!!
Ok, so there were no fireworks here in Australia as Guy Fawkes night isn't celebrated, but we made the most of it and decided to have a pool party instead.
Charles and Sue came to visit with Ben and baby Hannah. Most of the weekend was spent around the pool with the kids having a ball and the bigger "kids" nursing sore heads.....
Saturday was overcast but we were stubborn and insisted on going in the pool regardless. Charles and Sue have been here for a year and half and are acclimatised to the heat; when the sun went down we had a bbq on the patio. They had goosebumps and had to change into long sleeves and trousers. Gina and I were determined to wear shorts and t-shirts, and want to forever at the moment!
Sunday was a real scorcher; we had bbq breakfast (bacon, eggs and muffins) and lunch was a bbq too! Check out the kebabs.
This was our first weekend that we spent on the nearby Lake MacQuarie. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't manage to shake Gina off the inflatable water-biscuit and she can hardly walk today because she aches so much!
She was bouncing around so much Sian nearly fell out of the boat laughing.
Everyone got a try at piloting the boat, Sian and Rhiannon mastered the steering but Gareth just wanted to push the throttle full forward, that's my boy!
We all had a go at something in the water, whether it was water skiing or in the tube; Gina's brother Joe got a real fright when he fell in and was completely surrounded by jellyfish who started "sucking" him.
Gareth loved it, and wouldn't take his sunnies off all day.
Joe won the award for the most spectacular falls into the lake, he must have drunk about 10 pints of the stuff! For those in the know, the "dragon" made its first guest appearance too......no photos luckily.
We've finally moved into rental accommodation, and can at long last use wardrobes; no more having to live out of suitcases. The girls are delighted to have some space to themselves and Gareth is just happy to find bugs in the garden.
Here's a snap of the outside of the house, and it also includes our new car too. The house has 3 bedrooms and a gorgeous pool and huge back garden.
We now have broadband so will be "back-dating" the last month, so keep an eye out for previous posts being added. We thought that we'd just start with what is happening now and work backwards....
As you can see, Byron is settling into his office quite well. It's at the back of the house as he likes to be within shouting distance of the kitchen. As long as he's close to his beloved flag he should be happy enough!
His window overlooks the swimming pool and he has his trunks nearby at all times in case he gets too hot!!
Below are some more pictures of the house, including the pool and a view of the back of the property.
It really is a great location, and it's just superb to see pelicans and parrots flying all around us. The cuckatoos are the noisiest and kukkaburras the hungriest; they eat kangaroo meat of all things.
We are spending loads of time around the pool as you can see from the pictures below...
