We survived our first week of school, work and new routines but not without some minor tribulations.
The weather was unpredictable with rain, sun, drizzle, thunder and lightening. Some days Margot was able to get a lift and on the dry days we took the bus/walked. On the 'rainy' days it is FULL-ON rain. Although we are from Vancouver and very much used to rain, the rain drops here are the size of small pebbles. One gets drenched in a second! The other problem with the weather is the lack of sun and heat to dry our laundry. The house has a dryer but it takes twice as long to get clothes dried in comparison to our dryer at home. I can understand why many Australians don't even own dryers as clothing will dry in a few hours on the clothing line!
The only issue with catching the bus to school is trying to get the three of us across Windsor Road. We have been following the footsteps of the locals in getting across Windsor - when in Rome, do as the Romans do etc. There is a small island in the middle of the road so we cross in two segments and have to spend some time on the small island with cars a few feet in front and behind us. It is quite dangerous but the pedestrian lights are another two blocks away. Hmm, next week we will add those few extra blocks to our walk for a piece of mind.
The other major downer of the week was that we had an outage (due to the rain and storms) with our internet provider from Monday to Friday morning! It was super irritating not having access to the the internet. So many hours were wasted trying to reset modems and routers and on the phone with Primus. Urg! We finally reset the modem on Friday and we got the laptop up and running. It is still VERY slow so we hope to change our broadband plan next week.
Fergus' first full week was an adjustment but he'll update you all soon.
Here are some of the highlights of the week:
The girls are registered for swimming lessons at the pool down the street.
Fiona - Mondays at 9:30 am and Fridays at 11:30 am
Margot - Tuesdays at 4:30 pm and Wednesdays at 5:30 pm
Classes are maximum of 4 and we hope the girls will be doing all the strokes by the end of the year!
Karen has joined the gym down the street. Yes, you read correctly, Karen is a full fledged member of a FITNESS GYM! She went to her first class on Thursday - Body Pump - lots of weights and bars and lunges so her body is feeling every muscle this weekend. There is free child minding with the gym membership so Fiona gets some time with the other kiddies. Unfortunately the facility is very small and there are lots of kids in the room at one time....some were unhappy and screaming; but for now Fiona is quite happy with the socialization that she is missing from back home.
Fiona and Karen also went to Playgroup on Tuesday at Margot's school. It is a parent run group of about 10 Moms. It is from 9 - 11 ish every Tuesday and it is held in the school hall. There are a few wee girls the same age as Fiona to play with and lots of toys as well. Each week a Mom takes a turn to make morning tea for the other Moms and an activity (craft) for the kids. The Moms are planning a dinner out and also a get-away to possibly Hunter Valley (wine region) or the Blue Mountains --- Horray!!!!! Fiona and Karen loved the chance to talk to folks of a like mind! They were very happy on Tuesday.
Fiona and Karen went to see Enchanted on Thursday with Gabrielle and Heath (3). Gabrille is the career counsellor at Fergus' school. She works part time and is keen to have playdates. Fiona and Heath got on well and it was Heath's first visit to the cinema. Being a boy, he surprisingly liked the movie of love forever and ever, princesses and fairy land!
Margot's school is great so far. The parents at drop off and pick up are all very chatty and welcoming. However, Margot says that she prefers Nootka and school in Canada as it is not as strict and there is more playtime and in general it is more fun. There are more rules here in Australia and Margot is adjusting. She is sometimes self-conscious of her accent and that the other kids are staring at her when she speaks. She says that the other kids can write very neatly but "in Vancouver, they don't care about that so much". Margot is practicing her writing in her homework book. Despite these early thoughts, Margot can now do a perfect back bend and is trying to perfect her cartwheels. She's made lots of new friends and everyone is very genuine and warm. We have had to cover about 8 of her 'books' (journals, homework, notebooks) with contact paper so academically we hope that she will be ahead by the end of the year.
