We're Here!

We've arrived! What a long journey..... but then again it is a long way from the UK! The house is BIG (certainly compared to our little 3 bed, end of terrace in Bristol) and I will be able to have playroom all to myself.... joy!

Evie has made friends already with a little girl living next door who is just a few months younger than her. Isaac keeps saying, 'I can't believe we are actually living in Australia' and was most amused when a man at the airport in Sydney said "g'day" to him..... oh the simple things.....

We have unpacked our bags and now wait with anticipation for our container to arrive so that we can furnish the house with some familiar things (not to mention my espresso machine and some other kitchen gadgets!)

We have been out to eat at the homes of colleagues of Brian's most nights in the past week so I have had very little cooking to do which has been heavenly..... long may it continue! The weather is mostly lovely though can be quite chilly (it is still early spring after all) but the day after our arrival it was cold and drizzly which made me smile as it reminded me so much of England and how much I moaned at the weather there!

The kids are loving having a swimming pool just out the back gate in the school grounds and have been making really good use of that. There is also a play park (for the junior school students) and basketball hoops, so Isaac has been practicing his shooting quite a bit. The children are all still on school holidays this week so I am sure come next week things will become much busier outside our back gate and probably a bit noisier too!

Last day in the Northern Hemisphere

Well, we are in our last day here in the 'north'. We fly tonight from LA international airport and after 16 hours flying time, and completely missing out on Friday September 19th, (I've given up trying to comprehend that one but it is because we will be crossing the international date line) we will arrive in Melbourne on Saturday morning. We're excited and nervous all at the same time but mostly looking forward to settling down and making home 'down under'.

Time in Arizona

Haven't written in a few weeks so thought it was about time to update the blog! Our final week in Bristol was FULL and non-stop. We did achieve most of the jobs we set out to get done and did get that 5.44pm train to Falmouth!! Leaving the house, church and friends in Bristol was very hard..... much harder than I thought it would be. I'm so grateful for email and the internet which means I can keep in touch!

We spent a few days in Falmouth with my sister and her family (I won't even begin to describe what leaving there was like!!!) and then we were off!

We arrived in LA just over a week ago and after one night there started our drive cross country to Pheonix in Arizona where my brother and his family and my mum live. It has been great to spend time with everyone here and the kids have had so much fun playing constantly with their cousins. It is like living in an oven here though with the temperature hitting 105-107 degrees every day!! After a rainy, cool summer in England it is a real shock to the system and after an early morning play at the pool we spend most of the day indoors where the air conditioning and fans are on constantly!

Isaac had his 9th birthday this week and we went to the most fantastic pizza place for dinner where an old fashioned organ emerges from beneath the stage at the front (like an old music hall I guess) and the man playing it asks for requests for what to play. Isaac asked for the Star Wars theme tune and the Pink Panther theme song, both of which the guy played. We took a birthday cake and Happy Birthday was played on the organ and everyone in the restuarant sang to the 3 kids who were celebrating there that night! Isaac thought it was fantastic and spent ages just looking at how the organ went up and down and seeing how many buttons the guy had on the organ (there were 100's).

We travel back to LA on Wednesday 17th and fly to Melbourne on the 18th so until then........