Hello again everyone,
We hope that everyone is in good health and warmer now that summer is here.
We are still in Australia, of course.
Winter is here and it is cold. But, I have to admit, it is not as bad as I have imagined it would be. We can still wear a short sleeve shirt during the sunny days.
We got ourselves a very busy schedule!
We have 2 different sessions of playgroups in town at the playgroup centre which is full of kids, toys and bikes. Skye and I made a lot of new friends!
We have 2 gym sessions a week where Skye bounces on the trampoline and does gymnastics like walking on a high beam and swinging off a rope like Tarzan. This is brilliant because Skye sleeps well after that, even though she does not sleep at lunch time anymore.
We also go to the library twice a week for story time and craft and we are allowed to take 12 books for 3 weeks! Skye and other 30 kids sit on animal-shaped pillows ( she always wants to sit on the big frog) on the floor listening to someone reading a great story out loud with lots of pictures. Then, they all do a craft related to the story. Last time, it was about trains. So they did a collage of trains with puffy smoke made of cotton balls with lots of colours. Skye chooses the books herself from the library to take home and read with Daddy at bedtime. She is so excited about reading these days, it is great.
Skye is missing everyone and is calling her friends’ names, we talk about you all the time, pretend you are here, it is so sad, she wants to get on a plane to see you all.
We finally found the farmer’s market which is not the organic expensive one but the better reasonable one. It is so busy and things are so fresh, better than the supermarket. It is like China town hidden under lots of roofs, full of spices, herbs and colours.
We also found a French bakery. Michael says that it is the best bread he had in his entire life. It is quite special. Skye likes the happy face biscuits. The first time we bought our loafs of bread, they told us that the baker had lost his ring in the dough and that we should be careful when eating our bread in case we bite the ring and break a tooth! The baker is not happy about this because he got married a week before and that was his new wedding ring!...We ate the lovely bread and the baker never found the ring until now...
During our 3rd week, it started to rain. Skye and I looked out of our window to find a very beautiful rainbow...Skye’s first rainbow...She was ecstatic!
We found a toy library! It is what it is: A toy library where you can borrow toys up to 3 weeks. You can have 3 toys and 2 puzzles and pay a membership of 50 dollars for the year! Skye got a Bob the builder set with tractors and diggers, a yellow school bus with kids in it, a pink doll stroller and 2 very large floor puzzles.
The city is still busy and I realized that there is only one crane in the whole town!! A yellow one, remember how it was with Dubai ?? full of construction and millions of cranes.
We still find new parks every time we go out, we stumble upon one here and there. People are extremely friendly and smiley! We found a park once filled with large pink parrots.
Crows or as they are called ravens are really evil still, they gather around us waiting to attack, they will try and sit on the table where you are eating, too. I actually think they are getting bigger. 3 of them tried to attack Skye because she had a biscuit in her hand. I taught her what to do, just scream as loud as you can and stomp your feet, tell them “Choo! This is my biscuit and you are not having any!” So now, she goes around and tells them off.
There is a lot to see and do. Australia is celebrating Foundation day this Monday, so it is an official holiday. We are going on Monday morning to look at a kids’ market with toys and clothes. Michael and I think Skye needs a new car seat. I might find some good deals for her Christmas gifts, too, you never know.
We miss you a lot and we always think of you, especially when we see everyone around us surrounded by their grand-parents and their siblings. There are expats here but not as many as there were in Dubai. We meet mostly Australian families.
We kiss you and hug you
We miss you and love you
Take care,
the Mirfields.
