Continuing my blog!

I decided that I really do like this format and so I am going to endeavour to backdate posts from our trip so far!  It might take some time, but best to start now before the task becomes unachievable!  Thankfully I have been keeping a journal so I can copy and paste and post some photos for you to enjoy too! :D

Moving to facebook...

I really do like the layout of blogger, but it is reality that most people don't have the time to look at facebook as well as a separate blog, so, reluctantly, I am moving our updates to facebook.
I must admit that it is a lot easier to post photos & to follow our adventures through facebook.

If you search for "Our Little Family's Australian Adventure", that's us!

(Shame I just got a box of business cards made up with our blog address on them!!)

Happy New Year wishes! And welcome 2015!

Wow, we saw the new year in after taking the kids as close as we could in the time we had, up the bay to see the family fireworks (specks in the sky - Chelsea wasn't close enough it turns out!) & then they all slept on the way back to our van, and we managed to transfer the boys into bed and Amelia woke up but went straight to sleep as well!  Tony headed over to our neighbours at the caravan park here to celebrate and I read for a while before falling asleep!  I actually really enjoy quiet new years these days, so it was pretty perfect.  (Though some chocolate to celebrate wouldn't have gone astray!)

I hope everyone out there had the new year's each of you most enjoy, for some the same as previous years, maybe some wild celebrations(?!) and for others, maybe a slightly quieter night now you are a parent and there is a little bundle of joy fast asleep nearby!

Wishing you all the most wonderful, joyful year ahead in 2015 & may it bring you many exciting adventures!  I hope you can follow some of ours along the way.

Love from our little family xoxoxoxoxo

The quiet pace of Mornington is coming to an end!

It has certainly been nice leading a slower paced life during our stay in Mornington. 

After this busy year it has been a welcome change! 

Our van is set up, we have the last of our things to store this week and then our trip really begins once we drive onto the spirit of Tasmania!!

Icecream at Mornington, Vic

We haven't travelled far from home yet! We decided to stay near Melbourne as Tony's younger brother is getting married & my dad is coming to visit from Switzerland in December & January.

It will e great to spend time with family before we hit the road, or ferry, as the case may be!

At first I wanted to head off straight away, but staying in Mornington has been superb as it has allowed us time to fine tune where we want to pack everything in the van, and making the most of the small space we have, without the need to hurry!

It was a warm night the other night so we ended up taking the children in to Mornington Main Street for icecream. Unsurprisingly there were no complaints!

Our homeschooling method is one of natural learning

Our homeschool method is one of natural learning & this article describes it perfectly!

http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2007/05/04/natural-learning-in-action/

This is the first part of the article that I really resonate with:

"Confession time: Sometimes I get ‘the guilts’ and think I’m not really educating my children at all. This feeling usually creeps in following someone’s wide-eyed response when I tell them that I home educate.

“Wow, I could never do that! You must be so organised!”

The overawed responses vary but the words ‘busy’, ‘dedicated’ ‘organised’ and ‘amazing’ crop up fairly often. My guess is you hear this kind of thing too. And then the guilt sets in because these people have entirely the wrong idea about me. They think that I am a super-organised disciplinarian, planning lessons; conscientiously implementing a study routine; supervising progress; correcting work and so on…

I’m not doing any of that stuff! The fact is that most of the time, I’m doing my own thing whilst the kids do theirs. As the clock ticks over 9.00 a.m. here you won’t find me with the dishes and daily washing and cleaning done ready to supervise the day’s school work. In fact it’s quite likely that I am checking my email in my pajamas whilst the kids are still reading in bed. One of them is almost certainly still asleep.

Sometimes natural learning seems to be ‘doing nothing.’

I think the thing is that following a natural learning lifestyle means that the parental role is so different to that of a teacher that even we home educating parents have trouble seeing and recognising it for what it is sometimes. We don’t appreciate how hard we work to help our children learn because we cease to consider it ‘work’ and just think of it as ‘life’. The truth is that natural learning involves much more than ‘doing nothing’ or letting the kids do whatever they want. On the contrary, parents are very involved in their children’s natural learning. Yes, my children pretty much do what they want as long as they are not causing a problem. But what we natural learners find is that, given the chance to do whatever they wish, children choose many activities and pursuits where learning is incidental (indeed inevitable) and that, as they grow older, children choose to learn more overtly in the direction of their own interests and often pursue those interests to a very high level. The child who is still asleep at 9.00 a.m. has often been writing a story or researching until late into the night.

So what of the parents’ role? No we are not implementing timetables but we are very far from being divorced from the process of learning which is going on in our homes. Encouraging natural learning is very much a facilitator’s role. We teach our children how to find out what they want to know. We answer their questions as toddlers and, as they grow older, we show them how to use the index of books, the library catalogue system and the internet but none of this is done in lesson form. It is just ‘taught’ naturally as the need arises. We search high and low for books that will appeal to them – both fiction and non-fiction. We take them to clubs, exhibitions, festivals, sports and activities that will interest them. We stock up on resources – books, art materials, writing materials, board games and so on. We provide the time and the freedom for them to develop their imaginations through long imaginative games. We display their models and artwork. In short, we help them in thousands of ways to actively pursue any interest they have.

We are also the sounding board for many of their ideas, thoughts and imaginary games. We take their opinions seriously. We thoughtfully read everything they write, even their first faltering attempts which we may also join with them in laughing at years later. We comment, correct or proofread as requested. We are the audience for their lounge-room concerts and sit through hours of recitals of their made-up songs and poetry. We preview books that we think might appeal to them. We read everything they recommend and talk to them about what they read. We type up their stories. We help them make signs and props for their games. Sometimes we purchase what we or they can not make – e.g. play money for their shopping games. We make time to explain concepts when requested and to demonstrate skills they wish to pick up. We frequently drop what we are doing in order to respond to their interests, their questions and their pursuit of knowledge. In fact we honour their quest for knowledge and help them to see how important it is.

We have no structure in a school sense but in a very real sense our whole lives are structured to aid, assist and encourage our children to learn and to love learning. ..."

Setting up our van. Aahhhh the simple life!

We have spent this week driving back and forth collecting everything we want to take in the van, re-sorting it, giving some more items to charity that we won't fit (& as aren't essentials), and bringing the rest to the van. Then we go through each bag or box and decide where to store everything so that we leave room for the rest of our things and so everything is in a spot that makes practical sense & the most efficient use of space! This process has actually taken longer than we expected and is quite tiring - more than we'd imagined as things have moved spots a number of times already! - but it feels so good "moving" into our new home on wheels & putting our belongings in/away makes it feel warm and inviting! And it is exciting because this is all we will be living with, indefinitely! ..aahhhh, the simple life! 

Day 4 - A photo of our tug & home on wheels!

This is where we'll be living! Now that we are over the hurdle of our first night, are filling all the cupboards with our belongings and the beds are all made with our linen from our old house, it feels more like our home. We are loving having so much time outside and enjoying the fresh air!

Breastfeeding our 19mo prevented a potential tragedy!

Not the start we had anticipated in our first night in our caravan...

Whilst putting the children to bed I noticed that the brackets for the middle bunk above Luca and I weren't screwed in and were bending with the best part of 20kg of Oliver (our 4yo) on it, despite it being rated to 70kg! After immediately calling Tony & getting Oliver off the bed before Luca and I got crushed, we set up the dinette bed for him to sleep on. 

I didn't get to sleep until close to 1am, I think awake with the adrenalin of considering that had I not climbed in that bottom bunk and seen the potential catastrophe, that Luca could have been killed had the bunk fallen on top of him! It is a parent's instinct to protect their children and I was so angry and upset about the situation! 

But ultimately I have to look at the positive and nobody was hurt. Yes, the work done to install the bunk should never have been slapped together like that, but there is a reason I am still breastfeeding our 19mo to sleep! ..ultimately it might have saved his life or prevented critical injuries!

Exciting day ahead - stay tuned!

The car is packed (to the brim)!! 

I am glad we don't have a bigger car or we'd taking more "stuff"! It's amazing how little we actually need!  Big day ahead!! ..stay tuned!

One more sleep & just a few more boxes to go!

One more sleep to go!

 The couches have gone & only a few toys left

we are sleeping on mattresses on the floor

no kitchen table

  All the cupboards are empty, so this is all we have left to pack up in the kitchen

Our room, nearly done!

 Sleeping on the floor

Study is empty

  The last few items have migrated to the rumpus room

 

We sold our washing machine & dryer so have been doing our washing at the laundromat in Monbulk & hanging clothes outside & on the curtain rails to dry!

 The skip bin full to the brim! - I am pretty proud at how much we got to give away that was in perfect working order, including four full car loads to the charity shop & so next to nothing was thrown away that was in good working order!

 The couch was picked up today

The wardrobes are empty

  No fridge

All the food is packed!

And so in the morning, we will take our tv unit to the charity shop, drop off the kid's mattresses to be stored, give the house a final clean, and then it will be time to say goodbye!

I am really excited, but this feels so surreal tonight! Maybe that will change when I wake up in the morning, ...or after a couple of weeks of rest, in Mornington!

Small update

I decided to simplify the log layout so it is easier for the website to open if on a slow connection - which may be the case once we hit the road!
I have also added the option to follow the blog over there on the right -->, so please do!

Two more sleeps to go until we hand our house keys over & five more sleeps until we pick up our caravan!! Eeeeeeeee can't wait!  I shall blog again properly over the weekend once we have moved and have sighed a big sigh of relief that the stress of moving (for this part at any rate), is over.

Our life in boxes

And so we packed just about all of our possessions into a hire truck and filled a small storage unit!

Then we had a day off to celebrate our two eldest's birthdays (4 & 6 - how time flies when you're having fun!)!

Now to finish packing the rest of the house, which is a much slower process than we imagined, with three children in the house! And we even accounted for it taking longer to allow us time to spend with the kids, but it wasn't enough!! It's going to be a busy week! 7 days to go until we hand over the keys!

Bye bye old car, hello new car!!

Getting closer... we sold the tv! And the car!

I was so excited when we sold the tv, dvd, set top box & surround sound!  The lady came to pick them up yesterday, and they only depreciated by 90% in 6 years! :P

It was pretty exciting to think we'll be without one actually.  We stopped watching it a while ago anyway and only watched dvds as it was, which we can now watch on the computer which is now sitting on our tv unit as we also sold our desk and chair! :D

We are only without a screen for one day though, as today we pick up our new car!!  Woohooo!!!  It has a screen for the kids to watch dvds, however we have made it very clear it will only be used on long trips.  So as soon as Tony gets home with the car we plan on going on a long trip, just for the fun of it!

We had to buy Amelia a new car seat as she is 6yo tomorrow and growing out of her old one, and we want her to stay harnessed for as long as possible.  The new Infasecure Evolve seat means she can stay harnessed until she is 8yo.  It has aqua padding and looks rather fancy for a car seat!  Oliver is moving up into Amelia's old seat and Luca will hopefully move into a new type A4 seat, that allows for extended rearward facing until the age of 2-3yo.  We are off to the babies & children expo this weekend to try to grab some special expo offers!

I drove our Mercedes R320 home from swimming yesterday, my last drive in a luxury car for quite some time.  It has been fun, but our new car is much more suited to us & to our adventures in the near future!  I never would have imagined I'd be more excited to be getting our Isuzu MUX 7-seater 4wd, than our Mercedes R320 6-seater SUV!  But I can't wait!!!!

Celebrations for miss Amelia's 6th birthday!

With four more sleeps until her actual birthday, we celebrated slightly early with friends by going to the Dreamworks Exhibition at Federation Square in the city today. 

They all had such a great day & the weather was beautiful!

We got to watch a helicopter land on the helipad on our way to fed square. 

Everyone enjoyed the dragon flight so much we watched it twice! With the semicircular screen it was incredibly real and a few of us (adults) came out feeling a little nauseous...

Thankfully the 6 of us adults managed to keep a regular head count of 9 children in party hats! It did make it easier that at this age they mostly preferred to stay together though ..except the escapee 18mo that is! 

All in all a wonderful day of birthday celebration! 

And because things come in three's, we also (finally) decided on our caravan!!! Here is a glimpse of our Adria Altea 552pk with bunks...

So, this is our van!!!  We looked and looked, and looked, and looked for a van and it wasn't until we saw the Adria that we both finally decided it was the one for us!

We are getting it converted to triple bunks, so with the dinette converting to a bed (in about 2 minutes), it can sleep 6-7 people!  And it has an ensuite (yay for no middle of the night toilet freezing cold toilet runs with the kids)!  Plus an enormous fridge.

We have to have the ducted heating/cooling removed to accommodate the triple bunks so we are having an Ibis reverse cycle installed in the ceiling.

And the best part is it is under 2 tonnes towing, fully loaded!

We wanted to find a car with high towing capability and a van with a lower towing weight, so that we weren't on the top end of the cars towing ability, putting strain on the engine (and everything else), and that is exactly what we have got.  We are so pleased!

We have a weekend between handing our house keys over and picking up our van and then we can head off on our first adventure!

It's all coming together...

Yep, it's all happening! Not only did we sell our house, but we're getting a new car! Introducing the Isuzu MUX 7 seater!

But selling the house is not all the exciting news!  After months of discussion we finally decided on a car!  Tony wanted the Isuzu d-max, but we compromised on the brand new 7 seater MUX over a secondhand landcruiser. 
The Isuzu has 2 tonne towing capacity and three baby bolts plus isofix and (much to the children's excitement) a dvd player!  We were trying our best to find a car without it as we would much rather they enjoy the view out the window, but we agreed it would be beneficial for those times we do need to drive for a number of hours in one day.  And unlike some other cars, there is only one screen so everyone needs to share and agree on what to watch!

So this is it, in titanium silver...

Time will tell if we made the right decision but we are pretty happy at first glance!  Fingers crossed we can pick it up next week!!

It's getting very real! We sold our house & move out in 27 days!

Yes, it is getting very real now!  And we can finally be excited with all the big decisions out of the way!

Firstly, we sold our house after being on the market for a week.  We absolutely have to take our hats off to our amazing real estate agent, Jan Brewster from Ranges First National in Belgrave!  She is simply the best!  Warm, inviting, easy to talk to, always professional, and furthermore great with the kids (and when there are three under six running around, that's saying something!).  She will come highly recommended to anyone looking to sell in the Dandenong Ranges!

Here is what we are leaving behind...  It will be sad to leave and we are absolutely enjoying every last minute here!  But we are going to see so many exciting places on the road, I have no doubts we will quickly realise it was worth leaving this beautiful mountain!

Oh my gosh we're living in a display home!

We had our inside house photos taken earlier in the week & our outside ones will be taken tomorrow as it was pouring with rain when the photographer came the first time!!

Tony says he hopes we sell quickly because "mummy is developing OCD trying to keep the house presentable or as close to presentable as possible, at all times!!!" Hahahaha! It is a little true though, I am going a little mad about the tiniest of mess! Hopefully our ad will be online early next week so OFI's will begin next weekend!