Day 24 - Bunbury

I know some of you that read the blog have small children, Vanessa’s mother’s group friends, & other parents…..Well if your child has any sleeping problems we have found the solution!

Buy a caravan & take your children with you! We can’t believe how well she is sleeping. We put her to bed at 7pm & she wakes up between 6am & 7am….How good is that?  It certainly hasn’t always been the case and I am very aware that many of you still have struggles.  As my saying has always been, ‘It will all be different next week, not much stays the same for long with a child.’  Fingers crossed Annie is not reading this part of the blog.

Hey guys……back me up here! How many of you are bad passengers? Now I’m not picking on Ness here but how many of you when you sit in the passenger seat constantly give advice to the driver? I believe that the driver has enough information to digest so the last thing they need is me telling them that they are doing something wrong!

Ness does it!...now in her defence she rarely sits in the passenger seat, I mean when I am away for work she drives herself around & even when I’m home sometimes I just jump into the passenger seat & she drives, I don’t say a word….she is in control of the car. But on this trip I have been doing most of the driving with the van on.

Since our trip started there have been a few occasions (Just a few) where she has said to me “James you are too close to that car” or “How far over the line are you” or she grabs the Jesus bar & I can tell she is stressed….. Just let the driver drive!..... if any of you can back me up on this I’d appreciate it! Or if you would like to back me up, I would appreciate it!!

Farting machine!.... last night Ness & I were lying in bed, Annie had been asleep for a couple of hours and all of a sudden we heard these huge farts coming from Annie’s cot! Now these were incredible farts, ones I’d be proud of!.... we chuckled as she kept making noises for quite a while as we were watching the Moto GP.

We went for a walk/roll today, the caravan park we are staying at is only a couple of kilometres from the centre of town, so we decided to leave the car at home & get some exercise. It was a lovely walk to & from town….. but one of the things that Ness mentioned to me tonight is that most towns over a certain size have either a Coles or a Woolies, or both! We are becoming experts at Coles & Woolies shopping, Ness knows where everything is & the layouts are pretty much the same in each town…. It’s only the size that is different. Bunbury Coles…is a winner.  The baby section is amazing!! 

Have any of you seen our PM at the G20 summit over the last couple of days? Gee she is not an attractive woman! And that voice! Dunno how Tim copes waking up with that voice in his ear each morning!..... and I know this has nothing with our trip or the blog, it just came to my head!

Reader’s comments

Sue gave us the lowdown on Adenanthos sericeum , we will be putting some of that in the garden when we get home! Thanks Sue

We made Marg & Norm miss their caravan, they sold it recently and are house sitting in the UK, they had a stint in a multi million dollar mansion near Ascot racecourse but reckon a free camp near a river is just as good. Thanks for the shoe photo….love it!

And my sister Heather lied to me! We rang her yesterday on Facetime (Like skype but for Iphones) and it took her a while to answer, I asked her if she had been sleeping but she said no! But on the blog she admitted that she was snoozing in the afternoon!!! Ha!

Egg said we need 2 TV’s in the van….Ha, we have! I know a bit of overkill but it is our home.

And Rob sent through some pictures from his trip to France…. I am a bit confused though Rob, the picture you sent through that said “My Favourite” was a picture of a pile of horse manure? Do they sell edible manure in France? Or is that a Collingwood supporter thing? Rob, you can so tell that I did not fall in love and marry my husband for his cultural pursuits or knowledge!! For everyone else information it was a photo of truffles(not the chocolate kind) at a market.

Annie’s Blog

I’ve been noticing that my Mum & Dad put things away from me. I mean if they put me on the bed or the floor or anywhere they will quickly gather up all the fun things & move them to a place I can’t reach. What’s the point of putting me somewhere if you are going to take all the cool stuff away? I reckon the rule should be if you put me somewhere I can play with whatever I find!

I helped mum to cook dinner tonight, Dad went out to buy a tyre pressure gauge at Supercheap Auto and didn’t come home for 2 hours….. do they have to make them for you dad? Mum says that Dad can spend hours in car shops just looking. Anyway mum gave me a wooden spoon & some pots, I didn’t cook anything but I made some great noises!

I teached myself to stand up tonight. I held onto the little step that mum uses in the van and I pulled myself up onto my feet. I had to hold on to the step but I thought I was clever, Mum & Dad did too because mum said to dad “Look James….Look James…..Look James” I thought the place was on fire she was so excited! Parents are so overrated, so far I’ve taught myself to roll over, crawl, stand up. When do they start to teach me stuff?

I’ve decided I don’t like inside things, today we went for a walk, I loved it, the magic flying fairies were following us, the sun was out & it was great, but then Mum & Dad took me into these shops, and they were exactly the same as shops we have been to in other towns! Why do we go to the same shops just in different places??? So I started to cry & make noise & guess what? It worked, Mum & Dad took me outside….. Cool huh, I love how simple my parents are.

Love Yous All

AnnieInAVan

Comments

[Rob]

Ah James....you have no idea.

[Susanne]

Did you know that Manjimup (my home town) has become famous for that poo looking stuff :)) worth far more than horse poo a Kg! 3k + /per lb !!
Anyway to the reason for me wanting to comment - passengers seat drivers :) Oh the stories Tim and I could share - the funniest (looking back) being when he got out of the car on some busy road somewhere in Melbourne on the way to the airport and made me drive.....From an expert driver and expert passenger seat critic :) here is the thing - its about safety James :) to quote my mum - fours eyes are better than two! I have tried to explain this to Tim for 12 years and I believe he is starting to get it. In the car you have you and VERY precious cargo (complicated by that mighty big van your towing with all those shoes) Vanessa and Annie. Any articulated or non articulated feedback should be seen as Co driver support that is motivated from a place of safety for all.....could go on but might leave it at that :P

keep up the safe driving support Ness :)))