Moved In....Finally!

Whew...we've survived another international move! I don't want to do this again for a long time, or at least until the memory of all the chaos and uncertainty has faded. It's so much work dealing with new bank accounts, new utility providers, new cars (but thankfully we got another Toyota Picnic like we had in Singapore, only this time white (and with a huge tow hitch in case we need to do any heavy duty hauling)), and the quirks of another new house. Public transportation is not the option it was in Singapore so we're still sharing one car and working on buying a second. That's definitely made life more complicated because I can't exactly buy groceries with two kids and no car but we still have to eat!

The timing of all the unpacking was ideal because our shipment cleared quarantine and customs well ahead of schedule and we were able to get unpacked and have a few days to get the beds and kitchen in working order before moving in, and then we had a few extra days to move 3 weeks' worth of accumulation from the rental house before we had to vacate it. It's so nice to be under one roof again! And yes, I mentioned quarantine because our 40-foot container was subject not only to a customs inspection, looking for any goods that we needed to declare or pay taxes on, but also to a quarantine inspection because there are very strict regulations on things like food, wood, dried flowers/plants, and other household goods that can be brought into Australia. Even at the airport you have to clear immigration, customs, and quarantine with all baggage. They're concerned about bringing pests and wood-eating bugs into the country and will confiscate and destroy anything that is suspicious or illegal. I got stopped at the airport for having a painted, wooden kids puzzle in my bag but they let me go with it since it had a finish but I still had to officially declare it. Quarantine and customs searched through about 20% of our sea shipment boxes and took one of my fake plants from the guest bathroom because it had moss in the bottom. I never even noticed when I was purging the house of questionable items (like every bit of our food, potpourri, dried flowers, Christmas decorations with pinecones, etc). We had the option to pay $75 to incinerate it or $150 to buy a permit and have it cleaned. Since it cost about $20 5 years ago, I opted to let it go in peace. Not too bad considering I'd heard stories about them fumigating furniture for weeks and things of that sort.

Unpacking day was August 28th, still very much winter time here as you can see by the jackets.

Both of the boys love the second story balcony but even more, loved being reunited with all their old toys!

Ahhh, the joys of moving. We had 3 very hardworking guys unpacking us here but their hours are 7-3 (welcome to Western Australia where WA means wait awhile) so they still left a lot to be done over the weekend. We managed to clear out a lot of the boxes and one guy returned Monday morning to finish the job and take out all the boxes and trash.

This is what sold us on this particular house - the amazing view and proximity to a beautiful beach. These flocks of cockatoos come every day and eat the pine cones from the trees. They are so much fun to watch.

One thing we found rather disappointing here was that rental homes here don't include the fridge, washer, or dryer (and sometimes even the microwave if it's not built in). We spent our first weekend in the house appliance hunting and after a deal to buy some second-hand items fell through we had to get some good deals on new ones. Can't live too long with a fridge or washer so Matt had to work some of his negotiating magic and we got everything delivered before we moved in. We couldn't shop any earlier because we didn't have dimensions for the spaces. We also learned that they don't put vents inside for the dryer so unless you want to cart your laundry in and out of the house to a dryer in the garage, you have to pay about 3 times more for a condenser dryer that collects all the water in a container that has to be emptied every few loads. So at the end of the day, we have some nice new appliances and Ben is in heaven. He keeps talking about how much he loves his new washer and he's thrilled to do laundry. Alex is excited to have a front loader again and we found that the appliance stores were like playgrounds for them...

After a long weekend of unpacking and living in a disaster zone, we took a break and walked down to check out Cottesloe beach. It was still cold but the sunshine was warm and the boys loved exploring.

Sweet babies!

And it was only a matter of time before they got in the water, of course.

Alex wasn't a fan of the sand at all but loved stepping in the waves. After he tripped and got his bottom half wet it was time to pack up and head home. Every time we drive along the beach now, Ben says, "Do you remember when Alex fell down and got wet?" then he has a good laugh.

Unpacking and organizing has been two steps forward and several baby steps back. I have to make the most of naptime and the evenings to get ahead of my two little monkeys! The big things are done so they no longer have shelves to crawl in but there is still lots of lingering junk that needs to be sorted, on top of the daily rearranging that comes naturally with kids.

This view is keeping me sane, along with the fact that we're seeing some springtime weather and it's gorgeous. Warm sunshine, blue ocean...it's a crime to stay inside!

Here's the front of the house. It's long and somewhat narrow, two stories in the front and one story through the middle and back. There is a laneway in the back leading to the garage. I love having the wall and gate since the boys' rooms are downstairs under the kitchen and family room so I feel like they're tucked in safe at night. It's an older house and not in perfect shape but we thought it was definitely worth compromising a bit on quality for the fantastic location. Plus, that's a little pressure off us to keep it perfect since we know two little boys will most likely be leaving some marks here :)

Just a few blocks down along the beach trail is the main beach of Cottesloe. A bit of interesting trivia - the big restaurant in the picture called Indiana was the site of Heath Ledger's local memorial. He was originally from Perth.

Alex is not a big fan on sand, especially on his hands. The top layer was nice and warm but it's still pretty cold underneath so he spent most of his time on my lap.

Ben chased after the seagulls saying, "Cockatoos! Come here!!" I'm trying to teach him the difference but so far all white birds are cockatoos. He did make some lifelong friends after sharing all of his crackers. This boy still cares very little for eating and I find Alex finishing off Ben's snacks nearly every day.

As for me, I'm enjoying the American women's playgroup once a week and have found a Bible study with childcare so I'll be able to do a little something without the kids once a week. Last week was Alex's first time in a nursery so we had some screaming and tears, but once he got his pacifier and blanket he was content to play without me. It's nice for the boys to have each other now in those situations, too, so they're never really alone. It has been hard for me to get out and do much without a car most of the time but I'm hoping to start a "real" life once I have reliable transportation and can commit to meeting people or sign the kids up for some classes.

Our Second Week Down Under

It actually felt like a fairly normal week! We're getting into a routine (or I should say I'm getting into the routine of managing the kids and the house) and adjusting to life here, even though we'll be moving again in a week or so. The boys are having more fun playing with one another every day.

Ben and puppy are having lots of fun as well. Puppy was drawing with a little help from his buddy.

Last weekend we enjoyed our afternoon at one of the playgrounds near our new house. It's up on a hill overlooking a golf course and the ocean below so I think we'll enjoy the view!

Look at these happy faces!

This was an interesting sight along the beachfront road...hanggliders flying just over the dunes and the beach. Ben was so excited to wave to the guy at eye level as we drove past.

You can take the kid out of Asia but you can't take the Asia out of the kid...I made rice for the first time in weeks and Ben devoured two bowls in minutes. Guess I should be making it more often! I hadn't realized how much he missed it but we have eaten it daily for the past two years so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Alex keeps entertained but rearranging the drawers for me. I've found all kinds of things in the kitchen drawers but haven't managed to find one of the blankies he stashed in the house somewhere...hopefully it will turn up soon.

Ben's latest cleaning obsession is laundry. He helps pour in the soap, turn on the washer, load the clothes, and put them in the dryer. Now I just need to teach him to fold them and put them away! He's such a good little helper.

Alex has added another word to his vocabulary (dada, uh-oh, wow, mama) - no! We keep the bottom of the stairs blocked with pillows but I can hear when he's trying to sneak up because I hear a little "nooooooo" while he's climbing. He also shakes his head no as he's going up. I love all the personality we're seeing in our little guy these days!

A Bit of Background

I was doing a bit of reading on Australia and thought I'd share some of the interesting facts I found on Wikipedia:

• Australia is both the world's smallest continent and the largest island
• Its population is just 21.7 million and 80% of the people live along the coast
• Its landmass is 2.97 million square miles, making it the 6th largest country in the world but also among the least populated (232 out of 238). Only Greenland, Falkland Islands, Western Sahara, Mongolia, French Guiana, and Namibia are less densely populated.
  
• By comparison, the US has 302 million people and 9.6 million square miles of land, ranking at 177 in population density.
• Singapore is the second most densely populated country with 4.8 million people living in just 274 square miles (about half the size of Houston's city limits)
  
• Australia has six states and two territories.
• Perth is the capitol of the state of Western Australia, which has a landmass of 965,000 square miles. Texas is only 268,000 square miles.
• The entire population of WA (Western Australia) is 2.16 million and 75% of the people live in Perth and its surrounding communities.
  
• Texas has 24.6 million residents (more than the entire country of Australia) and 5.7 million in Houston metro alone (more than the entire state of WA).

That explains why I went back in time about 10 years Saturday when I signed up for my mobile phone here. The sales guy explained the advantages of each different phone based on what kind of signal it received outside the city. It's extremely expensive compared to the US or Singapore and includes almost nothing! Charges per call, per minute, per SMS and no rollover, no deals. It felt like the first time I got a cell phone in college and had to pay so much for a small number of minutes, then keep track of what I used each month. Now I understand a bit better because the area of network coverage in Australia is enormous and there just aren't that many people using it. It is a very interesting change coming from such a crowded place to the true country.

(And yes, fellow Texans, it pained me to talk about how much bigger some other state is than my beloved home...I won't bring it up again!)

G'day Mates!

We made it through week one! It was pretty quiet and lonely in the house for me, but the boys didn't seem to notice. Ben does seem to miss having kids around all the time but he's happy that we vacuum three times a day and he can use his stepstool to reach the cleaners and wipe the table. Alex has been teething and pretty grouchy most of the week but seems to be back to his happy little self today. Once these top two cut through he'll be at a grand total of 8 teeth...pretty slow for his age but I was very slow to get and lose teeth but have barely had a cavity, so hopefully that means he'll get strong teeth as well!

Ben has been playing with his puppy all the time, maybe since there aren't other kids around to play? Puppy does a lot of things like eat snacks, wash dishes, vacuum, and make things with play doh. Last night I offered for puppy to have a drink of Ben's milk and he looked at me very seriously and said "Puppy doesn't have a mouth." What do I know?

A new discovery - screens! I've been told the flies are really bad here at some point during the year so thank goodness they use screens here. Singapore didn't have much of a bug problem but sometimes a screen would have been nice to make sure no children went wandering outside or through a second story window. But again, what do I know?
Matt's coworker was kind enough to pick him up for work on Thursday so I could have the car and the first thing we did was find a playground! There are outdoor playgrounds all over the place but it has been extremely windy (like 50mph sometimes) and rainy for several days. I still haven't figured this weather out - one minute it's sunny, then it's pouring or raining sideways in the wind, then 5 minutes later it's sunny again. I really don't think I've seen more than 10 minutes of rain at a time. Crazy. But nice because if you get caught without an umbrella it only takes a few minutes for the weather to change and you can get to the car dry.

So this was a great indoor playground. It was huge by Singapore standards, about the size of Fidgets, but with only about 6 other families in the entire place. The boys loved the bouncy castle.

I allowed a little wrestling in there since no one could bump a head.

The climbing tunnels were enormous and Ben went up fearlessly, got all the way to the top, then looked down and realized he was WAY up there. Cue the crying and hysterics...not helped by the fact that parents aren't allowed (and probably can't fit), so a teenage girl working there had to wiggle through everything and rescue him. After a free sucker, he was back in full form and stuck to the toddler area for the rest of our visit.

Alex is crazy about slides right now and this one was just his size! He could go up the stairs and slide down all by himself.

Overall, I'd say we're adjusting well. It's been up and down so far, but not nearly as hard as adjusting to Singapore. Just going to the grocery store and findng everything on my list at prices that don't make me nauseous is a big plus. We were invited to our first barbeque yesterday, which is apparently the major Australian pasttime. And I guess I should call it a barbie now. The family in the rental house next door had several other families over and they were kind enough to include us. It was fun to have some company and meet new faces, and even better because they were all doctors and I met a very nice woman with kids the same age as ours so she'll be a great help in getting us clued in on the medical front here. I also found an American women's club so I'll get to go to a coffee morning and a playgroup this week. Now that I have a mobile phone here (not a cell phone or handphone...got some funny looks when I asked for that) it's time to make some friends so I can add more than Matt to the contacts!

And my favorite thing so far is all the sun and rain means we get lots of rainbows. I've definitely needed the reminders about God's love and care lately.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Ps. 139:9-10)

Getting Settled

Wow...we made it! Last week was absolute chaos in my opinion, although we got moved successfully and I think brought everything we needed. Two kids, five suitcases, two carseats, two strollers, two surfboards, and four bags, plus five boxes that were sent by DHL and met us here in Perth. Sounds like a ton of stuff but it's actually not a ridiculous amount when you consider it's all we have to live off for the next several weeks. We are in a nice, completely furnished house at the moment so we are living very comfortably until we can move into our rental in a few weeks. We got word yesterday that our visas were approved and also that our lease offer was accepted at the rental house so things are moving along very well. Our sea shipment should be en route at the moment and arrive in Fremantle sometime next weekend. We expect it to take at least two weeks to clear customs and quarantine, then hopefully be ready to unpack right when our lease house is available for move in. That would be ideal so we don't have to move and then rent temporary furniture in the new place...the less we have to disrupt these kids the better! Our new house will be in Cottesloe facing a small golf course and just a few houses away from the beach. It's a bit smaller and older than some of the others viewed but the location is absolutely fantastic. Matt and I both agreed it would be worth living on a beautiful beach once in our lives while the opportunity was available!

Our local move in Singapore was actually terrific practice for this move because I was much better prepared for how to organize the house before the movers arrived and what to pack in our luggage that would be critical for the kids (things like night-lights that nearly caused a meltdown after our last move). But an international move is so much more complicated because you have to deal with things like new currency, new outlets (thank goodness Matt thought to buy plug adapters in Singapore before we got here), visas, and cars. Even things like rounding up all the loose change around the house to cash it in don't seem like big deals but end up eating away the precious moving time. Our move-out to do list seemed endless but we managed to take care of everything and hopefully completely wrapped up our lives in Singapore and didn't forget anything. We also had to consider our maid Lea because she was moving as well so we had to pack her things and move her on our last day. Even though she was only with us 5 months we were all very attached and it was a tearful goodbye, but I trust she is happy with her new family.

The kids have been terrific during this entire process. Sharing one hotel room was pretty stressful for all of us and bedtime was a disaster every night because Alex absolutely hated the rollaway crib and would scream for an hour, which of course kept Ben awake, then the two of them would talk and play. Then we discovered that they both snore, but at least cute little boy snores and not big old man snores. Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted between the stress and sleep deprivation.

Friday morning we finally bid farewell to Singapore (very sadly, in my case) and flew away to Perth. Ben had been looking forward to riding in an airplane all week and had a terrific time on the flight watching movies. Alex was very well-behaved, too, but he had to get up and walk around and try to grab every single person as he toddled down the aisles. Lucky for me he already likes TV so he watched a little bit of Charlotte's Web, too. It's only a 5-hour flight which is pretty short by our standards, considering we'll be looking at 24 hours or more flying home for Christmas...haven't exactly sorted out how we'll be getting there yet but I do know you can't fly much farther away from Houston.

We came straight to this 4-bedroom furnished house and have been settling in ever since. The kids are so happy to have their own bedrooms and space to explore and play. It's winter in the southern hemisphere so it's been cold and rained a bit, but actually the weather has been much nicer than I anticipated. After more than two years of constant summer we seem to have shed much of our winter wardrobes and have had to buy quite a few things but we seem pretty well prepared. Western Australia seems much more "normal" to me than Singapore because it's more spread out, stores have parking lots with free parking, and the fast food places have drive-thrus, but the pace of life is SO different. Things close at 5pm. The Big W (the Australian Wal-mart which I was thrilled to shop at today because it's just like home) is closed on Sunday. The late grocery store closes at 8pm. That will take some getting used to coming from a country where you can buy a TV at 10pm or get prata at 2am. But I'm beginning to think we're really going to be happy living here. I was not excited to be leaving such a happy life and terrific friends in Singapore so I haven't been looking forward to this move very much. I of course miss having a maid and just having the company around during the day, but it's really nice to run the house the way I want again. It's fun to be in the kitchen cooking again, especially in a nice kitchen with brand-new appliances! Grocery shopping is fun for me and for the kids because we rarely did it and definitely didn't but an entire cart of food at once. Right now Matt and I are trying to figure out how to share a car until we can buy a second one so we're trying to work out a carpool for him or I'll take him to work, but that means I have to drag the kids along. So, we're settling into our new lives here even though we'll be moving again in a few weeks.

I've been so busy getting the house in order and chasing after the kids that I haven't had time to get lonely yet, but I'm sure those days are coming. I met some wonderful, beautiful women in Singapore and will treasure their friendship and hopefully keep in touch forever. I was fortunate enough to get to enjoy one last girls' night out with most of them just before we left. My lovely friend Julia was thoughtful enough to organize the dinner at Villa Bali but unfortunately got sick and wasn't even able to attend herself. A few other girls were traveling or had other obligations and I missed seeing them, but it was a wonderful chance to enjoy my friends and say goodbye.
back row (L to R): Farah Armstrong, me, Jenn Harkless, Christina Dunlap
front row: Kim Stamper, Anne Duncan, Suasti Lye, Leslie Lancaster, Camille Denton


In the hotel it was almost impossible to keep things packed at all because Alex stayed there all day and would dig through our bags. He loved this picture of Ben that Suasti had printed just before we left.

The morning of our flight, Ben was so excited he got straight in his carseat and waited until it was time to go. We finally convinced him to get out long enough to get dressed and move the carseat into the taxi.

We will really miss Changi airport! Singapore has the most amazing and efficient airport I've ever seen...tons of shopping, of course, since that's the national sport, playgrounds, restaurants, lounges, showers, free foot massagers everywhere, I could go on and on. My favorite is the butterfly exhibit where we enjoyed our last few minutes of humid tropical air and Ben got to wear a few butterflies for a while until it was time to go.

Here's the crew outside the Perth airport...we attracted a bit of attention with all our stuff!

I heard some loud birds outside the house and realized they were wild lorikeets. Don't need to visit the bird park here!

Sunday morning was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature was in the 60's but really warm in the sun. I'm still trying to figure out how to dress the kids most of the time because it's cold in the shade but warm in the car or the sun but they don't seem to notice. That day all they cared about was the huge playground crawling with kids. We just happened to drive past it while we were checking out the house we'll be renting and realized it's a very short walk down the beach. I have the feeling we'll be spending a lot of time here in the future.

Alex is a total walker now...no more crawling for this guy unless he's trying to get over to something to pull himself up. He's managed to stand up on his own a few times but it's still quite a feat. He seems very coordinated and athletic already, or else by comparison Ben was pretty uncoordinated and I just didn't realize it!

The family in front of Cottesloe beach. This is the exact moment I started getting excited about living here! I've always been a beach lover and I could definitely get used to this view every day.

Around the house, the boys have been entertaining each other in so many ways. I heard lots of laughter and walked around the corner to find them like this giggling to one another on the floor.

Alex has climbed in, over, under, through, or behind every piece of furniture in the place.

This had me almost in tears today. Alex is getting more addicted to his blankie by the day but I've also been much more generous about letting him carry it around everywhere. I've always tried to limit the pacifier and blankie to the crib but with all the disruption I've let him have them pretty much any time lately and he's making the most of it. He also loves putting blankie in a cabinet or drawer or trash can and then getting it out, but that sometimes makes for a problem when he gets distracted and leaves then I can't figure out where he left it. Today he kept putting the blankie on his head and walking around patting it. He got it on like this completely by himself. Later when he couldn't find it he wandered around the living room crying and patting his head. He is hilarious!

Ben's new love here is his vacuum. He is still a litle clean freak and loves to wash dishes, clean the table, sweep, and wipe down pretty much anything, but today vacuuming was at the top of his list. It's apparently more fun when we do it together but since Alex is a walking trail of crumbs it was actually pretty handy to clean the floor three times. And somehow it still needs it again tonight. Have they always been this dirty or is it just easier to see without the granite floors camouflaging all the crumbs?

Moving Week

This has been a week of deju vu...some from our local move 4 months ago, and some from our previous international move 2 years ago. Either way, I've had enough of moving for a while and want to settle in somewhere pretty soon. We are headed to a temporary furnished house in Perth at the moment while we try to sort out a lease on one of the houses we're interested in and either line up rental furniture or wait it out until our furniture moves and clears customs. Thank goodness for patient kids who think this is really exciting!

Ben took over one of my boxes for the air shipment. I decided to let him use his airplane seat (which he can't stop talking about because he knows we're going sometime this week) instead of being shipped this way, but mostly because we only got 5 small boxes and our checked baggage to last us for up to 8 weeks until we see our sea shipment. That's a tight squeeze for a family of 4.

We checked into a hotel on Sunday to move all of our necessities out of the way of the movers and to make sure the house was clean and everything was dry before it got packed. I heard a horror story of movers that packed someone's dirty cereal bowl with milk in their container and it was quite a sight 6 weeks later when they opened the box. The kids love the hotel! Except Alex hates the rollaway crib but he's getting used to it. He's having a great time on all the carpet, though.

Ben loves the free minibar with orange juice and the slippers. He's also quite taken with the combs that show up every day and the big shower.

There are so many new places to play!

We're right on Orchard Road so we get to enjoy the heart of Singapore's shopping district one last time. This is Ion Orchard that just opened last week and is pretty impressive, especially at night when the entire outside is a colored light show.

Ben has been so happy about riding the bus to school each day, but he's not sad to be leaving. Just last week he started protesting school so he ought to be pretty excited that today is his last day.

And this is what the house looks like at the moment. I'm able to get online because we're transferring our internet service to the new tenants and the modem stays, so it's been nice to be able to work out some details while I'm here with the movers all day.

Many, many thanks to Miss Lou Anne for playing with Ben the past two afternoons and keeping him out of this chaos! Plus, Ben was so happy to get to spend some time with his favorite person. And we're so fortunate to still have Lea to watch Alex at the hotel during the day so he can still nap and not walk around trying to eat everything the movers drop. It's hard trying to keep up with everyone spread out like this and still attend to all the moving details involved with leaving a country. It's a lot different than leaving the US the first time because we don't have a permanent address here or any family that can tie up the loose ends we may forget. In another way it's a bit easier because we don't have cars or a house to sell and we know some things to do in advance, like buy electrical adapters by the dozen. Regardless, hopefully we're taking care of all the important things and will all get to Perth in one piece with everything we need on Friday!