Saturday, November 29, 2008

We're back!

We're back! Did anyone miss me?!

We had a great time, nice & relaxing & saw some wonderful things - I'm hoping to write a more detailed update of our trip over the next week or so. We were going to stop somewhere tonight and get home tomorrow but once we thought about home, we just kept driving!

The van went extremely well - no problems at all - although we have a few things to do to make life easier for the next trip.

I'm still not thinking about work, Xmas or other responsibilities yet - tomorrow I'll concentrate on cleaning out the van, doing a heap of washing and getting the house back in order. Monday will be soon enough to come back down to earth :)

Here's a sneak peek of our holidays:


Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Packing..

Ah packing to go on holidays.. The activity that guarantees you will *need* a holiday by the time you leave!

This one has been more exciting than most - it's the first long trip away in our new van, so I have to decide where to put everything. We seem to have heaps of storage space (although I can't stop the niggle that says if we have so much space then I've obviously forgotten to pack something!), it's just trying to use it most efficiently so the most used things are easily accessible.

I took some photos of the van today - I've now managed to put it up *by myself* - TWICE! It's fairly easy to put up - except when you're 5ft & a smidge and need a chair to stand on :)


This is how it looks folded down flat - it sits a bit flatter than this, but I'd already undone the clips that hold it down.



First step is to push the roof up - you push one side up and the other slides up too and pops into place.


Second step is to jump inside and push the walls up into place. They clip in place from inside.



View from the other side (with the chair I need lol)


View from inside looking towards the front. The table (currently propped up against the seat) folds down to form the single bed. There is storage underneath each seat, as well as at the front.



View towards the back. The double bed lifts up for heaps more storage, plus the drawers on the side.


The packing is pretty much done - or at least the major things. We had our old van fairly well equipped, so most of it has just come across, but some things needed to be replaced. I still need to pack clothes, last minute food & more activity stuff for us (particularly for Master B), but we're getting there!

I'm actually starting to get quite excited about the trip now!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Our week of Learning - 2nd Nov



English:
Lots of smaller books read plus more from The Hobbit. Visit to Maitland library. Did some reading on the Starfall site.

Maths: Leap into Maths Yr 1 workbook - Unit 13. Watched 'Count Us In'.

Science & Technology: Finished off the clouds poster & talked about it at 'news' at the homeschool meeting. Updating his blog - and has worked out how to change colours and font size..

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We did lots of history reading this week as we were getting close to dinosaurs and Billy wanted to keep reading - did the first reptiles through to the first dinosaurs. We also read an Aboriginal tale and Billy watched a video of some animated Aboriginal dreamtime stories.

We had a visit from the fire brigade at the homeschool meeting - they showed the kids around the fire engine, and talked to them about fire safety.

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama lessons and art gallery. Using the video camera.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education):
Swimming lessons plus swimming with friends. Lots of running around at the homeschool meeting.

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At the end of this week, we're heading off down south (Melbourne / Canberra) for a few weeks in the van. We won't be doing formal lessons while we're away, but are planning on doing lots of educational things like Sovereign Hill, Questacon, dinosaur museum, Tidbinbilla Tracking Station etc.

Menu Plan Monday - 3rd Nov


Notes on last week's menu:

I didn't put a menu up last week as I didn't get to write it until later in the week. Nothing outstanding though.

To use up this week:
* roast chicken
* thai curry sauce
* tin pineapple

Menu Plan this week:

Monday - meatball subs
Tuesday - chilli con carne & rice
Wednesday - bahama-mama pork chops with veges
Thursday - thai chicken patties with salad / veges
Friday - Mum & Dads?
Saturday - in van - we're off on holidays!
Sunday - in van

For more exciting menu plan ideas, see Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.



Eating from the garden:
* Everything has pretty much gone to seed except for the tomatoes which are still green. Getting the odd couple of strawberries but only enough for a snack

Planting this week:
* plant out malabar spinach
* plant cucumber seeds - leave til we get back

See my "Quick Updates" over on the side to see what I've been up to in the garden lately.