How to entertain 2 children...

All I can say is Greg is back tomorrow and not a second too soon!

I have been struggling today that is for sure, anyone within a mile of the shower block tonight would have guessed that! The last few days have been alright however. I have tried to have at least one activity that gets us out of the caravan park. After a day tour, we heard about a few fantastic things to see and do in town so I have been slowly working my way through the list. We went birdwatching at the Derby Waste Water depot (and no it didn't smell) the girls were amazed at the amount of wildlife they could see and it didn't matter that they were so far away we couldn't tell what they were! The pic shows them coming down the tower that has been built specially for bird watchers. I was more worried about the sandy road I had just driven in on and hoping I wouldn't get stuck as I wouldn't have a clue on how to get out!

We have seen the most incredible sunsets at Derby. This shot I took about 30 minutes after the sun went down and the colour still lasted for another 20 minutes (but not long enough for me to reach the jetty unfortunately). Every night has been incredible and you never get bored of watching the sun set. The girls are very good at reminding us about the sunset as it is Greg's favourite time to get out and get photos. They still hope that I will take them for a drive to show them different places to see it set, so I have obliged a few times.

Good old Mr Whippy has been enticing us daily (there are actually 2 that have visited the van park every day since Greg has been away), I gave in twice as it is very hot and they had been well behaved (and I wanted one too). Today I wasn't going to give in! The man in the van across the road from us couldn't resist their big blue eyes and gave in, he very generously bought three ice creams dipped in chocolate. The girls were in heaven (I enjoyed mine too mind you) as I only get them a small cup with no topping, by the end of it they were absolutely covered in ice cream and chocolate (hence the shower). It wasn't until later I found out they girls (and their friends) were standing by the van "Oh I wish I could have one of those with nuts," "no, I'd love one with chocolate," "No, topping and sprinkles." They know exactly how to stike the right chord with Nomads missing grandchildren!

Yesterday we went for a walk to the shops and the girls played with four other girls all about the same age. These girls are lovely, they are all bright and happy and love to play, as soon as we are out of bed they are here to see Jas and Jem. There was the addition of a young boy in the afternoon, he's about 7. It was interesting to see how the games changed with a boy in the mix! Jemma is obsessed with seed pods at the moment. She will see them on the ground and squeal running over to see if there are seeds inside. She shakes it by her ear and then runs to everyone else around her so they can hear them too. It is very cute except then she breaks it up to get to the seeds inside - she is normally inside the tent when she does this and it makes a terrible mess. All the other children spent the afernoon finding pods for Jemma who very excitedly showed me her collection.

In the afternoon we went to the jetty again to see high tide. As we were driving away Jasmine says to me,
"Mummy, I have a boy friend," to which I calmly replied
"that's nice dear, do you know what a boy friend is?"
"no, what?" PHEW!!!
"That's just a boy who is your friend." Later today I heard one of the girls they were playing with say "Jasmine's broken up with her boy friend." and realised where the comment came from.

I mentioned on the phone to Mum a while ago, Jasmine seems to be turning into a teenage already, that's not fair. We have comments like, "you can't do that" when we threaten punishment, she is the expert on EVERYTHING - even if she has just asked you a question about it, and now boyfriends!!!

We were all looking forward to the CWA Markets this morning. I love markets at home, it is normally the only time I have to myself as Greg looks after the girls. I have been trying to get to markets every weekend we have been away but it hasn't happened so I was determined to get to these no matter what! Jas was excited at the possibility of buying a carved boab nut or an aboriginal painting (I can only let her do that while Greg is away, he is too practical otherwise!) unfortunately there wasn't any there. We had a great chat with Kristy (pictured with daughter Amber) who makes jewellery that is awesome. Jasmine wanted to get a piece for me for my birthday however Greg has already bought me a Zebra Rock necklace (which I am wearing now!) so I couldn't let her. It was great to see the local work with a photographer, a wood turner and lots of plants. I also bought some rosella jam for our pancakes - looking forward to trying that!

I also took the girls to the CWA Craft Fair which had lots of lovely knitting, embroidery, papercraft, teddy bears etc and I handed Jamsine the camera and said "I want you to take a photo of your favourite thing here." Off she went, straight to the kids craft table and took a shot of a snake made from beer bottle tops and foil. It was very clever, I also thought it was interesting that in a room full of dolls, teddy bears and lovely dresses that this was what appealed to her the most.

Well we have made it through 4 nights without Daddy, we are looking forward to seeing him very much and I am sure he feels the same. This afternoon the owner came over to me asking how I would have liked to have gone on the tour and left Greg behind to which I don't have to tell you my answer! "Well," he said "the owners ahve just rung me, one of their staff have had an accident and they need a kitchen hand on their next cruise - you could go and enjoy yourself and leave hubby behind here with the kids!" I was SORELY TEMPTED!! If we didn't have such a tight schedule, I would have JUMPED at the chance. Sadly I declined metioning I would find another way he could make it up to me, not sure how yet but there will be something.

I won't lie, it hasn't been easy. It would have been a whole lot harder if we were not in such a lovely van park with lots of grass for them to play, and other children to occupy them. That along with a full day tour early on (giving them so much to talk to people about) have been my only saving grace. I can see the frustration in the girls too, they have loved having Daddy around all the time, it has made them so happy and they are getting very edgy knowing there isn't long to go. Getting them to bed tonight wasn't easy.

I think they are also ready to move to a new place. Derby isn't a big town by any means. We have seen all the sights in town and I am too scared to venture too far on dirt roads. It has been very nice to stop however with Derby being our longest stop planned for the whole trip.

On a happier note, our new video camera arrived today! Very cute little Canon HD (I would tell you the actual brand but am scared of waking the girls to check). Took a bit of footage today and am going to really enjoy being behind that camera. Being behind is better than in the film - you can't photoshop camera footage to make me look better, especially first thing in the morning. What this means is that you may just start seeing the Power Family popping up on TV.

I am told as of Friday you will see our smiling faces in every store that sells Canon PowerShot Cameras as Canon release a MASSIVE promotion in conjunction with the road trip. We are still trying to work out ways to have fun with the staff in store. Greg reckons he will walk in and ask a few questions and then point to the poster and say "don't you think that bloke looks a bit like me?" If you have a good idea, tell us on the forum - we want to have as much fun with this one as we can. If we try your suggestion, we'll let you know the result!

Off to Broome for a few days on Monday, we have been told there are some lovely places there to see so we are looking forward to new scenery and actually looking forward to being on the road again.