A cold day

The weather has really changed this last week, just quietly I am pleased I am not moving the neighbours sheep now. It is cold, very cold, snowy, miserable weather to be in. Cai stands at the door, asking "out, out, out" repeatively. So this day I layered him up and let him go. I was not brave enough to go keep an eye on him but knew him and Gypsy wouldn't be far apart. A few minutes later I went to check on him, I could hear a whole heap of giggles.... This is how I found them, running around and round on the trampoline together. Good old Gypsy, the best playmate :)

Oyster Festival 2012

We have never been to the Bluff Oyster Festival before so thought this year we would give it a go. Like I have mentioned before all of us love our seafood (except....horror horror.....I don't like Oysters, all the more for Shane though). It is reasonably priced and there was certainly plenty of delicious dishes of seafood to try. There were Kina shots & Oyster shots, the Oyster shots the boys tried. Cai stuck to basic fish that day, Cheyenne gutt's herself on the garlic muscles, Cody ate everything he could. My fav the scallops of course. The entertainment was good but I wouldn't take the kids again, it was fairly crowded and difficult with a pram. The sort of thing you go to with mates and get a table and sit and enjoy the day, eating as much as you want, without having to feed the kids!!!

The Farming way of Life

This last couple of weeks I have been loving looking after a mates farm while they were taking a well deserved break in OZ. Pretty much everything was already set up for me. So Cai and I had to go down each day and feed dogs, shift two mobs of sheep onto their new breaks and check on the cattle. The days when the weather was too crappy Cai got to view it all from the truck window while I ran around like a mad woman in the southern wind and rain, but the days that were beautiful it was a pleasure having his company and hearing his baby voice order instructions to Gypsy (like 'stay or sit') or the sheep when moving them. He loved it just as much as I did I am sure of that.
We owned more land then we do now when Cody and Cheyenne were toddlers so they have had their fair share of being carted about doing farm work. I have enjoyed this little window of oppurtunity to give Cai a little taste of the farming way of life in the deep south also.

Helping wind up fences ready to set them up again in the next paddock, we both got a hua of alot of exercise :)

Gypsy

Well seen as I am just starting out I am trying to have a big catch up, Gypsy joined us like I said in March, a couple weeks after Shane started his new job. She has gown so much and her collar no longer fits her, but her next collar is still too big. She is great to go for a run with, she is gentle with the kids and will bark at anyone coming in. Something I was really hoping for. She mostly obeys orders, but thats just like the rest of us ;-) She is a gorgeous red colour. We had hoped to get another straight Staffi, we were told by her breeder that she was an american/english Staffi X! We queried her ridge when we viewed her, he told us she would grow out of it. I have never seen a staffi before with a ridge but not to worry as we know her mommy was american staffi, so we are assuming her dad is a ridgeback. She is shaping up to be quite a good looking little dog so all good.

our own beach

We call it our own beach because access to it is off our property. It is not a beach to swim at or sunbath on, it is stoney and wild and rough, but beautiful and unique.

Autumn brings beautiful crisp clear days, as you all know anyways, but we have time on these ripper days to run down the hill from our house to the beach below after school. Time for a quick play and explore before trudging back up the hill to do home work and cook tea. I say trudging because Cody & Cheyenne will be carting rocks home to paint or drift wood that I have taken a fancy too and want for my garden. Usually I have Cai on my back in the back pack at these times, so I will let them put their rocks in the bottom pocket if they help me with my drift wood ;)

On the right sort of day we are often lucky enough to sit and watch the dolphins cruising the coast feeding and in April/May we will see baby dolphins jumping the waves and playing. It is very hard to turn around and leave to go home to chores on such occasions.

Goodbyes & Hello's

This has become a routine every morning now. Cai and Gypsy will go jump up on the couch to watch for the bus out the window. Cai waving and calling "see ya" til the bus is out of sight. This is where I love having Gypsy in our family, she then becomes Cai's shadow or entertainment for the day.

 Then at the end of the day it is a big session of greetings again, with Cai & Gypsy equally fighting for the attention. I love watching it day in and day out, the bond between siblings and a family pet. We were concerned with Cai arriving in the family 5 years after Cheyenne but like Gypsy he has fitted right on in and is terribly catered to by his big brother and sister. They dote on him and totally smother him sometimes, but once again he has them under control and swats them aside with his chubby little hand and the command of "DON'T"!! Terrible manners at times that boy!

Paua Gathering

Before daylight savings finished we made the most of some cooler but beautiful evenings and meet Shane on his way home from work to go collect a feed of pauas. Playing on the rocks, exploring  rock pools, ( I don't know many hooks and line we have lost due to Cody insisting on fishing amongst the rocks, but then again he is an 8yr old and it is good to let him learn for himself. Even if he thinks he is a bit of a Bear Grylls jnr!).
Watching the sun set, then home to a yummy feed of fresh pauas. Something our whole family enjoys alot of is our kaimoana. Makes feeding time easy when you know you have a fresh feed of seafood and no one is going to be fussy ;-)

The Introduction of Gypsy in our Lives

I had always wanted to start a blog and this year we had planned on doing a great big ol' trip up northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Well Shane had a career change and with it so did our lifestyle. Our family travels came to a halt all within a week. There were positives with settling down in one spot though, we could have pets that the kids have always asked for. Cheyenne was able to get a little horse and I was able to come good on my promise to myself. When our beloved family dog had gone missing on year when we were overseas, I promised to replace her when the chance came. So the weekend I ran my first marathon I also purchased a staffi/ridgeback X puppy. She fitted straight into our boisterous family and loved the most by Cai. They are fast friends and when he isn't yelling at her in his baby voice with instructions of "don't, NO or come here", she is getting snuggled to bits by him.

                                   (this is not the best photo, taken on my iphone on her 1st night at home, already Cai's comfort)
So instead of a blog of our family adventures overseas, it has turned into our family adventures in the reality of life through the journey of Cai & Gypsy together.

                                                    (Gypsy still getting used to an 18mth olds advances)