By golly it is cold outside!

Yep there is my little Paigey. We were going for a walk to the playground. Ash didn't have ski pants on so had to come back inside. It was -32 outside. I have never felt anything soooooo bitterly cold but I was determined to get the kids out of the house.
I took my gloves off to adjust Megan's hat and scarf to cover her face. My gloves were off for less that 2 minutes and they hurt incredibly from the cold. You can't have exposed skin for too long or you risk frostbite.

For some reason there were no other kids at the playground. Maybe it was because they were at school or it was just too cold.
















It took me about an hour to get the kids dressed to go out. We were outside for 10 - 15minutes max because the scarves kept falling off the kids faces. They were undressed in 5 minutes and left a huge mound of coats, boots etc in our hallway. Luckily the weather has improved since then (-14) so we have been able to go for longer walks. It still takes for ever to get them dressed but I believe we are getting quicker. The kids love sliding on the ice. While pretending to iceskate Ash slipped and has a black bruise and lump on his chin.

Airport arrival

Don't you just love Paige's snow shoes! They haven't re-emerged out the cupboard since arrival. We also don't see much except her eyes when leaving the house these days.
















Ash is running away from Megan before she hits him with a snowball. This is within 5 minutes of walking outside the airport.

Megan is gathering up more ammunition. Luckily Ash can run fast. It was a good first introduction to snow. Fortunately the weather was warm enough to allow us to be outside without hats, mittens, snow suits etc. Things changed a couple of days later.

Jetlag? What jetlag!

The day after arrival the kids were still adjusting to the jetlag. They continued to adjust for nearly a week! Thankfully they are adjusted now so mum and dad have the ability to write about it without the urge to gnash teeth, dribble with tiredness and urges to sell small children for medical experiments. Well almost ......

School days in Canada

Just a few images to show the new school in Thunder Bay. Naturally you can't really 'see'the cold, but you can get the idea from the fact that not many people are out and about in shorts and t-shirts.
The last image shows the ice crystals that have formed on the inside of the outer window - yes there are two seperated sets of windows to manage the cold.
Inside it is lovely - ordinary clothing for winter in Australia. Outside you try not to expose any skin for any length of time as it may tend to die! These days were a comparatively warm -12C, the next couple dropped to -32C and -36C with windchill added in. Now that is interesting to walk around in believe you me.
So far I have been OK with my down jacket and a couple of layers. Still wearing my Mambo shirts of course -can a leopard change it's spots?

Travelling with Children

It's official. I am going to start my own airline called Kids 4 Free. It will be a great hit with all families travelling with young children.
How can I do this? I hear you ask. Simple - the baggage allowance for adults will be reduced according to the weight of their children. Can you see where this is going?

The reduced baggage allowance is to allow for the children to be carried as 'checked in' luggage, that way the parents enjoy the flight uninterrupted and might even get a sleep on overnight flights! Brilliance in it's simplicity.
Savvy parents will immediately realise the twofold advantage of underfeeding their children prior to takeoff; 1. they have greater baggage allowance and 2. the children are so weak from lack of food that they will create less problems for baggage handlers when being loaded under the plane!
It's truly amazing what the brain can achieve when laying awake at 4am in the morning listening to your children suffering the same jet lag-timezone change issues.

...to this!

Yes. Here we are in Canada at last and look at the difference. Temperatures have been a very respectable (locals say barmy) 0-1C over the past 2 days of our new lives here. Having snow fights, when it is snowing is great fun. It snowed a lot today.

From this to...........?

Isn't it ironic how we only really notice and appreciate the things that we have when we lose them.
We haven't lost our beach and the warm weather just yet, but looking forward to the days ahead has made me appreciate what I have been taking for granted for the past few years.