9 August 2008

Oh how I remember the days of getting up after 9.00am on Saturday only to make coffee and toast to take back to bed. Thanks to Daisy the cat who prowls round the house howling at odd hours, the boys woke up at 4.45am this morning. Of course I screeched at them that it was the middle of the night and to go back to sleep but I knew it was a lost cause when they stampeded into our room and switched on all the lights. Daisy's nocturnal activities are down to the fact that cats are not allowed outside between 6.00pm and 6.00am here. As ridiculous as this sounds the reason for their curfew is because birdlife is protected on the Gold Coast and under cover of darkness is when cats like to go hunting. Hence Daisy takes her frustration at having to be home by 6 out on us. Sleep deprivation aside we had a pretty exciting week with a visit from cousin Alison whom I had never met. Alison is 25 and having a blast tripping around Australia on her big O.E. A complete chatterbox it was lovely to spend time with her. She only had a day here and she decided she wanted to do something really cool so that the boys associated the name Alison with fun. She shouted us to Dreamworld. Josh, Alison and I went on the log flume ride and I just had to buy the photo even though it is all a money making gimmick. Paul reckons he never knew my mouth was so big - I was screaming that loud. Poor Danny was too small to go on so Paul consoled him by taking him for a ride on the miniature train. We dropped Alison at Coolangatta Airport later that afternoon with promises to try and meet up again before she heads back to the UK. Friday morning is playgroup. Daniel was in disgrace after putting on a shocker of a toy snatching performance. Not content with having upset three quarters of the play group he proceeded to do more of the same over at the park. We had to leave before a local mother's group lynched us. He was worn out after all the fun at Dreamworld the day before, that's my excuse for his behaviour and I am sticking to it. With his 5.45am start this morning I have a feeling we should stick pretty close to the Vernal Family base camp today.