Now it is cool

The weather has finally sorted itself out and it has been reasonably cool for the past couple days - good thing, since it was making us all a little crazy. Over two weeks with temperatures around 40C -- too hot! Charlotte often cooled off by climbing under her table and resting her head on the chilly tiled floor.

A lot of people have been contacting us asking about the fires in Victoria - it is being called Australia's worst natural disaster ever. Luckily, we're about 900 km away from the area the fires are in, so we're not really affected by it, other than that our hearts go out to those who have lost so much. Now the government has announced that they believe the fires were started by arsonists, which is so, so sad and disappointing.

Things have been relatively quiet lately as Charlotte is sick (yes, again). She's had a tummy bug for almost a week and it has really taken the wind out of her sails. She sleeps a lot, and when she's awake she's whiney and uncomfortable. Poor little thing. We thought she was on the mend, but then yesterday and today she's had a fever, so who knows what's going on in that wee little body. We had to skip Montessori today, and we missed our first swimming class on Monday. Hoping to be able to take her to Kindergym tomorrow, but we'll see.

I joined a gym just down the beach from our place. I've been going from 6-7 in the morning with our Canadian neighbor, Melissa. I really like the concept that they have going at this particular gym - the trainers who work there provide a new workout everyday, and the idea is that members follow the work out that is posted on a whiteboard. You do it at your own pace, and it ensures you work your entire body and exercises are rarely repeated day-to-day. It's especially good for someone like me who can easily get in to a rut at the gym when left to my own devices. There is so much variety in the workouts I've done so far that I think I'll find it hard, if not impossible, to get in to a rut! It works out for both Neale and I, because as soon as I get home from the gym in the morning, he gets up and goes for a run - we both have our workouts in before Charlotte even wakes up!

We're thinking of going away this weekend - leaving on Saturday after Neale's baseball game and driving north to either Port Augusta or the Yorke Peninsula. Either way, we'll spend the night somewhere and head back to Adelaide on Sunday afternoon. Now that the weather has cooled off, these kinds of trips are much more appealing. Will post more about our weekend once it's come and gone. Happy Valentine's Day!

Neale and Charlotte colouring at her new table. She like to have company when sitting at her table, so for those of you coming to visit, be prepared . . .

Click on this photo to enlarge it, and if you squint and use your imagination, you can see the dorsal fin of a dolphin just to the right of the pole out in the water. They are much easier to see in person, I promise.