After moving to Perth I took most of my photos on my iPhone. Here are a few things that happened in the weeks of arriving back in Perth.
We arrived in Perth on Saturday the 30th of September and stayed in Mandurah for the second week of the holidays. It was really nice to take a breather after the crazy weeks we'd had of packing, sorting and organising our house to move. Here are the kids at a cool new park near Mandurah.
It has a farm theme
Going for walks in Mandurah
There was lots of driving from Mandurah to Perth and back again and this was a common occurrence..
Georgia and the kids came to stay with us for a couple of days in Mandurah. Zara didn't want to say goodbye to Georgia so she fell asleep on her!
We visited our old Karratha neighbour, Claire at King Edward Hospital, she'd just had her second baby, Logan. He was very cute! We all love Claire and the whole Murray family, we miss them too!
In Perth we met up with my cousin Sophie and Aunty Yolanda, who were visiting from Melbourne. We went to a restaurant in Hillarys and they had an awesome balloon man going from table to table.
We had to visit St. Stephens School the week before school started to buy school uniforms and have a look around the campus. Harrison met his teacher Miss Brookes and instantly felt better about changing schools after meeting her. She was incredibly welcoming and kind and really made Harry excited about his new class. The girls also liked their teachers in the ELC buildings.
We then moved into an AirBNB next to Warwick Chapel and owned by the Grinceri's (Lisa's inlaws). It had worked out well that we could use their house for the whole of term four and be next door to Duncraig Ward too! Clinton's work paid for the AirBNB and to store our furniture, which also really helped us out.
Here are the kids on their first day at St Stephen's School. Harrison is in his sports uniform as it was a sports day for him. The girls uniform is a little less formal than the upper primary. Zara couldn't resist getting in the photo too! Clinton took the day off on their first day which was a huge help to me! Harrison is at a different campus to the girls and I was nervous about getting everyone to the right place on time. Clint also helped unpack our few things that we had sent to us at the Warwick house. All the kids did really well, I had to leave Harrison outside his classroom with no one to guide him as I needed to rush off to the girls campus. He was really brave and had a happy first day.
Alissa did well and didn't cry when I left her at Kindergarten. Sienna looked like she might cry but didn't and let me go without a fuss. I was shocked by how welcoming all the parents were! I had such a large amount of parents introduce themselves to me that I knew I wouldn't remember any of their names! They were all really kind and I could see the sense of community the school has.
We picked up the kids and took them to Krispy Kreme Donuts for a treat for starting a new school.
Krispy Kreme was all set up for halloween and had special halloween donuts too.
This is a photo of Harrison's proper school uniform.
The Lekias family invited us for dinner early on when we arrived in Perth. It felt like being with a little piece of our Karratha family. The kids were really excited to see each other again. It was a delicious roast dinner and they made us a special cake saying 'welcome back Snows' I took pictures of the cake and for some reason I can't find them on my phone!
The Kemp family and the Liddcoat family had us for dinner on the same weekend too. We felt really welcomed and cared for...it helped with how much we were missing our Karratha friends.
The kids in our king sized bed (we'd never had one before and decided when we buy a new bed it will be a king!)
Kent Baker gave us these magnet photos of Karratha to remind us of our time there...they went straight on the fridge!
Sienna in a new outfit from Pavement. I have to say that shopping in big centres again was a novelty to me and I still appreciate it after living in a small town for so long.
Lissy wanted a photo too!
Lissy all ready for bed with a take home teddy from school.
Clinton's photo in the latest Woodside magazine
Our temporary house was located right in front of Warwick Train Station. This was super handy for Clinton to get to work and handy for an outing to the city with the kids. The kids were just a teeny bit excited about going on a train!!! (Country kids).
Alissa went bananas with excitement and started hugging poles.
On a train!
We visited the new Elizabeth Quay and the kids went on the carousel.
Zara's first carousel ride
We then took the kids to a "living" dinosaur exhibition at the convention centre. There were moving dinosaurs, artefacts and crafts for them to do.
Making dinosaur hats
"but I don't look anything like a dinosaur!"
Then a yummy lunch at 'Jamie's Italian'
My baked spinach and ricotta cannelloni
Yummy!
Then we ended the trip with a stop at Mop Donuts
They were yum! I was feeling pretty good about our move to Perth by the end of that day!
Harrison and I on the train
We loved meeting Jarom and Monique's new baby Eden. She is such a little darling!! It's great living close by and seeing them regularly again.
I took the older three kids to 'Boo at the Zoo' a halloween party at Perth Zoo.
We met Kate and Monique and Jarom there, Kate brought along River too.
Alissa and Ava
Watching a crocodile
There were different stops to collect lollies
Alissa at the 'Vet Station' at Boo at the Zoo.
Bandaging a leg
The kids got free ice creams and face painting in the 'Candyland' section
Then it started to rain! Alissa taking shelter in my pram. Luckily the rain never got too heavy and we were able to still enjoy the event.
Sienna getting face paint
It was a fun night out that finished with a disco.
Zara started daycare one day a week at a centre Kate recommended. It's been really good for her and me!! I've never done daycare before and now I wonder why it took me so long? Zara was dressed up for halloween.
We didn't go trick or treating this year because we went to Boo at the Zoo. The kids dressed up on halloween anyway to give out lollies to trick or treaters. Sen and Lissy set up a table at the front of the house to catch as many as they could!
Harrison noticed a lump near his groin and thought it might have been from his bike accident earlier that year. Clint looked at it and immediately identified it as an inguinal hernia. Clinton and his brother Trent both had hernias around Harrison's age. We got Harrison into a specialist and then into day surgery within a couple of weeks. Clinton took the day off and was the one to take Harry into surgery. I was grateful because none of my children have had surgery before and I think I would have panicked. He was in and out in 20 minutes and did a great job. They asked that he wear button down pj's or a buttoned shirt for the surgery - thats why he looks a bit dressed up. Harrison was really brave and recovered quickly. He was happy to have a week off school too! His favourite part of the surgery was being wheeled out in a wheelchair at the end!
A package Aunty sent as a get well gift for Harrison, it really cheered him up!
Clinton and I took Harrison and Sienna to a Harry Potter concert. It's the movie with a live symphony orchestra playing the score. We all had a great time!
Harrison finished the whole Book of Mormon for the second time in November. We are really proud of his dedication and love of the scriptures at such a young age.
A cute photo of Lissy Lou in our new Kia Carnival. It's been a great car for lots of kids!!
As you can see, moving to Perth didn't slow us down much. We were as busy as ever. There were lots of family dinners in there too and catch ups with friends and family.
