Life in the great outdoors

We've had several beautiful days of sunshine and warm days. Ahh, thank you!

One of the interesting things about being in the park is watching the different campers come and go. When we first got here, there were a lot of retired people from the southern states. Most of them had fairly new campers of a similar style. Now we are seeing more families with campers like ours, some newer, some older. Recently, a huge, American-style 5th wheel was here. Two people were travelling with it. When we had that week of rain, we looked longingly at that rig, with it's 3 slide-outs, and imagined them comfy and cosy in there. But thinking about it now, it would be just like living in a little house. We never saw the people sitting outside of their place, the way people with the smaller campers do. I spend a lot of time either outside (we all do that)or in the annexe where I do our food prep and sometimes I even cook out there in the electric frypan. We have a stove and oven in the camper, but we haven't used them. If we need those things, we go to the camp kitchen which is a fun social event, and it doesn't stink up the camper. When I'm in the annexe, it feels like I'm outside (when all of the windows are rolled up), yet with the basic conveniences of inside. I like it a lot. When we choose our next camper, I want to remember how good it feels to live outside. I'd like something a little more secure, with an easier set-up (not that this is bad, it's just that the newer campers are quicker and easier to set up), and maybe a little bigger for the kids to have their individual space.

The American 5th wheel type campers and motorhomes are a rare sight on the roads here. Partially due to the cost to buy them, and the cost of fuel here and the roads here which are narrower and just not as good as in the US, despite very high taxes.

AJ has been spending a lot of time with the rainbow lorikeets. Now when we get up in the morning, they are often waiting outside our door. And they often come to visit during the day. We offered them wild bird seed but they were not interested in that. They like all kinds of bread and seemed to especially love a day-old peanut-butter & jelly sandwich. I don't know if that's the best kind of food for them, but it seems to be what they are used to from other visitors feeding them bread. We've also fed them apples which they like.

Yesterday afternoon some friends dropped by as they were riding home from school. Sami and AJ hadn't gone again. They hung out and fed the birds for a while then AJ, Nicholas and I got on our scooters (I borrowed Sami's) and we went with our friends to a local playground. Nicholas loves his scooter and he is fascinated with bikes so maybe he might be the first of my children to ride one. Sami and AJ have never been very interested in bikes, they've been content with their scooters. Yesterday Nicky carried his scooter up the slide at the playground and I had visions of this little 2 year old extreme sports star hurling down the slide like it was a ramp at a skate park. Once he got it to the top of the slide, he rode it on another little ramp at the top of the play equipment and then must have figured that riding it down the slide would have been a bit too steep for him at this point. He's a very determined litte guy though. Had to have that scooter up on the equipment.

We're going to have a lunar eclipse party tonight with some friends at a local beach. Cary and the kids researched what happens to the moon during that (the moon moves into earths shadow so there is no reflection of the sun on it to give it its brightness and it will go dark). Maybe I should pack the headlamps and flashlights.

I wonder what other adventures this day will bring?