Time to move on...and a BIG holiday

So the 20ft container has departed with all our worldly belongings. The stresses of working, packing, finances, job searching and hospital visits are behind us and off we go.

The whole family has really loved Melbourne. It has a vibrancy, relaxed friendly attitude, eating and coffee scene par excellence, healthy outdoor lifestyle and a climate we love. Beautiful for families in so many ways. It is not a surprise that it has a reputation as one of the best places in the world to live.

But Northern Ireland is calling us home. It is a great wee country too and we are looking forward to a whole new chapter.

But first....

Time for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand (south then north), Cambodia and Vietnam. For the next 6 weeks leukaemia blog has changed to a much happier SE Asia travel with kids blog. Should be fun.

First stop. Legoland Malaysia. Initial impressions...entertaining the children will NOT be a problem here.

Let the fun begin!

Countdown is on....

So only 3 weeks to go and the To Do list is still growing. Who knew how time consuming and tedious selling things on Ebay could be!

Andy has been working in Perth for the past few weeks so we have been trialing him working away on weekdays and so far it has been OK although he gets a bit upset that the children aren't missing him more! This will be the most likely scenario when we return to Coleraine as it is very likely that Andy will be working in Dublin.
We managed to fit in a lovely weekend away where we met Andy's cousin Louise and family. The weather was perfect as you can see (although not as hot as it is here right now - 35 degrees!) and Mabel spent the week after our return constantly saying that she missed Lilly.

Last week Celia had her monthly check up and all results were fine which surprised me as she frequently complaints of having a sore head, tummy, sides and still cannot sleep. She is however, happier at school these days (she has made a best friend at last) which at first was a relief but now I'm worried that leaving Maddy behind will lead to more upset and just tonight she started saying that she didn't want to leave.      
The hospital visit also involved more injections and once again Celia was hysterical and the nurse asked if she had seen a psychologist.
We have also noticed a few other behavioural issues (for example she refuses to tie her hair up even when it was stipulated by the school for the school play and swimming etc) She has a complete meltdown about it and when we eventually got her to opened up she said it was because it made her look like when she had no hair. Physical treatment may be over but the psychological effects still definitely linger.

So next on the calendar is a Northern Ireland football match in Helsinki for Andy (!!), a birthday party for Mabel crossed with a leaving / give stuff away barbecue with our Aussie friends, Andy's work leaving party and my girl's leaving do - I hope it is not all too emotionally draining!