Not all sunshine and rainbows...

"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."

- Alexander Pope

     I know I haven't posted in a while and that is because, well I'm not doing anything super exciting.  I give moms of toddlers and babies so much credit!  It is really, really difficult to stay at home all day and try to entertain kids that cannot entertain themselves and need to be constantly watched.  I try to get away from the house at least in the morning and do some activity with the kids but the activities are really limited as it is 100 degrees Fahrenheit before 10:00 AM most mornings.  That's all to say that I am struggling a bit.  I've made a few friends and that has helped, we try to have play dates just to have another adult around.  I also didn't realize how hard it would be to live in someone else's home again.  I have lived on my own for 10 years now (wow I'm getting old!).  Its really hard having your schedule dictated by other people, asking permission to use a vehicle, and not being able to eat or cook whatever you want to.  

 I know it seems to be ridiculous to complain as I'm currently living in a foreign country but even in a fantastic location you can still be let down with what you expected and what the reality is.  I have 107 days left and I am going to try find joy in those days.  And on days where both kids don't nap and I am ready to lose it, I will once again look at my countdown and then at the spreadsheet I have already created for my trip once I'm done here. 

 Because its so hot here and I live in a very small town, really the only thing to do on the weekends is go to the beach and there are some beautiful beaches!

Last weekend I went with a group of au pairs to the beach and it was fantastic until we saw something very large swimming around us.  It could have just been a fish but it also could have been a shark or a stingray, so we exited the water quickly. 

 This area is a huge source of natural resources.  There is an iron ore mine, gas plant, salt mine, and fertilizer plant.  One of the towns nearby used to be a closed town.  Only people who worked in one of the mines were able to live there.  Now anyone can live there but there is a train and a mine truck at the entrance of the town to remind people of its history.

We had a lot of fun trying to climb up on the huge tires!

I also went to visit a ghost town called Cossack.  The town was started in 1863 and quickly became important for the pearling industry.  The town started declining in the early 1900's, when the pearling industry moved to Broome and the harbor wasn't deep enough for the bigger ships.  The town was completely abandoned in the 1940's.  Today there are a few stone buildings left. The picture below on the left is the school building. 

The building on the left is the former customs house and bonds store and on the right is the former courthouse. 

 Its amazing the even in the middle of nowhere, there is still a market for food trucks.  This food truck serves kebabs, paninis, German sausages, crepes, hamburgers, and ribs.  I'm scared to try food from there.

I have also joined a kickboxing class.  Exercising in this heat is super intense!

So that's basically what I've been up to for the past month and probably what I will be up to for the next three.  I have mini breaks though in that time as both sets of grandparents are coming to visit, so I also have countdowns to those.  If this post seems super sad, its really not that bad.  I have just realized that I am ready to be done with this nomadic lifestyle.  I am very excited to get home, get my own apartment, and move onto the next chapter of my life.