Well we have been in our bus for 4 weeks now.
Still loving every minute of it.
Even though we have a few leaky spots when it rains, which require the careful placement of containers to collect the drips.
Even though we have to regulate when the tanks (toilet & grey water) need emptying or re filling.
There is still something so pure, comforting and tranquil about this way of life.
We have some people comment about the cold living in our bus, but I have lived in houses that are way worse than what we are living in now.
Our little heater, heats up the bus great.
Being at a motor camp means we can have the heater running all night if we like as we pay a set amount to be parked up and connected to their power source.
Our only dilema we had this week was our toilet waste tank got full.
We knew this because the toilet tank of fresh water ran out.
When we went to empty it, the pump was working but nothing was coming out.
With daylight savings here, hubby was trying to solve our toilet issue after work.
With daylight fastly fading, we decided to leave fixing it till the weekend.
Which meant that we now had to use the motor camp toilets.
As you can see by this photo, that building behind us is the toilets/ shower/ kitchen building.
So we don't have to go far.
But when the bladder demands to be emptied at some un godly hour and their is frost on the ground.
It can be a very un exciting, but desperately needed, walk to the toilet.
As for Miss Personality, she loves living here.
When she has had enough of the conversations with mum and dad, she goes off for a wander and chats with who ever she finds.
She has made a friends with the care takers son and his sister. She has made friends with Helen, one of the staff members of the motor camp.
This is her week:
Monday 26th May 2014
Got up early to take dad to work.
Stopped in to visit grandad.
Miss Personality made good use of the tv while we were there, as she has such a horrible life with out a tv, NOT!
Went to the local library
Miss Personality asked librarian for help to find where the reserved books are kept, so she knows where to find them in future.
Asked about reserving some books on minecraft, looms and dvd's on Horrible Histories.
Picked some books and dvd's and issued them using the self service computer and her library card.
We are just loving the library. Kids dvd's are free to get out and she can have them for 2 weeks.
The other dvd's are $2.50 each for 2 weeks.
So I got out: Scrapheap Challenge, Bear Gryills - New Zealand, The West Wing - Season 2, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman - Season 1, Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Rodrick Rules & Dog Days, Chronicles of Narnia - The Dawn Treader, Sooty and Sweep - The Big Surprise, Bindi The Jungle Girl.
We came home and Miss Personality made her lunch - yoghurt and apple.
Watched DVD - The Magic School Bus - Exploring Space. 2 Episodes, Out of this world - space junk, comets, meteors and asteroids. Get lost in space - Solar system.
Watched DVD - Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated - Danger in the Deep - 6 episodes.
Miss Personality then finished off her maths work sheets from the other day, to earn a pebble.
She dried and put away dishes to earn another pebble, and did 2 other worksheets where she has to find objects in the picture, to earn 2 more pebbles.
Using 5 pebbles she chose to watch DVD Tom & Jerry and The Wizard of Oz.
I had forgotten that she needs to use 5 pebbles to watch a DVD, so she got away with the first 2 DVD's :)
We then had to drive back into town as she had a her musical theatre lesson.
She absolutely loves this and looks forward to each lesson.
She gets to do singing, dancing and drama.
They are practicing for the production at the end of the year, that is based on the story of The Little Mermaid.
Tuesday 27th May 2014
Miss Personality read some books in bed.
They were DK readers.
2 were based on the Indiana Jones movies, which she has seen a couple of.
The other one was called Finding the Titanic and then she read some jokes from the National Geographic book called Just Joking.
She watched Dr Quinn Medicine Woman with me.
I really liked this show when it use to be on tv.
We have also watched first season of Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables.
We did lots of talking about how they use to live back then.
Because it is based on the story of a woman doctor, Miss Personality asked about medicine and how it has changed and when did it change. I said that is a good question and we will have to look for a book on it, next time we are at the library.
I dug out a suitcase full of her toys that she had forgotten about. I set it up on our bed and she happily played with them for an hour or so.
She chose to use 5 pebbles to play minecraft for 60min on the ipad.
Miss Personality then asked to paint her toes and fingernails with nail polish.
I find this activity is actually great for fine motor skills and hand/ eye co ordination.
She got given some countdown cards from grandma the other day. So she was putting them in order of their values on the back. They have different number values for strength, mischeif, bravery and memory.
She then put her montessori inspired beads in groups and add them up to see how much was in each group.
Wednesday 28th May 2014
Watched another episode of Dr Quinn Medicine Woman.
Talked about hypothermia.
Miss Personality read to me, a bit about it from a book, about to treat hypothermia. We had got from the library.
Bushcraft and Survival - In an emergency by Neil Champion.
We also talked about head injury and how it can affect you and cause you blindness.
Also about relationships of different people who lived back then, in that period of time.
Miss Personality helped me find the things we needed at the supermarket.
When we got back to the motor camp, Miss Personality decided to go off and see if she could find Helen, one of the staff members at the camp.
Then I spotted her later playing with the caretakers son and his big sister.
Thursday 29th May 2014
We had to go to Auckland from Tauranga as dad had to have a check up with a specialist and have a medical procedure done to scan / ultra sound his pancreas from the inside.
Miss Personality watched some DVD's on the drive down.
- Tom & Jerry and The Wizard of Oz
- Shaun the Sheep
- Barbie and The Pearl Princess
When battery ran out on portable dvd player, she then turned to playing games on dad's iphone and ipod.
While we were waiting for dad to come out from having the medical procedure done.
We played some games of hangman.
Miss Personality was using signs and labels on the walls in the waiting room to chose her words, that mum had to guess.
She also did some games in the magazines in the waiting room.
Didn't get home till after 10pm, long drive home.
Friday 30th May 2014
Miss Personality is doing a monkey using the loom bands. She is trying to do it from memory as she has done it a few times. When she had finished it didn't come out quiet like it was suppose to, so she pulled it all apart and said she would have another go later.
Watched DVD - The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
I asked her if she would like me to read her the next book in the series so that when the movie came out, we would know what it was about. She said ok. So I looked up on my phone what the next book was called and read to Miss Personality a bit of what it was about.
Watched DVD of Sooty & Sweep - The Big Surprise.
I remember watching this when I was a child.
I know my daughter loves slap stick comedy, so I knew she would enjoy it, and I was right.
She was giggling away a few times and we talked about how they were puppets and where the person who was operating them was hiding.
Miss Personality noticed on the cover of the dvd that it went for 100min. She calculated how many hours that was 100min = 1hr and 40min.
Watched DVD - Suzy's World.
This one was on Little Critters, like spiders, flies and how they stick to the wall/ ceiling, glow worms and what makes them glow and why. cicada's, sandfly and why they bite and how, weta. With each insect she also discussed their life cycle.
Miss Personality also got out her book Guinness World Records 2004. She wanted to find the rarest flower, it didn't have it in there.
She then asked me to read to her - the most poisonous fungi, most massive plant, largest prey consumed by a carnivorous plant, smelliest flower.
Watched DVD Scrapheap Challenge with the family.
The lovely Sue Elvis has started vlogging (I think that is what it is called).
She does a blog called Stories of an Unschooling Family.
I love reading her blog because she is so down to earth and just natural and someone you can really relate to.
Any way she did this short (8min) video called Does Unschooling Work?
http://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/2014/05/twice-five-minutes-on-friday-does.html
I found it reassuring, as I am sure all home schooling parents need a little every now and again.
I really connected with what she said about how after they turn 18 years old, or what ever age they decide to venture off into the world. That they are pretty much unschooling, learning from their own interests and from any mistakes they make along the way.
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