Crumpled Home

(while watching a documentary about India with LR)

RJ: I want to watch Dangerous Seas!

Mum: Just wait RJ. Be quiet for one minute and we’ll put it on for you.

RJ: But I don’t like this.

Dad: Mum’s right RJ. Just sit still for one minute.

RJ: (quiet for about 10 seconds) But it’s boring!

Mum: One minute. You just have to not say anything for one minute.

RJ: (quiet for about 15 seconds) It’s boring my eyeballs out!

RJ: (melodramatically raises his fists and bangs them against his head) Uhhhhgh.

Dad: RJ! Just sit quietly for one minite and we’ll switch. That’s the deal.

RJ: I’m leaving your deal on the table!

Mum: Just one minute. That’s all you have to wait.

RJ: (silence for 30 seconds) This is boring into my braaaaain! (dramatic gestures, hands in the air, head hanging forward)

Dad: Try again mate.

RJ: (silence for 45 seconds)

Mum & Dad: Well done! You did it!

RJ: Now can I watch Dangerous Seas?

Dad: Umm… how about something else instead? I can’t find that DVD.

(RJ and LR attempting to settle an argument over a toy)

RJ: Whoever… whoever can put up their thumb first, they… They get to have the pterodactyl!

LR: Okay!

RJ: Finger… finger… finger… finger… Oh no!  I HAVE NO THUMBS!

LR: RJ! You turned into a muppet! A MUPPET!

RJ: Help! My thumbs! Mup mup mup!

LR: Aiieieee! Muppet boy!

A few more pictures from our last trip to Gingin. Our friend E stopped by to visit and we had a great time playing in the shed and chasing the pinballs around the fields. The next day we had to prune the grape vines to get them ready for the next growing season. It should be a great crop this year!

RJ gives LR a lift on the block and tackle.

E, RJ and LR decided to bury a small finch, instead of feeding it to Mr. Bitey

Pinball wizards!

Playing fetch with the kids. Sticks don't work, but giant pinballs do!

Look out Poppa! Floating pinballs are dangerous!

Poppa had a bat take residence in his computer.

Mum gets to work on one of the more pathetic grape vines.

LR gets the low branches; Grammy gets the high ones.

RJ helps chop the weeds... unless it's one that he thinks is cute.

Scarlet helps by sniffing everything.

LR harvests the olives, lemons and rose hips.

These olives need to be pickled before we can eat them.

LR carried the bucket everywhere. Strong kid!

RJ: (singing) Old MacDonald had a farm. Eee eye eee eye oh!

And on that farm he had a cow. Eee eye eee eye oh!

With a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there. Here a moo, there a moo everywhere a moo-moo.

Old MacDonald had a farm, Eee eye eee eye oh!

RJ: And after that he ate the pig and the sheep and the duck too!

Run fellas! Old Mac-D is on the way!

(Dictated by LR on the way to school)

Dear Ms. Frizzle,

We are sorry to tell you this but we had to take away the magic school bus. You can have it back now but there is no magic left in it. The parents didn’t like all the magic things that you were doing, and they don’t believe in magic, so now it is gone.

We are very sorry.

LR (for school administration)

RJ: Let’s be explorers!

Dad: Yeah! We can go and discover new lands.

RJ: We have to protect the children.

Dad: Um… Okay. Let’s go!

RJ: We have to be sneaky and watch out for the weasel. It will eat us!

Dad: That dastardly weasel! Let’s hide behind these reeds.

RJ: No! Let’s hide under this mushroom.

Dad: (attempting to hide behind mushroom) Okay.

RJ: Oh no! Two weasels!

One weasel is bad enough...

On the weekend, we stopped at a chalk outcropping near Gingin to hunt for fossils. Our main goal was to find some shark teeth, but we weren’t successful. We did find a large assortment of crinoid bits, sea urchin spines, pieces of giant clams, and rhizoliths.

We headed across the fields to the chalk outcropping.

"Wait for me!" The thick mud in the field slowed RJ down a bit.

"Where'd they go?" RJ got to the top and had to search for the other members of our expedition.

LR was already hard at work digging out crinoid stems down in the abandonded quarry.

RJ was desperate to find some shark teeth. "The hammer goes BOOM!"

At one point, RJ found slugs everywhere.

"Can we keep them? They're cute."

Stomp! Squish! Stomp! Squish! Stomp! Squish!

With a bucket full of fossils and some very muddy boots, it was time to head home.

Some recent artwork by LR. The first was for a school assignment about fairy tales.

The second was for a science competition that she wanted to enter. The small text captions in the image are science facts that she came up with to describe the things in her picture. You can find out more about the artist who’s part of the Helix competition here.

"I like the ending. She has a boy and a girl but the prince has not found her yet."

... Most of the universe is empty space ...

(at a birthday party, where RJ is attempting to drink juice and blow bubbles at the same time)

Mum: RJ, can I hold your juice box?

RJ: No. I’ll do a better job, I think.

(later, at home)

RJ: Know what this bubble stuff is made from?

Dad: No. What’s it made from?

RJ: Teeth.

(RJ wanders off singing the bubble-teeth song.)

The latest on the Kraken, courtesy of RJ and his “Kraken Joke Book”.

Q: Why did the Kraken cross the ocean?

A: To go and eat a pot.

Q: Why did the Kraken have big teeth?

A: Because he was a carnivore.

Q: Why did the Kraken smash the ship?

A: Because he was the Master of the Ocean.

Q: Why did the Kraken jump over the moon?

A: Because he wanted to eat a cow!

Just another day in the life of a giant, destructive sea creature.