Crumpled Home

(Moments after jumping out of the shower, a bare RJ starts dancing around crazily, with a huge white towel hanging out of his mouth down to the floor. He is making bizarre wheezing noises as he leaps about and drops of water are flying everywhere.)

RJ: (muffled) Hey guys! (dance, dance, wheeze, wheeze) Guess who I am!?

Dad: (shielding himself from the water flying everywhere) Uhhh…

RJ: (wiggle, leap, wheeze, wheeze) Guess!

Dad: Umm… RJ, I have honestly no idea.

RJ: (wheeze, rasp) I’m an old water spirit! Do you like my beard?

(RJ and Dad have just returned from an after-school teeball game…)

RJ: (excited) I know what I’m wearing to the school disco tonight! It has to be something tropical. I have my blue Hawaiian shirt and my flower shorts. They’ll be perfect! I’ll probably wear my beret too… What are you going to wear?

Dad: Me? Just normal clothes — nothing special.

RJ: (thoughtfully) Hmmm… You probably have something tropical you could wear.

Dad: Yeah, but it’s a kids’ disco. I don’t need to dress up.

RJ: But don’t you have a blue Hawaiian shirt? You should definitely wear that; it looks good.

Dad: Umm… Okay, I guess.

(Dad grabs his blue Hawaiian shirt and puts it on).

RJ: And probably some shorts, too. It’s too hot out there for pants.

Dad: True…

(While Dad changes into a pair of shorts, RJ disappears into another room.)

RJ: (runs back in, breathless) Hey Dad! I found your hat! You should definitely wear this one!

Dad: (puts hat on) Okay! Okay! Can we go now?

RJ: Yeah! Let’s go!

Somehow RJ and Dad ended up dressing very similarly...

(Later that night, RJ was infuriated when he heard Dad say, “RJ said we had to dress the same”. He insists that it wasn’t true and that he just made some suggestions so that Dad would look good.)

LR is in the kitchen helping Dad get dinner ready. Music is playing and things are relatively calm. All of a sudden, RJ goes zooming past, dancing like a crazy guy.

Dad: LR! What is he doing?

LR: I don’t know… I think it’s… musical statues?

The music stops and RJ freezes.

RJ: Yeah! I’m controlling the music and I’m playing musical statues… Against MYSELF!

The music starts again and RJ resumes whirling.

Dad: What a cool idea! Who’s winning?

RJ: I AM!!!

LR: (with a grin) Yeah? But who’s losing?

The music stops, bringing RJ to a halt.

RJ: (sadly) That’s me. I’m losing…

RJ: (devious grin) … But I think I have discovered a trick!

The music resumes and away he goes.

(while eating breakfast)

Dad: RJ. We’ve got a problem. We’re not drinking enough milk. We’re never going to get through all this.

RJ: I have an idea! Let’s get all the bottles out and dress them up and then put on some music and have a milky conga line! They can dance along, it’ll be great!

Dad: Yeah! And we can dance them all out of the house and down the street and all our neighbours can have their milk join in too!

RJ: …

RJ: …

RJ: …

RJ: Don’t be silly, Dad.

Dad: Sorry, mate. I got a bit carried away.

RJ: That’s okay. It’s cold today, right?

Dad: Yeah. Very wintery. They said it might hail.

RJ: Good, because today I’m going to wear TWO hoodies AND my wooly hat.

It's the dreaded double hoodie!

While we were away for half of July (pictures coming soon, promise!), we were just as busy through the rest of it. American Independence Day rolled around and we invited the family over for hamburgers and sparklers. Dad got to stand outside and grill the burgers in the cold, rainy winter weather and ponder how to get some ‘real’ fireworks into the country. There was a disco for the end of the term at school — apparently costumes were NOT optional. Finally, Dad and RJ rocked out at the AC-DC exhibition at the WA Museum.

Grammy gets some sparklers lit while RJ... Hang on a minute! HEY RJ! STOP TRYING TO SET THE LAWN ON FIRE!

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LR is searching for the most fun songs of all time.

While not as obsessive about her music choices as her brother, LR definitely knows what she likes and doesn’t like.

This week, she reviewed her list of Abba tracks, many of them favorites, and selected the best: Dancing Queen.

She loves its fun and happiness, as well as its ability to make a room full of girls instantly just get up and dance.

Read on to find out about our exciting adventures with dangerous oversized animals at the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple at Lake Beratan. We get drenched by a massive tropical thunderstorm, and are amused/delighted/revolted by some hot beverages. Finally we end up having a meal at a great little place on the coast.

Mom leads the kids off to the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple!

Found it!

But it's guarded by lions... hungry lions... Careful M!

Look out, LR!

We'll ride the magic giant fish off to safety!

The sign said, "Beware of Giant Eagles", but did they listen? Oh nooooooo.... "No giant eagles around here," they said. Here's your freaken giant eagle, buddy.

"Spin us, Uncle Paul! As fast as you can!!!" ... The kids learned a valuable lesson that day.

Mom and P take M and RJ on a WILD ride on the swing.

On the way back down the mountain, we ran into our first tropical thunderstorm.

Rice paddies and farms on the side of the mountain.

On the way back to the villa, we stopped by this nice little coffee shack and tried their various coffees and teas, as well as the infamous, "Poo Coffee."

Poppa is awfully suspicious. In the background, you can see a big poster describing the process of feeding coffee berries to the lewaks, collecting their valuable coffee-bean-caffinated turds, and the washing that takes place before roasting and grinding the beans. They did mention washing the beans, didn't they? Lots and lots of washing?

No RJ! Don't eat that bit!!! Ha ha... Actually, the hot chocolate made from their own cocao beans was really fantastic.

Mom refused to try the crappy coffee, but did give the lemon tea a go... and it was actually great stuff. The kids loved it too.

After a long day, we went to the Potato Head Club to relax and have a great dinner. The place was extravagant, decadent and completely over the top... and we loved it. Aunty Bron, Uncle Troy and Poppa enjoy a drink while trying to get Shazam working on their phones.

Aunty Carrie, Grammy and Uncle Paul sit down for a cup of tea... Hang on a second, that's not tea in that pot!

Mom watched whle the kids had a brilliant time swimming and jumping around in the pool.

We even enjoyed a tiny, 2 minute sunset. There was so much cloud that the sky didn't really light up.

The kids kept swimming and playing into the night while our dinner was prepared.

Sophie checks out the menu... Yep, just about everything on there looks delicious.

Uncle Paul waits for Auntie Carrie at the bar... The place felt like a scene from a movie.

After dinner, LR and the other kids danced on the grass to the loud, thumping music, while Dad cheered them on.

PA. prepares to launch her sky-shooting glowie -- a tiny light on a pair of wings.

It’s been a while since we posted a bunch of photos, so here’s a quick wrap-up for February!

LR lost another two teeth this month, and the kids did some home experiments with dry ice. RJ discovered a fascination for disguises and interesting clothes. Mum sang her heart out at a South Pacific concert and we had a couple of trips to the beach to have fish and chips for dinner. Mum and Dad even got dressed up for a party, and at the end of the month, it was the kids turn with an evening picnic and disco down at the school.

One of the last pictures of LR with all her upper teeth... One of her front incisors came out the next day!

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(while eating lunch)

(RJ sits silently, unmoving, while his eyes roll around madly.)

Dad: Hey, what are you doing?

(His eyes dart left, then right, then left again.)

Dad: RJ? Are you okay?

(His eyes continue to crazily flick around the room, glancing up, down, and doing loops. He is otherwise motionless.)

Dad: RJ! What is going on?!!!

RJ: It’s the music. My eyeballs love this music! They’re dancing!

(in the car)

RJ: I’ve got your drink, Dad, but I’ve closed the lid super tight.

Dad: That’s okay. I’m pretty strong. I’m sure I’ll get it open.

RJ: No. I don’t think so. It’s so tight that only the strongest man in the world can open it… and that’s not you.

Dad: So what can I do if I get thirsty?

RJ: Well… There is one way. I’ll tell you. You need the ‘Key to the Mists’.

Dad: Whoah. Where am I going to find that?

RJ: It’s protected at the end of a tunnel and the only way to get the key is to win a dance competition. You need to use your best moves…

RJ: Sorry Dad. You’ll never win.