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Nuts about religion

Luke — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:07:05 +0000

(while eating dinner)

RJ: Can I have some more lamb, please?

Mom: Eat some salad first. You haven’t even eaten any pine nuts, and you love those.

RJ: I can’t eat that!

Mom: Why not?

RJ: Because that pine nut is the God of Victory! I’m still praying to him.

Mom: Well you’re not getting anything else to eat until you eat those.

LR: Don’t worry about that one, RJ, there’s about twenty more gods on your plate right there… I’ve eaten all the gods on my plate, and they were great!

Dad: So what have your gods done for you lately, RJ?

RJ: Well… They helped me at the beach today?

Dad: Really? How?

RJ: I didn’t get eaten by a shark! They kept all the sharks away.

Dad: Good point. I guess they kept all the thunderstorms and earthquakes away too.

RJ: (Bows head and prays to the pine nut). Yep. They’re powerful and delicious. (chomp)

December 2011, Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:07:47 +0000

With a huge overseas vacation looming, the first half of December was filled with the last days of the school year, some early Christmas celebrations… and a lot of silly hats.

December means the Advent calendar gets brought out. We like to pretend the kids appreciate the tradition and fun puzzles and clues that we leave in there for them...

It's RJ's job to read the clues this year. LR was surprisingly patient.

Oh no! The end-of-year music "party" turns out to be an impromptu concert and no one will volunteer to go first. RJ steps up and breaks the ice with a few of his favorites.

Three songs later, RJ has the room in stitches, finishing his performance with a flourish in classic RJ style.

LR volunteers to play a few of her favorite songs too. Beethoven FTW!

LR won one of the three coveted prizes for the students who improved the most during the year. Well done, LR! You deserve it!

The last game of the year (but not the season). RJ's teeball skills (and patience with fielding) are improving with every game.

Everyone works together building the gingerbread house. For some reason, only about half the materials make it into the construction -- there must be some dodgy contractors on the worksite.

Nice work guys! The finished gingerbread house looks terrific!

Because we went away for Christmas, we had an early Christmas dinner at Grammy and Poppa's.

LR takes the time to read the cards before tearing into the presents.

Thanks Grammy!

Careful there Auntie Jess. It's not safe to get between RJ and his Hero Factory legos. Just carefully put it back on the table and you'll be okay.

Parental win: the kids actually remembered their manners without prompting this year! Now if only we could get them to stop picking their noses.

Christmas dinner. A time for family, a huge feast, and the opportunity to wear ridiculous things on your head...

RJ got first pick of the hats and picked out the crustacean for himself and a spicy little number for Grandma Dot.

LR picks out her favorite, complete with spring-loaded pom-pom action -- essential for tormenting younger brothers.

Everyone helps out during the final rush to the kitchen, delivering the food to the table.

Crumbly destruction and delicious, sugary mahem ensue as the gingerbread house is attacked!

An important lesson learned... Never, EVER let the kids pick the hat for you or you will end up looking silly.

Make your own cheese? No whey!

Luke — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:07:50 +0000

(while eating dinner)

Mom: So RJ, what was your most favorite thing that you did today?

RJ: Well… I made some cheese! I took some flowers and some water and a bunch of string and mixed it all up in a cheesy way.

Dad: Whoah! What kind of crazy cheese is that?

LR: I know! String cheese!

It’s hard to be sad when it tastes so good

Luke — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:07:15 +0000

(a discussion over dinner)

LR: When I die, I don’t think I want to be burned up.

Mom: At that point though, it doesn’t matter. You can’t feel anything, because you’re not alive. The body isn’t you any more.

LR: What about you, Mom? What do you want?

Mom: I think I want to be cremated, and then you can take my ashes and spread them somewhere that I love where you can go to remember me.

RJ: I know where that is! Koko Black!

(Koko Black is a high-end chocolatier that recently opened a “salon” in Perth… Apparently, luxury chocolatiers don’t have shops or stores…)

We love our teachers

Luke — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:07:18 +0000

LR stirs the sauce and takes a look to make sure it's simmering nicely.

A couple of weeks ago, LR’s teacher gave the class an assignment. Cook some food and document the procedure, including ingredients and all the steps required to make it. LR took this on board, and then (in her usual manner) decided to kick it up a notch — she’d invite her teacher over for dinner to eat it with us!

After considering her options (and rejecting her favorite food, lasagna, for being too easy), she settled on home-made ravioli with puttanesca sauce, from scratch. Preparations began several days ago, with the sauce prepared in advance and the ravioli made the day before.

RJ got caught up in the excitement and decided he needed to invite his teacher along too. He took care of the desert, a delicious berry and rhubarb crumble.

Their teachers came over and were just fantastic. The kids were jumping out of their skins the whole time; a pair of whirling dervishes flying through the house showing them every part of their life at home: the collections of bones and dead things, art projects, gymnastics demonstrations on the couch and their home made movies. The teachers played along and the meal was excellent.

What a great time! Fantastic job kids!

LR tests the sauce... Her verdict, "DELICIOUS!!!"

LR mixes up the fresh spinach and ricotta filling for the ravioli.

After preparing the dough and letting it sit for a couple of minutes, it's time to roll it out into sheets.

LR lays out the ravioli filling and prepares to put them together.

It’s the other, other white meat…

Luke — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:07:25 +0000

(while cooking dinner at Rottnest)

RJ: (grabs a piece of uncooked spaghetti) Hey Dad. (crunch, crunch) What does this sound like? (crunch, crunch, crunch)

Dad: I dunno… Crunching?

RJ: Yes, but crunching what?

Dad: Umm… Crunching sticks? Bones?

RJ: Good… gooooood…

RJ: (grabs nearly-empty packet of uncooked spaghetti) Can I have these bits of pasta?

Dad: Sure thing. What for?

RJ: A secret project…

(5 minutes later while carrying dinner to a friend’s at Rottnest, RJ runs off into a dark alleyway.)

Dad: RJ! Come back!

RJ: (Silence…)

Dad: RJ! This stuff is hot and heavy and I don’t want to drop it. I need you to come back RIGHT NOW.

RJ: (Distant crunching noises… then a sudden explosion of rustling and snapping leaves and twigs) YEAH HAAAHAAHAA! IT WORKS!

RJ: (Excitedly runs around the corner) It works! It works!!!

Dad: What? What works?

RJ: The quokkas are terrified of me! Especially when I run up and make bone crunching noises at them!

RJ: (Triumphant) They think I’m a predator!

Our Bali Adventure 2011, Part 1: Just like paradise

Luke — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 03:07:22 +0000

In April of 2011, we embarked on a terrific adventure to the island of Bali, in Indonesia. It is actually closer to Perth than the other capital cities within Australia, so it’s a popular holiday destination for Western Australians… which is one of the reasons we’ve been hesitant to go.

After a tiny 3 hour flight, we met Poppa, Grammy, the cousins (P. and M., Auntie Bron and Uncle Troy), our aunt and uncle from the US (Carrie and Paul), and finally, our second cousin Sophie and spent a week there staying at an incredible, luxurious villa (Puri Angsa, in Canggu, Bali) together.

It really was like staying in paradise, with each family having their own cottage or series of rooms, most of them directly overlooking the pool. The villa even had their own pet monkeys, which conveniently avoided any potential ‘Enchanted Monkey Forest‘ disasters that we had worried about.

We arrived at our gate with plenty of time to spare and some amazing colours in the sky.

Once we had arrived, the first thing to do was to explore the villa! Off you go guys!

A diving platform over the pool??? Not yet kids! You still have your clothes on! We knew this was going to see a LOT of use.

The kids discovered lots of great places to hide and hang out together.

RJ made friends with all the local wildlife. Uncle Paul even taught him how to catch toads, and how to avoid getting peed on when you pick them up!

Coco was a small, very friendly monkey with a surprisingly happy grin. He loved it when we brought him young bamboo shoots to eat.

This male monkey had surprisingly long arms, perfect for grabbing onto the pony tails of little girls!

Oh Coco, what have they trained you to do? You poor (creepy), furry (creepy), little (creepy) person (creepy).

Safe under his mosquito net, RJ enjoys some early-morning entertainment before Mom and Dad wake up.

Somehow, we ended up at a villa with high-speed internet connectivity. Poppa, did you have something to do with that?

Each morning, we all got up and enjoyed coffee and conversation while we waited for our breakfast to be cooked. We were so incredibly spoiled -- it was wonderful!

Auntie Bron helps get Auntie Carrie's hair up. Carrie! Stop moving around!

The ladies at the villa took such amazing care of us. Every morning they laid out a fantastic spread of food with many of the ingredients bought fresh from the markets that morning.

Most of our meals at the villa were Balinese/Indonesian/South-East Asian recipes with lots of spices and bright, fresh flavours.

Grammy puts her feet up and enjoys a book for a few minutes, before we all head out for the day.

The tropical atmosphere suited Mom just fine... aside from the threat of mosquito and water borne diseases, that is.

Uncle Paul shows off some of his latest lets-feed-the-crazy-monkey pictures.

M. shows RJ how to cut the rope and win the game.

Sophie sits back and relaxes, being very good natured about the incessant click-click-clicking from her cousin with a camera.

Time for lunch! Auntie Carrie and Uncle Paul had problems with their flights from the US, so they weren't around for the first couple of days.

Auntie Bron and Uncle Troy chillaxxing by the pool with some awesome drinks made by Wasi and the ladies at Puri Angsa.

RJ and Mum hang out in the kitchen, making plans for the day. Most of the huts and rooms were open to the outdoors.

In one of the side gardens, they grow chilli peppers and once ripe, they leave them outside to dry on bamboo matts.

The main bedroom of one of the houses in the villa looks out onto the pool area from one floor up.

Most of the rooms and huts in the villa had traditional Balinese showers as well as modern fixtures.

This beautiful boardwalk actually covers a stream that runs across the middle of the property.

The warm sunshine by the side of the pool is much appreciated by Auntie Bron and Mum... The splashes from the people jumping in - not so much.

Preparing for a dive? Stretching? Dancing? ... Nah, probably just LR mucking around again.

Tee-Eye-Ohhh! Go LR, go!

P. and LR practiced all sorts of dives off the platform, including a bunch of tandem jumps.

Uncle Troy takes a giant leap from the diving platform! Look out below, this splash is going to be HUGE!

Poppa is under attack from RJ and M.!

The chessboard was a great way to pass the time between jumps in the pool. P. and LR had a truly epic battle!

Dad and RJ's turn to make a move! You're going down, P.!

The amount of delicious fresh tropical fruit that we got to eat was amazing. We were also lucky enough to make it over there for durian season!

Poppa has a big bite of tasty, tasty durian. Hey, that's a pretty weird expression you've got there, Poppa!

Auntie Carrie and Uncle Paul brought presents for RJ's birthday from America... as well as the best birthday card in the entire world. It was full of great ideas.

The view from our room in the evenings was just spectacular.

At night, the wildlife showed up and made itself at home: frogs, birds, giant geckos and some kind of weird mammal all wandered through the villa at various times.

You smell food, then you see food…

Luke — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:07:32 +0000

(while sitting down for dinner at a restaurant)

RJ: This place smells like crap!

Mom: (horrified) RJ! Don’t say things like that! That’s terrible!

RJ: But it does! It really smells like crap!

Mom: It doesn’t matter. It’s not polite and that’s a terrible word to use. I don’t want you to speak like that and definitely not about someone else’s place.

RJ: (hurt, confused) But… but… It does! They’re eating it for dinner over there! (points to neighbouring table)

(The people at the adjacent table happily dig into their meal, including several crabs.)

Mom: Sorry RJ. You’re right. This place does smell like crab.

Yes, RJ… For once, we agree.

Luke — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:07:08 +0000

(RJ is sitting next to his 5 month old cousin at the dinner table)

RJ: (holds up a grape) Now this. This is an olive. It’s delicious.

Vi: (flaps arms, yells)

RJ: And these are veggies. They are very bad for you.

Vi: (shrieks of joy)

RJ: Lollies are great though. Definitely eat lollies.

Vi: (loving the attention)

RJ: … and you can always eat rubbish.

RJ: (turns to everyone else at the table) I’m the worst teacher ever!

Fancy Feast

Luke — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:07:18 +0000

(while playing in the backyard)

Dad: Hey guys! What are you up to?

RJ: We’re cooking!

LR: Yeah! We’re playing Masterchef!

Dad: Sounds great… What are you making?

RJ: I made you some onion coffee.

LR: I made some caramel tea.

Dad: (taking a pretend sip of each) Delicious!

RJ: Now you can have some chicken soup.

Dad: Very nice!

LR: And to finish… Lemon meringue pie!

Dad: Fantastic ending. What a great meal, very creative. What prizes are you going to win?

LR: Oh, just a new stove and a fridge or something.

RJ: (excited) And, and, and!!! And some gummy fish!!! and red capsicums!!!

LR & RJ: YEAH!!!!