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.)

(while eating breakfast)

RJ: (staring at LR) What the…

LR: (raises an eyebrow and keeps eating)

RJ: (to LR, incredulous) Who are you?

LR: (rolls her eyes)

RJ: How can this… I… I… I’m totally freaking out!

LR: (annoyed) What is it RJ!?

Dad: Yes, RJ. Give it a rest, please.

RJ: Dad! THIS IS NOT LR. It’s a baby wearing a seven-year-old suit!

Dad: Oh really? How do you know?

RJ: Take a really close look at the eyes. You can always tell it’s a suit when you look at the eyes.

Dad: (peering at LR) I don’t know, RJ. I’m not convinced.

LR: Dad…

RJ: Look really close, around the edges.

LR: Dad! RJ! I AM NOT A BABY!

Dad: You’re right, RJ. Only a baby would say that!

In October, we drove south to Eagle Bay with some friends for a few days, and north to Gingin for a weekend with Grammy and Poppa. RJ had his first t-ball game and… his team won! In the middle of all of this (and the Royal Show AND Halloween) we somehow found the time to visit Scitech with some friends to see some of their new exhibits. Wow! We need a break!

We took a trip down to Eagle Bay and had a great time in the water. It's a lot easier to do now that the weather's warming up!

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In August, as many of us suffered colds and ear infections, another birthday rolled around, RJ played his soccer final, and the kids dressed up for Book Day. We also spent a great weekend up at Gingin with some friends and discovered LR really can be an angel when she wants to.

Make a wish! Mom slices into her favorite cake, pinapple upside-down cake!

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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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Mom was feeling a little Wicked, dressed in all her verdant glory.

On Sunday, Grammy and Poppa took us to go and see the broadway show Wicked! We had been listening to the soundtrack during the week before and we even had a movie night on Saturday and watched the original Wizard of Oz. When the day finally came we were totally buzzing with excitement.
Because it was the three year anniversary of the show in Australia, they selected the best dressed audience members to come backstage and meet the cast and crew to celebrate and enjoy cake. We spent a little time getting into costumes before the show and crossed our fingers.

As the final curtain closed, we were whisked away by one of the stage managers and rushed through a series of dark twisty corridors, lined with an incredible array of wigs, costumes, props and set pieces. Eventually we made it to the stage, right behind the big curtain we had seen just moments ago from the other side. The applause was still fading away and we could hear the chatter of the crowd making their way out of the theatre. The entire cast was still lined up after their final bow and turned to meet us. There were lots of comments on our outfits and they were all really friendly. We stopped and had a chat with Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda, before a press photographer stopped by to get our photo. We hurried back to another room to enjoy cake and meet the rest of the cast. Again, everyone was really friendly and were pretty amused to see the lot of us mirroring their characters.

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This year, just like last year, many of the parents and teachers from the kids’ school head over to Rottnest Island for their school camp. There are various gatherings and get togethers for the kids and parents — it’s generally just a great chance to relax and catch up with everybody. The major events are the Students versus Parents Games, a sandcastle competition, and the “Fox Hunt” — a treasure hunt in and around the main settlement to find teachers (and some parents) dressed up in crazy outfits. This year the theme was fairy tale characters. Mom always gets roped into this.

RJ watches for dolphins on the fast ferry across to Rotto. LR was the first to spot them though!

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LR awoke to a huge pile of presents. Yeah!!!!

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This cool guy decided to come with us to the big freeze shop (where everything in the shop is in a big freezer), and chill out for a while.