Crumpled Home

On the weekend, we took the kids fishing on the beach. The best bait for this area is frozen prawns (similar to shrimp). After throwing a couple of lines in the water, and getting no immediate response from the fish, the kids lost interest. It was time to start building sand castles.

A few minutes later, RJ wandered back over and asked if he could have a prawn to play with for a little while. Unaware of the commitment involved, I agreed.

For the next thirty minutes, that dead crustacean must have been the happiest in the world. He had castles built for him. He was carefully washed in the waves lapping against the shore. He was taken for a splash and boogie boarding in the waves. A bathtub was dug in the sand for him, so that he could relax safely without the risk of being washed away.

No expired decapod crustacean, belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata, has ever been treated so well.

When the time came to pack up and leave the beach, I broke the bad news to RJ.

Dad: RJ. It’s time to go. Prawny can’t come with us.

RJ: But he’s my friend! We have to bring him!

LR: He’s a dead prawn, RJ.

Dad: I’m sorry mate, but he’s a prawn and we’re people… and prawns belong in the ocean, not in a house.

RJ: (pleading) I’ll take really good care of him.

LR: He’s stinky, RJ. He’s gross.

Dad: It’s time to set him free. Let him go in the ocean, where a lovely stingray or other bottom feeder will scoop him up in his mouth and take him for a ride. He’ll be happier there.

(LR giggles)

RJ: (turning on his sister) You’re not allowed to be mean to him! Don’t laugh!

…

RJ: (sighing) Okay… (walks down to the ocean and gently releases Prawny) Goodbye Prawny!!!

We returned home and RJ was uncharacteristically quiet. After walking through the door, his eyes brimming with tears, RJ told mum about his friend and everything that had happened.

To her credit, she managed to keep a straight face.

“I loved him. Even though he was smelly and dead, I still loved him.”
RJ, age 4

(It’s a cold, rainy day when RJ and his friend J. suddenly streak through the room, wearing only underpants, yelling and creating an incredible racket)

Multiple-parents: STOP! What is going on!?? Upstairs and get some clothes on guys!

… (moments later as Dad tries to get some clothes back onto RJ)

Dad: What game were you guys playing? That looked CRAZY!

RJ: Zombie warriors! It’s a new game we made up.

Dad: So how does it work?

RJ: First, you have to take off your pants and your shirt.

RJ: Then you need to be about four or five, and usually a boy and a girl.

RJ: And you’ll need a small pterodactyl, just like this one (holds up one of his favorite toys, Flappy the Pterodactyl).

RJ: It’s really a lot of fun.

After our first few days in Shepherdstown, we took a quick road-trip down to Charlottesville and Nelson County, Virginia to catch up with some old friends. We only had a few days, so we didn’t get to catch up with everyone that we wanted to, and it’s something we unfortunately have to get used to (until we become ridiculously wealthy and can extend our vacations to months at a time). After getting back, we had some more fun with Grandpa Jeff and had some more cuddles with Baby V.

We drove down to Nelson County, Virginia to visit Jimmy & Jane, great friends of ours. The customary cookies and hamburgers were very popular.

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Just days after we arrived, we set off on our Yellowstone expedition. After driving about an hour, we entered the foothills and were treated to stunning mountain views, rock walls and cliff faces — but there was no time to stop! We pressed on and entered the park.

Yellowstone was teeming with bizarre and wonderful wildlife of all sorts. We delighted in spotting something new around each corner: bison/buffalo, elk, pronghorn antelope (SPEEDGOAT!), coyotes, foxes, rabbits, marmots, beavers, eagles, black bears and even one grizzly bear (suspiciously, dad was the only one who saw this). As we travelled, little crowds of photographers by the side of the road gave us plenty of clues as to where to look.

There were lots of tourists around, but we were generally impressed by the state of the park — not pristine, but well taken care of and healthy.

The kids even had a chance to play with some snow! It was pretty grotty, mostly melted and covered in black dirt, but it was magical for them.

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After months of practice running, pushing, holding, catching, steadying, balancing with dad, LR hadn’t yet got the hang of riding her bike without the training wheels on. The big motivator was to learn before the school camp at Rottnest — EVERYONE else was going to be riding without training wheels and LR was determined to have it figured out.
On Thursday, LR, mum and RJ took the ferry over to Rottnest Island for the school camp. They stopped at the bike shop and rented two bikes: one with training wheels for RJ, and one without for LR. On Friday morning, amidst cheers from her classmates, LR wobbled away on her first two-wheeled bike ride!

LR à Grande Vitesse!

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We took a quick trip up to Gingin over the weekend and discovered that some of the trees had fruit on them. We also drove around the farm, stopping at the big pit for an explore. On the way back, we scouted for bones in the fields and discovered a complete fox skeleton, with teeth and everything else intact!

Foxxy made the rounds at the kids’ schools for show-and-tell, and was a big hit!

LR is fully loaded up with mandarines from the citrus trees.

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This year, a relaxing sleep-in followed by a delicious breakfast in bed was not in the cards for our adventurous mother. Instead, she woke up before everyone to go and participate in the Perth Mother’s Day Classic, a run to raise money for breast cancer research. Dad and the kids got breakfast ready, decorated the house, prepared our presents and went to meet her there.

After getting back to the house, we presented mum with pancakes and some wonderful presents made by the kids (a cornucopia of hand-made fans, cards, drawings, and paper flowers).

Afterwards, in a wonderful display of independance, the kids engrossed themselves in face painting for an hour. Folowing that, in a wonderful display of support, the parents spent the next hour cleaning up face paints, washing down tables, clothes and children. All in all, a great day!

Mum's runner number and medal from competing in the Perth Mother's Day Classic.

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(LR and her friend T spent an hour planning their next album)

Band: Zulu Leprechauns

Album: Zulu Leprechauns (self titled)

Tracks:

1. Progress Hurts
2. Answers are Free
3. Tricks are Looking for You
4. Horses Rock
5. Freezing Bubblegum
6. Disco Rainbow / Silent Rainbow
7. Gimme Some Robot
8. Dogs and Cats Skydive
9. 100 Dollar Monsters
10. Step Away from the Pig

What the critics are saying:

“Everyone’s favorite hipsters open with one of their reliably depressing musings on life and time, accompanied by shimmering, aquatic xylophones and drums crashing in a fractured march while a woozy bass spills like a cloud of ink all over everything, before shifting unexpectedly to slowly undulating strings perfectly hinged on a bubblegum melody which is instantly moving, yet nailing gothic disquiet both on and off the page. The second track is a step back in the band’s development, in part due to a beat that sounds like what might happen if “Flight of the Bumblebee” got mixed with the theme from Psycho and random female utterances. The band returns to form, however, with a moving coda of snowballs packed with rock-hard chunks of melody, and in each case, the lead singer’s voice abrades the solid lines down to the bare minimum, and the band fills in the resulting space with pure venom.”

– Pitchfork Review Generator

Easter and the Autumn break rolled around once more, so we took off down south to unwind and relax a little. We brought our friends M, J, J, and I along with us and we all had a great time. Big events this time around were several extreme rock climbing sessions, decorating eggs, the Easter morning hunt, a hike through the Karri forest and the required horse riding.

We made it to the top!

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(over breakfast)

RJ: And she just follows me around everywhere. She wont stop!

Dad: Maybe she wants to be your girlfriend?

RJ: I already have too many girlfriends! There’s Jenna… and Erica… and Heather… And that’s just too much!