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A Grim Fairy Tale

Luke — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:07:23 +0000

A couple of weeks ago LR headed off to camp and we decided to have a movie night with RJ so he could enjoy something special. Considering his imagination, we picked an older movie with a fun story (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen). Things went fairly well, although he was a bit bored during the beginning. Part way through, Mom and I briefly turned and discussed something. I’m not sure what it was, but it was probably something critically important, like what the dismembered body parts that the cat recently dragged in originally belonged to, or when I would finally get around to gluing down the plastic strips on the edges of the cabinet doors in the kitchen.

Conversation over, we looked up and saw RJ, eyes very wide, staring at the screen. On screen, in the typically surreal and maniacal styling of Terry Gilliam, a horrifying, winged variant of the Grim Reaper / Angel of Death loomed over someones body, coaxing a soul from their mouth as flames and screaming noises roared in the background.

I quickly realised I had forgotten a fairly important part of the movie… and that I’m no longer in the running for the Parent of the Year Award. Less than a moment later, the movie was paused, the screen was blanked and we were asking RJ if he wanted to watch something else.

RJ: (quietly) Yes, please.

The movie got switched off and replaced with the safe, inoffensive (yet mildly nauseating) world of “The Land Before Time“, but it appears the damage was already done. To be fair, the scene was only thirty seconds long, but it does set up the young girl in her role as heroine, so it’s fairly important. Considering the last time I watched the movie was twenty years ago, I’m not surprised I had forgotten it.

My memory — or more accurately, my lack of memory — is an impressive thing. Yesterday I went to the shops to buy a few things, most importantly some spinach. Now spinach was not only requested before I left, but was actually written down on a shopping list that I carried in my hand and it (spinach, not the shopping list) was a critical ingredient of the evening’s meal. Spinach was therefore very important and more than once while walking through the store I told myself, “Must not forget the spinach.” Much to my poor, suffering wife’s chagrin, the spinach is still sitting uneaten on a shelf in the vegetable department, quite safe from our hungry family.

The fallout from the movie incident didn’t occur until the next day and considering our previous experiences with RJ, it was pretty mild. It all started with RJ spending some time with his lego, working hard on a secret project.

RJ: I made something. Do you like it?

Dad: (channelling Keanu Reeves)… whoah….

RJ: It’s the Death Fairy.

Dad: It’s awesome. How long did that take?

RJ: Just this morning, but some bits are falling off, can you help me get them to stay?

Dad: Sure thing.

(Progress is made reinforcing some sections and changing others.)

RJ: Did you know the Death Fairy can smell better than a bear? That’s how he knows you are going to die.

Dad: Most people call him the Angel of Death. He’s not real, you know.

RJ: I know. It’s just a story.

Dad: Are you scared of it?

RJ: Not really. I already know lots about him.

Dad: Like what?

RJ: He can never be killed because he has no weakness. He also has many children that do what he says and help protect him… and a mum that stays at home and protects his house.

Dad: So he’s pretty dangerous then.

RJ: YES! Do you know the worst part?

Dad: What’s that?

RJ: He takes your soul and your ideas and puts them in a jar and he never lets them out. He loves to look at the little stars in it.

Dad: How does he do that?

RJ: He has the closest looker microscope, with the closest looking sensors. It’s the only way to see the stars.

Dad: So where did he come from anyway?

RJ: Well… Death Fairies used to be normal people and they lived on another planet. They were living in a house and it got buried under rocks and they died. After that, they felt a bit zombieish and woke up again… and then they were Death Fairies.

RJ's rendition of the Death Fairy, aka the Angel of Death.

Our USA Adventure 2010, Part 4: Buffalo Bill vs. the Fourth of July

Luke — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:07:13 +0000

Cody, Wyoming is home to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a marvelous set of museums which we spent a while exploring. Out front, a blacksmith worked a historically accurate forge and anvil making nails by hand (a job that I do not envy), while someone cooked up some buffalo stew over a campfire. The smells were delicious!

We also had a great time watching the Fourth of July Parade, complete with cowboys, horses, skiiers, cowboys, hamburgers, horses, cowgirls, poodles, horses, Shriners in little zoomy cars, cowboys, marching bands and horses!

We visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It houses several museums in the same building.

Dad and RJ finally figured out the difference between a Bison and a Buffalo!

RJ, C., LR and Mum check out some footprints.

LR compares the skulls of a brown bear and a grizzly bear. They have HUGE nasal cavities.

LR takes a closer look at some of the local wildlife in one of the excellent microscopes.

RJ and Mum step in for a closer look.

LR and Mum try on some buffalo horns. RJ doesn't need them.

The museum had a huge mosaic map across the floor. We had fun calling out places and having the kids rush around the floor trying to find them.

C. and RJ compare the different Indian headdresses and decide which ones would be for them. Warrior chiefs seem to be popular this year.

RJ checks out the face in the rock as the old Indian chief looks on.

LR and C. go for a spin on the swings. Is that wise after eating so much icecream just moments before?

RJ runs to catch up at the local library. The Cody, Wy library is fully equipped with a cafe and indoor and outdoor seating and most-importantly.... Free WIFI!

The kids make their way down the Cody, WY streets.

On the Fouth of July, we went into town and watched the parade. With over 150 different entries in the parade it took a couple of hours to get throught them all!

Of course, no parade is complete without marching bands, and there were plenty of those.

Mum proudly remembers the countless hours stomping around on hot summer days while wearing a woolen coat. She's happy that they're over.

LR found one caramel with the outline of Australia in it! -- A continual stream of people wandered past handing out candy and lollies to the crowd. It wasn't long before the kids had enough lollies and began handing them around themselves.

The rodeo clowns made a showing, driving madly in and out around the other paraders.

Most of the cultural references were totally missed on the kids from Down Under... but the pink lady with a pink poodle was a big hit.

There was no shortage of cowboys and horses in this parade.

The hamburger was not impressed by the amount of horse manure left around.

There was both a mule train AND a llama train. They were equivalently loaded, but the llamas seemed considerably more laid back.

They even had a skiing entry in the parade... with a small crane suspending the skiers up on the chairlift.

A real cowboy... We didn't mess with him.

Yay! Flags!

A trip to the Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre

Luke — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:00:46 +0000

We took a trip out to the Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre. The highlight was the 11 story leaning tower where you can drop water balloons into an incredibly cratered sand pit below. There are lots of other science experiments to explore too. We followed up with a night walk to spot some of the local nocturnal animals. We ended the night looking through telescopes at some of the features of the night sky. Great fun!

RJ looks deep into the black hole simulator.

No Mum! Kids don't go down there! They'll be spaghettified!

LR and Dad push the Bernoulli Principle to its limits.

The mums get the exciting job of filling a bucket full of water balloons.

It's a very, very long way down -- about 11 flights of stairs.

The kids begin the onslaught. Balloon after balloon is dropped onto the zone of destruction below.

E gets a closer look at a butterfly's wings.

LR gets a microscopic view of another specimen.

The face of sadness... E won something in the raffle. LR did not. Life is just so very unfair.

RJ agreed with LR... It is SO unfair... or maybe it's just way past their bedtimes...

We all went out with flashlights on a night stalk to spot animals.

The Leaning Tower of Gingin teeters towards one of the domes housing the big telescopes.