RJ’s birthday was loads of fun. After school, we gathered up most of his classmates and walked them to the park near our house, where we enjoyed fruit, snacks and cupcakes! We had a nice dinner and more cake that night with Grammy and Poppa. The next day, RJ invited two of his friends to go see a movie with us in the city. Happy birthday RJ!
RJ's favorite present was this jaw from a 10ft lemon shark.
Another birthday rolled around and this time it was Dad’s turn to blow out the candles. It all started off with a luxurious sleep-in. The kids left Dad alone for an extra twenty minutes, waking him up at 5:35AM, instead of 5:15! We followed up with the normal Saturday morning craziness, with a brief “Rescue the Cat” interlude, when Violet Miaowmix decided that spending an hour attempting to find entry into the neighbours’ aviary from our roof might be a fun idea.
Mum and the kids whipped up a delicious cake, which we ate immediately, and then sent everyone over to the park to burn off the resulting sugar rush. After Amanda showed up to watch the kids, Mum took Dad out to dinner and then off to see a local production of Spamalot. Great fun!
Nothing like starting a birthday with a whirlwind of shrieking children wearing underpants outside their clothes and on their heads.
(while performing gymnastic tricks on the playground)
LR: Now this trick you’re going to love…
(swings around the bar)
You’ve never seen it before…
(swoops her way to the top)
And I know you haven’t seen it before…
(gracefully spins around the bar)
Because I havent made it up yet.
(swings from one bar to the next)
Its called the… Rather Interesting Roll.
We survived our massive annual Halloween ordeal party. Last year’s party was talked about at school for the whole year, so this year’s was heavily anticipated. From apple bobbing, to treasure hunts, a nigh-invulnerable piñata, to a wet and soggy caveman, we had all the major attractions.
This year, however, we decided not to do the haunted garage. Too many kids came out of that one completely freaked out and crying… Next year, however… MWAAAAHAAHAAAAHAAA… Look out kids!!!!
It was a dark and stormy... err... bright and spooky afternoon in the park that day. Jim decided to hang out at the slide; his diet had been a huge success!
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.
We sadly left Wyoming and flew to the East Coast where we were greeted by warm, humid weather… We definitely weren’t in Perth anymore. We arrived at the house to find a pool AND our cousins all ready and waiting for us. Time to have some fun!
We had some great times splashing around in the pool, hunting frogs down by the pond, picking veggies in the garden. Grandma Wendy and Aunty Grace took us all to the lake one day, and Dad took the four kids for a huge play at the park while our new cousin arrived. The next day we went off to the hospital for our first visit!
We finally arrived in Shepherdstown to warm weather, cousins, and a swimming pool!
Just four days before his actual birthday, RJ held his amazing pirate birthday party. He very specifically planned everything, from the location down to exactly what would be on the cake. Thanks to his meticulous plans (and a bit of assistance from his entourage), everything went according to plan. Major events were sword making, a treasure hunt, taking over a pirate ship, firing cannons and eating (an RJ favorite).
Toothpaste?! Bah! Real pirates use rum!
January was a really busy month! With the kids on summer holidays, we had lots of activities during the week and on the weekends. While down south we also did a bit of fishing, life-size animatronic dinosaurs came to town, we caught up with some friends and grandparents, and lots of wildlife around our house stopped in to say ‘Hello!’
A total of 5 very small fish caught over two nights -- the kids rated it a massive success!
Lots of great things happened in November, here’s the run down: Summer is slowly arriving with only one or two hot days here and there, RJ and Dad see some airplanes take off, RJ goes to some birthday parties, Mum catches LR at camp for a day, Dad and RJ hit the beach, someone got older, and LR’s year one class visits a wildlife preserve.
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Time for a quick icecream break on a hot summer day.
Mum went away last weekend, so it was up to Dad to keep things under control. On Friday night we went to the beach for a quick play, then picked up fish & chips for dinner.
Dad: This single-parent thing is a piece of cake!
LR was desperate to get up onto the monkeybars on her own.
... And after many attempts she made it!
We don't get a lot of snow around here. We just make do with what we've got.
RJ was not impressed when he realised his toy was broken.
RJ cheered up again pretty quickly, in time to play airplanes on the swing.
