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November 2011, Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:07:03 +0000

The good news is that November is over (and we’re exhausted). The bad news is that December is on the way, which is sure to be even busier!

This month we survived a bout of the plague, and went to the city to learn some new skills for Heritage Days. Dad got even older than he used to be and now he’s even older. We built our own shelter and enjoyed a terrific Thanksgiving dinner.

RJ suffered from a horrible bout of chicken pox for a day, but awoke the next morning completely spot free with no symptoms! Vaccine FTW!

Dad tied up a tennis ball to use for teeball practice. RJ pointed out that it's so much easier to whack a ball using a tennis racket.

LR loves to laugh. Dad loves to take photos. Sometimes they happen at the same time.

At the Naturescape area, LR carefully constructed a channel around someone else's dam, and drained the upper pond.

RJ: Zero days without injury!

At the train station, RJ enjoys a delicious spearmint milk.

Mum wonders why the most annoying people on the train always sit right next to her.

When we arrived at the demonstration archaeological camp, the kids were asked, “Do you want to learn how scientists really do this? or do you want to go straight to the fun stuff?” They stared blankly for a long time trying to make sense of what the woman was saying. It wasn’t until mum explained to the woman that for our kids, the way scientists really do it WAS the fun stuff that any progress was made, and off they went to grid and diagram a search area full of artifacts.

RJ discovers a small vase at the achaeological dig site.

LR carefully sorts the fragments, ultimately piecing together a cup and saucer!

Mom helps RJ assemble the pieces without skewering his hand on ceramic shards.

LR tries her hand at some stone carving. It's harder than it looks but gets easier once you get into a groove.

Dad explains some of the finer points of carving to RJ, who knows it all already.

LR also used a loom to weave a section of belt, or strap, or something... Probably a bookmark. When in doubt, you can always use something as a bookmark.

RJ poses next to the massive lego creation.

Mom took everyone out to breakfast on Dad's birthday! Grammy and Poppa showed up too!

RJ helped roll out the pizza crusts for Dad's birthday dinner.

... but Mom had to help on some of them.

LR puts the finishing touches on Dad's birthday cake.

Happy Birthday to you!!!!

We took a quick trip to Dwellingup before the worst heat of the summer arrived. By begging for edamame soy beans, Scarlet established once and for all that she is not a real dog.

RJ hunts carefully for tadpoles in the stream. He ended up catching four or five in about ten minutes.

Scarlet found herself a nice comfy spot to lay down in.

RJ and LR take shelter underneath the 'tent' that dad helped them build. Sorry Dad, only room for two in here!

Oh nevermind, we can move over for you.

A few days later, it was time for Thanksgiving dinner! Aunty Jess shows us just how much fun making corn bread can really be.

Grammy and Jess working together.

Even Uncle Troy and Aunty Bron from Melbourne were there! Hey guys!

Poppa did a great job carving the turkey.

Mom teaches LR the finer points of stealing the most delicious bits from the turkey before it's even served.

Here boy! Jump! Up! Up! Good RJ! ... (and you wonder why the boy has issues)

After a huge turkey feast and too much pie, Poppa and RJ go over the hand-traced turkeys that he made in class that day.

Our USA Adventure 2010, Part 2: Yellowstone

Luke — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:07:30 +0000

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.

After driving into the park, we saw a tiny, tiny bison far away in the distance so we excitedly stopped the car and got out to take pictures! Wow! Wildlife!... Of course as soon as we got back in the car and drove around the next corner, we were greeted by a massive herd of them, right by the side of the road.

A buffalo, up close and personal, in all his bisonic glory. They looked kind of ratty at this time of year because they were changing their coats.

One of the rangers shows the kids some of the animals they might encounter during the day. The kids joined in the Junior Rangers Program, which involved completing a series of worksheets, colouring in, and exploring certain locations of the park.

Junior ranger test 1: How far can you jump? Further than a pronghorn antelope?

Junior ranger test 2: How long can you stare? Longer than an owl?

Junior Ranger Test 3: How fast can you run? Faster than a bison?

Junior Ranger Test 4: How well can you smell? Better than a grizzly bear?

RJ takes a stop at the brilliant blue Celestine Pool, near the Fountain Paint Pots.

A very, very rare picture of the four of us in front of Clepsydra Geyser!

DD and C. were both wonderful hosts and terrific tourguides. They spent the entire week exploring with us.

After passing through incredibly thick clouds of steam, we made it through to the Grand Prismatic Spring. The range of hues and the intensity of the colours was just fantastic.

LR strikes a pose in front of a glorious blue sky and and the vivid orange of the Grand Prismatic Spring.

You can find all the colours in the rainbow at the edges of the pool.

The kids stopped by the Ranger's Station to pick up their hard-earned Junior Ranger badges. The rangers were surpringly thorough at checking the kids work!

We arrived early at 'Old Faithful' so we wouldn't miss the show.

The kids and I defended our seats, while the mums walked off to get some much appreciated ice cream.

Old Faithful blasts a massive fountain of water into the sky, right on schedule!

RJ waits for the others to check out the gift shop at the Old Faithful Inn -- basically the biggest log cabin we've ever seen. It was unreal seeing such a large structure with such huge interior spaces built from logs.

DD and Mum sport a couple of cheesies for the camera.

After a huge day, RJ waits for his dinner at Lake Yellowstone. The kids were absolutely exhausted after everything we'd done, but still managed to have enough attention after dinner to listen to a lecture by one of the local naturalists.

Even quick photos taken from the car window as we drove along turned out amazing. This is just one of the many beautiful fields that we went past.

This huge steaming blue pit created enough fog to cut visibility on the path down to just a few feet in front of you.

Busy little bacteria have stained the area red. A lot of the trees in this area were damaged in the recent fires.

At the end of the day, while the kids were finding out about birds and wildlife, Dad had the chance to explore Lake Yellowstone with his camera.

This incredibly calm lake was full of trees chewed down by beavers. I even spotted one of the little guys cruising off in search of something else to munch.

We were treated to a fantastic sunset over the lake as we were leaving.

Mother’s Day 2010

Luke — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:07:25 +0000

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.

We decorated the house with some roses picked from our garden.

They made it! Mum not only survived this gruelling endurance test, but also achieved a personal best time for this run.

Mum and RJ stop to make a new furry friend.

I. came back with us after the race to enjoy pancakes!

RJ asked LR to paint his face like a scorpion.

LR and I. painted their own faces to look like puppies.

RJ as a fearsome scorpion, just moments before a thorough washing in the shower.

LR finished her puppy face, complete with collar and tags.

Halloween 2009

Luke — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:01:27 +0000

This year, our Halloween party was the biggest ever. Every kid from both of the Year 1 classes at LR’s school was invited, as well as all the children on our street and a bunch of RJ’s friends. It was absolutely crazy, but we did our best to keep them busy. Activities included the Haunted Garage, a “Yucky” dip, a piñata, a broom race, a treasure hunt, making disembodied hands and the grand finale, a total, all-out assault on Dad with water balloons.

LR, as Supergirl, decided the world needed rescuing.

RJ and Mum put together a great snapping turtle costume.

Follow the link to get to the rest of the pictures and see what went on!!!

Grammy came along too. We needed all the help we could get!

We recruited a couple of the dads to carve pumpkins and watermelons brought by the kids.

A couple of the kids were amazed by our American maibox. Australian letter boxes look nothing like this.

The Yucky Dip involved a huge bowl of slimy, coloured pasta of different shapes. Prizes and bugs were hidden through it and the kids had to do their best to find a prize in the revolting mess.

Mum helps one of the kids search for a prize in the "Yucky Dip".

We do the apple bobbing every year. The kids figured out pretty quickly that grabbing the apples by the steps was the easiest way to win… This year, though, only apples without stems got prizes!

RJ volunteers to be next in the apple bobbing competition.

An apple bobbing champion is born!

In previous years, we’ve made disembodied hands for each of the kids in LR and RJ’s classes. It’s a huge amount of work, but the kids love it. This year we got smarter and had the kids make them!

Everyone had fun making ghoulish popcorn hands with Am!

You have to fill them all the way to the top with popcorn!

The annual treasure hunt is always a big hit, but it’s getting harder and harder to find enough hiding places for the number of kids that show up. For the older kids this year, we hid marbles around the yard, with different prizes available for one or more marbles. The younger kids, searching our neighbour’s yard, had to find tiny pumpkin baskets containing small toys and sometimes a piece of candy.

Mum gives everyone instructions on the treasure hunt. This year they had to find marbles hidden around the front yard. It wasn't easy.

One of LR's class mates hunts for precious, precious marbles.

LR found two! Home field advantage, perhaps? She donated one to someone who wasn't as fortunate.

The younger kids had their search across the road. They had to find little plastic pumpkins and cauldrons.

This year we asked all the kids to bring a broom with them for a broom race. We ran two races and the kids did really well. We may have to rethink this one, having 15 kids running at you with long sticks is not very safe.

RJ gets his broom tuned up for the Broom Race.

Kids rush to prepare for the Broom Race.

Two serious contenders for the prize... provided no one brings kryptonite along.

RUN RUN RUN RUN!

The piñata survived through quite a few attacks before finally relinquishing its hidden treasure.

The piñata was especially popular.

T prepares to deal a mighty blow to poor old Jack.

Can I be next please?!!

SMASH! The lollies have been liberated!

To wrap things up, we had a water bombing event. The kids line up along the side of the road, heavily loaded with water balloons. A very brave, and soon to be thoroughly drenched, Dad makes several sprints past them as they hurl their watery grenades at him.

30 kids. 200 water balloons. 1 victim... at least Dad had his goggles. Dad gets the kids riled up with some serious trash-talk.

Splash! Direct hit!

Totally soaked, except for the bits under the goggles, there were still more balloons to come, as well as a bucket of water.

Finally, after almost everyone has left, we get to go trick or treating. Not everyone on the street has candy, but those who do love to see us and check out the costumes.

Trick or Treat! LR checks out the new neighbours to see if they've got treats... and maybe if they'd like to come trick or treating with us.

This... is... the... BEST THING EVER!!! FREE CANDY AND LOLLIES!!!!

Let's head home and see what we've got.