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September 2011, Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:07:26 +0000

Another crazy month went by! This time around, Mom and LR got a thousand and one things done before they left for the USA, leaving Dad and RJ behind to survive on a steady diet of buttered toast and cereal. The cousins came over from Melbourne, and Grammy’s house STILL isn’t finished! Finally, RJ entertained an entire school with his own special moves during his class concert.

RJ's friend C visited for a sleepover. The next morning, the two of them insisted on pancakes, the internationally recognised breakfast of bloodthirsty pirates and fierce centurions.

At Grammy's birthday party, RJ taught Great Grandpa Maury everything you need to know about Bakugans.

RJ and Great Grandma Dot have a detailed discussion about garden snails.

It’s wildflower season and the area is completely carpeted in everlastings, daisies and other wildflowers. We headed up to King’s Park to see their Wildflower Festival and join in the fun.

LR contributes to the huge painting by adding the symbols for river, sun and lots and lots of fire.

There were also people dressed up as wildflowers. Zamia, the poisonous warrior wildflower was our favorite.

A picture... of us... sitting in wildflowers... again?

One of our close friends had a baby and she brought him over for a visit!

Mom went into school for another big science afternoon with RJ's class.

Mom pops some dry ice bubbles, releasing little clouds of mist.

The kids had to line up at each of the stations to get the parts for the next stage.

Now that Winter's over and the weather has cleared up, we can head down to Cottesloe for fish and chips at the beach.

The best thing about fish and chips at the beach is running around and playing on the edge of the wall.

LR and RJ sprint around the corner, then throw themselves off the edge.

Jump, LR! JUMP!

RJ and Mom enjoy a quiet moment while LR does a few more crazy jumps.

Mom and LR wave a final goodbye before getting in the car. Say HI to everyone for us!

RJ and Dad spent a bunch of time running around the different local parks.

You can run...

...but you can't hide, RJ!

RJ also had inside information about a nearby geocache. We located it and signed the logbook.

RJ reads through the secret messages in the geocache.

Dad and RJ went on a photo excursion out at an orchard. There were flowers everywhere!

Just about to head home, but it looks like there's still time for ice cream after all!

Grammy and Poppa's house is still under construction.

... but that just makes it more fun to climb through and explore.

PB, and MS follow RJ across the park to the secret hidden location.

RJ shows PB and MS the geocache and helps them get the logbook out.

MS takes a moment to sign the geocaching logbook.

Poppa and Grammy hanging out at their new park.

Come on, Poppa! We're dying to get some food!

PB shows RJ the best tricks to reach the top of the mountain while waiting for dinner to arrive.

At the end of term, RJ’s class put on a big singing performance for the whole school. RJ, of course, has his own very distinct style.

RJ does his own special dance during his school concert.

Disparate times

Luke — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:07:26 +0000

(just before bed)

RJ: But wait, Dad! I have to show you something!

Dad: Okay… What is it?

RJ: (holding up a toy seahorse and a fish) Look at this. I put a tiny hole in the seahorse right here. That’s because it’s where the parasite fish gets in. It swims in through the hole and then up through the neck and into the seahorse’s brain. Then it lives in there and makes the seahorse do whatever it likes. After a long time, the seahorse dies and the fish goes and finds another one… And that’s a real creature! They really do that!

RJ: … But usually it’s a fish, not a seahorse.

Dad: Desperate times, eh?

RJ: Yeah. He was really desperate.

June, 2011 Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:07:23 +0000

June flew past in a hurry. The kids put together an impromptu magic show one morning, and LR played piano for a huge crowd. RJ flew and continued to be full of surprises. We spent an evening outside taking German lessons in the dark, and the kids channelled their inner zombies while discovering where all their good ideas come from.

RJ took flying lessons at one of his friend's birthday parties. That trampoline practice came in handy!

LR and RJ treated Mom and Dad to their own magic show. Nothing in the hat, right LR?

Abracadabra! And a necklace magically appears!

RJ says to watch his hands carefully... and again... Nothing in the hat! DON'T LOOK IN THE HAT!

LR performed in a piano concert for a hall filled with people.

LR plays the amazing Alma Mater Blues for the crowd.

The kids played in the park, during breaks in the rain.

RJ continued his endeavour to be the weirdest kid in Australia.

Some friends of ours invited us on a traditional German lantern walk through King's Park. We didn't have lanterns prepared, so we had to borrow theirs.

Surrounded by home-made lanterns, RJ, Mom and LR huddle down together and try to sing along in German. Who knew there were so many songs about lanterns?

LR takes her time exploring the cerebellum. Mom has been teaching some science classes at the school and brought some lambs' brains. We got to dissect the extras at home!

RJ was able to identify several different structures in the brain. This frontal lobe looks a little underdeveloped.

BRAAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNSSSSSSS! RJ does his best zombie impersonation.

Mom and the kids sit down for a little bit of reading before bed.

Scarlet and Dad collapse, exhausted, at the end of a long day.

Over troubled waters

Luke — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:07:26 +0000

LR: Do you have one of those science jars? The ones that you put stuff in?

Dad: I don’t, but I think Mom does — or at least she can get them from work if you ask. What do you need it for?

LR: I have a project for school and I need to bring in a sample of water.

Dad: Fair enough. Just ask Mom, she can get them for you. I can help you collect different kinds of water if you want.

(a couple of days later)

LR: Mom, I need to bring some sea water to school for a project.

Mom: What project?

LR: I have to bring in something that demonstrates the words, “I belong…”

Mom: And you’re bringing in sea water? Why is that?

LR: Because I feel like I belong overseas.

(Mom has a mild panic attack. LR doesn’t feel Australian? She doesn’t feel like she belongs? She feels like there’s no place for her here?)

Mom: What do you mean by belonging overseas?

LR: Well, I love adventures and I love travelling. I want to see new places and explore the world!

Mom: (Massive relief) What a great idea!

Winemaking and The Museum of the Universes of Science

Luke — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:07:26 +0000

On the weekend, we all drove up to Gingin to help with the second stage of winemaking. The first stage, picking the grapes and first pressing, was already done a couple of weeks ago; it was time for the second pressing and getting the wine into vats for fermentation. We also spent time working on LR’s latest project, “The Museum of the Universes of Science” — a showcase for all the amazing animals, bones, plants and rocks that we discover up there.

Obviously, winemaking is a very serious business!

LR and Poppa drain the wine from the grapes, to get them ready for the second pressing.

PULL, LR PULL!!!! LR works the press, getting every last drop out of the grapes.

Time to clear the press. Mom, Grammy and RJ take the pressed skins and seeds to fertilize the garden.

Although the wine grapes had already been pressed, we went over to the orchard to see what other fruit was ready for picking. We found a huge number of table grapes ready to pick, as well as some native limes. Sadly, birds had eaten most of the olives!

RJ waits for a ride on the gate at the goat-proof fence to the orchard and vineyard.

LR and Grammy pick table grapes from the vines. The wine grapes were all picked two weeks ago, nothing left there now except raisins!

LR is ready to carry the harvest back to the house.

RJ’s continuing fascination with hats led the kids to making hat stands out of some styrofoam heads that Grammy had sitting around. Grammy has all the great stuff you need for art projects.

LR, RJ and Mom work on making some hat stands for the kids.

RJ admires his finished product, complete with 'evil guy' moustache.

Throughout the weekend, preparations were made for LR’s grand museum project. A set of science-oriented colouring in pages were done up for kids who visit the museum, including some dot-to-dots and letter pages from RJ. Future plans include a science art gallery and a geology department.

LR had a fantastic plan to create our own museum. After a lot of thinking, she decided to name it "The Museum of the Universes of Science." She was in charge of doing the labels and signs.

While LR made labels, RJ went to work arranging the collections. The kangaroo vertebrae had their own section.

LR works on some more labels as Mom looks on.

RJ carefully lays out the ribs. He eventually had a matched set for the left and right sides of the body.

After building the sign and pushing it into the ground (with a tractor!), RJ and LR welcome everyone to the new museum.

LR shows the reptile shelf, complete with a mulga and a western brown snake.

LR shows off some of the finer specimens to the museum's first visitors, Poppa and Grammy.

As the sun set, the kangaroos lined up again at the water trough. It's been a long, dry year and they can't wait for the rains to start again.

A matter of degree

Luke — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:07:49 +0000

(LR is wandering around with a surface thermometer in hand)

LR: Your turn, Dad. (click) 33 degrees… So… Grammy, Dad and Mum were all 33 degrees.

LR: (checks herself) 34.5 degrees! Hmmm…

LR: (checks another part of her head) 35 degrees. Arrgh!

Dad: Why are you so worried about your temperature?

LR: Well… …. How hot do you have to be to have a fever?

Dad: I’d say three degrees more than normal means you’re pretty sick. Less than that isn’t such a big deal.

LR: I want to get my temperature up just a little bit more… (grinning) Because if I’m sick and have a fever, then I get to lay down on the couch and watch TV all afternoon!

February, 2011 Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:07:05 +0000

It’s been a while since we posted a bunch of photos, so here’s a quick wrap-up for February!

LR lost another two teeth this month, and the kids did some home experiments with dry ice. RJ discovered a fascination for disguises and interesting clothes. Mum sang her heart out at a South Pacific concert and we had a couple of trips to the beach to have fish and chips for dinner. Mum and Dad even got dressed up for a party, and at the end of the month, it was the kids turn with an evening picnic and disco down at the school.

One of the last pictures of LR with all her upper teeth... One of her front incisors came out the next day!

RJ prepares to lower his balloon into the ominous, bubbling green concoction, OF SCIENCE!

LR observes the size of the balloon before and after dunking it in the yellow, bubbling, potion OF SCIENCE!

It can feel pretty cold when you've been swimming for half-an-hour in the olympic pool, so we're always quick to put on some warm, dry clothes afterwards. RJ has been wearing lots of different hats lately.

Mom had a singing concert! RJ, Dad and LR wait outside Winthrop Hall where Mom will be performing!

Sing it Mom!

RJ takes a break on the beach blanket after a big meal of fish and chips.

Poppa also needed a bit of a rest after a long hard day at work.

Mom and Dad went to a crazy Bollywood birthday party for our friends.

Dad, LR and RJ stopped by Great Grandpa Maurie and Great Grandma Dot's place to play some games.

RJ experimented with some different costumes -- this one apparently inspired by Devo.

LR, RJ and Ta. dressed up for the school barbeque picnic and disco... or Barbedisco as they called it. Each kid had to bring their favorite stuffed animal.

RJ on the dance floor!

The Latest in Cosmetic Technology

Luke — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:07:08 +0000

(RJ runs in holding his latest invention, a bizarre conglomeration of a pair of toy binoculars and a lot of wires)

RJ: Look what I made!

RJ: It’s not finished, but it’s an electrical device that changes the colour of your eyes!

RJ: … It also sprays electricity and sparks everywhere. It needs some work…

Operation: Buzzkill

Luke — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:07:22 +0000

Friend: I have a birthmark right here on my side. That means I’m a princess.

LR: No. That means you have extra melanin in that spot.

And up from the seafloor came a bubbling crude

Luke — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:07:29 +0000

After looking at an underwater video of the disaster going on in the gulf, Mum asked the kids how they would go about stopping the oil gushing from the sea floor.

RJ’s suggestion:

RJ: The oil looks like a black smoker. And you can’t make those stop. They come from under the earth. So you have to make the earth stop pushing out the oil. And I don’t think you can do that. I know… You can go back in time and make the dinosaurs not die!

LR’s suggestion:

LR: You need to find a bacteria that eats oil. And make sure that it will turn into plankton when all the oil is gone so that it doesn’t hurt the ocean.

Good thinking guys!