Crumpled Home

(while eating dinner)

RJ: Can I have some more lamb, please?

Mom: Eat some salad first. You haven’t even eaten any pine nuts, and you love those.

RJ: I can’t eat that!

Mom: Why not?

RJ: Because that pine nut is the God of Victory! I’m still praying to him.

Mom: Well you’re not getting anything else to eat until you eat those.

LR: Don’t worry about that one, RJ, there’s about twenty more gods on your plate right there… I’ve eaten all the gods on my plate, and they were great!

Dad: So what have your gods done for you lately, RJ?

RJ: Well… They helped me at the beach today?

Dad: Really? How?

RJ: I didn’t get eaten by a shark! They kept all the sharks away.

Dad: Good point. I guess they kept all the thunderstorms and earthquakes away too.

RJ: (Bows head and prays to the pine nut). Yep. They’re powerful and delicious. (chomp)

RJ: I think I know why the wobbegongs are nearly extinct.

Dad: Yeah? Why?

RJ: Well. My hypothesis is that they were resting on the bottom of the ocean, just being happy and then the bad guys went swimming past, but they got too close and then one of the wobbegongs swam up and bit one of the bad guys. This made the bad guys REALLY mad, so they went and killed all the wobbegongs for revenge.

Dad: And that’s why there aren’t very many left?

RJ: Yep. You shouldn’t mess with the bad guys.

Dad: I’ll keep that in mind next time I see them swimming past.

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.

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(On popular beaches in Australia, the lifeguards set flags marking the safe areas to swim. These areas are watched by the lifeguards for swimmers in trouble, sharks and other water hazards.)

(at the beach)

RJ: (planting a stick into the ground) I’ve got my own safety flag. I’m going to put it here, then this area will be safe for swimming!

RJ: … Actually, I have a better idea. I’ll bring it with me when I swim. Then it will keep the sharks away!

Dad: But it’ll only work for the arm holding the stick.

RJ: Okay, then I need two shark repeller flags. One on each shoulder. Then the sharks will never get me.

RJ: … and then I can chase the sharks!

RJ and Dad took a trip to the aquarium on the weekend. Lots of exploring, ten rides up and down in the lift, and a bit of confusion over which of the 10 sharks is really called, “Sharky”.

RJ introduces me to one of his best mates at the aquarium, "Sharky".

According to RJ, the most interesting thing in this tank was the equipment the staff uses to feed the fish.

Surprisingly, the lift is a big attraction with our kids. (Insert elevator music here).

The sea lions have gone! No more sea lions! We now have a HUGE coral reef tank instead.

Okay, we've seen everything, we're outta here, bye!!!

RJ: Mum says I can go swimming with the whale sharks.

Dad: Okay then. We might have to wait a while to get there.

RJ: Yes. I am a good swimmer now. I’m very fast.

Dad: That would be lots of fun.

RJ: And there will be a great white shark there too.

Dad: Uh oh. Not good. Wouldn’t he eat you?

RJ: No. I’m bringing my toy one. He wants to meet the whale sharks too. But I need help.

Dad: What kind of help?

RJ: I need to make a rope so he can swim along with me. Let’s try with paper and some tape.

Conversation between RJ and LR in the back seat:

RJ: Sharks like to eat big animals.
LR: Not really big animals.
RJ: They do too! They like turtles and seals and people. And even crocodiles.
LR: They can’t eat crocodiles.
RJ: Can too!
LR: No they can’t. They’re too big.
RJ: They can eat baby crocodiles.
LR: Baby crocodiles live in the river, silly. Sharks don’t go there.
RJ: Bull sharks do.