Another tooth gone!

Now opening, the Raider of the Lost Tooth...

... and the exciting news is that the tooth-next-door is wobbly too!

After spending the night in Denham, we got up early the next morning and drove to Monkey Mia. Every day, a crowd gathers on the shore to wait for a pod of dolphins who have been fed there, every day, for years.

LR and RJ try to spot them from the jetty.

The water was incredibly still and calm... Dad had the rare chance to get some early morning photography done while waiting.

LR stands knee deep in water as the pod arrives.

One of the park rangers hands over some of the delicious booty.

The kids spent some time snorkelling and exploring the shallow waters of the bay.

LR and RJ discovered hermit crabs near the shore... There were hundreds of them!

LR heads off to collect another handful of crabs!

Mom booked us onto a boat cruise. It was a great way to get out into the bay and see some sharks, turtles, dolphins and perhaps even a dugong.

RJ and Dad rode in the net, trying to spot sharks as we cruised the reefs.

The boat stopped by a pearl oyster farm where we learned the ins and outs of farming pearls. As we watched the presentation, RJ suddenly darted forward between the speaker's legs to save this tiny crab from being stepped on.

RJ had an audience as he practiced his surf moves!

On the ride back, LR and Dad made up their own jokes to entertain themselves.

One of the wild dolphins had great fun riding the bow wave from the boat.

Once we left the reef area and returned to deeper water, the captain loaded the net behind the boat with passengers and took off -- the ultimate ocean cold-tub.

The next morning, we were off again, heading north past Carnarvon and on to Gnaraloo Station. We stopped along the way to watch the blowholes, as whales happily flopped about just off the coast. Despite the best efforts from the blowholes, with deafening roars and tremendous columns of water blasting from the rock, the kids were still way more interested in the tidal pools.

LR did her very best to break her ankle by leaping maniacally from rock to rock across the puddles, but failed miserably.

At this point, we had 80 km (50 miles) of this kind of track ahead of us. Every few hundred metres, we would encounter another massive bog which would require getting out and inspecting. We very seriously considered turning around and not continuing on.

We arrived, triumphant, but utterly nervewracked and exhausted. We took our place amongst the four wheel drives and tried to pretend it had been great fun.

At the base of the cliff in front of camp, there's a famous surfing spot. It was pretty spectactular, with great waves rolling in continuously, all day long.

Dog digging competition!!! On your mark, get set, go!

What's that, Mom? The water's a bit cold?

RJ really enjoyed snorkelling too. He spotted all kinds of fish, and thought he had made friends with two, but discovered they were just damselfish trying to scare him away from their algae farm!

At every opportunity, LR hunted for the most precious shells on the sea floor.

At low tide, we could explore the safer sections of the cliff face. There were lots of little caves and rock pools along the way.

We hiked lots of trails around Gnaraloo, climbing cliffs and exploring. It was a terrific place to watch whales happily flop and splash about, with a few showing up every ten minutes or so.

Some awful, terrible, bad parents set an awful, terrible, unsafe example for their children by jumping down into this sea cave to pick up some pretty rocks, and then frantically scrambling out before the waves came crashing into it.

RJ and his new favorite pet... A 'cuddle' fish.

Big news!!! We discovered RJ's first wiggly tooth!

These super cute bearded dragons were everywhere. They were incredibly curious and had absolutely no fear of people, but at the speeds they dart around, they have no reason to be.

Gnaraloo Bay is absolutely stunning -- some of the most spectacular coral and aquatic wildlife in the world, just a metre below the surface of a huge expanse of crystal blue water gently lapping against perfect, white, fine-grained sand, and aside from this amazingly great family that showed up, almost completely deserted.

RJ and LR gathered shells and rocks built an enormous city that spanned the beach.

These huge sand dunes were just a short hike from the campsite.

It took a while to climb to the top; they were bigger than they looked and we were weighed down by an impressive number of dead crabs.

We finally made it to the top, where we watched more whales springing about.

LR and Dad wandered off with their cameras to get some pictures of the surfers. They had to be pretty brave to attempt the entry from the reef into the crashing waves.

The kids made friends with the boys at the neighbouring camp. Ledgy, their dad, even set up a totem tennis set for them, which our kids promptly dominated.

Oh no! Camping hair!!! (and she still looks gorgeous.)

Being wintertime, we were allowed to have a campfire. RJ worked on his marshmallow chargrilling technique.

LR, to Mom's delight, worked on a careful, slow-roasting technique, producing a series of perfectly toasted marshmallows.

RJ's favorite present was this jaw from a 10ft lemon shark.

His other big present was a set of Lego PowerMiners, mostly because it comes with the largest rock monster available.

After school, it was time for RJ's "Not a party" Party in the park. Half the kids joined our train that snaked through the school toward our house.

A big part of your birthday is the birthday hat... RJ decided it was good enough to wear all day long.

LR is happy to hang out with some of RJ's friends... for a little while.

Kid pile-up at the swing!

RJ blows out the candles... Only one girlfriend this year!

Mum hands out the delicious cupcakes that Grammy made.

C and RJ peek over the edge of the slide before disappearing.

Apparently, a slide is the most fun if it has seven people on it.

Later that night, after dinner, we had another cake for RJ.

The next day, RJ invited two of his friends to go to the movies with us.

We always wave to the train drivers as they arrive at the station.

The three guys watch the world cruise by out of the window of the train.

We had fun spinning a huge stone sphere balanced on a fountain. We got it moving really fast!

One the way to the theatre, we stopped to watch a street performer do some amazing juggling tricks.

The kids enjoy the traditional 'Choc Bombs' -- chocolate covered ice cream cones. We used to get them at the movies as kids too!

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!

RJ's toe at the hospital, all cleaned up, but before the stitches went in.

Your extremely sympathetic parents are willing to let you spend lots of time watching TV on the couch.

Another benefit of an injury: plenty of time at home to organise your stuffed animals by phylogeny.

The bandaged toe. It was pretty horrific looking for the first few days so we preferred to keep it hidden.

After three days, Mum was allowed to clean it up.

RJ's impressive pain tolerance helped out a lot, with only an occasional quick breath when it hurt.

Mum was extra careful to make sure nothing could get in there to start an infection.

Five days after the incident, Dad decided to try getting us out of the house and took us to the zoo. We brought a 'wheelchair' for the invalid.

When Dad decided to stop and get a nice picture to take back to mum, we thought she'd appreciate a picture of us picking our noses more than anything else in the world.

And in other news, LR has lost her fifth tooth. This time it was one of the big guys!