Aug 31 2010

What’s for dinner?

(while eating dinner)

LR: Here’s a trick, RJ. What animal is pork made from?

RJ: Cows?

LR: No. Pigs!

Dad: How about this one? What animal is beef made from?

LR: Pigs?

Dad: No.

LR: Cows?

Dad: Yes!

Dad: One more… What is venison?

RJ: Lion food!

Lion Plush 02


Aug 30 2010

Three times and you’re locked outside forever

(on the way to school)

Dad: You’re brining your ammonite fossil?

RJ: Yeah. I want to show it for news.

Dad: Be extra super careful with it… Most kids don’t get to bring ammonites to school. Know why?

RJ: Because they’re really hard to find?

Dad: Yep… but mostly because their parents know they are going to drop them.

RJ: I think there’s a rule. You can drop them one time, and that’s okay, but drop them two times and you’re out. No more fossils for you.

Lo Mejor Para 2007


Aug 25 2010

The chuckleberries don’t fall far from the funny tree

(while getting ready for school)

RJ: … But I need to wear all grey!

Mum: You can wear your grey tracky pants and a grey t-shirt.

RJ: That’s GRAAAAAY-TE! (runs off amidst a gale of giggling)

Shiny Shredding


Aug 12 2010

Worst… Party… Ever…

(while attempting to cut nails)

Dad: That’s your hands… Time for your toenails.

RJ: (curls into a ball) I have no feet or hands. I am a boulder!

Dad: … Uhhh… Okay… Then how did you get here?

RJ: In a paper bag — a party bag. Someone left me here.

Waiting for Indiana Jones


Aug 10 2010

And on that note…

(while eating dinner)

Dad: I love that song. Maybe I could learn to play it on the piano!

LR: Or on the guitar!

RJ: Or on the ukelele!

LR: Or on the flute!

RJ: Or on the computer!

LR: Or on the drums!

RJ: Or on a violin, but the bow is made from lots of spider webs that are stretched very long on a stick… But you would have to play it very carefully.

Elixir of life


Aug 4 2010

So… What have the Romans ever done for us?

(while eating dinner)

RJ: I’d like to thank somebody tonight. I’d like to thank the Romans… for inventing toilets.

RJ: THANK YOU ROMANS!

(LR, Mum and Dad): Thank you Romans!

Dad: They invented plumbing and running water in houses too.

… a few moments later …

RJ: I’d like to thank somebody tonight. I’d like to thank the Romans again… for inventing running water!

RJ: THANK YOU ROMANS!

LR, Mum and Dad: (groaning) Thank you Romans!

… a few minutes later …

RJ: I’d like to thank somebody else tonight. I’d like to thank the Egyptians! For inventing paper!

(LR, Mum and Dad): ARRGGGHH!!

Centurion


Jun 24 2010

Click go the chelicerae, Click Click Click!

(while eating breakfast)

RJ: Scarlet’s feet are clicking… Click click click.

Dad: Is that a problem?

RJ: Yes. It reminds me of giant spiders walking around the house… Giant spiders that eat people.

Dad: Maybe we could train one. We could have it as a pet!

RJ: No. That’s not a good idea.

Dad: Why not?

RJ: Because Grammy doesn’t mind little spiders, but she would be scared of a giant spider and she would freak out.

Dad: Fair enough. Can’t say I’d blame her.

Adult male Paraphidippus aurantius Jumping Spider (With Cannibalism Video!)


Jun 22 2010

Were people even around back then?

(Working on a project on Snow Leopards in the Himalayas)

Mom: The Himalayas are really craggy and sharp looking because they’re young mountains.

Lorian: How old are they?

Mom: Well, they happened when India crashed into Asia. That started happening about 50 million years ago and it’s still happening. The mountains are still growing.

Lorian: 50 million years? So was that in the 1960′s?

Dhaulagiri Peak


Jun 21 2010

Not to put too fine a point on it

(while eating dinner)

RJ: I don’t like the vegetables, but I will eat ALL my rice.

LR: Rice is a vegetable, RJ!

RJ: No it’s not. It’s a grain. It’s a seed!

Inside the Monument - London


Jun 17 2010

Even Malaysians get the blues

(while eating dinner)

LR: (singing) We all live in a yellow submarine!

RJ: I know that song! I love that song!

LR and RJ: (joyously singing together) We all live in a yellow submarine!

RJ: (after the cacaphony quiets down) When I was a little kid (in Malaysia), we used to sing that song all the time… But it was a bit different. It was about a blue submarine.

wee waterfulls