Twenty-five screams

After writing the Easter, the long weekend post I realised I hadn't mentioned one thing: namely, my experience on a clown bicycle. At least, that's what I'm calling it -- a spare bicycle that has lived at the coast units "for anyone to use." On the face of it, a noble and good idea. In practice, quite dangerous: after adjusting the seat to maximum height, my legs were still bent like a stork's; and the handlebars had a frightening tendency to swivel downwards at the slightest pressure (for example, while steering, or trying to power up a hill).

The benefit of riding the clown bicycle was that I could accompany Anya while she used every trick in her book to beat me in numerous mini-races. This meant that David could concentrate fully on teaching Callum to ride without training wheels. He really did it tough, jogging alongside while Callum peddled along.  Sometimes Callum forgot to keep his legs moving, thus swerving and wobbling (often right across David's path) and shrieking loudly whenever a wobble started.  Apparently Callum also sang a repetitive song to motivate himself the whole time (when not shrieking).

On the first day of training, Callum achieved a maximum count of 10 seconds on his own. By the end of the weekend, he was up to 25 seconds. And, as he said himself, "25 screams!"

Easter, the long weekend

Easter: the end of David's long service leave, which started at Christmas.

    

We headed up the coast for the long weekend and enjoyed some very fine weather -- hardly any rain, as would normally come at this time of year.  We've hardly been to the beach this year because of working on the house, so I was really happy to be able to take Anya and Callum swimming this weekend.



On Saturday, my nieces finally redeemed their Christmas gift from over a year ago -- a day of shopping.  We did a circuit of Hastings Street (Noosa) where they cannily shopped to budget (courtesy of me).  Their mum came along too and supplemented the budget a little.  :)  I also treated them to lunch at Berardo's, which impressed them as being the fanciest restaurant they'd ever been to -- because of the small dishes of salt on the table.



Sunday morning, Anya was delighted to notice an Easter egg in her room as she was getting dressed.  Callum was quick to wake up and join in the egg hunt.  Anya was far ahead of Callum in the egg count at one stage, but she showed him where quite a few eggs were, and even gave him one so that they would be even.  We then went downstairs and spectated while our nephew hunted for eggs in the garden.  (His sisters opted out this year, but also followed him around pointing out eggs he was missing.  There were many jokes about having a "man look.")



We had one last glorious morning at the beach on Monday, then headed home to Brisbane after dinner.  And that's a wrap.

Bapping Woman

Picture this: Anya and Callum are settled in for another viewing of Justice League.  This is probably their fourth or fifth episode so they've become familiar with the roster of heroes.  (Also, David reads comic books, so they know some characters because of that.)

As the show opens, they call out each hero's name as they appear: "Superman!"  "Green Lantern!"  "Wonderwoman!"  "Green guy!"  (some other guy in green... I don't know who he is either... David says he's John Jones?)  "The Flash!"  "Bapping Woman!  I don't know her name, but I call her Bapping Woman, because she's always bapping people with her stick!"

When I relayed this story to David, he told me that Anya meant Hawkgirl (after he stopped laughing uncontrollably).  We both watched with interest last night as we screened another Justice League episode.  When the opening scenes got up to Hawkgirl, Anya remained silent, but Callum yelled out, "Porkgirl!"

David's Birthday Duck

David's favorite meal being duck, I bought two duck breasts on impulse last week and stashed them in the freezer without an actual meal plan.

Some research found me the following recipe: http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/12162/spiced-duck-breasts.aspx which I liked for being spicy and NOT sweet.  It is tedious how many duck recipes involve fruit sauce.  Not that I dislike duck with fruit sauce, but other options are very welcome.

I didn't quite follow the recipe, so here is my version:
(1) For baharat spice rub, I substituted a mixture of Cajun spice mix and ras-el-hanout (because I already had some of each made, and didn't want to make another spice mix), plus I added some Chinese five spice.
(2) Rather than cut slits in the duck skin, I loosened it over each duck breast while keeping it attached on the side.  I rubbed the spice into this cavity and all over the outside as well.
(3) As per the recipe, I cooked it over medium heat, skin side down first, until the fat had rendered, then on the other side.  I didn't really time it and was worried that it would be overcooked, but the spice rub protected it and it actually came out perfectly.
(4) Rather than the sweet potato mash in the recipe I made Tunisian carrot salad and served it warm, as well as garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  I kind of modified the carrot salad recipe as well, by using coriander paste (rather than fresh chopped) and lemon juice (rather than vinegar).  The carrots went really well with the duck.  So did the Riesling!

Bird Frenzy, and Balloon Crazy

Some photos of notable moments in the last few months.  We went to the Samford Show on July 18th, enjoyed a tethered hot air balloon ride, and treated the kids to a few amusement rides.

After waiting for holidays to be over, then getting over the whooping cough, we finally finally had a play date mid-August with Anya's best friend from kindy, Amelia, and her best friend from school, Annika.  Anya was so excited by the idea of having her best friends meet and play together.  I was bemused by the fact that all their names begin and end with A.  I proposed to Anya that they could call themselves the "A" Bunch (referencing one of her favorite books, The Lunch Bunch).

Balloon Crazy at the Samford Show

Best Friends, Reunited

This past weekend we had my Aunt Jo (my mother's cousin) staying with us, so on Sunday we all went to O'Reilly's to feed the birds and have a little walk in the tree tops.  Everyone had a great time.  Callum made me laugh by gruffly commanding the birds, "Get on me!"  Anya impressed me with her nonchalant climb up a tree to 30 meters off the ground (in a caged ladder, but still!)

Wow! A king parrot on my shoulder!

Crimson Rosellas

Regent Bowerbirds

Top Thoughts

After going to Melbourne & Bendigo for work, then Darwin & Litchfield & Kakadu for school holidays, I felt like there was a lot I could blog about, but so much that I spent way too much time thinking about what to write. At the same time, I spent several weeks fighting off the whooping cough and the horrible effects of megadosing myself with antibiotics (my first antibiotics since 1991), so I also wasn't in much shape to compose anything readable. Now I feel like it's probably too late to go back in time and describe everything we did, but suffice to say, we loved Litchfield & Kakadu and definitely want to see more of the Top End.



The top of Gunlom Falls was probably the most picturesque of all the gorgeous swimming holes and waterfalls that we visited – I would include it on anybody's "must-do" list for the Top End. There were a whole series of approximately rectangular basins cascading down to the lip of the waterfall, all quite generous in size. Above them were a series of rounded pools, fed by a carved miniature gorge. The water was clear green over a sandy bed; I felt like I was swimming in glass. The top is reached by a 2km ascent from the campsite. We also swam in the plunge pool, which was the only time we went past a "swim at your own risk" crocodile warning sign. (Everyone was swimming, so it seemed pretty safe.) Someone camping near us offered us the use of their pool noodles, which helped us to swim all the way across the pool to the base of the waterfall with Anya and Callum in tow.



Our cruise of Yellow Water ("Ngurrungurrudja") at sunset was also a great experience. It was the only time we actually saw any live crocodiles, despite a myriad of "swim at your own risk" signs throughout the parks. I read that the estuarine crocodiles ("ginga") have largely displaced the freshwater crocodiles ("madjarrki") in Kakadu, which is why there are so many warnings now. The estuarine crocodiles (also known colloquially as "salties") are larger and more aggressive, whereas the freshwater crocodiles are shy and tend to leave people alone.

I wish we'd had time to see Butterfly Gorge, whose walls are apparently home to countless butterflies; The Lost City, a spot which our rented 4WDs were not allowed to go; Jim Jim Falls, which we missed in favour of Nourlangie Rock; and all the other waterfalls and rock pools we missed. We did go to Florence Falls, Tjaynera Falls, Buley Rockhole and Howard Springs, which is a pretty long list considering our limited time. I am glad we went to Nourlangie Rock, where we got to see an ancient rock shelter (possibly 40,000 years old), lots of rock art, and a beautiful view of an escarpment.



We came home already thinking about our next camping holiday. Anya and Callum adjusted to the camping and 4 wheel driving life quite readily, so that's one obstacle cleared. Anya did ask me mid-week, "Can we go home now?" but it turned out the reason was, "I want to use a computer." Now we just have to pick a time and place, and go.

Life in the Single Lane

This week, David is away in Canberra, so I've slogging it alone since Sunday afternoon. He's been calling just before bedtime each night, to say good night to Anya and Callum, so it's been relatively painless for them. It wasn't until this morning, when Callum was romping on the bed with me before breakfast, that his absence was really noticed. Callum looked at David's empty pillow and said, "Where's Dad?"

I've had a lazy several days, in reality, as I'm still recovering from my various illnesses (still a mystery to me how I got whooping cough, and whether the following sniffles were related or a new infestation of my lungs), so I've allowed myself to sleep in a bit (kids permitting). Today I had to actually roust Anya out of bed – she's still recovering too, I think, although she's seemed happy and bright enough.

Yesterday was Anya's first day back at school since last Wednesday, so I also indulged her a bit when dropping her off – then as I appeared to be sticking around, her teacher suckered me into showing all the kids how to do some origami! It was a frantic half hour of helping 6 or 8 or 10 (the group seemed to be growing by the minute) each fold their own hopping frog. Fun for me, actually, but not sure if the kids actually learned anything.

The next thing I knew, I was rolling into the office at around eleven, just in time to find out that all the managers were there in force for a managers' meeting. This could have been embarrassing but instead I was invited along for the lunch, so I got a free, fancy lunch at the Pink Piano instead of my usual hurried gulp at my desk. It's just as well I don't have any pressing deadlines at the moment.

I think perhaps I'm still on Darwin time... (half an hour behind Brisbane/Sydney).

David's birthday weekend

David's birthday was this weekend.  I think he had a good time. 

The Super Life

Superkids can fight crime with anything, even teapots.


Superkids have their own special seating.


Superkids wear goggles in the bath.


Superkids don't have to worry about safety barriers.


Superkids have Superdads.

Guest Post: Good morning, cars!

[this post was written by David]
My son usually gets up early each morning to go to the toilet. He always wants his mum to take him, but Elaine and I alternate. It's always a struggle to stop him from crying, "I want Mama!" and waking everyone up when it's my turn with him.

Xmas 2009

Massive piles of presents, first at home then at the bigger family shindig. (Click on the photo to browse through my flickr album!) I won't bore with the whole gift list, but the ViewMasters were a surprise favorite.

We had a great Xmas day, opening presents, feasting on a potluck meal, and even got to go swimming. Neighbours have been kind to us this year, first on Xmas day when we swam at the neighbours', then all through the after-Xmas period when we were up the coast. We swam at the next door pool whenever we felt like it, thanks to a neighbour who was away and said we were welcome to use the pool. Why would we swim in a pool with the ocean right there, you ask? Well, I have often wondered myself why anyone living at the beach would have a pool, and now I know.

For days when the undertow and sweep are too strong, or the weather is just too blustery. For days the water and sand are littered with bluebottles (stinging jellyfish). Or just because it feels great to swim at the beach and follow that with an extra dip in the pool. Or, have a pool session in the afternoon because you already went to the beach in the morning. Besides, you can do stuff in the pool like: blow all the air out of your lungs and sit on the bottom with your legs crossed; perform jumping tricks like twists, splits, and the old classic, cannonball; play Ring-Around-the-Rosy; and so on.

I couldn't believe how huge Anya's confidence became with swimming daily in the pool! (She was doing all the above, and more.) I just wonder what their new boosted confidence will do to their swim instructors. Swimming with Callum was quite tiring as he had no fear of lunging every which way, secure in the knowledge that we would keep a hold of him. His lunging about included shoving and kicking us in the guts, since we were only his lowly diving platforms. He also got pretty bold when Anya was jumping off the wall with her cousin Isaac, and joined in for several jumps.

As for David and myself, we brought a huge stack of books, an HD media player loaded with kids' movies and our own stuff, my laptop (no internet, though), and went op-shopping several times (op shop = thrift store). Mainly, though, it was a big change of pace to swim every day (sometimes 2 or 3 times in one day) and spend most of our time plotting a chance to grab a nap (a fiercely contested privilege between the two of us). Anya and Callum flourished in having both of us, and their grandma, on tap almost the whole day, as well as our in-laws (including 3 cousins) who were staying downstairs.

We also had one night out on the town to see Avatar 3D. I was really transported. The story was fairly unoriginal, but with the beautiful world and people and animals, I became very involved in the environment. When we left the movie, I felt like I was in some sort of different headspace, and it took me almost half an hour to come back to myself.

Guest Post: Daddy Bat

For about the last six weeks, first thing in the morning we have been playing the Baby Bat game at our house. I think this began one day when Anya crawled into bed with me and (maybe – I can’t actually remember what started it all) I was explaining about the fruit bats that fly around our house at night. They make a lot of raucous squawking noises as they eat nectar and fruit off the neighbourhood trees. The next thing, it was:

“Dad – let’s pretend that we’re bats, and you’re the daddy bat, and I’m a baby bat, and we’re flying through the forest together, and we’re flying really fast, and you’re squeaking to me like “Squeak! Squeak!” and I squeak back to you like “SQUEAK! Squeak, squeak!” and we fly some more, and ……”

And so on.

From these beginnings, we’ve developed quite a sophisticated storyline for our game. The plot for this is almost entirely spun by Anya. It’s like we’re in the Baby Batverse. It’s usually more fun to describe the plot of today’s game, in one long run-on sentence, than it is to actually play the game. Here’s the plot of this morning’s game.

There’s Baby Bat, Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy (Callum joined the game about a week and a half ago.) We live in a big cave with all the other bats, sleeping all day and hanging by our toes. At night we come out and we hunt insects. (We’re not fruit bats; we’ve become insectivorous about a month ago. Occasionally, we dabble in eating fruit when we see a nice pawpaw tree growing in the forest, but it’s been a fair while since that’s happened.)

We fly through the forest, hunting moths. It’s only ever moths we eat – ladybugs are too cute to eat, and butterflies are too lovely. We all catch them quite well now because we’ve practiced so much. When we catch them, we snatch them into our mouths with this sound – “Haraaamph!” Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy usually spit out the wings, but Baby Bat likes the wings the best – she always eats them.

Moths are pretty cool, but one thing that puts a cramp in our night-time hunting is our arch nemesis, the Owl. The Owl, you see, likes to eat baby bats. If he sees any, he swoops on them and tries to catch them in his claws. For that reason, although Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy can fly pretty well, they usually cling on to Daddy Bat’s side as he flies around. This lets them hide under Daddy Bat’s wings if the owl comes, which happens frequently. Quite often, despite all the hiding, there is still some swooping, and Baby Bat has fallen out of the sky onto the ground. Then it’s a mad rush from Daddy Bat to locate her in the forest (she cries out “Help! Help, Daddy Bat!”) and get to her before The Owl does. So far, so good – although the Owl is a really, really fast flier, we’ve outpaced him because we can twist and turn as we fly much better than him. We then fly back to the cave, and the opening is too small for the Owl to come into. Plus, there are thousands of us bats living in there, so he knows if he tries to come in, he’ll get beaten up.

Even when Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy are hiding really well, the Owl doesn’t stop trying. He flies up to Daddy Bat and says “Hey! Got any baby bats here tonight? I’m hungry!” Daddy Bat always tries to trick the Owl and he says “Oh, no – no baby bats here, no sir! I think I might have seen some over there, though,” pointing somewhere far, far away in the forest. The Owl usually falls for it, although he comes back surprisingly quickly and tells Daddy Bat that he’s been wrong.

So that’s the usual game. I should also mention that the last two times, the Owl’s been getting trickier. Yesterday, he came along when the Baby Bats weren’t hiding – they were right out in the open, playing in a tree! Only some fast thinking from Daddy Bat saved the day. Daddy Bat managed to convince the Owl that the two Baby Bats he was looking at weren’t actually bats. They were toy bats – they looked so terribly lifelike because they were made of rubber. Because they were rubber, you couldn’t eat them, either, because they’d taste just terrible. (Baby Bat snickered when the Owl fell for that one, let me tell you.) And this morning, we had to tell him the same thing again. We even had to fake having an on-off switch on the Baby Bats, and when Daddy Bat switched their switches to ‘off,’ they had to stop moving and pretend that they were battery-powered Baby Bat toys.

The Non-Socratic Dialogues

Counting by Callum (9-Oct-09)
One, two, fwee, four, five, six, sebben, eight, nine, ten, ‘leven, twelve, thirteen.... fzz-teen... fffteen?

Conversation a lá Dora (22-Oct-09)
Anya: Can you say, “Arriba”?
Callum: Reeba!
Anya: Can you say, “Gracias”?
Callum: Rassia!
Elaine: Do you know what gracias means?
Anya: No.
Elaine: It means thank you.
Anya: [silent indifference]

Pleasing Conversation (28-Oct-09)
Anya: You don’t say “please” do you Callum?
Callum: Peeese? (very sweetly)
Anya: No, “please” – not “peese”!
Callum: Peese?

Hair Combing Conversation (1-Nov-09)
Anya: Want me to comb your hair?
Callum: Yeah...
Anya: Well, then – STOP – DOING – WEIRD – THINGS!
[brief silence]
Callum must have kept moving, because next...
Anya: Fine then, I’m not combing your hair EVER AGAIN.
[this conversation then repeated at least three times]

The Button (14-Nov-09)
Callum spots his sword (a collapsible futuristic light-saber style) and grabs it with glee. He starts to brandish it.
Anya: Don’t fight me, I don’t have a sword!
Callum: OK. [turns away]
Anya: Fight the baddies over there. [she points]
Callum: OK. [waves his sword around]
Just a few seconds pass, and she can’t resist getting involved.
Anya: Want me to fight the baddies?
He lets her take over the sword.
Anya: Want me to press the... [she tries to think of what to call it] ...the EVIL SMELL button?

As Experienced by Dad
(Before you read this: we refer to farts as ‘fluffs’ in our household. Not sure why we started doing that – probably because Anya’s child care centre does it. ‘Fart’ is just too uncouth to say aloud, it seems.)

Last Sunday I walked into the kitchen to find Anya clutching at her crotch through her shorts. She looked for all the world like a little boy who urgently needs to go to the toilet. “Do you need to do a wee?” I asked.

Anya looked slightly confused, as if she didn’t understand why I would suddenly ask this. “No,” she answered.

“Then why are you holding your crotch like that?”

She looked a bit sheepish, looked up at me and in a small voice told me. “To squeeze the fluffs out.”

Parental Tricks

I was thinking about writing out the daily routine we have, but realised that most people are not as list-oriented as I am. Therefore, instead I am sketching out a few time management skills (yes, in a list... I couldn’t help myself...) that David and I have developed for getting through each day. Hopefully, they are entertaining...

• We take turns getting to sleep in (every other day). This was really crucial until recently, as Callum tended to get up at 5:30 am whereas the rest of us (Anya included) think it isn’t decent to get up before 6:30, and really like 7:00 the best. Lately sleep-in time hasn’t been as much of an issue, except that our neighbour’s kids tend to start at 6 am, the ensuing brouhaha broadcasting straight at our bedroom window from their rumpus room cum echo chamber. I don’t know how, as they don’t seem to go to bed until 8 or 9 pm (Anya and Callum go to bed at 7:30, or 8 at the latest).

• We race Callum to the toilet, or other places we want him to go. It is important to note that we do NOT get Anya to be in the race, unless she is just joining in to help us get Callum going (which she generously did this morning, allowing him to “win”) because nothing gets Callum crankier than losing out to Anya AGAIN.

• At breakfast, I eat the same thing as the kids do. David has not adopted this tactic, but I’m certainly finding it easier since I realised that serving myself the same items is a lot quicker than thinking up and serving out a completely different meal. Also this has the positive benefit of making my breakfast healthy, not a sugary pastry, like I used to prefer B.K. (before kids). This morning we had mango, banana, blueberries, yogurt and English muffins. I was the only one who had coffee, though.

• For a while, I toyed with applying the requisite sunblock before leaving the house, but now I’ve gone back to doing it after we arrive at Kindercraft. It’s a useful way to spend the hanging out time before I leave them for the day.

• When it’s time for me to go to work, Callum says quite cheerfully, “You go?” with an inquiring look into my eyes. I say, “Yes, who wants to throw me out the gate today?” and everyone in the immediate vicinity (anywhere from 3 to 10 kids) usually says, “ME!!!” At the gate, I dramatically heave myself forward and backward, counting, “One! Two! Three!” and force myself out. Then depending on her mood, Anya either kisses me through the gate, or advises her best friend, “Don’t – she has slobber –” but my lovely son always accepts all kisses.

• Dinner is usually sandwiches and fruit in the car on the way home, and maybe a little treat as well. Yesterday I attended the Artforce award ceremony (painted traffic signal boxes, of which I have accomplished one so far), so we all drove over to New Farm and the kids got to play in the fantastic playground (arguably the best in Brisbane) before heading home with Dad while I went over to the awards shindig at the Powerhouse.

• We love when the kids play together in the bath, but usually they fight when stuck in close quarters, so most of the time bathtimes are separate. They do love being in the bath with either David and me, so sometimes we get in with them. It gets REALLY crowded when both kids get in with one of us! A strong argument for getting a spa when we get a new home...

• TV. I admit defeat. My mother was completely anti-TV, and I inherited that attitude from her (i.e. TV is for your brain, like sugar is bad for your health). But on this front, I have given in. Kids going crazy and you don’t have time to escort them outside? TV. Want to eat your breakfast in peace for a few minutes before loading up the car for work? TV. Time to wind down for the day and get ready for bed? TV. Having said that, David has introduced an interesting twist recently: he uses our TV/PC setup to play songs (not videos) for the kids. It seems to give them the feeling that they are getting the treat of TV, and they enjoy hearing the songs.

• At bedtime, the kids seem to actually prefer a more flexible approach (rather than the extremely predictable routine recommended by most experts). Our only firm goal is to get them into bed by 7:30 with clean teeth and empty bladders. But one staple that seems to remain is the singing. The very last event of their day used to be us singing them a song or two of their choice (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star being the usual favourite). A few weeks ago, they both seemed really grumpy with the singing segment, and I suggested that instead, they could sing to us. This was an instant hit, and is our new routine, although every once in a while, they still ask that we do the singing. Anya really loves it when I surprise David by tickling him while he’s singing, but he really isn’t up for tickles every night.

Six Days Without Dad

Last Tuesday, David left for a fishing trip with his brothers and some other guys. We had a pretty busy time of it at home, as well, since Wednesday was a public holiday – for Brisbane-ites to attend the "Ekka" (Royal Exhibition, like a State Fair). Thursday I worked, then Friday is my usual day off, followed by the weekend, of course. Raema (David's mum) stayed with us for a lot of the time, which eased the pressure on me somewhat. Below is a potted history of what we got up to.

Wednesday: We had already gone to the Ekka on Sunday, so instead we went to Kmart Arana Hills Plaza, where they put on a mini-Ekka for the kids. Anya had a free pony ride (outside), then waited in line quite a while for her face to be painted (I also snuck Callum into the seat for a quick dash of paint). Luckily, Callum and Anya didn't get impatient, as Po (Kung Fu Panda) appeared nearby and we watched him greeting all the kids. We managed to get painted faces *and* meet Po as well afterward, so all in all it worked out well. Anya had a rainbow around her face and Callum had tiger stripes and ears. There was also a small animal petting area, for which Raema kindly held our place in line while Anya and Callum played on the usual shopping centre coin rides, until we could get in for a pat. Last, we went back outside intending to try some of the amusement rides, but the queue at the ticket booth was enormous, so I enticed them away to McDonald's where they had more play time in the fort after lunch. All in all, a hugely successful outing, and Raema even got to have the traditional Ekka treat, strawberry ice cream (courtesy of Cold Rock Ice Cream).

Thursday: This is the day when Raema looks after Anya and Callum at home. She also said it was OK for me to go to circus class as usual in the evening, but I came home in between to give her a rest. I'd hurried in to work to meet a colleague at my office – but he arrived an hour late because his wife asked him to drop her off at the Ekka and he wasted a lot of time circling around and getting on the wrong roads etc. So instead of going home early-ish as intended, I ended up getting home about 4:30... just in time for a big spat between Anya and Callum. But apparently, before that they were good little lambs all day. Raema took them on a walk down to a local park, then after lunch Anya and Charlie (neighbour the same age as Anya) played together most of the afternoon with Anya hopping back and forth over the fence. I headed out to circus class after giving Anya and Callum their dinner.

Friday: We dashed off to swimming and Raema went to attend a funeral... and we forgot the lock the house! I thought she was going to do it (didn't realise she was leaving right at the same time) and she thought I'd done it (she saw me go back in for something and assumed I'd locked up as well) – my fault of course, I should have made sure to check what was happening. Imagine my shock when I got home and found the two back doors wide open. Luckily, nobody wandered in, and I wasn't gone long, because I was expecting a visit from Jodi Meynell (realtor), about listing our house with them. Callum was resisting naptime for the start of my talk with Jodi and I kept having to run back into his room to supply tissues, sing songs, and get kisses. Eventually he settled down, but it was a complete change from his usually easy naptimes.

Saturday: Callum was extremely reluctant to let me go out without him (taking Anya to her circus class) – I think he's been extra attached to me this week because David's missing. He has been a bit restless at night as well. But Anya absolutely loved having me to herself all morning. We went grocery shopping as well after circus class, and she was so happy and well behaved and helpful. In the afternoon, she started playing with Charlie again, who came over to our place this time. Alyssia (Charlie's older sister) appeared after a while, and then they all asked, "Can we put our togs on?" (Togs are swimsuits, for you non-Aussies.) I had the sprinkler on, you see! You should have heard them running around and giggling. They got containers and kept collecting the water and tossing it up in the air in unison. By dusk they were all shivering while still insisting they weren't cold. Alyssia went home to have a warm bath and Anya and Charlie had a bath together in our bathroom. Then they asked if Charlie could sleep over! I was thinking that it was possible, but worried a little about the extra activity and disruption (and how crowded it would get in the bedroom), and luckily Nicole (her mum) told Charlie no.

Sunday: We went to GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art), the Science Museum, and the Art Gallery. GoMA's children's area has a "bat experience" at the moment. The room is decorated with paper folded cutouts of bats, flowers, leaves, cicadas, praying mantises, snakes, and other creatures that they've provided makings for (trace a template, cut it out, and follow folding instructions). One end also has a city skyline with glowing windows, and you can draw on yellow paper that fits in the window spaces. We ended up at the Science Museum by accident as my preferred cafe (at the State Library) said we couldn't eat any of our own food there (although I was planning to order coffee and my own lunch there). So we wandered around and ended up at the Museum Cafe.

After lunch, we briefly walked through the main parts of the Museum, the highlight being the room that feels like you're inside an aquarium – Callum was particularly taken with the turtles, and Anya really like them too. She also delighted in pointing out the sea snake to Raema (we all know that Raema hates snakes and frogs). At the Art Gallery there was a bank of TVs and headphones showing various old style animations. Anya made herself very comfortable there. Callum and I read some of the books on offer, then we started wandering around a little and had to drag Anya away. It was getting rather late (2 pm) and we should have left sooner, but both kids were having such a nice time.

Callum only slept for half an hour (in the car) then was his normal self for the rest of the day – I couldn't believe it. He got a new best friend (briefly) because for some reason, Anya switched allegiances and was playing mainly with Alyssia. So Charlie decided she would play with Callum instead. (I imagine it was a little disappointing for her, though.) Jack (eldest from next door) also came over the fence and played with the girls, who were pretending they were fairies (he said he was a pixie).

And that was our six days without Dad...

Cooking the Chef

David had the brilliant idea for a dinner party where each guest would bring a dish from The Cook and The Chef. We decided his birthday was the perfect excuse, and invited everyone over this Saturday evening. The eclectic, but tasty, menu included:

Beetroot, Cannellini & Pear Dip with Rosemary Chickpea Crispbread
Bitter Green Salad
Treasure's Lamb and Pickled Quince Pies
Thai Chicken Stir Fry
Buffalo Mozzarella Souffle
Chocolate Almond and Prune Slab
Vietnamese Coffee

We also brought out several bottles that have been "cellared" under our house in the crawl space (like most timber Queensland homes, our house is elevated about 3 ft above the ground, which helps it stay cool and also deters termites). Yummm... there was a 1996 Jamieson's Run, a 1995 Wynn's Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, and to finish, we shared a port that David bought in Solvang, the year that we started our relationship (1996). The Jamieson's Run was stunning. I can't believe we originally bought it for $10/bottle.

Anya and Callum slept over at their grandma's house, so they had a special time as well (and we got to stay up late and sleep in!)

Going to Town

5-Aug-08 Gaythorne Station
Originally uploaded by jaguarish

This is our typical arrangement when going to work for the day. Behind David you can see the stairs we know very well from crossing the train tracks to get to the city-bound platform from the carpark. Anya now has legs of steel from traipsing up and down these stairs three days a week!

Rainwater Tank Installation

This is only a temporary location, but still annoying that the tank completely blocks access through the yard.


David looks like he's grinning, but actually he is grimacing in pain as his head is aching from a cold and the machine vibrations are getting to him (not to mention the general fatigue of a long day of hard labor).


This is the tank overflow pipe (should we ever be so lucky to have that much rain). It was a real bugbear to complete the installation since this neighborhood doesn't have a stormwater system, so we were required to connect to a 1m x 1m x 1m rubble pit. Thanks to the tank installers, we learned this fact after the tank had been placed in the only through access, forcing us to be inventive about how to bring in the earthmoving equipment.

It was lucky for us that our neighbors had their house razed recently (to build a new one) and were happy to let us drive in through their property. David simply cut out some of the rotten old fence (to be replaced anyway as part of construction) and set up a ramp over our back retaining wall. Once situated, the digging was not so straightforward either as he discovered some 60-yr-old construction rubble in the process. Fortunately, the rubble was useful for filling the pit, which was for the rainwater tank overflow. This job took all weekend. Kudos to my manly man!