Someday, I dream that I'll be able to do this:
23 February 2010
Queen of the Ziploc Bag
I'm feeling like such a MOM lately. My parents used Ziploc bags a lot, but with my green tendencies, I was trying to avoid them. You know, less plastic, save the planet, etc. However, as a parent, I now find that these bags are just the thing. (And to salve my green conscience, we wash and reuse them until they are totally worn out.) I started off using them only for food -- an easy way to take along snacks on the go. Then I branched out into other useful kid-related items, like a handful of wipes (so I don't have to lug around a whole container). Now I've gone bag-crazy and use them for: wet/squishy toiletries (amazing how often I need to bring sunblock, shampoo and soap!); hair elastics; tampons (men can avert their mental eyes here); mobile phone (when it's raining); pills; band-aids (my mini first aid kit)...
11 February 2010
Rolling Along
I spied Callum rolling this giant ball around as I came into kindy to
take him home. He told me gleefully, "I was getting in and out of it!"
08 February 2010
The Ultimate Abs Workout
So forget your Wii Fit Plus; forget your pilates devotions; forget your fit ball. THIS IS IT: hula hoops. After doing this for just 20 minutes in circus class tonight, I swear I can feel washboard ridges forming already.
02 February 2010
The Next Learning Curve
Now that Anya is attending school, I have been introduced to a whole new level of bewilderment. After living here for over ten years, I generally have the hang of how things are done in Australia, as opposed to the US, but now I am hitting another learning curve.
Kids here don’t catch school buses – their parents usually drive them in, although they are encouraged to take public transport. I think this will be OK when Anya gets older, but at this tender age, we have been dropping her off personally. I rather miss the school bus idea, actually, since you could then be sure that your kid was safe(ish) and set for the day once they got on the bus.
There is something called “tuck shop” available two days of the week, and it’s there for kids who want to buy their morning tea (mid-morning snack) or lunch, also sometimes called “little lunch” and “big lunch.” Today Anya ordered an apple slinky for morning tea and fish fingers and a corn cob for lunch. I had to learn to mark her name, order, and total amount on the outside of each bag which contains the required money; they return them to the classroom with food inside.
Mysteriously (to me), in addition to a requirement that we purchase a particular set of supplies for the year, the same info sheet also specified other things we had to supply, including one box of tissues and two reams of copier paper. I’m assuming these are NOT to be marked with Anya’s name! I didn’t actually notice this extra requirement until today when I was glancing over the info sheet again (we have already purchased the supply packet). Surely there would be some more efficient way of garnering these supplies rather than getting parents to bring them in individually?
Last, there was information about “Voluntary Contribution,” but the exact amount and deadline was specified. I don’t mind contributing, but this just seems like Orwellian double-speak to me...
Photo Theme: Liking Brisbane
What do I like around Brisbane today?
Art on the Streets
Architectural Juxtapositions
30 January 2010
Drawing from Life
Anya loves to draw – this week even her new teacher remarked on it, after knowing Anya for just three days. Lately she has begun drawing "real" pictures – sometimes from memory, sometimes by looking at what she’s drawing. I find this so exciting – that she doesn’t just draw a figure and call it a girl, or a particular shape and call it a box -- but rather, really observes what the features are, and includes them in her drawing.
Last week she amazed us with drawings of Wall-E and Eva, complete with the right body shapes and hands correctly including just two fingers per hand. This week, she drew Totoro, with the right body shape and v-shaped markings on his chest, and the bear claws on his paws – and she wrote his name next to him, as well. She told me that she wrote his name herself without asking anyone how to spell it. This just blows me away!
Last week she amazed us with drawings of Wall-E and Eva, complete with the right body shapes and hands correctly including just two fingers per hand. This week, she drew Totoro, with the right body shape and v-shaped markings on his chest, and the bear claws on his paws – and she wrote his name next to him, as well. She told me that she wrote his name herself without asking anyone how to spell it. This just blows me away!
29 January 2010
Everton Park Hotel
One of the mothers' group's favorite hangouts -- coffee & cake, an enclosed playground, and attractions on special days like a bouncy castle and a merry-go-round.
27 January 2010
21 January 2010
Bat-crazy
The evolution of a fad in our household can sometimes take some strange turns. Our kids are already, for some strange reason, enamoured of bats (see the post about the Baby Bat game). Combine this with a memory for that nutty song, Banana Phone, and what do you get?
First David showed them a YouTube video of Banana Phone, and they begged for repeat viewings. Why this video is so appealing, I'm not sure.
Next, out of desperation for a change, I showed them another YouTube video, which was listed in the "related videos" to the side. From there we hopped from video to video, almost all featuring babies with real faces and cartoon bodies, singing parodied versions of actual songs, usually about poo or farts. (Thanks a lot, Flowgo...not!) One of these was less scatological and merely featured a baby Batman, which they loved and wanted over and over.
David then decided to show them old Batman TV episodes from the sixties, and I followed that up with Batman and Spiderman cartoons. They totally don't care that the videos look so grainy and discoloured, especially on our large screen HD TV!
First David showed them a YouTube video of Banana Phone, and they begged for repeat viewings. Why this video is so appealing, I'm not sure.
Next, out of desperation for a change, I showed them another YouTube video, which was listed in the "related videos" to the side. From there we hopped from video to video, almost all featuring babies with real faces and cartoon bodies, singing parodied versions of actual songs, usually about poo or farts. (Thanks a lot, Flowgo...not!) One of these was less scatological and merely featured a baby Batman, which they loved and wanted over and over.
David then decided to show them old Batman TV episodes from the sixties, and I followed that up with Batman and Spiderman cartoons. They totally don't care that the videos look so grainy and discoloured, especially on our large screen HD TV!
20 January 2010
14 January 2010
Photo Theme: Curves
More experimentation with my little camera phone. It is terrible at long shots but fun for close up work.
12 January 2010
Photo Theme: Red Light Green Light
This morning I decided to experiment and took a photo every time I was stopped at a red light on my route to work. The images below are cropped from the originals. Not sure if the result is interesting but it was fun fooling around.
Holiday Recipes
I know, the holiday season is over. This post is more about simple recipes we prepared while away at the beach house -- in other words, when we didn't have a lot of ingredients handy.
Herb Infused Roast Chicken
This recipe idea originally came from a cookbook and I have tried lots of variations. This version is the result of about 10 years of experimentation. It is simple and delicious!
(1) Finely chop about 2 sprigs rosemary & 2 cloves garlic, or grind into a paste using mortar & pestle. Tip: sprinkling the pile with a bit of salt helps stop the pile from flying away while you chop or grind. Note for absolute beginners: don't include the twiggy stem of the rosemary!
(2) Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Gently loosen the chicken skin over the breast and break through to the area over the drumsticks as well.
(3) Spread the rosemary-garlic paste evenly between the skin and the flesh where you have just loosened the skin. Also insert a few fresh basil leaves here and there.
(4) Rub the chicken all over with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground pepper, and salt. Insert half a lemon into the cavity. Place in the oven at 180C (or 350F) or 160C for a fan-forced (convection) oven. If you don't have a convection oven, I highly recommend you use a vertical roasting dish.
(5) Halfway through cooking, squeeze lemon juice all over the chicken. Tip: the chicken is done when the legs feel quite loose when you wiggle them. Note for absolute beginners: timing depends on the chicken's size, of course, but usually an average chicken takes at least an hour to roast.
Simple Chicken Burritos
My husband has occasionally yearned for Mexican food, but I tend to avoid preparing it because I don't want to sully my memories of the Mexican meals I had in LA. However, to satisfy his craving I recently made up the following.
(1) Toss chunks of chicken in seasoning mixture. You don't need to buy special "burrito seasoning" -- you can just use a blend of Cajun spice mixture (something we always have to hand), chili powder, all-purpose seasoning, and/or paprika.
(2) Fry up the chicken pieces -- approx 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
(3) Serve as a buffet for "roll your own" with tortillas, lettuce, chopped tomato, shredded cheese, refried beans, sour cream, sliced capsicum (bell pepper), and avocado. Tip: it's nice to spread the tortilla with the warm items (chicken, beans & cheese) and heat briefly in the microwave before adding the fresh ingredients and rolling together. Alternatively you can place rolled burritos (without the sour cream) in a bakinng tray, sprinkle with cheese, bake to heat through, then garnish with sour cream and salsa upon serving.
Potato Pizza
This sounds odd until you taste it. I often order a local pizza caffe's version of this and decided to try making it at home.
(1) Make your pizza dough (very easy!) or use a good pizza base.
(2) Thinly slice one potato, place in cold water in a pot, and boil for one minute. Lay slices around the bowl of a colander to drip dry.
(3) Spread your pizza with the following, in this order: tomato paste; shredded cheese (I like a mixture of cheddar & mozzarella); finely chopped rosemary & garlic; finely sliced onion; slices of potato; shredded ham or Pancetta; more cheese to cover lightly (how cheesy do you like it?) and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan (optional).
(4) Bake at 180C (or 350F) on the lowest rack of your oven until cheese looks melted and crust is quite firm. Move to the top rack to brown the cheese and finish. If you have a fan-forced (convection) oven then you can probably just place it in the middle!
Herb Infused Roast Chicken
This recipe idea originally came from a cookbook and I have tried lots of variations. This version is the result of about 10 years of experimentation. It is simple and delicious!
(1) Finely chop about 2 sprigs rosemary & 2 cloves garlic, or grind into a paste using mortar & pestle. Tip: sprinkling the pile with a bit of salt helps stop the pile from flying away while you chop or grind. Note for absolute beginners: don't include the twiggy stem of the rosemary!
(2) Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Gently loosen the chicken skin over the breast and break through to the area over the drumsticks as well.
(3) Spread the rosemary-garlic paste evenly between the skin and the flesh where you have just loosened the skin. Also insert a few fresh basil leaves here and there.
(4) Rub the chicken all over with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground pepper, and salt. Insert half a lemon into the cavity. Place in the oven at 180C (or 350F) or 160C for a fan-forced (convection) oven. If you don't have a convection oven, I highly recommend you use a vertical roasting dish.
(5) Halfway through cooking, squeeze lemon juice all over the chicken. Tip: the chicken is done when the legs feel quite loose when you wiggle them. Note for absolute beginners: timing depends on the chicken's size, of course, but usually an average chicken takes at least an hour to roast.
Simple Chicken Burritos
My husband has occasionally yearned for Mexican food, but I tend to avoid preparing it because I don't want to sully my memories of the Mexican meals I had in LA. However, to satisfy his craving I recently made up the following.
(1) Toss chunks of chicken in seasoning mixture. You don't need to buy special "burrito seasoning" -- you can just use a blend of Cajun spice mixture (something we always have to hand), chili powder, all-purpose seasoning, and/or paprika.
(2) Fry up the chicken pieces -- approx 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
(3) Serve as a buffet for "roll your own" with tortillas, lettuce, chopped tomato, shredded cheese, refried beans, sour cream, sliced capsicum (bell pepper), and avocado. Tip: it's nice to spread the tortilla with the warm items (chicken, beans & cheese) and heat briefly in the microwave before adding the fresh ingredients and rolling together. Alternatively you can place rolled burritos (without the sour cream) in a bakinng tray, sprinkle with cheese, bake to heat through, then garnish with sour cream and salsa upon serving.
Potato Pizza
This sounds odd until you taste it. I often order a local pizza caffe's version of this and decided to try making it at home.
(1) Make your pizza dough (very easy!) or use a good pizza base.
(2) Thinly slice one potato, place in cold water in a pot, and boil for one minute. Lay slices around the bowl of a colander to drip dry.
(3) Spread your pizza with the following, in this order: tomato paste; shredded cheese (I like a mixture of cheddar & mozzarella); finely chopped rosemary & garlic; finely sliced onion; slices of potato; shredded ham or Pancetta; more cheese to cover lightly (how cheesy do you like it?) and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan (optional).
(4) Bake at 180C (or 350F) on the lowest rack of your oven until cheese looks melted and crust is quite firm. Move to the top rack to brown the cheese and finish. If you have a fan-forced (convection) oven then you can probably just place it in the middle!
11 January 2010
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.
Woodford 2009
I was lucky to go along to the Woodford Folk Festival again this year and enjoyed it very much, only wishing that there were some way that Anya and Callum and David could also come and enjoy it. Unfortunately the cost (almost $100) means that it's not worth going for only part of the day.
Some cool moments/events were: Men Wot Sing conducting an a capella singing workshop; Circus Cabaret (I also caught "Oni the Haitian Sensation" again by chance later and she was the most amazing hula hooper I have ever seen -- which is saying a lot, because generally I think hoops are just difficult to do, without actually being that impressive to watch); Daniel Champagne followed by Kim Churchill ending with a blues jam with both of them (is it still a jam with just two?) including a moment with stilt walkers joining the mosh pit; Angie Hart (ex-Frente lead singer)...
...and a completely nonsensical ending to my festival day wherein I got lost trying to leave the site, realised I was on "Ridiculously Close" (yes that's the name of the street), and caught the tail end of an aerialist on a lyra, followed by a gruff entertainer who didn't do a whole lot but had the street audience of kids lapping up his act. Why do kids so love obnoxious characters (eg. Oscar the Grouch)? This guy - for example - said, "I need someone to hold this tray," and as all the kids in front clamored, "Me! Me!" he looked at one boy and said brusquely, "Not you. I need a cute one." Which only made the boy laugh all the harder and press in to see what would happen next.
Some cool moments/events were: Men Wot Sing conducting an a capella singing workshop; Circus Cabaret (I also caught "Oni the Haitian Sensation" again by chance later and she was the most amazing hula hooper I have ever seen -- which is saying a lot, because generally I think hoops are just difficult to do, without actually being that impressive to watch); Daniel Champagne followed by Kim Churchill ending with a blues jam with both of them (is it still a jam with just two?) including a moment with stilt walkers joining the mosh pit; Angie Hart (ex-Frente lead singer)...
...and a completely nonsensical ending to my festival day wherein I got lost trying to leave the site, realised I was on "Ridiculously Close" (yes that's the name of the street), and caught the tail end of an aerialist on a lyra, followed by a gruff entertainer who didn't do a whole lot but had the street audience of kids lapping up his act. Why do kids so love obnoxious characters (eg. Oscar the Grouch)? This guy - for example - said, "I need someone to hold this tray," and as all the kids in front clamored, "Me! Me!" he looked at one boy and said brusquely, "Not you. I need a cute one." Which only made the boy laugh all the harder and press in to see what would happen next.
24 December 2009
22 December 2009
Christmas Wonder
Much has been made in other blogs, tweets, and articles about kids and Christmas over-anticipation, hype, and excess sugar consumption... in our house so far, the Christmas fuss has been pretty low key. We're not grinches; it's more that we have been a bit slow to gear up. So far the moments of Christmas wonder this season have been:
Anya turning out the lights, pulling a chair to the middle of the room, and sitting down to gaze in awe at the tree, saying, "I could watch this for hours!"
Callum and Anya running around in front of the bubble machine, dancing polar bear, and fog machine at a local Christmas lights contestant's house.
Visiting Santa at Myer's department store and not knowing what to say when Santa asked what they were hoping to get for Christmas.
Anya gravely informing me that Santa has two lists. This following on from discussion of a show, "Little Angels," about a real family with discipline/sleep/naughtiness issues.
Anya turning out the lights, pulling a chair to the middle of the room, and sitting down to gaze in awe at the tree, saying, "I could watch this for hours!"
Callum and Anya running around in front of the bubble machine, dancing polar bear, and fog machine at a local Christmas lights contestant's house.
Visiting Santa at Myer's department store and not knowing what to say when Santa asked what they were hoping to get for Christmas.
Anya gravely informing me that Santa has two lists. This following on from discussion of a show, "Little Angels," about a real family with discipline/sleep/naughtiness issues.
07 December 2009
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way
I have a very delightful recording of Callum singing his own version of Jingle Bells. But, I had to convert it to a video in order to upload it, and decided to use some photos of Callum from babyhood to toddler. If you don't feel like watching, here is a partial transcription of the recording...
Callum: Jingle tiger - Jingle tiger - Jingle on the tiger
Elaine: On the tiger?!
Callum: /laughs/ Yeah! Jingle tiger - Jingle tiger - Jingle on the bubble
Elaine: On the what?
Callum: On the bubble!
Elaine: On the bubble?!
Callum: /laughs/ Yeah! Jingle bubble - Jingle bubble - Jingle on the bubble
Callum: Jingle tiger - Jingle tiger - Jingle on the tiger
Elaine: On the tiger?!
Callum: /laughs/ Yeah! Jingle tiger - Jingle tiger - Jingle on the bubble
Elaine: On the what?
Callum: On the bubble!
Elaine: On the bubble?!
Callum: /laughs/ Yeah! Jingle bubble - Jingle bubble - Jingle on the bubble
30 November 2009
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.
“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.
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