Gallery of Modern Art

I went to the Gallery of Modern Art to see the Douglas Kirkland exhibit with my good friend Mel.  It was also a chance to catch up and see how much her daughter Jessie has grown.  Raema and the kids came along as well, and Mel's husband Craig joined us at lunchtime.





I tried in vain to capture a good candid shot of the kids wandering around the Takashi Murakami exhibit.  I have no idea why Callum looks to be getting ready to open a can of whup-ass... I do like this shot of Anya looking out the window next to the Valentino window poster, although it doesn't look anything like the image I had in mind.

Tripping Through VA, WA & LA

So I went to the US to visit my mom in Staunton, Virginia.

Then to Seattle, to visit my dad.

I also caught up with some old high school friends, including my best friend from literally forever, Jill, and hung out with her kids (who are not shy at all).  It was really great to see everyone -- it felt like we just picked right up where we left off.

On the last day of my trip, I had a long layover in LA.  Luckily, my good friend Kevin had time to hang out with me.  We went to Santa Monica, The Ivy, the LA County Museum of Art, Manhattan Beach and last, Encounters restaurant at LAX.

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