Sunday Sesh

We spent this Sunday afternoon at the park.  My work threw a barbecue by the river, at Kangaroo Point, under the Story Bridge.  Callum loved the jumping castle and spent almost all his time in it, with only a few breaks for drinks and food.  Anya's favorite part was the pile of hula hoops, balls and frisbees.  We had a great time throwing the balls to each other -- she was especially good at throwing the nerf vortex (a whistling football with tailfins).

At one point, Callum said, "Can I do that? Can I do that?" and pointed in what seemed a really random direction until I realised that he was pointing out one of my coworkers spraying colour on a girl's hair.  So we went over and sprayed gold on Callum's head.  Then we sprayed silver glitter on Anya's hair, and red streaks in my hair.  (It felt weird, but I thought it actually looked really good.)  Our car's interior is still glittery, and I suspect it will be so for quite some time.

Not to Be Forgotten

Some stories I jotted down over the last few months... wish I'd written down more.

"You'll always be my little boy, even when you're a big tall man."  He nods.

Reading a book out loud in the car --  (Homework! For a 6 year old!)  We all get the giggles over the name "Mr. Bumbleticker."  Anya tries valiantly to restart several times but it's just not possible.  David imagines penning a note: "Dear Mrs. Ritchie, we're very sorry but Anya was not able to complete her work due to a case of the giggles."

After dinner, they stretch out on the bed and I poke their tummies, pretending to trace all the food they've eaten.  "Here's the pasta -- here's the chicken -- here's the broccoli -- oh, there's some space here for a treat!"

"Why does everyone keep saying my hair is beautiful?" Anya asks, perplexed and probably a little over it.  (In case you have not met her, and can't see it in the photos, her hair is a lustrous blend of auburn, with blond and red strands mixed in.  It's the kind of hair one would pay hundreds of dollars to achieve in a salon.)  I don't know what to say but, "Because it is, sweetie."

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.