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.

The good ship pirate

Anya and Callum played pirates this weekend. There was costuming, complete with commandeered bandanas tied in a piratical fashion. There was a map. There were even treasures, which were made, hidden, forgotten about and discovered. (Anya had to do special tricks to forget where she hid them.)

My favorite part was a pirate flag. The design is a skull over one bone crossing a sword dripping blood, and the motto "WE KILL!!!" The flag is mounted on a flag pole made of many paper towel and toilet paper cores taped together to a 4 foot pole.

Anya and Callum marched around brandishing their flag and chanting their motto mightily before getting down to business and sailing their pirate ship (a large rock in the front yard) to find their treasure.

Family Moments

Lacking time or energy for the last month (being quite sick while juggling work, house construction, and more), today I finally feel as if I'm returning to the land of the living... and blogging!  A quick post this time - just to capture some moments and stories.

Anya and Callum have been playing together more and more and are becoming really good friends.  I am so glad because when I was growing up, my sister was my best friend, and she was a major force of good in my life.  Thanks, sis!

Little things they do for each other: when I offer Callum something nice (toy or treat) he always immediately asks that Anya should get one too.  And when racing through the park, Anya stopped short several times and made sure that Callum got to the finish first.  Right now they're having breakfast on the patio and pretending to be Shark Boy and Lava Girl.  I can hear them collaborating: "And I was the queen -- " "Mmm-hmm, and I was over here -- "  "Pretend I was at the -- "

In other developments - we are gradually moving toward eating the same meals at the same time.  I know many families who do this already but it never really suited our adult lifestyle to eat dinner at 5:30.  Also, the kids tend to prefer really plain food.  Recently we introduced "family meal time" on weekends when we had more time to prepare and enjoy the meal.  Also we've been preparing things more to our adult tastes but just not quite as spicy: corned beef, moussaka, tuna pasta bake, Asian stir fry...

I was pleased last night to whip up a cake in about 10 minutes from a recipe that had just six ingredients.  As I was already baking moussaka it was simple to swap the cake into the oven while taking the main meal out.  The cake turned out very nicely so I thought I'd share the recipe (from "The Flavours of Buderim" with some added notes from me):

Pineapple Cake

150 g butter
150 g sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
150 g self-raising flour
450 g pineapple, drained well (recipe calls for crushed, but I find it better to chop whole pieces)

Preheat oven to 175 C (or 155-165 C in fan forced oven).  Beat butter with sugar until creamy; beat in eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy.  Fold in flour and vanilla, then the pineapple.  Line an 8" round cake tin with non stick paper (bottom & sides).  Pour into tin, and bake 45 minutes or more until done, testing with a skewer.  Note: make sure the pineapple is really well drained otherwise the cake will be sloppy and never seem  "done" when you're testing it!

Callum's Report Card

Callum Ree

• sleeping     exlent
• playing     exlent
• criing     ned enpruevement
• herting   ned enpruevment

Anya Ree

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!"

Photo Roundup

Just catching up on uploading some photos from the last few months.  This is from April when we lucked into a local fair while we were staying up the coast.
 

This is from a day when my old rollerblades disintegrated, so I walked up Kedron Brook (in the water, wearing thongs) while David took the kids for a bike ride:




This is from a few weeks ago when we were out for a walk in the neighborhood, and found a tree in full autumn glory.  My heart filled with pure gladness to see it.  Most plants around here stay green year round or simply become brown or bare branched instantly, so it was a rare and wonderful sight.


Last of all, here is a photo of my current knitting project in progress. I'm making a baby blanket and this is one side of it, half finished. I also intend to knit a strip of a different pattern (maybe cables) to go in the center.

Pose in Boots

Anya's birthday boots got their first outing today.  I decided to take a photo to show Helen, who has nominated herself "the Shoe Auntie" and gives Anya shoes every year.  (This year she even gave Anya two pairs, as she couldn't decide which ones to get.  Anya loves them both.)

This is the first photo:


Then I asked Callum to let me take one of Anya by herself.  She thought this a worthy pose:


Callum wanted to pose too.  This is his idea of a scary pose (imagine him growling):


Last, I asked Anya to twirl for me, and I think this is the best shot:

This year as usual Anya and Callum met Santa at the Myer department store in our local shopping centre.  I love that it's relatively low key and the kids didn't have to wait ages.  In any case they were almost more interested in looking at all the toys on the shelves than the Santa moment!  Callum's most repeated phrase these days is "Sometime will you buy me... ?"

We had Christmas Eve with the extended family, then Christmas at home by ourselves.  Luckily this included some of our extended family as they dropped by on their way to see their other in-laws for Christmas.  So it felt like we had two Christmases!

Shortly after Boxing Day, we packed up and headed to the family units for a two week holiday -- another family tradition.  My nieces and nephews are getting more mature now, but still make time for Anya and Callum.  The girls love doing Anya's Rapunzel-like tresses into various hairdos, and everyone indulges Callum as the last little boy of his generation.

Below are a few recent fun pics -- you can see more on flickr.

Half on Holiday

This weekend we had holiday fever mixed with Christmas colds (three of us have sore throats and coughs to varying degrees, with more to succumb, I'm sure).  I also made an absurd attempt to finish off some project work before Monday, futile since not much time is left in the working year.  Anya and Callum were hanging around me while I worked, so I now have a piece of scratch paper with a mixture of work annotations and kiddie drawings.  It was surprisingly not too hard to work and play at the same time, probably because my project involves tweaking a computer model that goes very slowly.

In the afternoon, I tried to teach Anya to crochet, but realised she's still too young.  Left with a half-started project, I amused myself in the late evening by making it into a finger puppet.  No pattern, I just experimented with shaping it using different stitches, making loops for the ears, and finishing with a tuft on top.  It looks vaguely like a Fraggle to me.  I sewed buttons on for the nose & eyes this morning, and Callum has named it "Fa-fa."  Anya naturally has requested one for herself, so a blue cat puppet is in the works.

We've started some new games lately -- Spin the Bottle (at dinnertime), great for getting lots of kisses -- and Treasure Hunt, where we take turns being the treasure hider.  Callum absolutely loves finding the items, and Anya loves giving us extremely specific hints on where to look for her hides.  As with Hide and Seek, they both have yet to learn how to really hide and find things, but I prefer it that way -- less likely to lose them when we're out and about!

Some sweet moments from this weekend:

Callum sidled up to me, hooked his arm around my neck to help himself onto my lap, and said, "We're best friends, aren't we, Mum?"  (My heart melts and sizzles like butter on a griddle...)

Anya wrote "I love you Mum and Dad and Grama and Callum" on our fridge's whiteboard, right behind me, then delightedly pointed out the surprise message to me.  (Later, she got cross with me about something, and erased "Mum" from the message.  But this morning I noticed I was reinstated.)

I invited Anya to sit with me on the bed for movie time because Callum was pestering her too much on the couch.  The next thing I knew, both kids were nestled on either side of me, and I got a great 45 minute snuggle.  David also joined us for part of the movie viewing, but unfortunately, he mostly got Callum rolling restlessly around over him -- lots of bottom and feet action.  I had to threaten Callum with banishment so he would settle down.  Meanwhile, by movie's end, Anya had fallen asleep in her cosy position.

School's Out, Summer's In

This week is the first week of holidays -- Anya has finished her first year of school.  Anya and Callum have still been going off each day, Anya to vacation care (a whole day at the pool! another day at the movies!) and Callum to his daycare (same old same old, but with tinsel on top).  This being Thursday, it's "Grandma Day," when my mother-in-law looks after Callum.  It's been a long time since Anya has stayed home for a Grandma Day, so both kids have been looking forward to it a lot.

This morning I heard Callum running down the hall, yelling joyfully, "Yay!  It's Grandma Day!"

Yes, Grandma Day is celebrated with as much enthusiasm as birthdays and Easter and Christmas, round these parts.  Meanwhile, here are some exciting bits that happened from an adult viewpoint:

• Our old house was knocked down in early November.  It was sad to see it go, but we'll have a bigger house in a great location as a result (and custom designed by yours truly!)  We had hoped to see construction start before Christmas, but apparently the plans have still not been approved by council.
• We had our first summery beach weekend a while ago, and our friends Wayne & Jacqui came up to join in.  Finally, sun and sand!  The weather has stayed unusually cool for this time of year until recently.
• Bronwyn & I won Runner-up in the Overall Winner category, at the Annual Artforce Awards for the traffic signal box we painted this year.  I made sure to acknowledge Anya's contribution to the TSB design (the little creatures by the dreaming woman's head).  She was quite pleased that I got her to stand up for the audience, I think.
• I attended a conference dinner by the dolphin enclosure at Sea World -- not only did we have dolphins swimming next to us all through dinner, they performed before and after the meal!  It was magical...  I was rapt for days afterward.
• My company's tenth anniversary luncheon was held at the Sydney Opera House -- our global HQ is in Denmark, the Opera House was designed by a Dane, and the Danish ambassador came to the luncheon to celebrate with us.  I believe even Oprah (who apparently is now in Australia) didn't stage her event at the Opera House, but at a nearby location.  However, she did have Russell Crowe swing in... as well as Hugh Jackman... (I would have liked that!)

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.

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

Callum Turns Three

Sibling Solidarity

"You don't do that to my sister!" Callum bellows at a boy on the playground, who'd just made Anya cry.  (To be fair, she was going slowly down a tubular slide, and he'd had no idea she was there when he started sliding down.)

"He didn't do anything!" Anya protests, saving Callum from unjust punishment, even while blubbering about an upset that we thought Callum was responsible for.

"And one for Anya?" Callum always asks when we give him a treat.

It's nice to see that no matter how much they annoy each other, Anya and Callum do look after each other as well.

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).

Anya, You Have the Power

From the back files of my mind...

The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.

The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)

Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.

New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.