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.

Anya's First Day of School

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!

Seashell Sounds

Photo Theme: Curves

More experimentation with my little camera phone. It is terrible at long shots but fun for close up work.

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!

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.

Merry Christmas

To all my friends and family out there, I miss you and hope to see you again soon.

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.

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

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.”

Today, a Non Sequitur

I accidentally spied this item on eBay while looking for Christmas presents. How cool is this? Now if I could only think of a reason that I need a 4GB USB that can transform into a jaguar...

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.

Two Days in the Sun

To everyone living on the "top side" of the globe: yes, it is glorious summer here! Example: this weekend. Saturday was spent hanging about (literally) at Kangaroo Point, where locals like to rock climb, bike and rollerblade. We managed to do two out of three, and also fit in a barbecue breakfast with friends, as they had organised a 40th birthday celebration. I haven't been up a cliff face in over a year, so it was a slightly nerve-tingling experience. It was also a bit hard to concentrate, as Callum wailed like a banshee the whole time that I was aloft -- he didn't like my going up there! David had a turn as well, and could be heard commenting several times, "I might fall on this bit..." I told his belayer, "Don't worry, he says that all the time."

Anya achieved a personal best, riding her bicycle (with training wheels) along the bike path, making it her first real bike ride -- previous efforts have been cut extremely short with her hopping off her bike after just a few pedal pushes. Callum, meanwhile, tried out his scooter, but has only ever pushed it across the kitchen before, so he soon decided walking was more effective. We were all pretty red-faced after the very hot morning out, and had to cool off with chilled water baths at home.

Sunday was spent over at our in-laws, who have a pool and air-conditioning. Bliss! We had a mid-morning swim, and a big family lunch, then just as I was reluctantly concluding that we ought to head home, I got the brilliant idea of asking permission to stay. Callum had his afternoon nap on the big queen bed, and Anya jumped back into the pool for a second round of swimming. She was in heaven, especially because her cousins and a house guest (3 young teenaged girls + 1 ten-yr-old boy) played with her all day. It is really wonderful to see how confident she is in the water nowadays.

David and I, being the OLDIES we now are, each fell asleep at some point briefly in the afternoon, but that, too, was all to the good.

Beach Time!

We went to beach this weekend, and by happy coincidence, so did our in-laws. They have two sons, aged 5 and 10, and Anya and Callum both had a great time hanging out with their cousins. It was really interesting to see Callum in a different light as he did "boy" things with his cousins like throwing a ball back and forth. We also enjoyed a family dinner all together which felt cosy and homey.

Anya's shining moment was the second day of our mini-holiday, as she got into the waves and caught some "shoots," as the family calls them. She was so thrilled with her achievement that, even though she was shivering violently (it was a somewhat windy day), she insisted on going back in for more.

David was injured -- not while swimming, but rather while reconnecting various devices to the TV. Now he looks as if he's been boxing, with a nifty gash on his eyebrow. Please won't some genius invent a better way to install AV equipment than crawling around the back of the furniture?

Visiting Sodor

Not being a boy, I can't understand the fascination of Thomas the Tank Engine, but Callum totally loves him. This weekend we made it to a free event (provided by a local councillor) featuring life-sized Thomas, the Fat Controller telling stories, a bouncy castle, and mini train rides, hosted at Anzac Park in Toowong, which has some pretty nifty attractions in its own right such as the longest flying fox I've ever seen in a public park. I was dying to try the flying fox, but had to follow Callum as he trundled full speed down to the slides and fort area. All in all, a great morning out for both Anya and Callum (more photos on flickr here, here and here).

Schmap Fame

Last year I was surprised to be contacted about a photo I took at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary – Schmap, an online travel guide, wanted permission to use it on their site. You can see it here: http://www.schmap.com/brisbane/toppicks_attractions/p=131702/i=131702_48.jpg

Recently another photo, from Luna Park in Sydney, was also selected for inclusion. You can see it here: http://www.schmap.com/sydney/entertainment_casinos/#p=116339&i=116339_85.jpg

Makes me feel like our family is achieving a tiny amount of fame!