New Tricks

We had a lot of laughs when Uncle Hank taught C a couple of new words. Rock N' Roll!!

And D took up a new skill as well. Uncle Hank generously and patiently made D his new photography assistant. She had a ball taking photos of various sights. And she's good at it! Even with Uncle Hank's fancy, giant camera. So good in fact that I'm not sure which ones she took. Except for those below...I'm pretty sure these are hers.

The subject is Ellen the dog. She and D have become very tight over the past few months.

3 Days in Perth

Finally getting a few quiet minutes to tell of the last 3 days of Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank's visit. Always so busy around here!

I forgot to post this pic of D in my road trip blog. She was buckled into a seat that sat up very straight and even though her car seat has those bits on the side to rest her sleepy head, she was sitting too upright for them to help. She fell asleep and Aunt Pat started out holding her head up with her hand, but that couldn't last. I didn't have anything to use as a pillow and all I could think of that might help was my belt. So... we belted her head to the car seat and stuck her puppy in to cushion her forehead. She didn't notice a thing and had a nice rest.

We arrived back in Perth on Monday evening and since our visitors were on a flight the following Friday morning, they only had 3 days left in Perth.

On Tuesday, we planned a day at Caversham Wildlife Park. They have all types of Australian animals. They allow you to pet koalas and feed and interact with their large population of kangaroos. I've blogged about Caversham before- it's a great place. We had a picnic lunch and then spent the afternoon walking through the park.Uncle Hank had his first encounter with kangaroos- and they loved both he and Aunt Pat!

D and C also love the kangaroos. The roos are very gentle and love to be fed. Each time I would say that it was almost time to move along D would say, "But I can hear this one's tummy rumbling so I REALLY need to feed him." She was on a mission to feed every single one.

C was not any easier to convince. He looked like he was running for kangaroo office, petting and feeding as many roos as he could. Only 1 or 2 hopped away from his feed-filled hands and constant giggling.

There is an area at Caversham called Molly's Farm with bunnies, guinea pigs, sheep, goats, and other farm animals. One area has camels and they offer rides. So, before leaving the park C, D, Aunt Pat and myself all went for a ride. So fun and the kids did a great job of hanging on, except for a couple of times that C caused Aunt Pat to panic when he'd let go to wave at Uncle Hank's camera. But he was all smiles! On Wednesday, Aunt Pat went to school with D, spending the morning getting to know her teachers and friends. T took the day off and he and Uncle Hank visited the Perth Mint in the morning. At lunch they met up with Aunt Pat and the 3 took the train to Fremantle to see the harbor and take the Fremantle Prison tour. All had a great day!

Thursday was due to be a quieter day so that our visitors could have some time to pack up and prepare for their big trip home. I took D to ballet, Aunt Pat and I went for a walk to see the grocery store, and after lunch and naps we all went to King's Park. The Botanic Garden is really beautiful and shows off some of Australia's coolest trees and flowers.

We had a marvelous time with our visitors and they seemed to like it here too. We're so glad! And we hope to have more visitors before our time here ends April or May 2010.

Thanks for coming to see us Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank! We love you!

Margaret River Roadtrip

For their 6th wedding anniversary my Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank took a trip to Australia. They spent time in Sydney, Cairns, and Uluru before coming to Perth to spend some time with us. We were VERY excited about their visit because we hadn't seen them since December and we haven't had any company here since August 2008. Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank are marvelous company- always helping out, interacting with the kids, and just so much fun to be around! Knowing Aunt Pat was a fan of good wine (as are we), I couldn't resist taking them down to Margaret River. This is wine country, about 4 hours south of Perth, and it's marvelous!

Some Perth friends had recommendations about where to go and stay so we booked a really nice 3 bedroom house for the weekend and spent Sunday and Monday exploring the region. We stayed at a holiday property called Tamala Ridge near Prevally Beach (in case you are planning a trip!).Sunday was a full day. We drove down to Augusta where the Indian and Arctic Oceans meet, and spotted a pod of whales. Photos were hard to snap. You'd see a spray of water and then a fin or a back rise above the water's surface. It was so cool!! Laurance Winery was a perfect spot for a long lunch (Thanks Lisa!). We arrived in time to get the best family table, right beside a nice playground. We tasted the wine, devoured the amazing lunch, and sat in the sun, watching the kids run and play. Perfect! Loved this chandelier at Laurance Winery. Those are all wine glasses!After that were stops at 4 wineries where we tasted and picked up a few favorites. Finally, a stop at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.

The house came fully equipped and had a bbq. So we picked up groceries for dinner and made it back in time for sunset on the Indian Ocean from our balcony. Cloudy but still incredible over the ocean.

With the sun gone for the day, C could focus his full attention on the guacamole and chips. He was so busy with the dipping and crunching he didn't even mind me styling his hair into a new do!

On Monday, we woke to rain. So we took our time getting around and headed into the town of Margaret River to visit a few shops. Before long, it was lunch time so we drove out of town to the Duckstein Brewery. Beautiful place, great beer, fantastic food! Below is a photo of Aunt Pat's lamb cutlets but up in the left hand corner is the platter of bratwurst and sauerkraut that T and I shared. It was outstanding!
Our last stop before heading home was Simmo's ice cream factory. Yum! Fantastic ice cream, a playground, and an ice cream eating emu, or so they say.

The kids had a go on the Merry-go-Round. C gave us a wave and a giggle at each pass.
We made good time getting home and made it back to Perth in time for dinner. Uncle Hank took some really nice city photos from the south side of the river, near the restaurant where we ate dinner.

Lots of photo credit to Uncle Hank! Thanks for sharing your photographs!

Handmade Gifts

I have a lot of blogging to do right now. It's a bit overwhelming to tell you the truth. We've just had my Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank here for a week long visit and had SO MANY adventures with them, I could write for days. First though, I have to share some special gifts that were made for D by a great friend of ours. Maggie is an excellent knitter and was needing a project to keep her busy during a recent trip home to Denver. Some time ago, she knitted her the gorgeous scarf but now D has a matching hat!

With holes for her pigtails! Is that a perfect D gift or what!?

C couldn't let D be the only one in the photos. He received a great hat from Maggie when he was born, but as you can imagine, it doesn't fit him anymore.

Grocery Helper C

C's fav thing to do when we return from the grocery store is to help unload the bags. He does a pretty good job, pulling things out and handing them to me. Sometimes I direct him to the pantry and sometimes to the refrigerator. Other times (like when he's jostling the bananas or a glass jar of something) I snatch it away and put it away myself. Last week, he found a new use for the groceries- building box towers!

We took a stroll into a local shopping area yesterday and picked up a few groceries. The kids were in the double buggy, C sitting in the lower seat where I can't see him. He was a little upset about having all the milk at his feet so to distract him, I handed him the bag of kiwi fruit. He went quiet and seemed content to be helping out.

Upon returning home, I saw what it was that kept him so quiet and content. What 22-month-old wouldn't enjoy pulverising a bag of kiwi? After tossing it in the trash I wondered if I should have just made smoothies. Very helpful C!

Big Nature Weekend

We are enjoying some really beautiful weather in Western Australia at the moment. The last week as been fantastic with sunshine, low 70's in temps, and more sunshine. We like being out on these beautiful days. Sometimes though, I'm just not too creative with our destinations. Luckily, our friends are!

On Saturday morning, we met up with 3 other families at John Forrest National Park. Our friend Judit had read about a great walk up to a waterfall so we all packed lunches, sweaters, and hats and headed out to the Australian bush. It was a really beautiful place.C enjoyed the ride in the backpack, getting to walk around a couple of times and join his pals on the ground.

D was thrilled to spend the morning with some of her best friends.

The waterfall was pretty and before long our whole group had climbed their way out onto the rocks, just beside the falls. The kids had so much fun climbing the rocks. Below are T and C perched on the little cliff.

Here are the 16 of us. Took 3 tries with the camera timers but we got right!On Sunday, we joined other volunteers at Rosalie Park in Subiaco to plant native flora in honor of Tree Day. There were several of T's co-workers there as well. Upon arrival, I was skeptical of how productive I could actually be while keeping track of 2 little kids. But it was a really fun morning for all of us.

The people organizing had set out hundreds of plants in plastic pots. They gave a quick explanation of what to do, and we all set to work. At first there weren't many volunteers, but lots more arrived a short time later and we all finished the job in just under 2 hours.
T got the job of digging the holes. D used her kid-sized tools to sprinkle "Fairy Dust" (soil conditioner) in each hole.I buried the plants and C stacked up the empties. And knocked them down. And stacked them up again. And so on. The after photo.

We plan to visit Rosalie Park from time to time to see how our native garden is growing. And D has plans to water them all with her watering can.