The Can-Am Youngs: A little time off

Back when my mother was planning her visit, she and I planned on a few days when I could go on some excursions without the boys. Partly to give me a little break, and partly to have the boys to herself. I looked forward to my mom's visit because I was excited to see her, but I think I was equally excited about my 'days off'. Spencer had planned on taking the boys for a day, but his work schedule has been far too exacting these past few months.

I love my little boys so much, and I love the chance I have at this time to be at home with them full-time. But it was time for a little break. I missed them a little during the day, but I found that missing them a bit turned out to be a really good thing. All the little exasperating things had faded a bit and I felt fresh, rejuvenated and ready to be patient again. I also had a really great time.

Here are a few of the things I saw and did:

Kings Park
I had breakfast at a little cafe in the park where I could slowly drink an entire pot of tea, and peruse a book, before starting off on a couple of free walking tours.

On a previous post I wrote that the boab tree isn't native. Well, I must have been too busy chasing little boys on my previous visits to read the signs very closely, because this time I learned that the boab tree is native to Australia. The Kimberly in Australia's north west is full of them. The only other places you find boab trees naturally is in parts of Africa and Madagascar. Evidence of continental drift. Fascinating.

Didn't catch the name of this fruit, but apparently the pieces come apart and fit back together just one way. Aboriginal children play with it like a puzzle. Pretty cool.

This is called a 'bird flower'. Can you see it?

Banksia. Lovely and everywhere.

Peppermint tree. They have a lot of these throughout the city.

These are called 'black boys'.

A honey-eater

The crows aren't shy about helping themselves.

Beach Day

I spent an entire day at the beach. Spencer wasn't sure I could do it. But I did.

I was the only one on the beach with not just one, but two beach umbrellas. I got a sunburn anyway.

Two of the beaches had been closed that morning due to shark sightings. That was okay, because I was only planning on wading in a little.

In the rocks along the shore I found all these cool little fossils. I took a picture with my foot for scale. I wonder what they were.

Margaret River

Spencer and I drove down to Margaret River for two days and a night.

We toured three different caves.

Most of the photos in the caves didn't turn out so well, but this one was worth keeping. It's a floating table. The guide told us that it is one of only two in the world that have been discovered, and the other one is in a cave in France that isn't open to the public. It was pretty neat to see.

Each cave involved hundreds of stairs.

The karri trees are immense.

Getting our feet wet just before sunset.

The tree outside the front door of our B&B sported one of these incredible parasitic plants. I used to clean house for a guy who grew one of these on a piece of wood on his wall. This one was at least ten times its size. Amazing.

The forest was full of these.

The lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin. We a took a tour to the top.

Cape Leeuwin is where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet, so you can see them both. The tour guide pointed out that the two oceans aren't divided by an arbitrary line on a map. They are governed by different currents and from time to time you can see them splash up against one another.