Springtime Celebrations!

A few weeks ago we drove over to Kings Park to take a walk and look at all of the beautiful spring flowers.  While there we stumbled upon a full-blown Springtime festival!

The Adorable Florables were parading around the park.  The boys were fascinated with them, but wary of getting too close.

The lovely everlastings were in bloom everywhere.

The boys were able to get involved in some of the demonstrations of Aboriginal culture.

Here Eliot is pounding resin from the grass tree.  They take the powdered resin and mix it with kangaroo poo.  Then they can mold it onto the end of a stick and press sharp rocks into it.  They place it in the fire where it bakes into a very hard material to make tools and weapons.  So interesting.

Aboriginal face painting!

A lot of aboriginal art is painted onto sheets of canvas.  There was a man drawing animals onto canvas for the children to paint.  Eliot chose to paint a kangaroo.  After having painted a small boomerang Peter had had enough of sitting still and opted for running around with Daddy.

Feeling the spray of the fountain.

It was a beautiful day and it was so fun to watch the boys enjoy the flowers.  We watched the bees, who were hard at work gathering pollen, and Eliot was gobsmacked by the idea that the bees took that pollen and turned it into honey.  It's so much fun seeing the world through their eyes.

Christopher Robin rides again!

A couple of weeks ago Eliot's school held a book fair.  The children were invited to dress up as a character from a book.  Eliot's costume was a no-brainer:  Christopher Robin! The little shoes that I made for him when he dressed up last Halloween had vanished, but he was happy to wear his black wellies, which actually fit quite well with the Christopher Robin look.  Yellow Bear, of course, went as the faithful Pooh.

All of the children got to parade around the school grounds in their costumes.  The building in the background is Eliot's classroom.  The schools here are all open-air campuses with classes held in their own individual little buildings.

The parade made quite an impression on Eliot, who now demands that we all walk in a single-file line when we go some place as a family.

Attending the assembly.

A Walk in the Reserve

Just thought I'd share a few photos from a recent family stroll in the Herdsman Reserve.

The boys love these little yellow flowers.  When we go for a walk I end up with fistfuls of them.  They also load them into their little trucks and float them in puddles.

This little wooden bridge is a favourite spot.

Launching "boats"

The board-walk is a great place to run, and run, and run.

Looking Back: A wild day at the library

Back in April, during a school holiday, the boys and I had the chance to attend a wildlife presentation at our library.  The boys waited anxiously for the animals to arrive.

While we waited, we browsed through a few good books.

Eliot was very impressed with the snake.

Peter was considerably less impressed.

The boys got to pet a dingo and a koala.  It was pretty cool.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The First of September was Daddy's birthday.  It was also Father's Day down this way.  Eliot and Peter made cards for him and Eliot brought home a framed photo of himself from school.  In church the Primary children sang songs for their fathers and Eliot (though shy of singing) mouthed the words.  That evening we had lemon cheesecake to celebrate.

The boys and I are so thankful for Spencer.  He is such a great husband and daddy.  He loves his little guys so much, and they love him.

My little big helper

After the semester break Eliot had a bit of a hard time getting back into the swing of things at school.  On his first day back he was quite tearful.  His teacher explained all of the fun things they'd be doing that day.  In an attempt to make it all sound that much more appealing, she told him that I was just going home to do some cooking and cleaning.  What she didn't realize was that cooking and cleaning was exactly what Eliot wanted to be doing.

He took it upon himself to wipe down the oven.  The other day he also disappeared into his room and I later realized that he was in there washing the walls.

It's a bit tricky to get the hang of a carrot peeler.

When we make pancakes he likes to drizzle the batter into the pan to make different shapes.  I save some batter at the end for him to make a "really big one."

One morning he used some cooked oatmeal to make "cookies".  We put them in the oven on a low heat.  They dried up into unexpectedly edible little wafers.

His kitchen skills are growing steadily.  It can sometimes get a little dicey, and tears have been shed when I've had to exert my authority, but for the most part he's a great little sous-chef.  One day we were going to sauté chicken and I warned him that the chicken can splatter when it lands in the hot oil.  Sure enough, as soon as the chicken was in the pan it started popping and spluttering.  He was off the stool and away from the stove in a flash.  I was focused on getting the chicken sorted and the next time I became aware of Eliot, I realized that he had returned to my side, this time with one of the large couch cushions.  He was holding it in front of himself like a shield and peeking over the top of it.  Resourceful as ever.

A Visit From the Youngs

At the end of July Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Hugo paid us a visit.  It was a whirlwind visit into which we packed as much as possible.  The boys had a great time and soaked up the extra attention.

Visiting the Fremantle Market (can you see Nana and Peter waiting up ahead to ambush us?)

Exploring the Pinnacles.  The last time we were here Peter was still riding around in a stroller, this time we couldn't get him to stop running off.

A sunny day at the beach.  The boys played in the waves and we buried Eliot and Uncle Hugo in the sand.  Eliot pretty much thought that anything Uncle Hugo did was the coolest thing ever.

Grandpa had a birthday during the visit.  The boys were delighted.

One evening Eliot spent the night at the hotel. 

Can you guess what was his favourite part?

Swimming with Grandpa and Uncle Hugo

Love the hair.

Love the goggles.

Both boys enjoyed playing, reading, and just hanging out with our visitors.  Peter's language is rapidly improving and he was learning a lot of new words.  I think everyone's favourite was Unkie Go-go-go.