Saturday, August 31, 2013

close inspection of our food

he
A torch was all it took to keep him focused on his meal. 

me
Checking for eggs is even more fun than usual, now that our new chickens are starting to lay. There's always one from our very experienced girl, Peas, and usually a little teeny one next to it, and I love the contrasting sizes. I'm not sure who each little egg is from. Not sure if it's the same one or if they take turns. Not sure how to find out, since they respond in a completely nonchalant way when I ask.

Friday, August 30, 2013

desert park

he
 Alice Springs Desert Park is one of the touristy things we had time for during our stay. It's quite gorgeous! Lots of birds and animals to see (mainly in the nocturnal cave). Above is him staring very seriously at the portable audio guide. The batteries were flat, but he was adamant that, if he pushed those buttons just right, he'd get a response.

me
I found my new favourite flower: The "Poached Egg Daisy"!

we
We made the most of a quick visit, it's a fantastic place.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

alice friends

he

He was just teeny when they moved to the centre of this land (after living together with us in the same house for years), so it was really important to us that he get to know them all (and that they get to know him). He now includes each of their names in our discussions regularly. Which I love.

me

I miss my little girls, and their parents!

we
We adore our Alice Springs friends and are just so pleased that we could spend some time with them, getting a good picture of what this chapter of their lives looks like. It helps to feel closer.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

mooloolaba

he
Lovely day trip to the coast! His auntie took him to Underwater World - a magic combination of so many of his favourite things: His Auntie, fish, stars, lights, colours, crocodiles, movement, touch-screens, kids...

me
Meanwhile B and I strolled, ate brownies, drank cuppas (complete with chocolate freckles on teaspoons - oh my goodness!), wandered along the waterfront and found a quiet spot by the marina to sit under a shady tree and watch the boats.

we
Afterwards we all met his cheeky, bright-eyed cousin and other auntie and uncle for a picnic! 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

another cafe made for both of us!

he

Our very good friend frequents the Kitty and the Bean, near her place, and recently discovered that Tim plays a mini-person gig there every Friday morning. Tim Jackman's album is my munchkin's very, very favourite music. He, daily, brings the remote to me, points to the TV (where the music plays from) and says "Timmy". He's seen Timmy play many times at the library, but it's been a little while. The timing hasn't worked as well with his sleeps lately. But 9.30 am is perfect! He was fairly star-struck, and spent the gig climbing/sitting on me. The top photo shows the one time he stood up for a little (blink-and-you'll-miss-it) boogy. I'm sure he'll warm up to it as the weeks roll on! Once the gig was over, he was delighted to play with the many toys on offer.

me
I am excited to have a new regular Friday morning outing which involves hot drinks, lovely friends and baby cuddles. 

Monday, August 26, 2013

camel

he
He met Alice the Camel. She had one hump. She was a fuzzy baby and she nuzzled him and said "Mmmmmmm". She is one of his favourite stories from our 10 days in The Centre. He will tell you about her: "Camel. Baby. Mmmmmm. Drink water."

me
I took this picture one evening through the car window. Mr Camel was much closer than this when we first spotted him, but we spent a ridiculous amount of moments fumbling around to find a camera and he sauntered slowly into the sunset, stopping to pose briefly on the horizon (thoughtful) when he realised we'd finally found it.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Uluru

he
He calls it "Ooh Roo" and says that it is "hea-vy". I'd say he's probably right.

me
My sister and I, a few years (decades) ago!
we

After sunset and sunrise viewings, from a distance, we walked right around the base of the rock, it was incredible and varied and beautiful. And quite uplifting. I really enjoyed this. There weren't a lot of people around but the rock has such a presence that it always felt like there was someone else with us.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)

he
He spent some time with his Dad, playing in the sand (the whole area is one giant sandpit - he was never bored!), while I did a short walk to the Karu lookout via many, many wildflowers. He had a habit of gracefully combining his digging in the red dirt with swatting at the pesky flies, and the result was some incredible face-painting designs. 

me
This photo was taken on my family's big road trip, in the mid-1980s. That's our big Kingswood station wagon.
Big rocks don't change as quickly as we (and our cars) do. It was still as stunning and mysterious last week as it was in this photo and in my memory. Although, in some ways, the rocks did seem to transform rapidly, minute-by-minute, as the light and sky changed throughout the day.


we
The Walpa (windy) Gorge walk is gorgeous, full of life.

Friday, August 23, 2013

muooz

he
Our friends are moving away soon, and they have lots of things to get done before they go, such as eating one last time at Muooz, one of my favourite restaurants in the universe. We offered to help them out with this chore. I know it doesn't look like the munchkins are having fun here, but they were having a BLAST until they had to be picked up for the photo.

me
After dinner, I continued my coffee quest, saying a hesitant 'yes' to the offer of strong, gingery Eritrean coffee. It came in a very cute clay jug, which was the best bit.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

finally! a cafe made for both of us!

he
A big, enclosed space with toys and bikes!

me
Hot drinks and tables in the shade! Well done, cafe-near-the-pool-whose-name-I-can't-remember!

Sunday, August 11, 2013

hanging out with grandmothers

he
Playing with Nanma last weekend in Toowoomba. Such beautiful fun. The mutual adoration between them is really special.

me
I'm sooo excited that my Grandma is getting help with email! And sooo appreciative of the helpers. The other side of the world is too far away. But, every week, for the last few weeks, we've had an email from her, and we've been able to send her lots of photos. She can even send photos of herself, she's so beautiful!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

3.00 pm, 4.30 pm, 5.15 pm

he
We had 3 gatherings on our busy schedule for the afternoon: Our regular play group at 3.00pm, an after-kindy 4th birthday cake party for his big friend at 4.30pm, and an early dinner at 5.15pm with our downstairs neighbour and some friends who are doing Ramadan (they fast until 5.15, then 'break fast' as a lovely time together). It's difficult to see in this terribly blurry photo - sorry! - this beautiful little cake party: he, birthday boy and birthday boy's sister eating amazing marble treasure chest cake.

me
Play group, as always, was lovely. Such great people to spend time with. Birthday boy's dad made me a special coffee (still working - not very hard - on becoming a coffee drinker/appreciator), It's a quarter-shot and it's delicious. 'Break Fast' was also delicious and special. We ended up watching Malala's speech to the UN Special Assembly which was incredible. Please put aside some time to be inspired by this 16-year-old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh_30C8l6Y

Friday, August 9, 2013

peas in a pod

he
He and his matching friend. They are having so much fun together now! They laugh hysterically with each other, and copy each other. It's so cute it hurts. We are very, very sad that they are moving away soon!

me
Shelling and snacking on fresh green peas is one of my very favourite things about winter (it's a short list).

Thursday, August 8, 2013

putting lots of little things together

he
 He's having a nap, I've just sat down for a breather. I look across the lounge room and am astounded by the breadth of mess he can make! It starts with a book or two, then the lego, ukuleles, lion, balls, blocks, blankets, musical toys, always a few random non-toys (nappy cream, crockery, remote controls)... All just little things on their own, but what a delightfully colourful mess they make when he combines them!

me

I've been thinking about the flights we're about to take to Alice Springs (via Cairns). I've got the usual finger puppets, stickers, books and snacks, but have made a couple more bundles of stuck-in-your-seat-for-hours-surrounded-by-strangers fun. The first is a string of wonderful beads, key rings, etc. He'll (fingers crossed!) love the mini-harmonica, the alphabet beads, the clock, the shapes, colours and moving parts. The other is a tomato filled with 20 little toys (most were lovingly selected from my own kinder surprise toy collection from many moons ago). When I was finished putting these together, B asked me whether I had more fun doing this than our little one will have playing with it. It's hard to say.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

treating ourselves

he
Our kitchen bench is really short. And he's pretty tall. So if he wants something from the bench, and we haven't pushed it back very far, he helps himself! I found him here in the lounge room with an open jar of star cookies, tucking in. Mind you, the cookies are mostly made from chickpeas, peanut butter, honey and dates, so I'm pretty happy for him to munch on them to his little heart's content! 

me
YES, THIS IS NO MISTAKE!!! WHITE ICE MAGIC FOR TWENTY CENTS! I won't tell you how many I bought.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

posting letters and numbers

he
He pulls off the numbers from our letterbox, and posts them!

me
We've started having monthly letter-writing/advocacy evenings at our place. We wrote to the QLD government about stolen wages and the Australian immigration minister and prime minister about indefinite detention (specifically Ranjini and her kids). 

Friday, August 2, 2013

kitchen cupboards

he
He knows where to find what he wants. I found all 3 of his breakfast cereals pulled out of the cupboard.

me
Our kitchen is slowly dying! Half of the doors have now fallen off...

Thursday, August 1, 2013

new

he
New chickens! He is totally comfortable with them. Stomps around the chook run in his fireman boots, crawls through the little door, into the coop, plays with their water and helps himself to their seed... He came with us to choose our new girls, was happy in the big shed with hundreds of feathered friends flapping wildly as we chased the chosen few. He only got upset when they were put into boxes instead of taken to him for a pat! He really found it a little distressing to see them packed away like that. Awww...

me
I finally got my free cup of tea, after remembering to have my loyalty card stamped 10 times AND still actually having possession of my loyalty card after 10 stamps. Here's my new one, ready to start again.