Echidna, Buchan Caves, Ukuleles

We were on our way to visit Kate when we saw an echidna waddling across the road!  

We quickly stopped the car and ran to where he had rolled into a ball.

We poked the poor thing with sticks a few times but we didn't hurt him of course. 

Kate's horses like having visitors.

Max is patting Jazzy, George is talking to Coolie.

Coolie is giving George a little kiss on the neck.

Normally this horse is very shy and only approaches Kate and Steve if they have treats for him. Max didn't have any treats but Najib was very friendly to him.

George was allowed to have a little ride on Coolie. Max decided to spend time giving each of the horses individual attention and pats.

Here's Max reading his new chapter book. 

He also read an entire novel in under 24 hours recently when he had a sick day at home and his mean mother wouldn't let him watch television.

One day we went to the Den of Nargun. It is a steep walk down into a gorge.

Nargun is a half-stone half-human creature that is said to live in this pool and prey on children. If you throw a spear into that cave, legend has it that Nargun will throw your spear straight back at you. Max took a great risk by throwing that stick in the Nargun's general direction.

Lots of rain lately has made for an impressive waterfall.

Max caught a little drop tail lizard and held him for a while before releasing him. This picture was taken after release. We were pleased that the lizard didn't feel the need to drop its tail on our behalf.

George and I went to Max's school at lunch time so he could play with the big kids. He is very interested in going to Max's school next year. 

George is learning the numbers. He reads the speed limit signs when we are driving and ensures that I stay on the right side of the law. I was given a Hundred Chart one day when I volunteered at Max's school which has helped George learn to count.

George says he is sick of being the only one around here who can't read and write. So we sometimes practice writing down words and reading them afterwards. While dressed as a turtle.

The guinea pigs went to kindergarten for show and tell. The week previous to this he had taken photographs of his Canadian family to show the kids.

 Max is 134cm tall and George is 106cm. 

Nanny and  Gramps passed through with their new rig. 

Little Malakai (1.5 years old) does a beautiful smile for the camera.

Max bashed his knee on the playground. He initially couldn't walk so Gramps carried him. 

His knee turned out to be badly bruised. He couldn't run for a whole 24 hrs. 

Royce (who is a guitarist) got himself a new axe: a ukulele.

The following day he went back for two more ukuleles. And acquired two students.

It's a good instrument for little hands.

We went camping at the Buchan Caves with several other families to celebrate Max's friend's birthday.

An unsuspecting George is about to get a flick on the ear as they wait to tour the Royal Cave.

Photo: Leanne Peck

It was a cold night but we had a big fire. We slept in our clothes, and in the morning there was ice on the tent.

Photo: Leanne Peck

The kids ran around in the dark playing "spotlight tiggy" with the torches ("flashlights" to you North Americans). They got very hot and thirsty from all the running around. Max and George ran back lots of times to share my bottle of cordial (a non alcoholic fruit drink made from concentrate, for you North Americans), which was in a recycled wine bottle.  

At one point Max found somebody else's bottle of actual wine and was so thirsty he had about 4 glugs before he realised that it was not cordial. It made him feel a bit light headed.

This is George drinking the cordial.

Photo: Leanne Peck

Some of us had food stolen out of our very hands by this cheeky kookaburra.

Photo: Leanne Peck

We drove 1.5hrs to home, and the car's muffler dropped off just as we got home. It had to be towed to the mechanic the next morning.

Max's grade sang in the school production.



George and I watched in the front row.

The kids room has been painted with stripes - one of the last projects I wanted to complete before the new sibling arrives.

School holidays, Floods, Bull riding.

The kids are kneading sourdough bread. 

We were sent home from a friend's farm with 2 large bags full of apples. They didn't last long.

George got a fat lip, running into the clothesline playing tiggy with his cousins. Those little grey marks on his teeth are part of the clothesline which stuck to him and were still there a week later. Despite brushing. But they eventually wore off.

Max became rather obsessed with Monopoly for a while. George at this point was alternating between bike riding and monopoly. While he was on his bike Max just played George's part too.

George has been interested in his bike a bit lately.

George is learning to write. He can also add up numbers if the total is under 10. 

Royce and the kids made jelly slice, with pineapple jelly. A naughty little hand print was found on top.

Our old friend Jack came to visit in the holidays. He goes to a different school now so we don't see him as much these days. 

You could tell they were definitely long overdue for a hair cut.

Max came home after tree planting day with a new hat. Later we saw our little tree planter "Mix Piccone" in the local newspaper.

That's Ms Davies on the left, Max's teacher. 

They took this photo of themselves and used some program on my phone to make it look like a sketch. 

Watching TV: only allowed after 5pm.

Max is allowed on the computer in the day, only if he is sending emails or doing an online "learn to touch type" course for kids.

We went to Melbourne and saw our singer/songwriter cousin David in action. He's got a fine set of lungs on him: If you want to know what he sounds like check him out here.  Uncle Mike and Aunty Nat were in the audience along with several members of Royce's family. David's set was only 40 minutes long and it started at 5pm which was handy for the kids.

Sandra, Royce's sister, gave the boys these super cool hoodies. 

They are only allowed on DS during the day if we are travelling somewhere. Here we are on a 4 hour train ride and it would have been handy to remember to charge them so they didn't run out of batteries in the first hour.

Flinders Street station in Melbourne. It's as if they knew George was coming. He has a bad habit of spitting at the moment.

Here is Max after chewing on the sour-stemmed weed for the first time.

Here's George. With lots of toothpicks between his teeth. 

The kids next door call it "goople".  It's like playdough. It ended up all over the kitchen.  

Due to stinky painting in their bedroom, Max and George had to sleep elsewhere for a few nights.

George had a fight with a one-serve tomato sauce package. Nice haircut George.

Saying goodbye when Max goes to school in the morning. Their hug often looks like this, George wraps his arms and legs around Max. Lately I have been getting an extra hug from Max: one for me, one for the baby.

Here is a video which documents the baby belly, and yet more breadmaking:

The kids who take the bus to Max's school got a day or two off because of the rain. There was flooding and road closures. Since we live beside the school and Max is such a good swimmer, he was still able to get to school.

We went to an event at the local footy club. They had a mechanical bull. Here is George in the line-up waiting for his turn. Our friend in the colourful shorts won the $25 prize for staying on the bull the longest.