Producing Produce

For the last few months L has been busy looking after some new babies... baby pumpkins and watermelons that is. They are just two of the things that are growing around the place these days, and they are lookin' mighty fine.








































...swell

Beach Babe

Off to the beach we went this afternoon. We are making progress with both children as far as getting used to the moving water at the beach, as long as we are only in the basin! While Miss A and I were off looking at rocks and snails, L was taking pics with his awesome new lens, and looking after Master B. I was impressed when Miss A and I returned to find Master B almost asleep in the sand...

...All tuckered out

Stepping Out

Master B is walking very well these days, in fact it is his preferred mode of transportation. It didn't take him very long to try running, either, his major problem with that is that his little legs don't move fast enough and he ends up falling over, it's quite cute. He is also so eager to walk everywhere that he was doing it quite well this evening even while wearing his blanket sleeper!

Making Tracks

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids to town for a train ride, their first ever train ride, on an old cane train locomotive that gives rides at the botanical gardens. It was another of Miss A's rewards, and both children seemed to enjoy the experience immensely.





This photo is of the locomotive.








And









This photo is of Miss A in front of our carriage.

Playing With Fire

In the wee small hours of Saturday morning, L and other members of the rural fire brigade left for Geata. The dry, hot weather has sparked fires in the region, many of which are in the Mt. Perry area. During the quieter moments, L snapped a few shots, and arrived home at about 11:30 Saturday night, very tired. Keep an eye out in the local paper for some photos he sent in of the Geata fires. Here are just a few of the 59 photos he took. Apparently he got a little "shutter happy" :D .

Steps to Greatness...

Well, it's been a while coming, but Master B is finally taking some regular steps on his own, albeit only when bribery is involved. In the form of a jelly cup. It's quite comical to watch really, he takes enourmous steps with his right foot, and tiny steps with his left foot. The result? Side-stepping, very, v-e-r-y slow side-stepping. He's still a ways from what one would really call "walking" but awkward side-stepping is close enough :D .

Random Pics

We recently acquired a rooster, as some extra company for our hens. He's a little bantam, so it might be nice to have some chicks that are a mixture. By about the third morning we were used to his crowing, and now L sleeps right through it.

The 4 ladies.












The proud young rooster, now with some hens to call his own.











Recently, at a potluck luncheon, We served pumpkin soup in a hollowed out MASSIVE pumpkin. It was quite effective.


It was so big, Master B could fit inside.







He really enjoys his food, this boy - just can't get enough!

"Fun-due"

On father's day night, we went to a friend's house for fondue - yummy!















And it was awesome entertainment when the cork was popped, except nobody noticed the sparkling grape juice going everywhere! Apparently the tablecloth has survived well, and is back to the original colour.

Sand Town

As Miss A's reward for earning 6 stamps on her "happy day chart" this week, she chose to go to the beach, to "build a whole town out of sand". According to her, there are 5 sandcastles in a town, so that is what we made...until our little town was flooded...

Master B enjoyed the sand immensely, until it was nap-time and it just all became too much.


















As the song goes: "don't build your house on the sandy land, don't build it too near the shore..."
Great advice.

First Words

Well, our little man sure is growing up fast! He has been busily adding words to his vocabulary for the last month or so. Here are some words we have been able to understand so far:
Other than a very primitive "mamma" and "dadda", the first word was "Amen", after saying blessing one morning.
He now says "mamma" and "daddy" quite clearly.
He greets me with "There! There! There!" when I pick him up from his cousins' house on Tuesday afternoons.
I've heard him say "no" once, I'm sure there's more of that to come.
Possibly following in the footsteps of his big sister, who strung her first 3 word sentence together at 15 months, he put two words together last Monday "I do".
And the most recent word he has learned (over yesterday and today): "puss".
There are more, no doubt, that I haven't thought of, but that will do for now, at least.