What's On My Phone?

I finally downloaded some pictures off my phone from the past year and thought I'd share my favorites.

Sleepy Alex! This one must be really old because he doesn't have much hair. Other than that, his face looks exactly the same.

Chocolate mousse at Ikea

Always a favorite! Takes half an hour to get them to eat their dinner and the mousse disappears in 30 seconds.

A massive spider that was living in our yard. It had a pretty amazing web so out of respect (and the fact that I couldn't reach it and wasn't about to risk it jumping on me) I let it live, then it disappeared. It had better still be living OUTside our house.

Two kookaburras in the tree.

A nice rainbow over our house one rainy morning. I didn't notice it until we drove away and looked back.

Two sweet little boys enjoying the beach.

We happened on a big group of black swans and ducks by the river one day and had to stop.

Turns out the swans are much bigger up close and actually taller than Alex when they're fully upright....he was NOT a fan. The boys are on a little grassy ledge so once the swan jumped up and towered over Alex the fun was finished.

Enjoying a beautiful day at the playground.

Tons of sailboats at Port Beach.

I do carry my camera around with me almost all the time but it's handy to have a passable camera on my phone every now and then.

School Carnival

Cottesloe Primary School, where Ben will be attending next year, had a fete yesterday. I understand that word (pronounced "fate" to me) to mean something like a carnival but I guess it sounds better to use a french word. We walked over to play there for the afternoon and enjoyed seeing some friends, meeting some kids that may be in Ben's class next year, and letting the kids play. It's a fairly large school built in the 1800's and the sports fields were covered with people and activities.

The kids had to go to the petting zoo, of course. Matt and I considered running off with this turkey for Thanksgiving since they're hard to come by here and crazy expensive.

Passed on the duck poo lotto, but I think we could have won.

The boys had fun playing with the toys at the circus school display.

Alex was crazy about the spinning plates.

Ben got his hair painted red to match his shirt and immediately regretted it. It took a lot of convincing to not run home and wash his hair right then. Luckily, we were in line for the big trampoline so he quickly forgot once his turn came.

Alex LOVES trampolines and can jump forever. He was in heaven!

I love watching those little legs!

Ben is a pretty big fan himself.

He was trying to jump right in front of us so it took a little convincing to get him in the middle of the trampoline. Such fun!

Cute Pictures

I haven't taken many pictures lately, maybe because it seems like we're doing the same old things every day, but here are my recent favorites. After a trip to the park with a very exciting water fountain, both boys needed dry clothes and got whatever was in the back of the car. Lucky for me, they can both pretty much wear the same size so Ben's old school uniforms are really handy spares. Look at how cute these guys are in their matching outfits, yet ask yourself how people could possibly still ask me if they're twins. Happens more than you'd think.

A little brotherly love! Alex has been very physically affectionate towards Ben this week, sometimes with hugs, sometimes just by sitting on Ben's chest. (and don't get me started on the picture quality...we have 3 decent cameras here and none of them work reliably)

We borrowed a ball popper machine from a friend and all Alex wants to do is stick things, including his hands, inside. Usually I found about 15 cars jammed in there but thank goodness things come right back out.

This kid is obsessed with stickers and stamps. One usually leads to a dozen all over him. The kids both get stamps at the end of gymnastics class and Alex holds up the line while he requests them on his head, tummy, knees, nose, and forehead.

I love these boys. Never a dull moment around here!

Letter to Santa

I'm not sure who's more excited about Christmas this year...me or Ben! It is SO much fun talking about Jesus' birth, santa, reindeer, and presents to a 4-year old full of questions. Today we were discussing how santa comes down the chimney and it turned into a 30-minute barrage of questions - why doesn't he take the door? does he carry a ladder? isn't he too big? how will a trampoline fit down the chimney? I LOVE the magic of this age!! And even more fun this year, we don't have to do our shopping with luggage restrictions in mind so I'm having a ball picking out gifts for the kids.

Ben has been putting lots of thought into what he wants from santa so yesterday I helped him write a letter and he took care of the signature and decorations.

So proud of his letter! And I'm so proud of how well he's beginning to write his name. (And his glasses are broken, hopefully to be fixed this afternoon...the crossed eye is so much more obvious without them) I love how he told Santa that Alex needs a few gifts, too, although I'm thinking the drum request may benefit Ben a little.

Signed, sealed, and ready to be delivered! Fake stamp but real airmail sticker at Ben's request. I can't imagine many 4-year olds know that letters going a long way require an airmail sticker. Mail isn't picked up at the letterbox out front so we drove down the street to the post box, gave the letter a big kiss, and sent it on its way.
Now we are all excitedly awaiting santa's big visit next month!

November Already??

We got our first taste of summer weather last week (highs in the 90's and hot wind) so it sure doesn't feel like November. It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Of course, it's not celebrated here but we'll do our own and then get together with the A&M club for our second Aggie Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, we've been having fun at home.

I caught two little men playing in the dirt outside. Judging by the evidence, I think this one had an early dinner...(and this was the day after the heat ended and it was only 69, so the jackets came back out)

Fun game! I promise I had nothing to do with it...but I will keep it in mind for days when I need a little peace and quiet.

I love how these guys sleep. Ben was curled up on the edge of his bed one night.

Alex has been gathering all the friends and toys he can find lately. I don't know how he finds room to sleep! I have to dig him out each night before I go to bed. And he loves sleeping in his robe.

We have a new chapstick addict in the house, except I haven't exactly been able to teach him that it only belongs on his lips.

On Saturday we wandered through Fremantle for some shopping and lunch and happened on a street performer. He was using a whip to break pasta out of that brave woman's hand and the boys apparently thought the whip was too loud.

That evening we had a barbeque with another great family by the beach and were amazed to see whales breaching in the distance. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the spray from a whale directly over the man's head near the horizon. It was so much fun watching them! Even better, we got the same show last night from our own porch. Through the binoculars we could clearly see flippers and tails and watched the whales jumping and splashing for over an hour.

The family. Unfortunately the entire group shot including the Smith family is on their camera.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at King's Park in the heart of Perth. We typically don't make it past the big playground so this time we skipped the play and went straight for the scenery.

Ben kept asking why we had to walk around but Alex got right into the spirit of things and loved running wild.

The WWI memorial on the hill overlooking the Swan River.

The city skyline.

My crazy boys rolling down the green hills.

Some of the bush flowers are really pretty but it's not exactly a lush garden.

A huge boab tree that came from the Kimberley region in northern WA. It took a lot of people, a big truck, and 6 days to make the trip.

The boys' first time to climb a tree. Ben loved it until he realized how far he was off the ground, then he freaked out a little.

My main reason for visiting this side of the park was to see this treetop walk. The bridge was pretty exciting for the boys...nothing like confined spaces to get them running.

The view was nice but overall it was nothing special. We all enjoyed our afternoon at the park, though.

More Halloween

We celebrated Halloween #2 with several other expat families from all over. The kids all took part in a cake walk for prizes.

Later they trick or treated around the adults...it doesn't get much easier than that!

Alex learned the "trick or treat" line very quickly!

Ben, aka Buzz, with some of his loot. We let the kids trade costumes but it turns out this one is made for slightly shorter kids.

Woody was pretty excited about his candy, too.

Alex took it all in one bite, as usual.

On the 31st, we went to the American Women's Club Halloween party, which was a bit disappointing but still fun for the boys to dress up and come home with buckets of candy. It was at Perry Lakes, which is a beautiful park I've driven by every week but never been into. I never get tired of smelling eucalyptus.

Instead of trick or treating, lots of people backed their cars along one row and decorated their trunks instead. It's actually funny to call it Trunk or Treating because they call the back of the car a "boot" here.

You can't get more than a dozen people together in Perth without calling the coffee truck. It was really hot and dry and there were still people lined up for their coffee fix.

All the kids walked around in a costume parade.

Popsicles...yum!! And kudos to the person that thought of a white popsicle.

Ben was safe with his orange one because he's a bit more responsible with the drips.

On to the trunk or treating and LOTS more candy. Matt and I managed to sneak a few of our favorites out of the buckets before the kids hit the loot....they don't know what Reese's peanut butter cups are so they don't know what they're missing! Those are precious commodities around here.

One other picture I had to share...sleepy Alex just getting up from his nap. It's like all he can do is make it up the stairs then he stops for a break.