Fun at the Farm

Yesterday we went with one of Matt's coworkers to his uncle's farm. It's a beautiful 3,000 acre spread over the hills from Perth city and was a great day trip for us. The kids enjoyed seeing the cows as we drove in. Don't tend to see many of those around here.

The highlight of the day (for me, anyway) was meeting this tiny girl - an orphaned kangaroo that is being bottle fed by the folks tending the farm. It was scared to death of Alex and hopped all over the place. I wish I would have gotten a video of the action because the little girl doesn't have control of those big feet yet and bounced and rolled everywhere.

There are also a couple of juvenile roos living on the porch at the moment. The green doghouse is their home! They were a bit more evenly matched with Alex but still scared of the noisy little person running after them.

Ben was introduced to the little orphan in her red "pouch" where she feels the safest.

I finally got to hold her and didn't want to let her go. Ever.

Alex got a chance to say hello gently but was more interested in running around...

...because bigger roos are much more fun! It was pretty cool watching them jump off the wall because they can't go down the stairs.

LOVE this sweet girl!



We also met a few of the older kangaroos that had been rescued and still hung around the farmhouse.

Feeding time! She sucked down her bottle in just a minute and kept looking for more.

After a little more playtime, she jumped back into her pouch for naptime. They just put the pouch in a little basket or hang it from a hook on the wall while she sleeps.

Matt went to shoot guns with a few guys and I took the kids away from the noise to enjoy a picnic lunch in the great outdoors.

They loved running around, collecting rocks and sticks, and generally getting dirty like boys are prone to do.

We also wandered through the woods a bit following kangaroo trails and exploring.

Ben was doing a great job narrating our walk so I was trying to get a video of him talking about the places where kangaroos might live and play, and instead this is what we got:

I'm still laughing about his total honesty but know he'll probably hate me one day for sharing that video!

Found some wildflowers beginning to appear.

When the kids starting wearing out, we hit the road and let Alex nap. He woke up early so we detoured through Swan Valley on our way home for some good food and a little wine tasting. The boys did some more running around since restaurants and wineries aren't high on their list of favorites.

Back home it was warm enough to enjoy our first dinner on the porch in months so I guess spring is truly on its way. This is our favorite place in the entire house so we're looking forward to more beautiful weather and sunset meals.

The Patch

As I mentioned previously, we are patching Ben's strong eye each day for an hour (either two 30-minute stints or one long one) and working towards 6 hours each day. Let's just say this particular activity is less than welcomed by my little buddy and he's inventing ways to get around it, like suggesting he wear safety goggles instead. Sorry, Ben, this won't do the trick!

We've found that the stick-on patches are working the best at the moment because they keep his eye closed. The other options that allow him to open the eye seem to invite him to peek around the edges and cheat. Ben complains a lot when I'm putting it on but seems to forget about it rather quickly so I think we're making progress, of course the minute the timer goes off he rips the patch off and adds a sticker (or two) to his reward chart. Any suggestions for encouragement by parents who have been down this road would be greatly appreciated!

Alex came chasing after me this morning yelling "cheese!!" when I didn't get a picture of him as well, but then I couldn't even get a smile out of him. We're headed to the doctor again today to see if his ear infection has returned because he's not my normal happy boy.

My favorite moment of the day is checking in on the boys before I go to bed each night. There's no telling what position Ben will be in but puppy will always be nearby.

Alex is very predictable - head in the same corner, blankie in a hand, blankie on the head, paci firmly in the mouth. I love how he obviously managed to sneak a few books into bed as well.

Now that Alex isn't going to school, it's time to bid a fond farewell to the paci as well. I think we're going to go cold turkey once he's feeling better again so I'd love advice or suggestions on this process as well since we never had to do it with Ben.

Alex's Last Day of School

Well, Alex did well during two short trials and not quite as well for his two full days of school. He cooperated, played, and napped but refused to eat and clearly cried a lot because his little eyes were puffy both days. I think he would do well once he adjusted to the routine and I would sure make the most of the kid-free hours, but I was the one who ultimately threw in the towel. I don't want to see Alex unhappy and since he's my last baby I don't see any reason why he can't be a baby a little longer. I'll keep my little guy home with me and postpone getting a life of my own for a while. Ben will hopefully be starting pre-primary (kindergarten) full-time at the public school in February so it hit me that I won't have them home forever.

Meanwhile, we've had some fun in the beautiful weather. It's been colder this past week but still quite nice most days. We discovered a new playground last weekend with a huge pirate ship for the kids to explore and thank goodness Matt and I were each watching a kid because they were hard to keep up with in the maze of paths and ladders.

Alex had a blast and loved running away. Cute trick as long as I can follow!

Ben got his workout climbing up all the chain ladders.

The guys playing in one of the windows. It was really a kid's dream playground and we'll definitely return.

The location was terrific as well because it's on a hill overlooking the river so we had great scenery for our picnic.

Hard to see, but if you click on the picture you'll see a group (flock? gaggle?) of black swans with white wings flying over the water.

The indoor activity of choice is definitely mario kart on the wii. We got a second TV so we can finally take advantage of our downstairs study/playroom and its comfortable recliners. We've started patching Ben's eye every day and this is both encouragement to wear the patch and a helpful activity to strengthen his weak eye.

We've had fun playing in our own yard as well. We don't have a lot of grass but there are patio areas all around the house that are fun for driving. Occasionally the cars sneak inside as well...they boys have to keep me on my toes somehow.

cheese!

The guys love their playhouse and slide outside and these beautiful days make me happy to be outside as well. Last winter was one of the wettest on record and this winter is shaping up to be one of the driest.

Thank you, gymnastics, for teaching my boys how to jump. Now how do I turn it off? Thank goodness these are carpeted stairs.

This is quite possibly the most boring video I've ever uploaded and that's the beauty of it. After watching the boys fight all afternoon, I threatened to take this toy away if they couldn't play nicely with it. They quietly played together and took turns for a good 15-minutes...a moment for the record books.

First Day of School

I've finally broken down and enrolled Alex in a preschool/daycare here. There is no such thing as mother's day out or any dedicated 2-year old preschool here so a daycare program is my only option. Alex will attend on Mondays and Wednesdays (the same days as Ben) so I'll get some free hours to take care of things like groceries and doctor appointments without all my usual "help". I think the socialization, independence, and new experiences will be really good for Alex as well, but I'm still sad about the thought of sending my baby out of the house two days a week. We've been together nearly nonstop for the entire year we've lived in Australia so it's time to teach my little guy some more independence. He had two trials this week for 1-2 hours and did great so I'm really hoping it will be an easy transition. Here's a picture of Alex on his first morning...he was so excited and kept saying "Alex school!" all the way until he was in the classroom and I started to say goodbye. Luckily the tears only lasted a few minutes and he was happy to see me when I returned.

We've had a rainy few days and have been especially bored in the afternoons. Nothing some mousse can't fix! Alex didn't know what to think about his crazy hair.

Yep, it was worth it!

Ben totally loved it.

Good laughs, good fun. These boys definitely have the thin hair I inherited from my dad. The good news for them (hopefully) is that my dad still has almost all that hair so maybe they'll keep theirs.

Our most exciting moment last weekend was on our walk home from lunch at a cafe a few blocks away. Matt was (of course) watching all the surfers and kept yelling at me to look. I kept walking, assuming it was just more surfing he wanted me to see, but it turns out this was one opportunity when it was worth stopping!

Here's a little closer view of the whale we were lucky enough to watch for a good 20 minutes or so but unable to get a better picture. He was surprisingly close to the surfers and just casually swam around by himself.
This was in view from our house and has made me redouble my efforts looking out the window to spot more whales migrating through! I'm not sure what this one was but know the humpbacks are sighted regularly through November or so. Hope to see more of these amazing creatures.

Gorgeous Winter

My trip to Houston was planned mostly around the arrival of my nephew (thanks for coming at a convenient time for us, little one!) and Ben's school holidays, so a lucky coincidence is that we missed 6 weeks of winter weather here. Last year's winter was horrible - cold, rainy, windy and generally miserable. It lasted from the day we arrived (one year ago today!) until October and I pretty much hated every minute of it. I was extremely happy to miss some very cold weather and big storms while we were swimming and sweating in Texas, but we have had some incredible weather since we returned. It's been sunny and calm nearly every day with highs around 70, lows around 40, and little humidity. Pretty amazing. Bad news for the locals because they depend on the rain to fill up the reservoirs in the winter and are severely low on rainfall, but great news for us because we've been outside all the time.

The boys and I enjoyed the beach a few afternoons because it's definitely too cold to swim so they were content playing in the sand.

This seagull kept a close watch an Alex...I guess he looked likely to drop food at any moment.

Alex took care of that by chasing him away.

The kids enjoyed running up and down the sidewalk.

Big smiles....

...happy boys!

I've walked past this sign a hundred times but just finally read it. Glad they warned me about the water before I walked into it.

We've also been enjoying our favorite parks again, like the lotterywest area at King's Park.

These were lots of fun to climb on.

Today we helped the boys' friend Wilder celebrate his birthday and it was funny watching the kids because they stuck together the entire time. They hadn't seen most of the other kids since June but were more interested in playing together. They've really bonded since they started sharing a bedroom and even more so on the long trip with just one another for entertainment.

As soon as the cupcakes appeared they were right back in the crowd. Nothing stands between these guys and frosting!

Yum!!

Alex's disappeared immediately.

We're finally back on the right side of the clock. It took a week to get everyone sleeping normal hours again and it's sure nice to be able to stay awake past 8pm myself. Unfortunately, the boys picked up a little virus and haven't felt well but a precautionary trip to the doctor yesterday caught the reemergence of Alex's ear infection and I got him started on antibiotics again before he got bad. Hopefully early treatment will keep my little guy happy.

Jetlag

A 13-hour time difference is painful. I can talk all day about completely flipping our eating and sleeping patterns, but these pictures demonstrate it better. Keep in mind my kids don't typically fall asleep anywhere except their beds or the car.

Alex was rubbing his face on his blankies and never got back up.

Not sure how Ben worked this out but he curled up in the chair this afternoon.

We're all still up for several hours each night watching TV and snacking so it's been hard to get through the days. I'll allow regular nap hours but nothing extra and usually get to bed myself the minute the boys are asleep at night.

We have had fun during the day, especially playing mario kart on our new Wii. Alex is also a big fan of bowling.

After he laughs he says "That's funny, Daddy!"