Look, here's one of them newfangled quadropod spiders they all keep talking about

Just one more pic, this time of the spiders inhabiting the mega-spiderweb

Another pic of the gargantuan spider web

It is quite difficult to see and grasp just the enormity of this spider web Uncle Tom discovered while going for a run

Momma decides to catch some of the beach action too and rides along on her bike as well

Logan kicking up the beach vibes while riding the bike with Dad

The cane toad racing proves to be too savage for Nissa as Nathaniel, Amelia, and Aunt Cynthia watch in sheer awe.

And they're off! The first one to get the cane toad off the table (without physically touching it) and into the bucket is the winner!

Logan just couldn't quite wait for the cane toad racing to begin

Did you wash those hands before feeding me? After all, I saw you feed that old wanker gray kangaroo just a minute ago.

Are you sizing me up, well are ya?

From the mouth, er, hands of babes

Hey get down from there, didn't you read the rules. No one is allowed on the railings!

Snakes alive!

Hmm, we are at an impasse and don't quite see eye to eye. You have food in both your hands, yet I have none and I demand something in my beak as I am a bit parched.

To properly eat bread and jam, one must sit up straight and lick the jam from your lower edge tongue to the top, not forgetting to wipe any excess of your beak immediately afterwards (Amelia receives remedial upper crusted british avian etiquette training)

The lorikeets decide Logan is old enough to take him under their wing

Okay this is getting out of control. Already four birds have swarmed Dad and they haven't even gotten to his worms yet.

Nissa starts to wonder, if the birds love to eat only jam, why do I have to eat some of the yucky stuff and why can't I just eat jam from now on?

Amelia gives in trying to eat her breakfast and figures that if you can't beat them, join them.

Uncle Tom uses his swift animal teaching techniques to help con these unwitting rainbow lorikeets into helping him build the next road at next month's National Guard duty.

If you lift that even one inch above your mouth Auntie Cynthia, then it's all mine!

Nathaniel was one of the smart ones and wore a hat to breakfast

Just checking... nope, no bird on my head, just some mayonnaise.

Hey Mom, quit trying to feed me and look out! That thing on your head looks like it might just eat YOU!

I hope that heavy thing on my head is a bird and not one of its remnants

Uncle Tom realizes this place really is 'just for the birds'

Logan is about to use his newly learned fork-using skills for all the wrong reasons

Dad gets cloned and no one can tell us apart

The poor unsuspecting crowd were all smiles in the beginning...

It was the beginning of the end as the first bird landed on our table as we ate our buffet 'breakfast with the birds'

Nissa and Logan loved taking baths together

Logan literally ran into Mom when we were rediscovered after 'losing' our way on the rainforest boardwalk trail

Logan, Nissa, and Dad snuck off to see if we could get lost and evade the others

Taking a gander at some butterflies that Logan seems to think may just still be alive

Logan is getting a bit of a taste of his own medicine when he learns what it feels like to get bitten back

Getting up close and personal at the touch and feel center

Poor Amelia is just starting to feel the wrath of a sickness coming on, one that would do her in for a few days to come

This kid sure can put his lungs to good use

Everyone is just so innocent, eh, or are they really!?

Uncle Tom makes fun of Aunt Cynthia's dumbo ears.

Everyone rests at the top of the rainforest lookout tower

Climbing the stairway to heaven

Me gets the impression that a few kids have become comatose from an overdose of the day's adventure

Nissa attempts to haul the ferry back across the river to pick us up

Waiting on the ferry to carry us across north towards the Cape Tribulation rainforest

A chinese junk boat floats by

Nathaniel and Nissa find themselves up a massive tree perfect for climbing

Nathaniel, Logan, and Uncle Tom (aka the MEN) dream of hitting the sails and floating out to sea

Dad didn't know he was going to be raising a lively swinger

And here's another crab hiding within a shell

Hello little friendly crab

Loving sisters welcome the heat of the beach more so than the heat they endure at home

Hmm, wha have we found, a crab perhaps. The excitement and mystery captivates all

Running along back towards the beach after the beach life exploration adventures nears its end

It's low tide, perfect for Logan to get his feet wet without fear of drowning

Mom and Logan carefully traverse the waters in an effort to spring up unsuspectingly upon a sea cucumber

Nissa and Aunt Cynthia are gallantly hiding their chattering teeth

As Daddy continues to teach Logan to swim, Logan's lips begin to turn purple.

Logan salivates the thought of jumping in the pool of bubbles

Mom takes Logan for a dip

The first dip in the pool out at the Great Barrier Reef in Port Douglas, Queensland.

Here they are, almost all the way down from their epic journey.

If you squint your eyes, you can just make out Amelia, Nathaniel, Nissa, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Cynthia coming back down the rock.

A view of Uluru from the only 'accessible' climbing point tourists are allowed to take

Do ya think I'm camoflauged enough and that anyone would notice me if I just hung out here amongst the rock formations.

Logan makes it look all to easy by demonstrating his climbing ability on a smaller rock before considering to tackle the real thing

Mom and Logan take a hike around Uluru

Nissa, Auntie Cynthia, Nathaniel, Amelia, and Uncle Tom all stand large in front of the worlds largest rock monolith

Mom and Logan in front of Ayer's Rock (also known as Uluru to the Aborigines)

Looking through the portal in to the mirror reverse of our own

Nissa, Nathaniel, and Amelia are all set for action!

A picture of the Olgas (or Kata Tjuta as it is known to the Aboriginals)

Nissa sizes up her prey

Logan pets a fine furried critter

Amelia makes her move towards a timid little fellow

Nissa is all smiles as she prepares to feed the rock wallabies as they make their way down the MacDonnell Range ridge at dusk.

The morning after the campout, in which Logan is dead in Momma's arms after throwing up all over her and Daddy throughout the night.

These pics do not capture the thrills and spills and flights of fancy many of these racers experience when approachiing the 'steps' here at the 100km mark down the race track.

The Great Australian Finke Desert Race is on at a breakneck speed!

Yankee explorers in an outback jungle. Amelia scouts ahead with Nathaniel close on her tail. Nissa stands precariously next to a gnarly mulga tree while Auntie Cynthia tips her hat as acknowledgement that she's ready to attempt an ascent. Uncle Tom, taking the photo, holds steady and ready for a possible rapid retreat should any large goanna make itself suddenly known.

Amelia literally goes out on a limb

What does it look like, Nathaniel climbing a tree

Nathaniel is utterly captivated by the sparkler show. Little does he know that soon after an entire fireworks display will take over as something new to be captivated by.

Star sparklers are the coolest, er, I mean hottest

Who is giving the deer in the headlights stare down

Time to break out the sparklers while Logan gets his headlamp set up

Auntie Cynthia and Nissa come on over to get some grub for dinner

Mom uses the shovel to put some hot coals from the campfire over and around the dutch oven that is sitting next to it. In about 20-30 minutes some wonderful damper bread will be ready for eating!

And it's a good thing the wind wasn't too strong to carry the balloon too far away

Logan and Dad are just ripped to be out here... after all, it's the last full day before Daddy loses yet another pair of sunglasses.

Yep, that balloon sure did take flight!

Amelia and Trey let go of the balloon as it heads off on its maiden voyage

The balloon is starting to fill up with hot air!

The kids, including Nissa, Nathaniel, and Amelia, all help hold up Uncle Tony's hot air balloon as we get it ready for launch

Now we're cooking after Nathaniel helps put on more firewood

Starting to get that fire going

Finke Desert Race Campout gets underway

In the morning more camping prep work was done to get ready for our
adventure out to watch the largest and most exciting annual off-road
race in Australia. Called the Finke Desert Race, it is an event in
which dirt bikes, ATVs, buggies, trucks, and dirt bikes with sidecars
all compete to go 230 kilometers down from Alice Springs on a tough dirt
road to the town of Finke (along the Finke dry river). Then the
following day, the Queen's Birthday, they return racing the 230
kilometers back. Dad placed the swag (a large foam mattress that is
covered in canvas and is fantastic to sleep on for most Aussies when
sleeping outbush) on top of the 4WD and latched it on tightly, then he
and Uncle Tom went out to get some cooking gas for the portable grill
from the camping supply store and then picked up a brand new Nissan
X-Trail rental 4WD so that everyone could fit comfortably on the drive
down the track. After loading the food into the X-Trail, we stopped off
at Subway for a bite of lunch to eat while setting off on our adventure.
We drove down to what many folks call the 'Steps', about 100 kilometers
down the course of the Finke Desert Race. All the kids slept most of
the way except Amelia who did a good job reading. 'The Steps' is a good
spot many like because there is a rocky hill the contestants must speed
up and through without losing control or vehicle parts. It's a tough
section to get through and a good place to spectate since many problems
generally occur on this section. It's not so good as a camping spot,
however, because it is open and exposed with little-to-no vegetation or
shelter cover from trees or anything. Mostly it's just dirt. But you
can see for a good long distance and the vast open night sky is
something to behold.
Once we arrived, we managed to find ourselves amongst numerous families,
many of whom were Daddy's coworkers, and it felt as though a small tent
city had suddenly been erected out of nowhere. We set up our camp,
consisting of three small-to-medium sized tents (1 swag just fitting in
one tent, 1 queen size blow up mattress just fitting in another, and 2
little thermarest blow mattresses for Dad, Mom, and Logan in the third
tent). We also set up a kitchen and food area, consisting of a
vestibule that another family generously lent us to keep us protected
from the harsh sun. Harsh even considering that we were in the heart of
the winter in June.
For fun soon thereafter, we watched one of Dad's coworkers launch his
water powered rocket he'd built up with a hose nozzle used as a pressure
release valve. It consisted of a 2 liter soda bottle as the main rocket
body (could only be used once generally as it would break upon
landing). Several tries at this, starting with 30 psi pressure, and
then up to 45-50 psi, and the rocket was reaching heights of a couple
hundred feet. A bunch of coworker's kids, sitting on the roof rack of
their 4WD truck, would be funny when counting down to the rocket's
launch by announcing 4...3...2...1...0...-1...-2...-3... until it would
finally reach the desired pressure for launch.
After that Amelia and Dad, er, Uncle Tony, took a really nice hour long
walk north, then east towards a forest of ghost gum trees lining a dry
river bed far off in the distance, then over a hill ridge, and then back
to camp. We talked about many things, including the hoof tracks of cows
and camels, of bugs, of rocks, and how it looked like Mars and how
aliens might think of earth should they discover it millions of years
from now. From there we discussed sci-fi movies like the "Blob" and "War
of the Worlds". Really good time.
Upon our return, Dad got out his little hot air balloon kit, which
turned out to not be so little. The balloon itself was colored with red
and yellow stripes and was about the size of an adult (in height) A
little cotton ball was dipped in an alcohol based fuel, whereupon it was
then set down in a can and put alight. With our official launch control
helper of Amelia the first time, and Nathaniel the second, we held the
balloon until the heat from the cotton ball would fill the balloon with
hot air. Then letting go, it easily cleared a few hundred feet and
would gently come back to earth several hundred more feet down wind. All
the kids, along with Uncle Tom (the first time), ran as fast as they
could to retrieve it upon landing.
Dinner time and we ate food as cooked on the portable BBQ grill,
consisting of BBQ chicken kabobs on wooden skewer sticks, hot dogs, and
corn on the cob. Mom had brought and made a 7 layer salsa and guacomole
based dip that is always to die for with some good tortilla chips.
Also, we made our first attempt at some traditional outback pioneering
day damper bread, consisting of 3 cups self-rising flour, one can of
beer, one fourth teaspoon each of sugar and salt... and a quarter of a
cup of water. The secret of which was in really kneading the
ingredients together over and over into a nice dough. It was then
placed in a medium sized cast iron dutch oven (Mom and Dad won
incidentally at a dance party a few years back). Putting the lid on,
you then place the dutch oven in a small pit created next to the
campfire and lined both underneath and around with hot coals retrieved
from the campfire. Then some more hot coals are placed on top of the
lid as well (not too many!), then wait for about 20-30 minutes and
voila! Damper bread! Oh so good with butter and honey! In this our
inaugural attempt, we managed to burn the top of the damper, but using a
knife the burnt bits were cut off and the inside was simply moist and
wonderful!
Sitting around the campfire amongst the vast beauty of the bright stars
and the easily visible Milky Way, Dad was about to put Logan down for
bed when all of a sudden we received the biggest treat we could've
imagined. A full fledged fireworks show in the middle of the heart and
remoteness of the outback. This was no small event, it was easily as
big, if not bigger, than a town 4th of July fireworks display. It had
all the biggest fireworks you would have encountered before, including
the huge blossom type fireworks that fills the entire night sky. And to
see it in the open air and open night sky surroundings just added to the
immensity of the kaleidoscope of colors before us. At first, Logan up
in Daddy's arms, he seemed to really enjoy them. But as they grew more
frequent, more intense, and with louder bangs, Logan genuinely became
frightened and pushed his face into Dad's chest, not knowing what to
make of the calamity, even with Dad's reassurences and calming tone.
When it was all said and done, this professional light show in the
outback had done its job as it was both mesmerizing and exhausting, and
it ended just about right in time for us to take a breather. As a side
note, the fireworks display was put on by our friends from the Penny
Farthing Bike Shop in town, one of the very few licensed businesses
allowed to sell fireworks (one day a year on June 30 is the only legal
day for people to buy and launch fireworks in the Northern Territory).
Anyway, the Bike Shop always has extra left-over unsold fireworks from
the previous year and this is their opportunity to set them all off.
Mom, Logan, Nissa, and Aunt Cynthia all went to bed about 7-8 PM, while
Dad and Uncle Tom cleaned up. Afterwards Amelia told Uncle Tony a scary
ghost story. Nathaniel was in bed, but got back out to go potty with
Uncle Tony lighting the way for a safe location. On our return, Uncle
Tony sat with Amelia and Nathaniel around the campfire until around 9 PM
when we all retired to our tent and bed, or so we thought....

There she blows!

Logan isn't exactly sure what he is looking at or watching for

The kids wait for the rocket to go off from the official launch pad viewing site

Coworker Clayton gets ready to launch his water powered rocket

Here comes the bed of luxury, a heavy foam pad just begging to be laid down upon

Let's call a spade a spade and get down to the groundbreaking ceremony

Nathaniel and Uncle Tony start to unfurl the swag from the truck

Nissa and Nathaniel kick back with some grub

Amelia is all smiles as the campout gets underway

A few helpers join in, Amelia behind and Logan up close with a tent stake (actually an old railroad stake from the former railroad tracks that used to run along the area).

The tent city starts small with a few families getting set up

Uncle Tom and Dad set up the tents in the vast open space known as the "Steps"

Enjoying a nice bit of lunch out at the Finke Desert Race camping site

Sammy's Pizza

Tonight everyone went out and ate dinner at Sammy's Pizza, in the hopes
that the kids would play on the indoor playground while the adults could
mingle together with some of our other friends and eat somewhat
leisurely at the table (famous last words). Nathaniel liked the
'spicier than American' pepperoni pizza, while Amelia liked teh plain
cheese with mushroom pizza. Nissa's favorite food was the chips
(fries). The kids did all have fun on the indoor entertainment
playground, although Amelia and Nathaniel would 'clunk' down hard at the
bottom of the steep slide that must have been designed for children
between the ages of 4 and 4! At night afterwards the adults prepped
for the forthcoming campout the following day by loading up the 4WD
Toyota 4Runner with the camping gear and preparing the food.

Nathaniel has fun on the slide at Sammy's Pizza's indoor playground

I'll scratch Uncle Tom's back if he scratches mine, says Auntie Cynthia

Having a fun day at the Desert Park

Reptile Center and relaxation

While Dad was at work, everyone generally had an easier-going day
relaxing and trying to catch up from the jet lag. Daddy had woken up
with Uncle Tom, Auntie Cynthia, and Amelia having been awake since a
little earlier than 6 AM. In fact Mommy, who hadn't even been on the
plane, woke up at about 4:30 AM and proceeded to work on her classroom
on the internet (her typing keeping Daddy awake the whole time). In the
afternoon they all went out to the Alice Springs Reptile Center to see,
feel, and touch the snakes and lizards. At home afterwards they watched
a movie called the 'Last Starfighter' which is what was playing when
Daddy arrived. Because of this, Dad played cards with the two kids not
into the flick.... that being Logan and Nissa. First we tried to match
cards together, then Nissa hid the cards and Uncle Tony had to find
them. After the movie, Amelia continued to read the 'Horrible
Histories' magazine that we've been buying and saving for her. In fact,
that's what she was doing when I woke up in the morning, so she sure
does enjoy 'em. I believe she's already read 5 or 6 'Horrible
Histories' and they've only been here a little over one day!
Dinner time and we all ate a wonderful feast of chicken, mashed potatoes
with gravy, salad, and biscuits with butter and honey. No one loved the
tomatoes in the salad, most especially Amelia, who also didn't like the
lettuce, mainly because it was on the harder side of what it tastes like
at home. Logan and Nissa both didn't like the mashed potatoes much
either, but Nathaniel pointed out that it was the best meal ever!
Logan did really like the dark meat of the chicken, as well as his peas,
but then he always seems to like peas. During the meal, Logan pushed
on Uncle Tom's pants and said 'button'. Daddy responded with "that's
not a button" but then looked over and saw that Logan was indeed pushing
Uncle Tom's pocket button... Dad's mistake. After dinner, everyone
watched a bit of Amelia's schoolwork home video project all about
various animals, including snakes and toads, all on the big movie screen
we've got set up. Quite a show and something Uncle Tony really wants to
get to watch the rest of. Nissa went to bed shortly thereafter and
Uncle Tony played a game of 'pokemon' with Nathaniel. We used some of
Nathaniel's toy stuffed animals, in which Uncle Tony had three
'water-power' animals and Nathaniel had two 'fire-power' animals.
Needless to say Uncle Tony was pulverised and decimated by Nathaniel's
superior attackers, even with Uncle Tony's almost invincible stuffed duck.
Mom called Dad over to put Logan to bed, not only because it was Daddy's
night to do so, but because she and Auntie Cynthia were headed out for
dinner and practice at Mom's 'Alexandria Quartet' weekly practice
session (where Mommy plays the oboe as the fifth member of the
Alexandria Quartet). Speaking of the Alexandria Quartet, it is named
such even though they are a five member group because they were
originally a four member group and thus named themselves after a famous
set of books called the Alexandria Quartet (believe it might be a
mystery type series of books).
So after reading Logan his favorite truck and car picture book followed
by a favorite "Professor Cockatoo's Amazing WeatherDust Machine", Logan
was put down and he then pretty easily succumbed to slumber.

They've arrived!

Everyone arrived safe and sound today! That being Auntie Cynthia, Uncle
Tom, and Logan's cousins Amelia, Nathaniel, and Nissa. When Daddy got
home, he was surprised and worried not to hear any noises at all. Then
he noticed a note indicated everyone was at the little park down the
back side of the neighborhood. So Dad hopped on the bike and rode on
down. Imagine his surprise when he only saw Uncle Tom, Auntie Cynthia,
Mommy, and Logan... but where was Dad's nieces and nephew? In a
scant few seconds later out they popped from behind a log, running and
bounding into their Uncle Tony's line of entry. There they all gave him
wonderful hugs and made Daddy feel really good to get such a warm
reception! After that, Dad and all the kids played 'jail' in which
Daddy was put on the playground and in jail and couldn't get out. Then
they played tag in which Dad tried to catch them and put them in jail,
followed by a game of tickle monster. Uncle Tom and Uncle Tony stayed
and played with the kids while Mom and Auntie Cynthia headed home to
prepare dinner. Soon thereafter we headed home ourselves, putting Nissa
on the bike seat and Logan being pushed in the runner jogger by Amelia
and Nathaniel.
For dinner we all had Beef Stroganoff (Sour Cream Beef as Liesl calls
it), but the jet lag was catching up with them all and it wasn't long
after dinner that everyone headed to bed.
By the way, today we also found out what In-Town Housing assigned us for
a home, should we choose to accept it. It was not the location of home
we would have liked, but we'll investigate it and give it a chance
before possibly rejecting it (if we do reject it, then we won't get
another chance and will have to stay here in our current 2 bedroom
flat). Mommy and Auntie Cynthia did go check out the backyard of the
new potential home today. From the sound of it, the backyard is almost
non-existent (about the same as our current backyard, the size of two
turnips). Didn't sound too pleasant so far. It is extremely
bewildering why the government paid for a heap of homes meant for
families (3-5 bedrooms) that are so closed in without any yard. You
have to wonder if humanity or 'heart' ever reaches into some of these folks.

Logan has fun with one of his newly arrived best buddies, cousin Amelia!

Chickens and kitchen floor urinating

After work, Daddy arrived home to a Logan that was pulling him out in to
the backyard. Logan wanted to get up on to the picnic table and then
pour birdseed through a funnel, while doing so saying "funnel", followed
by "down the hole". Dad then took Logan to pick up his borrowed
camcorder from his friend and on to another friend's house to borrow a
tent and queen sized swag (a swag is an Australian outback sleeping bag
comprised of a large foam pad, about 3-4 inches thick, surrounded by
canvas. You stick your sleeping bag in it and sleep under the stars in
the lap of supreme bliss). Anyway, we needed these items in
preparation for Auntie Cynthia, Uncle Tom, and Amelia, Nathaniel, and
Nissa's arrival! While at the house to borrow a swag, Logan played
with their four children and saw their chickens that were kept in a koop
out in the backyard. He held them and petted them, even said 'ouch'
once and recoiled (possibly from their feet). He played on their swing
set and was generally quite upset when it was time to leave. Logan's
difficult and unruly behavior trying to remove him from their abode was
made tougher by the fact that he hadn't napped during the day and was
definitely showing signs of overtiredness. Mom said he did do well at
Kindermusik though (his last one of this season). Back home for bed,
Logan was upset about changing into his pajamas and for the first time
(that Daddy has witnessed) he climbed the crib on the outside to get up
close enough to turn the bedroom doorknob in an attempt to escape from
inevitable bedtime. If the doorknob wasn't a bit difficult to turn, he
would've been out in no time. Normally he wouldn't even come close to
being able to do this, but we moved the crib up to the front room so
that the new pending arrivals would be able to sleep in our bedroom.
For bedtime reading, Dad read 'First Words' to Logan. He's really
getting much better at repeating and seemingly understanding words,
especially occupational words like baker and firefighter. Oh, and
speaking of words, Mommy gave Logan a bath today. She said he uttered
'pee-pee' so Mom put him on the toilet, but he sat there and did
nothing. After a minute or two the phone rang and Mommy ran off to get
it. Quite soon thereafter Logan came out to the kitchen, still without
a diaper on, and proceeded to pee upon the kitchen floor.
Once Logan was down for bed, Mom gave Daddy a haircut and we cleaned up
to get ready for the new guests the next day!

Yep, definitely fits. Now I don't have to rely on Daddy to go for a ride on the bike since I can just use his mountain bike shoes myself.

New used car and a sick friend

Today Daddy stayed home from work for the first few hours and got up
with Logan at 6 AM as Momma had to wake up super early (4:30 AM) to get
school work posted for her students. Daddy and Logan had fun up until
going to Rosalie's house at 9 AM for 3 hours of day care (in which he
cried quite a bit once realizing Daddy was walking out the door). Momma
then rode her bike over to the other side of town and picked up Logan
and set him in the bike trailer for a fun jaunt back. In the evening
we all went over to pick up our just purchased used station wagon, a
1995 Mitsubishi Magna. We're excited about that because now we'll have
a second vehicle that is more economical for driving around town.
Currently our Toyota 4Runner SUV is costing us around $110 every two
weeks, a hefty price! Tonight Logan, Mommy, and Daddy all worked
together to move the crib from the master bedroom to the front 'office'
bedroom in preparation for Uncle Tom, Auntie Cynthia, and cousins
Amelia, Nathaniel, and Nissa's arrival in two days. Logan's best
friend, Bradon, returned from their vacation yesterday and they were
going to play together today (something they were both very excited to
do). However, poor Bradon came down with a 100 degree F fever and so it
was called off, a bummer for Logan. On a positive note, Logan learned
the word fever, and the fact that Bradon was very hot, which meant we
could not play with him today. Poor Bradon, at least it didn't happen
while he was on the vacation itself. And Bradon too was anxious to see
us and play.

Logan loves to help Mom clean up, especially using the Swiffer!

Sunday fun

Mom got up with Logan this morning so Daddy could get some last minute
things done for the Sunchase Solar Model Car website
(http://sunchase.org) The morning's breakfast must have been yummy for
Logan as he ate heartily the following: French Toast, some eggs, and a
bit of doughnut a little later. Mom and Logan then went out to the
grocery store to get a few basic food items for us and our
soon-to-be-returning friends Melissa, Jesse, Bradon, and baby Seth.
Mommy picked them up later that afternoon from the airport after their
one week vacation in Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef area), a place we
will soon be going to ourselves with Uncle Tom, Auntie Cynthia, and
cousins Amelia, Nathaniel, and Nissa. After their return, Daddy and
Logan played a few games of puppet bear and puppet duck in which the
puppets would chase Logan around our flat. Logan also took horsey rides
on Dad, with Daddy attempting to make realistic galloping and whinnying
type noises as he rode Logan around the living room floor on his hands
and knees. Outside they played with the trucks and on Logan's bike. In
the front of our units, we could see across the road there was a cherry
picker truck with a man and a chainsaw. He was up high and trying to
cut down various limbs off of one of the really tall white ghost gums
trees. Logan was entranced by the noise of the chainsaw and enjoyed
seeing the man going up and down in the cherry picker. Daddy didn't
think Logan understood the danger the man was in while they were
watching as there were two times when the man cut down a large limb and
it proceeded to land on the side or top corner of the cherry picker
platform where the man stood, causing Dad to gasp as it swayed wildly
back and forth with a seemingly strong potential for a collapse (you
could tell the man was a bit surprised as well).
Back at the garage, Logan and Daddy cleaned it up a bit and got ready
for a bike ride, Logan helping to fill the semi-deflated tires. Dad
intended on going for a little workout ride of about 12 miles up to
Flynn's Grave and back, but Logan spotted the playground along the way
and acted as though he was at death's door not to get to play in it.
So Dad's bike ride ended up being 3 minutes. However, Logan got some
enjoyable physical exercise in getting up and around the playground
equipment. He can get across the wobbly bridges on his own now and can
climb up some pretty precarious objects these days, albeit still making
a few mistakes enough to require Dad's immediate and quick-reacting
hands to grab a suddenly dropping kid.
Over in the other part of the playground were some friends of Dad's that
had their little kids there as well. One of them, named Mariah,
immediately became very motherly and attentive to Logan, hugging him
over and over. This got tiresome for Logan and so he ran off to try and
avoid her to no avail. Finally, she relented and accepted that Logan
had no more desire for hugs. Logan did find a desire for stomping his
feet in a section of water and mud puddles however.
Back at home for a quick non-lunch from a still full Logan belly, an
overtired kid was read a few stories and put down for a nap, but not
without several small trucks in hand. Then, after being groggily
aroused from a lengthy nap, Momma had returned from picking up our
friends from the airport and slowly got Logan back into an active swing
of things. One can not get Logan up from a nap and expect to jump right
into activity. You've got to warm him up or face his wrath! In this
case, Momma needed to wake him up so that she could give him a much
needed haircut followed by a shower.
Once awake, Logan got his semi-buzz cut hair chop and ran into the
office to see Daddy where he proclaimed "Haircut" In the evening,
Momma put on the movie "Born Free" and skipped to the later, more
interesting parts of the movie with the lions being more prevalent. Dad
was surprised to see Logan mesmerized watching it as he doesn't tend to
watch T.V. very actively, just sporadically in bits and pieces. In this
case, Logan watched a good straight 15 minutes before fixating on
something else.
Off to bed and no doubt Logan had dreams of lions in his head. Speaking
of which, he's getting more and more animal names down whenever we look
at books with animal pictures.

Learning sentences and a low key clean up day

Yesterday at the grocery store, Logan and Mommy ran into their friend
Kristen (Logan's friend Nicholas' Mom). Logan pointed to Kristen and
said, "Nick, Nick!" Mommy patiently explained that "No, that's Nick's
Mommy." So five minutes later when they ran into Kristen again at the
checkout line, Logan pointed and then said, "Mommy Mommy!" Mom then
corrected Logan again by saying, "No, that's Nick's Mommy." One last
time they ran into Kristen in the parking lot and Logan pointed at her
and said, "Mommy's Nick!" Mom decided to leave it at that.
Having said that, Logan is continuing to learn sentences.
Unfortunately, it is predominantly the following, "Me Want Truck", "Me
Want Out", "Me Want Malla" (Malla is vanilla milk, a little JuicePlus
powdered mixture of vitamins that goes into Logan's milk... which he of
course loves and always wants).
Mommy and Logan went to Kindermusik today and had a blast. Logan did everything Cathy, their music guide, asked. He even surpassed a fellow friend over a year Logan's senior. Was this a fluke, or is Logan truly enjoying the class now! Stay tuned for later classes to find out.
For dinner, we went out to Logan's favorite hip spot, Sammy's Pizza, where Logan enjoys the indoor playground, but not so much the food (Mom and Dad are weird in that they
like the food better than climbing in the playground).

Momma got up with Logan today and went to the Todd Mall area to walk
around and watch a school band play in the central area of the outdoor
pedestrian mall. Logan kept getting into the chained off garden area
and so Momma had to give Logan a few 'time-outs' for misbehaving. There
they saw Logan's pals Holly and Nicholas who happened to show up, so
Logan had a fun time with them. Back home for a nap, first Dad and
Logan played with Logan's big Tonka dump truck out front (hauling rocks
around). Inside, we all ate a hearty lunch of green peas and macaroni
and cheese, Logan wolfing down heaps. During that time, Grams and
Grampy also called to say hello and wish us well (Logan said a few words
to them as well). While on the phone, Logan turned on our full-sized
electronic piano and somehow managed to get a really funky beat going!
What made it so funny was the fact that Logan was on a cushion pillow
for added elevation and was tapping various piano keys with both hands,
all the while dancing and 'grooving' to the beat. Dad then got a
rebellious son into acceptance of a nap by grabbing a hold of Logan's
ankles, hanging him upside-down, and then swinging him up on to the
bed. A few quick stories later and Logan was in the crib and sound
asleep. After the nap, Dad was trying to wrap up some work getting
ready for the family's upcoming vacation with Logan's Auntie, Uncle, and
3 cousins, who will be visiting next Wednesday for about a month. So
Mom swept Logan up and into the runner-jogger stroller and off for a
walk. Logan was funny and cute in that he had to hold on to three of
his stuffed animals (his blue puppy dog, green turtle, and brown puppy
dog), but only for a little while after the walk started until he was
completely awake. A few minutes after the start of the walk, Daddy
finished doing what he needed to and caught up by bike. Momma's
favorite walk currently is along a back road full of trees that leads to
a small park, continued by a jaunt to the Boy Scout Hall where there is
a tough hill climb with rewarding scenic views. It's a great
heart-starter! Logan seems to really enjoy this walk as well and is
good about staying seated in the stroller. It's about an hour long
walk, just perfect for a bit of exercise for the decrepit parents. Home
again and we started to re-organize our 2-bedroom unit to prepare for
the additional 5 upcoming guests. Logan helped Momma do vacuuming (a
fun activity Logan enjoys thoroughly). A little later Daddy went out
to get food for dinner, evidently upsetting Logan with Dad's sudden
disappearance... and repeatedly saying "My Daddy" over and over until
his return. Dad and Mommy continued working after dinner with Logan
helping as best as a 22 month old can. Daddy was stopped for a while by
his workplace calling with a problem, but luckily was able to work
through it by telling his support people what to do over the phone and
so he didn't have to rush in.

Taking a little walk home after climbing Boy Scout Hall Hill.

Yes! Now we get to go DOWN Boy Scout Hall Hill. Momma, do you have the stroller leash attached to you just in case you let go!!

Up, up, up Boy Scout Hall Hill on a favorite walk.

Heading up Boy Scout Hall Hill. The picture just doesn't do the climb justice. Logan will bear witness to that fact.

Oh no wonder you can't see me wink at you unless I put down my sunglasses a bit first. Here now, I'll just casually flirt with you again.

I'm just one cool milk-drinkin' customer chillin' while on a stroll and struttin' my stuff.

If I'm going to be woken from my nap and placed in this stroller for a walk, then I demand to bring my nap-time friends with me.

Yep, I'm hip and can hop around from pad to pad here at Sammy's Pizza's indoor playground.

Getting ready to go down the super slick and fast slide at Sammy's Pizza's indoor playground.

Easy, relaxed day

Today Logan went with Momma to the Date Farm, where they could kick
back, have a drink, eat a few dates from the palm trees shading them,
and play with a Bunny and some Birds. After that, they
went to the Road Transport Hall of Fame and enjoyed seeing a cement
truck, school bus, train, etc...

Baby Plus

Logan had a really good day with Mom at a playground just the day prior.
Today Logan only had a short nap because Rosalie, who watches Logan a
few hours 2-3 times per week, told him he'd see Momma after he wakes up
from his nap, but Logan misunderstood it to mean right then and so he
was upset and wouldn't go down for a nap!
After Dad got home from work, he took Logan on a bike ride right after
Mom's having walked Logan (today he acted up at the playground and had
to be put in time-out twice). Daddy probably should've thought about
this and made the bike ride short, but instead he took Logan across
town, behind Anzac Hill (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps Memorial Hill)
and along a path following the Todd River to the Telegraph Station.
From there, he took the road out of the Telegraph station and the back
way down Smith Street home. Logan enjoyed the lengthy ride for the most
part, but his runny nose and the cold blasts of wind wound him up
several times on the trip, causing him to moan and whine a bit. After
all that, for dinner he ate well, consisting of pasta ravioli type
shells with tomato sauce, a 'meat stick', and peas. Following that,
Logan got in the bathtub and "had" to take his large plastic truck in
with him, leaving little extra room for Mommy to also have a soak. And
speaking of Mommy, her pregnancy is going along just splendidly as she's
feeling very well these days, the headaches and insomnia problems
finally subsiding. From Logan's perspective about the pregnancy, he has
been talking a lot about the baby in Mommy's tummy, especially when he
plays our 'Baby Plus' Baby music that is put around Momma's waist every
morning and night (Logan starts the device for us most mornings and
evenings). For those not in the know, the 'Baby Plus' is a device we
purchased that simulates the beating of a heart. Every 1.5 weeks we go
to the next 'level' in which the beating pattern of the artificial heart
changest. The idea behind it being that the fetus inside Momma
predominantly only hears Mom's heartbeat throughout pregnancy. Studies
have found that using the device to project an extra heartbeat with a
variation of rhythm, pitch, and tempo stimulates the fetus and when
he/she is born, the baby is stronger, more mentally alert, sleeps and
eats better, and is about 15 IQ points smarter. People have been piping
classical music to their fetus' for years for essentially the same
reason(s), so we thought we'd just add this extra little feature as
well. All Daddy can say is that we'll never be able to prove that it
works considering that it won't be difficult to have a higher IQ than
him, but it can't hurt, so why not try it.

Of course it's required that you take a bath with your big toy dump truck. Didn't anyone ever tell you that!