Logan, Grams, Dad, and Mom all have problems with anti-gravity lips.

A little male-bonding rough-housing.

Gal pals

Logan, Bradon, and Baby Seth with their authoritative elders.

The paleontologists got it completely wrong! This is a real T. Rex in the flesh!

Friends all hanging out for Baby Seth's 1 year old birthday party celebration.

Will there ever be a picture taken without Logan eating???

What!!! You mean that cheese isn't a good dip for 'bird'? You're putting me on?!

Who is the master and who is the slave?

Grams and Logan chew the fat off some cheese and crackers.

Gearing up for some real ATV action at the Desert Park

Grams gets a kick out of helping Logan make the pizza.

The water was so cold it made Mom's hair get frozen straight while Logan's tongue turned blue.

Noodling around

Daddy and Logan size eachother up

Hmm, is Logan squatting for any special reason?

Logan gets a kick out of playing the music from his recent 'Spongebob Squarepants' gift from Auntie Gina and Uncle Joe.

Sleeping on your belly just ain't like it used to be.

Yep, Ma is about ready to get that thing out of her belly now.

Restarting his 'Booh-Bah' or whatever you call it, the thing blows itself up and starts dancing around, generating much laughter and giggles from everyone, and causing much dancing and rejoicing.

Logan attempts to get literally inside the man behind the mask

Thanks to Auntie Wendy and Uncle Joe's Darth Vader helmet gift, Daddy attempts to turn his Son to the dark side, but he's failing miserably.

Getting ready for the construction business, Logan has his 'Bob the Builder' hard hat on and is ready for action with the accompanying control box.

Mom enjoys feeding the munchkin a morning picnic

Logan loves going to the park and having a breakfast picnic with his friends

Logan goes ballistic that he doesn't get to open any birthday presents

Yum, that was really good cake... did I get any on me?

Logan sits with his gal pal Alice

Zoom zoom down the roller coaster

See saw fun

Logan enjoys making play-doh crafts with Holly and Nicholas at their Birthday Party

Enjoying Games Night with friends.

Makin' da Pizza is a all-right

Sliding down a home-made water slide into the wading pool

Logan goes 'balls out' with enthusiasm for playing in the pool

Days of hiking, boating, and temper monitoring

On Thursday, 15 September, upon Dad's arrival home, he had a great
conversation with Logan. Logan explained how he got a new police car
and how he borrowed another car from his pal Bradon. He was accurate
and easy to understand, and to top it all off, it was really fun
conversing! From the old man's perspective he is becoming quite
eloquent and is turning into an intelligent smart little tyke.
And from a potty training perspective, Logan has no trouble using the
potty to go wee, but insists on having a diaper on when doing poos.
Friday Logan and Bradon went together to Play Group at the Toy Library.
There they got to see the 'recently-made-famous' Australian Veggie Man.
Veggie Man is meant to teach the kids how important vegetables and
fruit are to eat. The costume is one of a large 'creature' made up of
vegetable parts, to include veggies for eyes, noes, mouth, and hair.
Dad came right after Veggie Man left and he entertained Bradon and Logan
primarily by spinning them around on a see-saw and lifting them higher
than is otherwise normal for a see-saw. This of course was their now
newfound favorite plaything, which of course then became Dad's cursed
plaything as it quickly began wearing him out.
After getting home from Play Group, Dad quickly got his hiking and
camping equipment ready as he was headed out on an overnight hiking
expedition on the famous Larapinta Trail (section 4) with two of his
friends. It was a 17.7 kilometer section from Birthday Gap to Standley
Chasm, incorporating quite a bit of up and down terrain, a good portion
of which was on rocky ground. Dad truly found out just how out of
shape he was! Both legs were cramping up as he reached the Brinkley
Summit of the tallest mountain (not that tall) along the MacDonnell
Ranges in that area. It was getting quite dark and we had intended on
camping at the summit. This was why Dad's legs cramped... he was going
too fast up a never-ending steep incline. But we all made it and then
had a lovely dinner under a full moon, stars, and cloudless sky. The
log book at the summit indicated that some German tourists had been
there camping 3 days prior in extremely cold, wet, rainy, clouded over
weather! Boy were we lucky! That night we sat around a little
hand-warmer campfire and played a card game "Worst case scenario" in
which you guess the best option you would take if confronted in a
dangerous or bad situation. The game was somewhat whimsical for some of
the situations, however, we nearly had to be airlifted home because of
the lack of oxygen when laughing at one card. It asked the question,
"How would you attack an alien?" The three choice answers were: A) Poke
it in the eyes (eyes are most likely to be the only obvious and large
identifiable object of an alien) B) Don't attack an alien, they
generally have been known to abduct people for short periods of time for
experiments and then returned. C) Jump up and down, then punch the
alien in the mouth, and run. The answer was B. Hmm, it doesn't seem
quite as funny now so maybe we were laughing so hard from exhaustion!?
The next morning, a little while after watching sunrise, we headed out
along the ridge for a magnificent view of the surrounding area and
ranges. We had homemade breakfast burritos along the way and were
delighted with the beautiful weather... well, except for the atrocious
number of flies. By the time we arrived in Standley Chasm, it was
getting to be 2:00 PM and Dad's feet were burning from the ups, downs,
and rocky creek bed he had to navigate. The next two days he spent
trying to recover from the aching calves, feet, and shoulders, but it
was well worth it and quite enjoyable.
Immediately after getting home from the hike, Dad took Logan out to the
annual world-famous Henley-on-Todd Regatta in which people race boats
down the 'dry' Todd river bed. The final event of the day includes
three large full size boats (4WD trucks underneath) that have a number
of people put on a mock naval battle with water balloons, cannons,
etc... Earlier Mom took Logan to the Henley-On-Todd parade in which
lollipops were thrown from these large boats to the spectators.
Evidently Logan got a lollipop and so he kept begging to see the big
boats.
With perfect timing, Dad and Logan arrived as the last big boat entered
the arena and the mock naval battle got underway. Big booming blasts
from the cannon really got Logan excited and he loved seeing them race
around and around, with everyone on board the ships getting soaked wet
by the water balloons, cannons, and water guns. The Viking ship this
year had a secret weapon in which a large slingshot 360 degree turnable
turret was placed on top and they were able to launch water balloons at
the spectators as well as their adversary ships. In the end the Vikings
won.
On Sunday Dad showed Logan how to fill up the gas tank in the car and
check the air pressure in the tires for the first time. We also went
over to a coworkers house to trade infant baby clothes (got some baby
girl clothes and gave some baby boy clothes since they were expecting a
baby boy soon). Oh, and earlier in the day Dad and Logan went to the
gas station to get the paper and then on to get Dad's mail from the APO
U.S. post office demountable. Logan likes to get on his bike to do this
and he does a marvelous job keeping his feet on the pedals throughout
the journey. He especially likes to use Dad's Base badge to de-lock the
gates and doors to get in the demountable to get the mail.
Tuesday night Dad and Mom got a babysitter (Emily) to watch Logan.
Logan really loves playing with Emily so that makes it easy on us to
take a break. However, in our case the break we took was a bit
different than most people's as we went out to a prenatal refresher
class to go over all the things we forgot about since our last birth!
Since we had a C-Section the first time and were about to attempt a VBAC
(vaginal birth after cesaerean) this time, a lot of it really was
all-new all-over again for us. It was well worth the time spent there
and we really enjoyed it. Hopefully now we'll be ready for the actual
event (HA!) Oh, and earlier this afternoon Mom went to a mid-wives
check-up possibly for the last time before the baby comes as her next
appointment is in two weeks and the baby (Grubette as she is still
referred to as) is due only 2 days after that! Yikes!
Today Logan was in a bit of a funk, with him being generally
non-cooperative and grouchy. To top it off, he has about 7 large nasty
mosquito bites that are irritating him incessantly. Our recently turned
two year old boy definitely proved himself to be a member of the
terrible two's today and is getting more and more adamant that things go
his way or no way. Mom and Dad are trying to keep this fiery ball of
fury under control as much as possible, but we'll see if our levy can
withstand the intense pressures.

Logan concentrates on the task at hand

Ahoy there matey!

Left to Right boats: the Vikings, the Nauteus, and the HMAS Defender.

Henley-on-Todd Big Boat Regatta Naval Warfare!

The onslaught goes full force

Sunrise at the summit and Jesse is still snug as a bug in a rug.

Pat is wrapped up in other things at the moment

Yep, all you see are the MacDonnell Ranges

View northeast from the summit at our campsite

Dad attempts to demonstrate how large the cairn at the top of the Brinkley summit really is for the viewers at home.

Panorama along the way

You can't quite tell, but Pat is launching a rock with his self-made and devised sling. Dad tried it out and was able to launch a rock out in to the nethersphere on the first try. This means the sling's design must be a winner.

Heading east we spot a nice spot to break for brekkie with a few delicious breakfast burritos

Looking back from where we whence came

The last of the lemmings

Granola Boys

Hmm, where did the flies go? Oh shoot, now I jinxed it!

Beware who you hike with :-)

Rugged man Dad taking a break on a rocky knoll

Pretty scenic

Around the hill and through the woods to Grandma's cafe' and meat pie haven we go...

Making our final descent

Yes, there were a few flies, but just a few. Jesse here had little comparatively speaking.

Entering the dry FLAT rocky river bed

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks.

You'd never think we were in a desert in the center of Australia

Tha last kilometer walk into Standley Chasm and salvation

Adventures in Alice

Tony is off at the moment with two of his buddies doing a two-day backpacking trek on a rugged stretch of the Larapinta Trail a couple of hours from town (I’d have loved to have gone, but am carrying my own little front-pack!).  So, in the meantime, Logan and I went to the “Henley-on-Todd” Regatta – the river-boat races we have here in Alice Springs.  Of course, since the Todd River is dry… the boats have no bottoms and people carry them as they race to the finish!  We saw the parade of boats this morning.  Logan was excited especially when they tossed lollies to the kids!  He ate his first lollipop and immediately asked for “more lollies” when that was done!  Depending on how the afternoon goes, we may try to go to the big gun-boat battle later this afternoon after Logan’s nap.  For a small, isolated little city/town – there’s an amazing number of parades and special events held here!!

 

 

 

Making ourselves fashionable for the big show

Birthday Gap Waterhole

Dad's Toyota 4Runner is used as the base to start our operation

Our hike from Birthday Gap starts in a sandy dry river bed

Jesse and Dad attempt to camoflauge themselves from the flies

Interesting and gnarly looking gum tree

We had no idea that the flat easygoing trail would end soon and never reveal itself again.

Yes, we didn't know it at the time, but the top of that mounded rock is the Brinkley summit, where we were headed for our camping spot.

Start of the beginning of the tough endless ascents

Up, up, up and away

Flynets will be the next fad fashion statement without a doubt!

Kodak moment

Just barely reach the Brinkley summit before sunset ends

Chowin' down on some good 'just add water' delicacies

Logan attempts to explain the potential problems one may encounter when trying to evacuate from a city with millions of others at the same time.

It was only one lick from the bowl! I promise!

Is this really helping Mom to make the brownies?

Mom's Point of View on Recent Fun-Filled Activities -- Squiggles, Playgroup, Playground, Telegraph Station and More!

On Thursday, Logan and Mom met Bradon, Baby Seth and Melissa at
Squiggles, Café and Playhouse. It was the first time we had been there
in a while and everyone had a great time. Mom and Melissa were
impressed by how well Logan and Bradon played together. Logan needed
virtually no help from Mom except to get up onto the bouncy castle area!
With the boys playing so well together, Melissa and Mom were actually
able to hold a good conversation!

Later in the afternoon, Mom filled the pool with the hose and a couple
buckets of hot water. Logan and Mom spent two hours outside splashing
in the pool, playing ball and doing some arts & crafts (painting and
contact-paper pictures).

On Friday (Sept. 9), Mom woke up at 4:00am unable to sleep (a
hormone/pregnancy issue!). She got a lot done while waiting for Logan
to get up. She's making some headway once again on the "cathedral
window" quilt wall-hanging for the baby. Once Logan was up, fed and
dressed Mom and Logan headed for a quick trip to the grocery store.
Logan was VERY excited to hear we'd be going to Playgroup. It lived up
to his high expectations as he did paintings of "Ima" the safety-house
(a character on local TV) and met a real policeman who gave him a
"Neighbourhood Watch" tattoo. He spent a lot of time playing with the
toys that were put out this week--a farmhouse with animals, career
people and a large pirate ship (complete with pirates, treasure chests
and a small row-boat). The fun wasn't over as "Aunt Nic" (Liesl's
friend Nicola) came over for lunch. Logan kept running to the door to
see if she arrived yet (he wanted to show her his new tattoo!). She
stayed until nap-time and an exhausted Logan went down for his nap
easily!

Logan has been increasingly enjoying creative play. Two weeks ago we
borrowed a stove/oven set from the Toy Library and Logan played "tea
party" at least once if not two or three times a day (for as long as 45
minutes at a time!). This consisted of cooking dinner for Mom or Dad
and serving tea. He also enjoyed pouring water for everyone and enjoyed
drinking out of the miniature cups! Logan has also been playing with his
"Little People" playground set and a Winnie the Pooh tree house that
comes with small furniture.

Logan still LOVES the rough-and-tumble play he does with Daddy who
swings all around him upside down, gives him airplane rides and has
taught him to do summersaults.

Another recent addition to his playtime activities has been
hide-and-seek. Logan loves maneuvering into a small space between his
crib and a chair. He calls out "where's Logan" and we spend much time
"looking" for him! Unfortunately, this has become an essential part of
the bedtime routine... so we now have to allot close to 45 minutes for
tooth brushing, hide-and-seek, books and night-night songs! On the
other hand, we now leave the room while he is still awake and he's doing
pretty well most of the time about going to sleep on his own (with
ambulance and fire chief's truck held firmly in hand!)

Logan's memory has also been improving a lot in the past few weeks. He
now counts easily to eleven (and sometimes to thirteen or fourteen). [In
fact, we have him count as we push the swing up in the air and when he
gets to 11, he says GO -- and gets to swing high enough to "touch the
plants" -- ie. the orange tree about 6 feet in the air!!] We often find
him singing bits and pieces of the ABC song, Old McDonald and BaaBaa
Black Sheep. He really enjoys his music now and asks us to play his
music in the car and at home.

Yesterday (Saturday, Sept. 10) was a quiet day for the family at home.
We all hung out at home most of the day. Tony took Logan to the
playground late in the afternoon while Liesl made dinner. We just got a
used freezer so that Liesl can freeze some meals ahead of time.
Hopefully we'll have a few things stocked up before the baby arrives.

Speaking of the baby--Liesl is doing really well. She's now 36 weeks
along. The baby is quite active and jabs away regularly at 8am and
8-9:30pm. Often she can see parts of the baby actually jutting out from
her belly! Logan is VERY aware of the baby now... especially since he
was able to feel the baby kicking. He laughed in glee the first times
he felt the baby move. With Mom doing laundry and cleaning up various
baby equipment to get ready for the birth, he's been quite aware that
the baby will sit, sleep or play in this-or-that. He even asks to feel
the baby kick and is disappointed if Mom tells him that the baby is
sleeping.

Logan had a wonderful time with Dad, Jesse and Bradon today at the
Telegraph Station. He and Bradon pushed their trucks up and down the
hills. They also explored a cave and heard a "lion" (Jesse) roar while
they were in the cave! Though Logan was very tired after all the
running around, he and Tony still mustered the energy to go to the
Sunday Todd Mall Market. Logan ate an entire Knockwurst (hotdog) and
helped Dad with his ice cream. They brought home Thai and Indian
takeaway for Mom for lunch (and dinner). Meanwhile, Mom made some
headway catching up on Logan's baby book and started on the baby's book.
It was great to have enough energy to accomplish something other than
chores around the house! Much of the time, just keeping up with Logan
zaps most of her energy!

Little Logan funnies

Let's see, what to add for this week. Seems as though most events of
the week had to do with some humorous Logan happenings, albeit in some
cases we as parents must not show our amusement lest our Son feel we
approve of some of these hilarious misbehaviors.

1. At dinner we have a family tradition of holding eachother's hands,
closing our eyes, bowing our heads, and saying "Let's be thankful" for
about a minute of silent reflection, at the end of which Momma gives a
small indication that it's over by squeezing our hands. Well, Logan has
gotten into a nasty habit of saying "No talking" while we are doing
this. In fact, a few nights ago, Logan said "No talking" repeatedly
throughout our entire 'silent' period. We even kept extending it in the
hopes he'd stop talking and saying "No talking". As he kept saying "No
talking" "no talking" "no talking" "there's no talking" "no talking" "no
talking"... both Dad and Mom finally lost it and burst out laughing as
we simply couldn't get him to shut his trap! Since then he's gotten a
bit better.

2. Also at a dinner meal, Daddy thanked Mom for the meal she had
prepared by blurting out, "Thanks Babe". Bet you can guess what Logan
did then. He repeatedly said "Thanks Babe" to Momma for the next 20
minutes (he has been learning the nice magic words of 'please' and
'thank you', but not generally in the format Daddy used).

3. Another mistaken blurt of Dad's that had Logan going for a while was
"Holy Cow!"

4. While Dad and Mom were on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa, Logan
spent some time fiddling with the TV and various components. With the
VCR he managed to turn off a DVD that was playing his 'Brainy Baby ABCs'
video in the background. Then he fast-forwarded a video tape that had
evidently some TV recording from last week on it. Pushing the stop and
then play button, he got a scantily clad woman in a bikini to show
blaringly all over the screen. Then he somehow hit the pause button to
freeze frame it. Logan then went up to the TV screen and started
yelling at it "No" and "Stop" repeatedly until Dad finally got his ABC
DVD video back on.

5. At the Sunday Todd Mall Markets today, Logan yet again wolfed down an
entire knackwurst 'hot dog' sausage. He's a porker all right as that
thing is at least 1 1/2 to 2 times the size of a normal hot dog!
Remember, he's just over two years old. He also had some ice cream and
blueberries. Dad can't wait to see how it all comes out the other end
today!

6. And speaking of potty maneuvers, Logan is progressing quite nicely
with learning to use one. At home we generally keep him buck-naked from
the waist down when he's awake. He seems to always be aware of the fact
that he doesn't have a diaper on and so he must use the potty instead...
except that he hasn't quite understood that poos also are meant for the
potty. In this way he tends to wait until we put on a diaper or
'pull-up' before he decides and allows himself to go poos. A couple
days ago Logan said he needed to go poos but refused to go in the potty,
instead he ran off in desperate agony and we could see a little 'prairie
dog' hanging down from his rear. Luckily we grabbed him, sat him down
on the potty, and he went just fine. As for pees, he's got no problem
and will always race off to use his potty. We have a little potty for
Logan in one bathroom and in the backyard. We have one in the backyard
since our yard is so small and we don't want him to learn to go wees
'freelance' just yet. So anyway, because we had taken one of the little
potty's out of our second bathroom and put it in the backyard, there
wasn't one in the master bathroom. Unbeknownst to us, Logan evidently
rushed to our master bathroom, and spying no potty in site, proceeded to
turn over the step stool (we have there to give Logan the abiity to
reach the sink), sit down in the newly formed 'potty' and do his
business. Mom and Dad saw this shortly thereafter and quickly went out
to get another third little potty :-)

Other quick tidbits that happened during the week included going to the
midwives clinic at the hospital as part of the normal checkup for
Momma's pregnancy. We asked a number of questions about VBAC (vaginal
birth after caesarean) and the services we'll be expecting upon our
arrival in a few weeks.

At Logan's playgroup on Friday, there was huge excitement as a real-life
policeman showed up and participated a bit with the kids, to include
giving each of them a temporary 'Neighborhood Watch' tattoo that Logan
couldn't stop beaming about. Definitely a great thing for Logan now,
but I suspect his love of authority will only extend so far, and as he
gets older the respect he has for Mom and Dad's authority will diminish
greaty (who are we kidding, it's already non-existent)!

Logan and Dad had a great bike ride this week (that is, on Logan's
little bike). He loves riding with his feet on the pedals while Dad
does most of the pushing and steering from behind. We did this all the
way to Subway to get sandwiches for lunch, as well as to get the mail
from Dad's workplace demountable on the way back. Later in the
afternoon Dad and Logan went to the Araluen Cultural Centre playground
(our normal one and the largest one in town). It was a bit of a bummer
because there were hordes of people there to participate and watch the
'Desert Mob' show as part of the ongoing annual Desert Festival. That
and because Logan's favorite slide had human excrement in/on it and so
Daddy couldn't let him slide down. Dad did throw sand all over the
excrement to dry it up, and then used a sandal to 'scoop or push' it
out, which unfortunately smeared a bit and so with a water bottle he wet
the area to try to be able to clean it up some more. This problem is
not new as for some reason we tend to get some alcoholic drunk vagrants
who can't seem to find a better place to use the facilities when they
are in an utter stupor. What made it worse in this case was the fact
that there were a large number of people and kids around for the
festivities. On an interesting note, some of the indigenous aboriginal
dancers were out doing their traditional dancing. This included some of
the women 'elders' painted up and dancing around topless. I don't think
Logan even noticed this as he was focused more on the playground apparatus.

Both Dad and Logan are a bit worn down first thing in the morning

Summer starts to heat up in time for some water fun

Logan helps Mom doing gardening work with the digger he borrowed from the Toy Library

Mom, Dad, and Logan rode their bikes to the Silver Bullet Cafe where there was an exhibition of metal-work sculptures as part of the Alice Springs Festival. The Silver Bullet Cafe is essentially a couple of converted railway cars from the old train days. In addition, it has an old double-decker bus which has been converted into the toilet facilities. Other interesting old artifacts abound as well; tis a gold mine for a truck-lovin' kid.

About to go into the actual cafe' of the Silver Bullet Cafe', an old restored railcar.

A washroom inside a silo, a toilet inside a double-decker bus!? Everything Logan has learned up until this point can be thrown out the window. The world no longer makes sense!

Some metallic birds... watch out for their lead-heavy droppings!

Part of the toilet facilities at the Silver Bullet Cafe, the men's room is at the front of the double-decker bus.

Ferocious animals abound where you least expect it.

Fun times with Momma

Kicking back at the Silver Bullet Cafe and waiting on a nice carrot, banana, and apple smoothie.

Check out this old Pontiac... Logan sure is.

A wild horse and an even wilder cowboy riding it

Checking out the kangaroo's tail to see if it's ripe for cooking the old indigenous way... just don't get any funny ideas and grab that chainsaw in the background to do the job

A funny critter sculpture made out of old metal parts. Just out of sight is a metal dog lifting his rear leg on the corner of the tin shed.

Metal sculpture of a dog at the Cafe

Future forklift driver, Logan learns the tricks of the trade at the Silver Bullet Cafe.

Week powered by the 'sun' and Momma's big performance

You could say that this past week was one in which we were running on
fumes, yet without any fossil fuel, and our energy motivated only by the
sun. On Tuesday after work Dad went over to the Alice Springs Youth
Centre (between ANZAC Hill and ANZAC Oval) to help set up for the annual
Sunchase 2005 Model Solar Vehicle Competition being held on Wednesday
and Thursday. Mom and Logan were really nice as they brought over
pizza, cookies, and drinks for everyone helping to set it up. The
hardest thing to do when setting up for the event is to put together the
80 meter long figure eight race track. It has to fit together just
perfectly with no bumps (which is damaging to the model solar race cars)
and the guides on the track have to be measured accurately to ensure
equality for all. At about 10 PM we all called it quits for the night,
with a couple folks camping there overnight to ensure no vandalism
occurs on our track. On Wednesday Dad helped out at the Solar
Mini-Challenge, in which about 8-10 schools came out with their students
(ranging from primary thru high-school level) and competed against one
another with their 'under $60' kit solar cars they built. On Thursday
the main event occurred in which the big rigs ('built from scratch')
model solar cars and boats would compete. They can cost student teams
upwards of several hundred dollars and this year was certainly more
exhilirating than last with more model solar cars racing at 'breakneck'
speeds, anywhere from 18 to 45 seconds to do 100 meters. This can be
largely attributed to the fact of a good number of kids having gained
great experience from last year. Unfortunately we only had one entry
for the model solar boat competition, but luckily Dad had fixed up and
brought along his under achieving model solar boat. That way we were
able to give the excited 5.5 year old some kind of competition.

On Friday evening we went out to a parade for the grand opening of the
week-long 'Alice Springs Desert Festival'. There was a tall ice-man
and fire-man that Logan and Bradon said was a dragon. Additionally
there were belly dancers, clowns, anti-nuclear waste protesters, etc...,
the usual fare. It only lasted about 20-30 minutes at which point the
spectators were invited to join in as part of the parade to walk down to
the Desert Festival celebration grounds. There we heard some music and
watched some circus acts, but it was a bit too crowded for the size of
the area and so we didn't last long before heading out. That night
Daddy read the dog book "Lady and the Tramp" to Logan. In it, Lady's
owners were sitting on a park bench and were facing eachother, seemingly
about to kiss. Even though we had not ever discussed this with Logan,
he proclaimed "Mom and Dad kissing" while pointing at the picture.
Then Logan started shaking his head and said "They're naughty", "they're
naughty Daddy".

Saturday morning Mom was quite tired and so Dad decided to be lazy as
well and blow up the little swimming/wading pool for Logan to play in.
It didn't take long before Logan wanted Dad in the pool as well, so Dad
joined in. Wouldn't you know it, but the second Dad sat down in the
pool, he looked at Logan and suddenly saw a yellowish discharge cloud
escape from him... and begin a journey outwards into Daddy's domain. I
think Dad was in the pool for maybe 15 seconds total from start to finish.

Saturday afternoon was Mom's grand performance with her Alexandria
Quartet woodwind ensemble, which was organized to be played as part of
the Alice Springs Desert Festival festivities. It was free and they
played amongst the trees and shade just in front of the historic
waterhole from which Alice Springs was named. The surroundings were
perfect and there was about 150 people sitting along or around the
hillside above the performers. Needless to say Logan didn't hold out
for too long and lasted for about 45 minutes, just shy of the first
music break (2 hour long show). Dad tried to keep Logan within a
distance such that he could hear the music, yet far enough away that
spectators didn't have to hear Logan. Climbing amongst some large and
difficult boulders (primarily with Daddy holding or carrying Logan),
Logan found a cave and indicated as such. Upon leaving the cave he
started singing "Batman" at close to the top of his lungs... hmm, where
do kids pick these things up? Couldn't be other kids? Anyway, Dad
strategically moved Logan further away from the performance so as not to
lead everyone to believe this was "Batman" themed. On the backside
of the hill, there was a father with his 3 children who were just as
anxious to climb the rocks. In a strong thick British accent the man
proclaimed "I asked you not to go on the rocks." Logan then said
somewhat loudly, just as a parrot would, "I asked you not to go on the
rocks." Only Logan did it in exactly the same manner with just as
strong and thick of a British accent as the man! Yes, Daddy had a
very difficult time holding back from laughing and moved his son away
from that area as quickly as he could. Finally, Dad and Logan made it
back around and sat and played in the sand in the dried up Alice Springs
waterhole down below the performance area while listening to Mom play
her oboe along with the other musicians. As far as Logan and Dad could
tell, there wasn't a flaw or mistake in it and Mom did a wonderful job.

Logan sits in his hole in the dry Todd river bed. In this case, the hole happens to be the exact spot of the center of the Alice Springs waterhole, in which the town was named. Off to the right is where Mom is performing her concert. Logan is a bit perturbed because he 'somehow' got sand in his sandal!

Hanging out in his newly found 'bat' or 'bear' or 'lion' cave, Logan roars in delight while Mom plays her oboe within hearing distance.

An even more posed shot of the Alexandria Quartet, standing in front of the old historic Telegraph Station that started Alice Springs.

Posed shot of the Alexandria Quartet

As you can see, Logan is having a difficult time concentrating on anything other than food or drink while Mom works her butt off below playing music for the benefit of her Son and everyone else.

Let's just get one more closer shot of the performers getting ready to start playing.

Yet one more vantage point of the Alexandria Quartet starting their performance

Dad attempts to get a closer-in shot of the performers in action

Mom is the oboe player in the Alexandria Quartet, playing in their performance at the Telegraph Station. Here the concert just starts to get underway as the spectators begin to arrive and grow in number.

Logan cools off in the kiddie pool just before the colorful explosion of yellow hit the waves.

One of the circus acts done for us as part of the Alice Springs Festival after the parade finished.

Hmm, what kind of freakshow have you brought me to Daddy? Mom wonders the same thing.

Swallowing his lunch back down after seeing the belly dancers, Logan looks on to the next 'exhibition' in the parade.

Logan is trying to make heads or tails of the parade's shenanigans

The 'Dragon' as Logan and Bradon referred to it as part of the Alice Springs Festival opening parade.

Protesters in the parade announce their aversion to Logan's waste products.

Some of the Sunchase Model Solar Cars. Read more about it at Daddy's built Sunchase.org website.

Winner of the Sunchase Model Solar Boat Challenge

Daddy's boat got toasted by a 5 1/2 year old's boat (Undercurrent at top). If Dad had only gotten another solar cell, maybe he'd have stood half a chance.

Part of the Sunchase Model Solar Vehicle Challenge included scrutineering of the actual model solar car to ensure it adhered to all the rules. Cans as seen on the table are there to add weight/ballast (with sand) to the car should some have better power output from their solar cells than others. This way rich kids don't have an unfair advantage with more efficient solar cells than poor kids.