Letters

Lizzy loves to write letters. Ben & I are always finding notes on our desks or in other places around the house. I hate to admit, but there are some unmailed letters in our house too.

Two letters have been written recently - and while they are still unmailed - I thought it was important that they made it to their intended recipients.

Christmas is on the Way

And in America this means making Gingerbread houses.

We made our first ever tonight.

Back to Halloween

Finally I have a photo of my little Bob the Builder.

School Photos Part II

And today, Isaac's photos came home. Here is our sweet 3rd grader :)

School Photos

Lizzy came home with her school photos today. Isaac did not, so you'll have to wait to see his.

Hugs

The other day Isaac asked what my favorite things was. My answer was "Saying goodnight to my children, because it's a very special time I get to spend with each of my children and I always am able to give them a big hug."

Isaac thought about this for a moment. "I like hugging equally to computers".

"I definately like hugging more than computers", I answered.

"Of course you do, you're a girl".

I held back from responding that this was obviously boy logic.

Halloween

Tonight was Halloween. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, however I have some photos from the kids Halloween parade and playing in the park afterwards.

We went trick or treating with my friend and her children, much to Isaac & Lizzy's delight. What amused me most was how quickly Kai caught onto the whole trick or treating tradition. He toddled after the big kids as quickly as he could, and would squeal in delight when someone opened the door. Often this was accompanied by a little happy dance. If the person bought the bowl down to his height, he'd quickly take a candy and pop it into his bag. If they were still down low when he'd done that the hand would go out again. Luckily for us, he's not had candy before so he didn't realise what a treasure he was putting into his bag.

Here are some photos of Isaac & Lizzy from the other day at school. Isaac was Obi wan Kenobi and Lizzy was a witch (she'd just watched Kiki's Delivery Service, which influenced her choice). Kai was Bob the Builder, although photos of him are on my friends camera.

Travel Plans

Today Isaac wrote the following list of places he'd like to visit:

1. The South Pole
2. China
3. Washington D.C.
4. Glacier National Park

I'm sure that we'll visit 3 and 4 at some stage in the next few years. And we may even visit China, as Ben has always wanted to take us there (I think all of Ben's stories about his visit to China have influenced Isaac). But the South Pole doesn't strike me as a family vacation destination. I think that this goal will have to be one that he does as an adult. Hey - the kid likes science - perhaps he can do a stint there one day as part of his studies :)

Perspective

I had a few family members comment about the background in my Trip_Down_Memory_Lane post. Just to give a little perspective for the first photo, with me standing on the back verandah in the bikini ... had this photo been taken a few years later, Jan B's house would have been there instead :)

Santa

Lizzy and I were driving to the shops on Saturday, when she suddenly said "Wouldn't it be funny if we had to pay for Christmas?"

"We sort of do" I said. "We buy gifts for one another."

"No. I mean wouldn't it be funny if we had to pay for Santa's gifts?".

Ummm. Yeah. Funny.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I was looking through some old photos tonight and thought I'd take you on a trip down memory lane.

"What do you get if you wear a yellow jacket?"

"A Bee Sting."

Well technically, it would be a wasp sting, but I had to smile at how far Lizzy's jokes have progressed over the past year. Was it really only a year ago that she made up knock, knock jokes that made no sense?

Just Like Daddy

Kai is a good imitator. He obviously wants to be just like all the older people in our household, but of everyone, Daddy is his idol.

Yesterday, as Ben was getting ready for work, Kai was in the bathroom watching him. He then reached up and picked up Ben's deodorant, took off the lid, lifted up his shirt and dabbed the deodorant on his belly.

Mmmmm. Kai will be smelling fresh all day long - just like Daddy.

Can you spot anything different?

Take a close look at this photo? Yes - they are 3 gorgeous Armstrong's but there is something different..

Any guesses?


Well - I suppose it's a bit hard to tell from the photo but you are looking at 3 Australian citizens :)

Yes. Kai is now an Australian. Sometime in the next 2 months, he & I are going to go on a little vacation to San Francisco to get his Australian passport. Without it, I'm told we won't be allowed into the country.

Reading with Rover

There is a local charity here called Reading with Rover. Their mission is "to inspire children to discover the joy of reading while developing literacy skills and confidence in a safe environment using Reading with Rover Dogs." If you want to read more about it you can look at their webpage at http://readingwithrover.org/

Yesterday, our local second-hand bookshop had a Meet the Author with a children's author. We took the kids along to listen to her read her book "Don't Lick the Dog", which is about how to approach a dog. Afterwards the kids were able to read to two Reading with Rover dogs. Isaac insisted on reading to both dogs and read the book by the featured author. Lizzy was hesitant about reading to start with - but then we found a second-hand book called "Olive My Love". It's a book about a dog called Olive (you might know her from Olive the Other Reindeer) and it just so happened that one of the Reading with Rover dogs was called Olive. This tickled her fancy, so she happily read to Olive. Kai was Kai. He ran all around the bookshop and happily patted the reading dogs. Who cares about authors at this age.

All over it was a fun experience, and I was very impressed with the Reading with Rover program.

What does a bird say?

If you ask this of most people, they would tell you that a bird says "tweet, tweet" or something to that effect. However, in our household, if you ask Kai what a bird says (or if he sees a bird) he says "caw, caw".

I think this might be a good indication to you about how many crows we have around us.

House Extention

Yesterday, Isaac and I had an interesting conversation in the kitchen.

"Mum, are you going to have another baby?"

"No" Pause. "Do you think we need 4 kids instead of 3?"

"Yes."

"But Isaac, we don't have room for another baby".

"We could get a house extention."

"And where would this house extention go?"

"We could get a 3rd floor. Nathaniel & Jonathan have a 3rd floor."

Yes I suppose there is a solution for anything. However, I think we'll skip this one.

Dare Devil

I think I have a little dare devil on my hands.

For a while now, Kai's been trying to climb up on my small (but tall) round footstool. Yesterday he suceeded. He then stood on the footstool, huge grin on his face and arms out wide.

The other thing he loves to do is stand on our bed and do a free fall forward onto the matress. Usually he'll stand up with his feet under my legs and then throw himself forward, keeping his body straight. It's worth lots of giggles.

Ben & I have been debating whether our first broken bone will come from Lizzy or Kai.

Growing Up

It's a bitter sweet day when you are folding your washing and suddenly realise that you have sorted one of your sons shirts in with one of your husbands. He's getting bigger every day.

Math Helper

Lizzy came home with a worksheet which she completed during math time. It was all about greater, between and less. I looked at it, rolled my eyes and asked "Was that easy, hard or just right?"

"It was easy, Mummy. But I finished first and then I got to help other kids in the class."
"Did anyone else help?"
"Just Mrs Lenderman."

The next day she bought home another. This time I simply asked whether she helped anyone in her class. The answer was yes.

I do hope she's going to get something a little more challenging than helping others with their math.

Daddy Preference

It has started. Kai is going through his daddy preference stage. I knew it would happen sooner or later, as all my kids have done it. I'm still good for food, but he'd much rather Ben do everything else for him.

The cutest one is each night after dinner. Kai gets down off his chair and I tell him it's time for a bath. He walks over to Ben and pulls on Ben's leg. He often will head off towards the bath but if Ben doesn't get up straight away he goes back and pulls on his leg again. The funniest thing is that once he's in the bath, it's OK for Ben to leave. I wonder for how long though. If Isaac is any indication the amount of daddy preference is only going to grow over the next month or two.

Bob

Kai has a new love in his life. It is Bob the Builder - otherwise known as Ba Ba Baa. However, there is an episode where Pilchard (the cat) gets stuck in a tree over a pond. Without fail, Kai will sob because Pilchard is in trouble. Unless Ben & I are sitting down holding him, we no longer let him watch Pets in a Pickle. It's just too upsetting.

I've got to think it's because he loves our cat so much (much to Cleo's dismay).

Family History

While Kai is napping, I'm spending my time on a volunteer family history project called "FreeReg". I am helping transcribe historical parish registers, and right now I am transcribing records from the 1700's in Rochester, Kent, England.

I wish my ancestors died in Rochester. The vicar is a rare man for his times, and he records lots of interesting information on his parishioners. I know who was an Alderman (obviously you had to be pretty old to be an alderman because quite a few of them are dying), I know who committed suicide, who was accidently killed, and I even know the ship on which someone captained. I know who died in the workhouse, and who had a higher social status, as they are recorded as Mr or Mrs. Even better, every entry has whether they lived in Rochester or somewhere else. This is a historical gem field. Most registers at this time usually only had a name and date - if you are really unlucky a widowed woman is recorded as Widow Smith.

I am enjoying this project, despite the fact that Ben laughs and tells me he couldn't think of anything more boring.

Ouch!

Ben commented that my blog makes it seem like we lead an idealic life with a happy family, which has nothing go wrong. Well just to proove a point, I'm letting you know that I slammed my finger in the car door on Wednesday. Oh how it hurt! I actually looked at it and my first thought was "I think I've broken it" thanks to the indent the door left. Luckily it wasn't but now I have a pinky which is slowly turning purple.

Ben was on his way home from New Zealand, so I was so thankful that I have friends whom I can call and say "I need to go to ER. Can I drop my kids over at your place?" And I was especially thankful that Kai has been to Kristina's house often enough that he didn't scream when I left - which is what he does at church nursery each week.

For Mum...

While Mum was visiting, she gave me the pattern for her sleeping sacks. I didn't feel up to the challenge of making one with a zipper, but I was willing to try one that could be pulled over the head. When she left, I'd sewn the seams but not put on the ribbing. I finally finished the bag today.

I'm not a sempstress. Whilst I feel great that I managed to do this, it's not something I want to do again any time soon. Mum - you are amazing.

For Dad...

Dad and Mum did some awesome work in our backyard while they were visiting. They laid a path, leveled off the soil and planted grass seeds. Just before they left, the grass was beginning to sprout. It seemed like it was growing before our eyes, as each time we looked out there was more grass.

Dad - I thought you'd like to see it now..

Lefty

It looks like we might have a lefty. Ben & I have suspected for a while that Kai was showing a preference for his left hand. He looked much more comfortable holding his spoon in his left hand and would often reach out with his left hand. However, he would also use his right hand.

However, today Kai was was struggling to put the straw into a juice box using his right hand. After a little bit, he swapped hands and instantly got the straw through the tiny hole with his left hand.

Ben looked at me and said "Perhaps we should start handing him everything to his left hand - I heard that's one of the biggest mistakes right-handed parents do to their left handed kids".

I had to agree.

Yellowstone

Let me just say that Yellowstone is beautiful. We have seen beautiful scenery, amazing animals and interesting natural occurances and thats just in one day, in the Northern part of the park. Our day started with a bear sighting - what an awesome welcome!

As we entered the park, we were greeted by a huge stone arch - signifying the beginning of our adventure.



Our first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs - located about 5 minutes from the park enterance (and our motel).

We did a hike up to Minerva Terrances and Palette Hot Springs. We then drove up to the higher springs and viewed them looking down. It was amazing how trees would grow in the middle of the thermal area but then the water would reach them and they'd die. The colors were specatular.

We then headed south, towards Norris Geyser Basin, however we turned off before seeing the Geyser (that's for tomorrow!). However, we saw our first bison here.

We pulled off the road many times to see little sites along the way and to admire the scenery. I have stacks of photos but I wont burden you with them here :)

By mid afternoon we were at Tower Falls. Isaac, Lizzy and I hiked to the bottom of the falls. Let's just say coming up was hard work.

This is Lizzy, with the Canyon near Tower Falls behind her.

Then we headed up the Lamar Valley, where we ended up seeing hundreds of Bison.

Tomorrow we head off towards Old Faithful, where we'll spend the night.

Roadtrip - Part 2

We are now in Missoula, Montana. We spent about 4 hours on the road yesterday, including breaks and reached Missoula in the late afternoon. We ate breakfast in Washington, lunch in Idaho and dinner in Montana. It's not often you can say you ate 3 meals in one day in 3 different states.

Spokane was very pretty. Before leaving we took a walk along a river which goes through the middle of Spokane.

By lunch time, we were on the eastern side of Idaho in a little mining town called Wallace. It was a great place to stop, explore the mining exhibit and eat our lunch.



Today we drove about 30 minutes south of Missoula and visited the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Reserve. It was a peaceful, beautiful spot.

There was a visitors center where the kids enjoyed looking at the animal displays and then we went on a nature hike. I gave Isaac my little camera, and he happily took pictures of all the displays. Lizzy took charge of the camera outside and took photos of the flowers. (I haven't downloaded their photos yet though).

Tomorrow we head off to Gardiner, Montana. It is a small town right on the outskirts of Yellowstone. We'll be basing ourselves there while we explore the northern part of the park.

Roadtrip

We are on a road trip. Ben's been left behind, earning all that money so we can spend it on the road trip - thanks honey! Mum, Dad, the kids and I are heading towards Yellowstone. So far we've made it to Spokane.

For cousins interested in mapping our trip - Spokane is on the eastern side of Washington, quite close to the boarder of Idaho. For a short time tomorrow we'll cross across the narrow part of Idaho and then enter Montana.

Today we drove to Ellensburg - where we stopped for lunch. The kids played on the playground until our picnic lunch was ready. Kai found a nectarine in our bags and insisted on eating it without it being cut up. I've got some really cute photos which hopefully I share soon.

Soon afterwards, we crossed over the Columbia River and stopped at the Wild Horse Monument. It was a lookout overlooking the Columbia River on one side and on the hill behind us, there were metal horse sculptures. Once again - I'll share some photos soon.

Tomorrow we press on for Missoula, where we'll spend a couple of nights and then to Yellowstone.

Cruise Highlights

I have to wonder why we spend money going on vacations. Over the past week, various people have asked my kids what they liked best about their trip to Alaska.

Isaac has talked in raptures about the hand sanitizer machines, which automatically dispense sanitizer. Lizzy has told people that she had onion rings every night.

Hmmm. Maybe we should have bought a sanitizing machine, deep fryer, oil and onions and saved some money.

Alaska - Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert is actually in Canada but it was our fourth and final stop on our cruise. Prince Rupert is very pretty - this was our view as we approached the port...

We went on a trip called Sealife Discovery and Crab Extravanganza. The main cabin had a touch tank, where an ex-school teacher turned Marine Biologist talked to us about what could be found in the waters of Prince Rupert. It was definately a fun, hands on lesson for the kids.

There were lots of eagles to be seen, however mosts of my photos were blurry or looked like this... (yes, there had been an eagle there a fraction of a second previously.)

However, I did manage to get one half decent shot.

Dad helped clean the crabs up the back of the boat. The two Gordon's had a race to see who could clean a crab the fastest.

We all got a feed of crab - although Ben & Dad were given the challenge of eating most of the crab considering that I don't really like crab and the kids only at about 1 or 2 legs. It worked out to be 2 1/2 crabs each - although I don't think Dad managed to eat his quota.

And we were all given a chance to hold our own crabs - although Lizzy passed up the opportunity.

Alaska - Skagway

Our third stop was in Skagway. We had a wonderful time in Skagway, going to a Musher's camp, and being pulled in a wagon by a team of Alaskan Huskies. (As it's summer, there is no snow so the dogs keep in condition by training on dry land). Lizzy squealed in laughter the whole time and Kai was in raptures. Isaac loved it too, but was less vocal about it during the ride. However, afterwards he said it was the best!

After the ride, we listed to a talk about dog training and then the kids were allowed to hold the puppies.

Alaska - Juneau

Our second port of call was Juneau - the capital of Alaska. We visited Mendenhall Glacier while here and also went up the Mt Roberts Tramway (although I didn't take any photos up there!)

This first photo is of Ben and the kids, with the Glacier behind them.



We took a walk towards a waterfall, but got distracted by the rocks on the side of the lake. As you can see the glacial temperature water did not faze my children. Notice how everyone else just walked past - there was a reason for that!

You can just see the glacier behind Lizzy and I.

I love this photo of Kai, as it captures how he was always on the go. Unless he was in the backpack, he was in constant motion.


After we left Juneau, we sailed up the Endicott Arm and saw the Dawes Glaicer.

Along the way there were bits of ice, which were just floating in the water. When were were lucky we'd see seals on the ice.