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Just watch. I'm very sorry those of you in the US don't get these awesome ads.
Suzie and Travis (and F who also has that nifty talent) - this is especially for you.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Child labor to pay for his shoe fetish
Someone is obsessed with shoes. All kinds of shoes. We definitely do NOT have one of those kids who doesn't like to wear shoes. Even when he wore baby shoes he NEVER tried to take them off and instead got all wiggly and flappy excited when it was time to put them on.
In fact if we parents aren't wearing shoes he'll bring us a pair of our own to put on, that's how much he loves shoes. I had to explain to the ladies at his daycare that he did not like to go barefoot, and could they please allow him to play in the sandbox with his shoe ON and that he'd be happier. Things have gone more smoothly at daycare since then.
Rainy season is around the corner and when I stopped in at our favorite shoe shop to replace FFM's favorite light up trainers (aka running type shoes that light up when he steps) they had gumboots in. Smart shoe shop, they even had a 'low top' style perfect for those who aren't big kids yet. The days following the boot purchase they were the shoe of choice, and were brought over anytime bare-footedness needed to be remedied - "Boos boos boos." He showed up for afternoon snack one day attired in his new boots and sunnies. So stylish.
I've taken his interest in housework and decided to turn it to my advantage. Instead of getting grumpy that he's underfoot I've taught him how to load a pile of laundry into the washer. I'm still working on getting him to leave the buttons alone...but it's SO COOL to watch those clothes spin around and around and around...
Dusting is fun, too, but the best is the vacuum. He's quite particular.
Now, if I could just get him to sort through all the boxes of random stuff we seem to accumulate from move to move...
In fact if we parents aren't wearing shoes he'll bring us a pair of our own to put on, that's how much he loves shoes. I had to explain to the ladies at his daycare that he did not like to go barefoot, and could they please allow him to play in the sandbox with his shoe ON and that he'd be happier. Things have gone more smoothly at daycare since then.
Rainy season is around the corner and when I stopped in at our favorite shoe shop to replace FFM's favorite light up trainers (aka running type shoes that light up when he steps) they had gumboots in. Smart shoe shop, they even had a 'low top' style perfect for those who aren't big kids yet. The days following the boot purchase they were the shoe of choice, and were brought over anytime bare-footedness needed to be remedied - "Boos boos boos." He showed up for afternoon snack one day attired in his new boots and sunnies. So stylish.
I've taken his interest in housework and decided to turn it to my advantage. Instead of getting grumpy that he's underfoot I've taught him how to load a pile of laundry into the washer. I'm still working on getting him to leave the buttons alone...but it's SO COOL to watch those clothes spin around and around and around...
Dusting is fun, too, but the best is the vacuum. He's quite particular.
Now, if I could just get him to sort through all the boxes of random stuff we seem to accumulate from move to move...
High-falutin'
My brother and sister-in-law are too fancy for me! They are apparently society folks now :) Check out their wedding in AZ society magazine.
I'm super proud to be related to these people who are even more beautiful on the inside than they are on the outside.
I'm super proud to be related to these people who are even more beautiful on the inside than they are on the outside.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Running
Remember that Friends episode where Phoebe goes running with Rachel, but Rachel is embarrassed by the way Phoebe runs?
Look who else runs like a maniac! This is more on the slow, mellow, less flappy side for FFM and he was definitely slowing down - this is the last of about 9 little videos I took (I like this one b/c he stops a moment to chat with us about the train he hears).
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| From 4-2009 |
PS, this level of activity is normal around here, he runs like a crazy person all the time. We go to the park A LOT and he sleeps HARD.
PPS, you have to click on the photo to get to the video of F running, I'm trying a new way to view video that should be a little higher quality. With the action sequence in this video it was a bit too grainy using blogger's regular upload tool.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tasmania
Ah, Tassie. F was getting over a cold and I got really sick, but even in my congested, drippy, sore throat haze I was aware enough to enjoy this sight...glorious snow capped mountains rising in the distance. OK, so they aren't the Rockies but they sure are pretty.
As we drove up into the mountains the temperature dropped to 3C/37F and the rain pelting the car started to get thick and then turned into snow flakes. Which proceeded to stick to the sides of the road. Travis was literally vibrating with excitement.
The scenery reminded us of home in many places, waterfalls, rugged peaks, and rocky outcrops, even though it's all on a smaller scale. Large sweeping vistas were peeking out around most corners, and I here I have to admit I started having a hard time concentrating as we kept going up and down little passes and my sinuses were on the verge of exploding.
Our first stopover on our round-the-island adventure was the Cradle Mountain Wilderness. It was pouring rain and VERY cold, close to freezing, our first day there. I'd packed as best I could, and with the addition of some recently acquired mittens for F and gloves for me we started out on a short hike part way around Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle Mountain.
Now that F's an accomplished walker we decided he certainly can start hiking. So off we went, weather and all. This was F's first official hike by his own locomotion (ie not in a backpack).
Hiking was VERY VERY popular.
Hiking with wee ones you should know that 1) they notice the most amazing and mundane things that you stopped noticing eons ago 2)it's so much fun you don't care it's as slow as molasses in February (in Alaska, not Australia). At this age F could care less what our destination is, it's all about the process, and what we're passing along the way. Every twig, pebble, and blade of grass. And on rainy day hikes, finding Every.Single.Puddle.
So, it's twilight, the light is low, and I'm thinking, boy it would be nice if there was a wombat close to the path so I could maybe get a shot that didn't look like a tiny brown spot in the brown grass. Then my batteries die. And the spares are back at the car, 15 min away. I sigh to myself, Travis and I consult about the cold and the late hour, and decide to go around one more turn. Lo and behold, a wombat! RIGHT THERE! I'm about 50 yards ahead of the boys, and I'm hoping my camera will turn on and the wombat won't be scared away by wild and crazy FFM.
I make wild, but silent, arm gestures to try to communicate that the boys should approach quietly, and it works. New word 'om-at' is delivered.
The wildlife continued, and on the drive back after the hike I spotted a flash on the side of the road. My quick thinking husband flipped a U-turn and I'd spotted a Tasmanian devil. Another marsupial, and T tells me the only carnivorous one. Back in Brisbane we watched one having lunch one day at the Australia Zoo, and they're tough customers even if they're not very big.
After two days of rain and snow we awoke to crystal clear skies so we made one more visit out to the lake. Like other famous mountains people can wait years for a clear day at Cradle Mountain. We met two couples at breakfast who had been out 5 times at different times of year and had never seen the entire mountain.
F's wondering why we didn't hike again on the sunny day...to appease him we threw some rocks into the lake instead. We were off to our next town, Launceston, and needed to get on the road. Partway to Launceston we took a break and let F play at a park and he ran around in the fall leaves. Fall in April is still the strangest of the upside down seasons for me.
The gorge at Launceston. And the bridge. Which was bouncy. Which F figured out how to bounce. T found this humorous, I did not.
After a short stay in Launceston we headed on to Hobart. Home of a Cadbury factory. YUM YUM. They hand out lots of free chocolate at Cadbury. And hot chocolate. It's very nice.
We did some day driving trips from Hobart, one to the Tasman peninsula. One of our favorite stops was at the 'tessellated pavement.'
It's pretty cool, but since I don't think too many of my readers are geologists I'll leave it at that.
The tide was going out as we walked down the path, leaving heaps of tidal pools to explore. I spotted a starfish and some kids nearby found another one. F enjoyed throwing empty mussel shells back into the ocean and got really excited about holding the tiny orange starfish that were scattered everywhere.
Our last day in Hobart we had a late afternoon flight, so we checked out of our accommodation and found a nifty train museum. The first part was an entire room filled with little train scenes that operated by pushing a rocker switch right at kid height. Heaven for little boys.
The next room was a GIANT room with an exact replica of a mountain range in Switzerland. The lights dimmed up and down to replicate days and nights, there were thunderstorms, and even fog that rolled in over the lake. Chairlifts and trams took skiers up to mountain peaks and boy scouts went for hikes. F kept trying to climb the wall.
Tasmania really was lovely, as always the end came too soon and there are things we missed that we'd love to go back and see.
As we drove up into the mountains the temperature dropped to 3C/37F and the rain pelting the car started to get thick and then turned into snow flakes. Which proceeded to stick to the sides of the road. Travis was literally vibrating with excitement.
The scenery reminded us of home in many places, waterfalls, rugged peaks, and rocky outcrops, even though it's all on a smaller scale. Large sweeping vistas were peeking out around most corners, and I here I have to admit I started having a hard time concentrating as we kept going up and down little passes and my sinuses were on the verge of exploding.
Our first stopover on our round-the-island adventure was the Cradle Mountain Wilderness. It was pouring rain and VERY cold, close to freezing, our first day there. I'd packed as best I could, and with the addition of some recently acquired mittens for F and gloves for me we started out on a short hike part way around Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle Mountain.
Now that F's an accomplished walker we decided he certainly can start hiking. So off we went, weather and all. This was F's first official hike by his own locomotion (ie not in a backpack).
Hiking was VERY VERY popular.
Hiking with wee ones you should know that 1) they notice the most amazing and mundane things that you stopped noticing eons ago 2)it's so much fun you don't care it's as slow as molasses in February (in Alaska, not Australia). At this age F could care less what our destination is, it's all about the process, and what we're passing along the way. Every twig, pebble, and blade of grass. And on rainy day hikes, finding Every.Single.Puddle. Hike #2 was a twilight hike to search for wombats. Oh nelly, and we found wombats. They were everywhere! Like koalas, we have not seen wombats in the wild before. Seeing Aussie animals in the wild is very exciting for us Yanks. I'm sure we're made fun of, sort of like how I gently laugh at the people who stop to take pictures of the elk. This hike was on a boardwalk, which made for really easy toddler hiking. Wombats are marsupials like kangaroos, but their pouch opens to the rear so they don't scoop snow or dirt into their pouch when they walk.
So, it's twilight, the light is low, and I'm thinking, boy it would be nice if there was a wombat close to the path so I could maybe get a shot that didn't look like a tiny brown spot in the brown grass. Then my batteries die. And the spares are back at the car, 15 min away. I sigh to myself, Travis and I consult about the cold and the late hour, and decide to go around one more turn. Lo and behold, a wombat! RIGHT THERE! I'm about 50 yards ahead of the boys, and I'm hoping my camera will turn on and the wombat won't be scared away by wild and crazy FFM.I make wild, but silent, arm gestures to try to communicate that the boys should approach quietly, and it works. New word 'om-at' is delivered.The wildlife continued, and on the drive back after the hike I spotted a flash on the side of the road. My quick thinking husband flipped a U-turn and I'd spotted a Tasmanian devil. Another marsupial, and T tells me the only carnivorous one. Back in Brisbane we watched one having lunch one day at the Australia Zoo, and they're tough customers even if they're not very big.
After two days of rain and snow we awoke to crystal clear skies so we made one more visit out to the lake. Like other famous mountains people can wait years for a clear day at Cradle Mountain. We met two couples at breakfast who had been out 5 times at different times of year and had never seen the entire mountain.F's wondering why we didn't hike again on the sunny day...to appease him we threw some rocks into the lake instead. We were off to our next town, Launceston, and needed to get on the road. Partway to Launceston we took a break and let F play at a park and he ran around in the fall leaves. Fall in April is still the strangest of the upside down seasons for me.
The gorge at Launceston. And the bridge. Which was bouncy. Which F figured out how to bounce. T found this humorous, I did not.
After a short stay in Launceston we headed on to Hobart. Home of a Cadbury factory. YUM YUM. They hand out lots of free chocolate at Cadbury. And hot chocolate. It's very nice.
We did some day driving trips from Hobart, one to the Tasman peninsula. One of our favorite stops was at the 'tessellated pavement.'Let me back up for a moment. We're famous for buying maps with what we call 'red dots' on them. Red dots are simply points of interest that the map maker has decided to put on the map. Often they are red, this map they happened to be purple. There's usually no description, just a name or a word. One stop was called "Female Factory" and it ended up being an old women's jail. We've done this ever since our great trip along the east coast where we found such amazing things as Lucy the Elephant. Sometimes the dots are duds, but usually they're winners.
Anyway, there was a dot called tessellated pavement. We had no idea if this was a natural or man made feature, but it sounded interesting. And there were heaps of other dots along the way. So we headed out. Tessellated pavement is a natural rock formation that looks like this:
It's pretty cool, but since I don't think too many of my readers are geologists I'll leave it at that.The tide was going out as we walked down the path, leaving heaps of tidal pools to explore. I spotted a starfish and some kids nearby found another one. F enjoyed throwing empty mussel shells back into the ocean and got really excited about holding the tiny orange starfish that were scattered everywhere.
Our last day in Hobart we had a late afternoon flight, so we checked out of our accommodation and found a nifty train museum. The first part was an entire room filled with little train scenes that operated by pushing a rocker switch right at kid height. Heaven for little boys.
The next room was a GIANT room with an exact replica of a mountain range in Switzerland. The lights dimmed up and down to replicate days and nights, there were thunderstorms, and even fog that rolled in over the lake. Chairlifts and trams took skiers up to mountain peaks and boy scouts went for hikes. F kept trying to climb the wall.
Tasmania really was lovely, as always the end came too soon and there are things we missed that we'd love to go back and see.
Melbourne
There are no direct flights from Perth to the major cities in Tasmania on our favorite airline, so when I started booking our trip to Tassie I booked flights through Melbourne (instead of Sydney which would be sort of like the time I flew from Denver to Indianapolis through Atlanta...). Melbourne is a vibrant, busy, buzzing city I really wanted to visit, so after some lengthy brain cycles I finally came up with the grand plan that instead of two separate trips Travis should just tack on some extra days to the Tassie trip and we'd lump a mini-vaca to Melbourne into this getaway. So, on the way to Tassie we stopped in Melbourne and stayed for four days.
Melbourne is full of trains and trams and we spent part of a day riding the trams. Trains go 'choo choo' and trams go 'ding ding' and it took about 2.25 minutes for FFM to figure out the difference. This is also the trip where he's figured out what a taxi is and during our city stay he was careful to point out every tram, train, and taxi. It was a noisy but adorably cute habit. (ding ding choo choo tadi! And boy, he's spot on every time. If I ever need a cab he's my man.)
We also braved our first movie theater experience and went to see 'Under the Sea' (about the oceans around Australia and just north of here) at IMAX, in 3D. What a hoot. We were all reaching for the fish and bubbles escaping the screen. F's glasses stayed on for about half of it - until the movie got boring (really, there were a lot of cuttlefish... not the most interesting 'ish' in the sea). We didn't take a stroller on this trip, F walked most of the way on his own as has become his habit. But every once in a while he'd need a little lift...
Our last day in Melbourne we drove the Great Ocean Road along the Victoria Coast. It's a lovely, scenic, and famous drive that's really nice, even when it's a blustery fall day. We were lucky and spotted koalas in the wild! So far we've only seen them in captivity here.
Our destination along the Great Ocean Road was an outcropping known as the Twelve Apostles. I was counting and counting and counting....and I never found 12. I finally found the sign that said that there ARE 12 but that you can't actually see them all from the shore. Here are a few of them:
And here F and I are getting BLOWN AWAY by the amazing wind. We were laughing our heads off, but it was a little scary at the same time.
One of our first stops was the National Wool Museum. Lo and behold, it's current special exhibit was interactive and all about ELECTRICITY. It's like they created the perfect Moore family museum just for us (for those that may not know Travis is an electrical engineer, FFM loves to push buttons, and I've become an avid knitter). FFM pushed millions of buttons and levers making all kinds of machines whirr, light up, make music, and go. We also managed to sneak in some wool stuff including watching them fire up the massive rug loom which clanged and clanked and was quite impressive.
Melbourne is full of trains and trams and we spent part of a day riding the trams. Trains go 'choo choo' and trams go 'ding ding' and it took about 2.25 minutes for FFM to figure out the difference. This is also the trip where he's figured out what a taxi is and during our city stay he was careful to point out every tram, train, and taxi. It was a noisy but adorably cute habit. (ding ding choo choo tadi! And boy, he's spot on every time. If I ever need a cab he's my man.)We also braved our first movie theater experience and went to see 'Under the Sea' (about the oceans around Australia and just north of here) at IMAX, in 3D. What a hoot. We were all reaching for the fish and bubbles escaping the screen. F's glasses stayed on for about half of it - until the movie got boring (really, there were a lot of cuttlefish... not the most interesting 'ish' in the sea).Other than the city-scape and architecture, the trip to see the penguins at the aquarium had to be my favorite part. What an amazing exhibit. I've never seen animals in captivity so lively, animated, and happy looking before. The penguin in the lower left photo was really playing and interacting with F; it was like they were having a conversation through the glass. The big penguins with yellow on on their breasts are King penguins and were literally the size of F.
Our last day in Melbourne we drove the Great Ocean Road along the Victoria Coast. It's a lovely, scenic, and famous drive that's really nice, even when it's a blustery fall day. We were lucky and spotted koalas in the wild! So far we've only seen them in captivity here.Our destination along the Great Ocean Road was an outcropping known as the Twelve Apostles. I was counting and counting and counting....and I never found 12. I finally found the sign that said that there ARE 12 but that you can't actually see them all from the shore. Here are a few of them:And here F and I are getting BLOWN AWAY by the amazing wind. We were laughing our heads off, but it was a little scary at the same time.
In one of those small world events we managed to meet up with our friends Greg and Ana from Denver who are working in Melbourne for six months. They're amazingly smart people doing amazingly scientific things, this go round with water. Lo and behold, the company they are working for is doing some water testing in relation to a project that Black and Veatch is working on in Melbourne.
I felt right at home in Melbourne...I think I better start buying lottery tickets so I can escape on a few weekends...
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Home Again
I really like Australia. Melbourne and Tassie were great fun, even though I ended up with a nasty cold on day 3 of our trip and was pretty slow the second part of our trip.
As it seems to happen on trips/changes of scenery FFM had some big changes and lots of words suddenly appeared. He also suddenly got a lot more independent (OK, totally stubborn). The word 'No' uttered from an adult mouth appears to translate directly into toddler speak as, 'Please feel free to go ahead and continue doing that dangerous/offensive/naughty activity that you are doing.'
He also responds to any question with the word 'No', although we figured out it's just a response and that he simply doesn't use the word 'Yes' yet. No is an all purpose affirmative or negative response... It's great fun to listen to him identify every conceivable form of transportation that he sees and make all kinds of animal noises as we drive by farms. There was a trade off, albeit not quite an equal one, a single two-word combo has made an appearance 'more please' although it sounds more like 'mor peas.'
I also decided (again) that while it's really a US thing that I DO like it and think that if you're going to travel in tightly packed public transportation you really should shower and use deodorant. Please.
As it seems to happen on trips/changes of scenery FFM had some big changes and lots of words suddenly appeared. He also suddenly got a lot more independent (OK, totally stubborn). The word 'No' uttered from an adult mouth appears to translate directly into toddler speak as, 'Please feel free to go ahead and continue doing that dangerous/offensive/naughty activity that you are doing.'
He also responds to any question with the word 'No', although we figured out it's just a response and that he simply doesn't use the word 'Yes' yet. No is an all purpose affirmative or negative response... It's great fun to listen to him identify every conceivable form of transportation that he sees and make all kinds of animal noises as we drive by farms. There was a trade off, albeit not quite an equal one, a single two-word combo has made an appearance 'more please' although it sounds more like 'mor peas.'
I also decided (again) that while it's really a US thing that I DO like it and think that if you're going to travel in tightly packed public transportation you really should shower and use deodorant. Please.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Gone
We'll be away until after Easter, so no more blogs for a while. But I'm sure I'll have a picture or two to share when we get back.
We're off to Melbourne and Tasmania, or Tassie, as Aussie's fondly call it. They all say Tassie with a wistful, dreamy look, even if they've never been there, so it must be a really wonderful place. We've been looking forward to this trip since before we left Brisbane, and it's finally here!
To further your expanding knowledge of Australian geography, Perth there on the left, Melbourne is the red dot and Tasmania (Tasmania is an entire state, Melbourne's in the state of Victoria where the bushfires were) marked by the yellow dot. If you were to drive from Perth to Melbourne it would be the equivalent of driving from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh. I'm very glad we are flying.
