Category: week in review

First few days of the school holidays, and a long weekend to boot, so we hired a car, and took Grandragon up to Coffs Harbour for a family reunion.

Friday we drove to Nambucca Heads, and then Dad and Puff went for a morning walk. It’s a beautiful place.

There were a lot of birds out and about, which always fascinates Puff.

He was wise enough to bring a water bottle with him for the walk, though after all the travelling, he was pretty tired, so we only managed about 4km.

 

Oh, and at the reunion, Huff also had a chicken nugget that looked like a dog. She insisted a photo be taken.

On another visit to see a family member, Huff had the chance to hold a baby turtle.

There was a lot of enthusiasm for resting, which continues to today.

Monday morning Dad and puff went for a walk in Bulahdelah.

On Monday we stopped in a cafe in Newcastle for lunch; Huff wanted a photo of her fruit salad.

Here’s a quick photo of the family gathered to have lunch in Newcastle.

More holiday adventures next week!

This week was Puff’s two-night school camp, to Canberra. Early-morning drop-off on Wednesday, and pick up around dinner time on Friday. Lots of adventures, lots of fun running around, and some homesickness.

While he was away, Dad had a school run to do, which included picking up another collection of school readers for covering in contact.

Huff and Dad also had a chance to sit down with Huff for a hot chocolate, which was pretty great.

On the weekend, Dad had a day of travel, and then we had a chance to have dinner at a farewell barbecue with the family all together. Sunday: Puff had a recorder rehearsal, and then we all went out for gelato, then home to watch Paddington 2 together, and Dad even had a chance to play LEGO with Huff, giving voice to one of Huff’s figurines. There was much giggling from Huff.

Dad and Puff went on a bit of an adventure on Saturday, running to catch the bus and then getting a lift to the national park, but the car overheated so we had to go in another car instead.

Puff brought as his backpack the bag he usually takes for maths, but had neglected to remove the textbooks, which made the run to the bus especially tiring for him.

With the 5km loop walk done (to a waterfall and back), we were dropped back at Waterfall train station and caught a train south, to meet up with the family. Meanwhile, Mum, Huff and Grandragon had been on an adventure, returning with lollies!

We went out for dinner in a place that had a climbing gym. Puff is getting too big for them these days, but still had a go.

And Huff fulfilled one of her ambitions in learning to knit, without YouTube videos..

Sometimes you can hear the clock ticking on a phase of life, and sometimes you manage to sneak in one last piggy back on a sunny day before everyone is too big or Dad is too creaky.

Lunch with Mum, Dad, and Huff was a fun chance to spend some time colouring in together and catching up.

Dad also managed some one-on-one time with Puff; we played some Hive, walked around for a while and spent time catching up.

This is the last week before uni goes back, so the depth of detail might well drop for the next 12 weeks or so.

With newly ten-year-old Puff in fifth grade, it was time to have a look at a potential high school for the year after next. It all seems to be happening very fast, but we may well have found a place that he will fit in. Time will tell.

Independently, Dad and Mum snapped these pictures of walking with him back to the car – there’s a certain amount of inadvertent mirroring going on.

The only difference here seems to be the backpack!

With Puff at school on a Friday night, Mum and Dad and Huff had a quick dinner out.

On Father’s day, we had some different grandparent catch-up times, but Dad managed a quick outing with Huff. It was good to catch up with her, and help her navigate some challenges with some of her friends.

Dad managed to go along for swimming lessons this week. Puff was not well this week, so was sitting nearby getting an assignment done. Meanwhile Huff was doing amazing work in the pool – great to see how much she has improved.

Tonight we had a chance to go ten pin bowling for a belated Father’s Day outing with Puff’s boys group – we were both struggling to knock down enough pins, but it was good to spend the time together.

It’s the week that Puff turns 10 – it’s been ten years of being a Dad, and more than that of writing this blog (if you go far enough back into the archives you can see the countdown to Puff’s birth!).

And here we are at the end of the decade. Puff getting ready for “fiver for a farmer” day at his school, and Huff for book week (find your treasure).

Dad managed to beat Puff at chess on Friday, perhaps for the last time, and then we were into the preparations for Puff’s birthday party.

Here’s Huff at the start of the party (the good camera was out for a run).

One of the popular games at the party was simply playing with giant Lego.

Puff was a bit overwhelmed by how many people gave him presents. Here he is opening one of them (a friend had made him 80 paper cranes, and this was the chosen wrapping – great misdirection).

Not everyone was able to stay for the cake cutting, but there was still a good crowd (obscured here for privacy).

We managed a delicious gelato dessert for Puff’s actual birthday too. Here’s a family selfie to celebrate.

We’re still in a busy season of school activities. Puff played saxophone in a school band concert at UNSW, but it was hard to get a photo of him without his concert buddies in frame. 

There was a dress-up opportunity at school for an “olden days” dress-up: here’s Huff showing off the outfit:

Saturday we spent some time at the park. Huff was super keen to explore and run around, and we had a session of imaginative play with Huff leading Dad around the playground pretending to be looking for pirate treasure.

Here are the kids waiting to visit Grandragon.

Oh, and in the spirit of other waiting, here’s Puff waiting to get a haircut.

Mum and Huff walked up the hill together, hand in hand.

Some of the carrots from the backyard were ready to be picked. Huff was super excited to be able to pick them, and to eat them as snacks the next day.

Dad has an exam this week, and then life will be – briefly – back to normal.

Looking back over the photos reveals just what an epic week this has been. The kids managed to both have their open day on the same day; Huff’s was in the morning. She was in a dance ensemble (she did a great job, but it’s hard to capture in a way that respects the privacy of all the other kids, so that’s just staying in the home archive – she was dancing to “I’m still standing” but the cover version from the movie Sing!

A quick change of outfit later, and Huff was playing violin.

It’s hard to tell whether her highlight was playing, or mugging for the camera in the group photo afterward. It’s a good structure which gives the kids ample time to grow into their skills as young performers.

Mum and Dad had the chance to work on some classroom activities with each of the kids too. Dad enjoyed sitting with Huff to see how she’s developed. Dad later in the day helped Puff look up the details about different planets from the Internet.

Puff’s school combined open day with book week parade. Puff was an angry bird again (a friend was a Pikachu), and then was in the band.

After school, Huff and Dad ran errands while Puff was in a violin lesson. After a trip to the library and going to the recycling centre, Huff asked if we had time to visit a park. We managed to fit in a quick bit of monkey-bar / ninja warrior. She’s super strong and confident now.

Puff continues to teach Twitter new tricks.

We also managed a state recorder rehearsal for Puff, morning swimming lessons (the kids continue to get stronger at swimming), and to visit Grandragon in hospital again.

A quiet week with everyone back at school and occupied with homework and speech writing and other things.

Twitter has learned a new trick, sitting on Puff’s head.

We had the chance to catch up with an old friend, and grab a rare family photo.

Sadly, Grandragon’s run of not being in hospital came to an end over the weekend, so Dad and the kids found ourselves back at a Mexican takeaway store in Wollongong. Puff wasn’t entirely sure about his nachos.

Huff was happier with her quesadillas.

We are getting to a stage where the kids are developing their personalities more – it’s great to hear them playing together on those rare mornings where we don’t have anything else to rush off for.

Quiet week for photos this week. Back to school, Dad was still out a bit, but we managed some family time, and a trip to Christmas in July that our church was participating in.

Huff had her face painted in a low-key way (thanks S).

The kids demonstrated they’re on the cusp of being too big for climbing equipment (sunrise, sunset).

Huff volunteered to walk to the shops with Dad for a quick grocery run. She held onto the list herself, found all the items on the list with minimal help, and even helped carry the groceries back. A great helper.

Watching a number of cooking shows on TV has motivated her to be more involved in cooking and baking – we saw her slicing vegetables with a knife, and helping bake cakes, and cook pancakes. Impressive effort.

Sunday saw Dad walk to church with Puff; we had a good time walking and talking together, and we are getting faster (no backpack for Puff probably helped quite a bit).