Category: week in review

This week we celebrated a family birthday. The kids have spent the past couple of weeks trying to work out what to do to celebrate the birthday, and Mum gave some hints. How about we have a picnic (it ended up being takeaway food, but that was okay), and some family time.

Dad continues to struggle with how easy the kids find it to navigate play equipment that they once had great troubles with. Puff is now struggling to find something that’s an adequate challenge, but at least he still enjoys climbing.

Huff needed a bit of coaxing to climb up this far, but once she was there she was pretty happy about it.

The next challenge was baking and decorating this octopus cake – Dad and the kids collaborated on the cake together, and then Dad tried to shepherd the kids through the decorating process without taking over. Pro-tip: the green tentacles were Dad, using that pastry brush, but the kids did the rest.

Dad has been out for work and other things a fair bit in the past few weeks, so it’s been good to have some time at home with the kids. There never seems to be a clear-cut answer to the question of “how best to spend time”, but it’s a blessing to have to choose between multiple “good things”.

We’re back to school again. Here we see the last few moments of the holidays (Huff started to cry as we were counting down to bedtime on Sunday night and watching the Fireman Sam movie – she wasn’t ready for the holidays to be over).

Flashback to Thursday where Huff was playing a mini violin concert to a friend who has some significant music training. She kept stopping to give a commentary about the piece (a 4/4 time, open string piece), how the bar lines didn’t have to be played, how silly the location of the rests are. She has a unique view of the world.

Mum took out the plaits. It took a bit of effort to restore Huff’s usual hairstyle.

Dad and Puff went for a long walk. It took a while for him to snap out of his computer game idyll, but eventually he started to notice things about the plants and trees we were walking past, and he told Dad a lot about his adventures at school camp.

Sunday morning both kids (after negotiating who would go along) went for a walk with Dad, and to feed the ducks.

The response to the walk was clear. One big fan, one person a bit indifferent.

See you next week!

The school holidays are in full swing, even as Dad has been at work, and away at a work conference over the weekend. Mum has made the most of the time by taking the kids on a range of adventures.

Here they are at a park a friend recommended.

We went to visit Grandma and Doc, and Huff wanted to take cupcakes along to have for dessert. Here she is icing them (they’re from a packet and come with Minion edible stickers.

We had a family reunion on the weekend, on Saturday night, so Dad drove down from his conference. The kids had fun meeting (and being reintroduced to) a range of relatives, and stayed up late playing. The next day they relaxed a bit by playing outdoors.

Then, at a follow-up lunch, they spent some time colouring in on a giant colouring in sheet with their cousin.

With some gift vouchers to spend, a trip to smuggle was in order. Puff and Huff each bought new twisting puzzle snakes. Here’s Puff’s one.

Oh, and with no school runs to worry about, Huff’s hair is getting more complicated. These are plaits, not braids. Dad keeps getting them mixed up.

See you next week!

We’re heading into another school holiday, and so it’s more time with the kids, and less taking photos of them (or so it seems). Dad has been continuing to read Narnia Chronicles to the kids (we’re up to the Voyage of the Dawn Treader now).

Dad read “The Little Prince” and showed Huff (and to a lesser extent Puff) the Netflix movie of it.

And then we also watched the Angry Birds movie. Puff watched with his Angry Bird. 

Later in the week, Uncle M visited with his motorbike. Huff was a big fan of the bike.

Oh, and today the kids went to the local library on scooters.

Huff’s reading is coming along in leaps and bounds: she read a whole story from the Big Picture Story Bible with minimal help. It’s encouraging to see.

Puff continues to love different video games, and riding more complicated things (and occasionally reading Pokemon stories).

We’re heading into the final week of term, which is pretty exciting for the kids. We had grandparents day at school, and the kids played violin, which was well received.

It was also public speaking week. Huff had to give a 1-minute speech, and Puff a 3-minute speech and a 1-minute impromptu. Dad spent some time with them helping them prepare (and especially with understanding what’s involved in the impromptu, which he hadn’t really tried before). 

Huff had her first sleep over, at her grandmother’s house. She was so excited. So excited.

Puff had a science weekend to go to, where he learned about slime and other chemistry things. To help him keep his step count up, Puff and Dad went for a walk each morning. He was keen to chat about nothing in particular, but it’s good to keep the lines of communication open.

Huff spent some time gardening with her grandmother. She seems a big fan of gardening now.

Here’s Puff after the first day of science. You can see he looks a bit weary.

One of the things they learned in their science was how to remove the shell from an egg (left). Puff came up with “can you shell the difference” as a hashtag for this photo, which makes Dad proud for all sorts of reasons.

Big week for Puff. First ever school camp – a night away from home without Mum and Dad. He took it in his stride, though – playing with his friends while waiting for the bus, and then getting on the bus without looking back.

He returned safely, full of stories about his adventures.

Friday night we played some different board games and worked on some measuring tasks.

Saturday Huff had the chance to do some gardening, and loved it.

Saturday night we had a friend come for dinner – we played a board game (Tsuro) before bedtime.

Sunday morning was breakfast before church with friends. Huff was keen to play with her toy chick and its nest while waiting for the food to arrive.

Mum and Puff were more accustomed to the wait.

Sunday afternoon, Dad and Huff spent some time painting the sub: we’re almost half-way through, but it was way too messy to try and take photos!

And then there was the spelling bee! Puff had a good go, and was very gracious when defeated by a word, heading back to his seat calmly. Dad was proud.

Not nearly as many photos this week. It was Father’s Day, We had a few low-key outings as a family, and saw a few friends. Dad was preaching, so was pretty distracted for some of the weekend.

Here’s a scene from Saturday breakfast. Huff has started whistling for fun, which is a bit distracting when driving, but is impressive nonetheless.

We visited a friend, and the kids explored their backyard.

Puff is testing out his headlamp – he has a school camp coming up, and needs a torch, and this seems even more useful!

For Father’s Day lunch after church it was such a beautiful day that we went to the park. The only place to get food nearby was a Lebanese Pizza shop: when in Rome…

The kids are much bigger than when they used to play on the equipment. Mum talked both kids through the process of climbing over the top of the spiderweb wall. Puff had a much easier time of it.

The kids really enjoyed climbing and running around, including with Dad.

There was also some uncle/aunt time with a jigsaw puzzle.

Dad managed to finish reading the first of the Narnia books to Huff. Lots more to go!

Puff is now 8 years old! Dad is starting to do that weird conflating math (in 10 years, he’ll be able to vote), while trying to pay attention to the current challenges.

Lots on this week. Laser Siege with Puff at SWAG.

Puff had a great time (so did Dad, to be fair).

Book week, where Huff was the witch from “Room on the Broom”. She loved having a long ginger plait.

After book week and the rained-out BBQ lunch, Dad picked up Huff from school, and we went into the city with Grandma to meet Puff and Mum and Grandragon.

Huff loves her little toy unicorn, playing with it on a number of public transport adventures quietly and happily. She managed dinner and some hot chocolate, but fell asleep not long before the start of Puff’s violin concert. Here’s what it looked like: the choir stalls are full of recorder players.

Once Puff’s actual birthday had rolled around, it was time for some presents. He was very happy with his gifts, even managing to read the cards before opening the gifts.

Puff went to inflatable world for a birthday party with a couple of friends (no photos uploaded). Afterwards, Mum and Dad went out for coffee, with Mum triumphantly bringing some coffee home again afterward.

Not only did Dad manage to tidy up the backyard a bit, he also (with Mum’s help) patched the back tyre on Huff’s bike so it’s ready to ride again. She was pretty happy about it.

Sunday we had a family outing day, and brought cousin E along for the ride. Here she is driving in the car with her cousins.

We went to the Australian National Maritime Museum, where you need to be a certain height (90cm) to get the most out of the day. Huff made it through easily.

The kids tried a few different ships, and some of the play areas. The beds were popular. Here are the bunks:

And here were the hammocks.

More challenging was navigating the submarine, but once inside there’s lots to look at and even touch.

Once we’d returned to the surface again, we looked at a replica of the Endeavour, then the kids met a dog, and played climbing on a canon.

Happy birthday Puff. Thanks for 8 great years: we look forward to seeing what you do next!

Busy week in the lead-up to book week. The kids have been sick, but they’re starting to bounce back.

Huff is going as the witch from Room on the Broom, and has been keen to help with her costume. Mum made the cauldron, and Huff painted it black.

In the spirit of similar craft, Puff finished off his volcano – it’s a project that’s been going for a long time.

We picked up a bike for Huff from a friend. She wasn’t entirely sure about  the experience of riding a bike, but it’s a start.

Dad and Puff went to laser siege with some of Puff’s friends.
Puff had a friend over to play.
Dad has started reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Huff (and Puff). 

The highlight of the school week this week was the pyjama movie night. Huff has been getting a better handle on her days-of-the-week as she counted down the days. it didn’t disappoint. Pyjamas, snacks, drinks. It was an exciting night. Puff enjoyed his version as well (the same movie, a bit later in the evening), but this was really one for Huff.

Saturday we had lunch with Uncle J and C, at a place in Heathcote. Huff took a photo of her babycino with Mum’s phone, which was a mix of cute and disturbing. You don’t realise what your adult behaviour is like until it’s reflected in front of you.

After lunch, it was time for some Father-daughter time. We went on a bit of a public transport adventure, ending up at Grandragon’s house where we met up with Mum and Puff again. Dad, naively thought that bringing a toy unicorn would not be enough entertainment for a 70-minute journey, but it turned out he was wrong. And learned how to plait. Not braid. Plait.

Sunday morning Dad and Puff walked to church while Mum and Huff had a little outing. More babycinos.

In the afternoon, Dad and Puff continued the walking outing with a trip around the Bay Run. Puff had his wheelies, and it was a good chance to work on his fitness (and Dad’s, dragging Puff up some of the hills). It was a great day for it, as you can see.

We stopped off afterwards at a gelato place for a quick refreshment break, but really he just wanted to rest.

In fact, both kids are feeling a bit sick at the moment. Here they are resting on the way back from the doctor. 

In fact, they have both had the day off school today (Huff made it for some of the day), but they should bounce back again soon. Onward for another week!