puff and huff

I’ve noticed there haven’t been many photos of Puff in the past few weeks, so I’ve been trying to correct that (while still trying to keep the technology away, so I can concentrate on being present for the kids). 

There have been some work commitments at the moment that have kept me in the office, so Mum has been overseeing a few things, like having Huff help with the green bean casserole for a friend’s thanksgiving dinner.

At the dinner there was a kids table, complete with colouring-in-friendly tablecloths.

Dad was a bit tired over the weekend after the time spent working in the garden, so there was a well-earned rest, and a chance to sample one of the cupcakes that the kids had made.

Saturday morning, Mum and Puff went out to try some zumbarons, and Dad and Huff stayed home. The original plan was to go out on an adventure, but Huff decided she wanted some time at home with Dad. We had a tea party of sorts; it ended up being a little intermediated by screens.

Meanwhile Puff was having his first couple of drops of cold drip coffee (he didn’t like it, but there’s still time for him to develop his palette).

 We spent some time on the weekend having lunch with friends, which ran so late we also had dinner out, in one of our old stomping grounds in Burwood – a turkish takeaway shop. The kids were their usual well-behaved selves for the day.

So here’s a photo of just Puff, thinking optimistically while waiting for dinner to arrive. 

Oh, and Huff is now in the habit of posing crazily for photos. 

Not many photos this week: it’s hard to tell if it is from a successful attempt to be more engaged with the kids (there were a couple of card / board game occasions this week with no screens), or just taking for granted the benefits of watching the kids run around.

Nonetheless, Dad took the kids for a bit of a walk on Saturday – we learned that regardless of the health benefits to the ducks, they’d rather eat bread than either apple slices or oats. Huff kept referring to our duck snacks as “bait” rather than “food” despite repeated correction.

Given the choice of walking along the footpath or take the bush track, the kids chose the bush track, and Huff was busily picking leaves as a bouquet to give Mum. Sadly the leaves didn’t make the full journey, but here they are captured.

Sunday we were at church and then a birthday party, and so Huff consented to wearing a dress for the day. She was a big fan, and was quite fond of twirling in the dress, at least for a while.

Puff had some maths adventures this week, tackling some tough problems with a mix of confidence and empathy for another kid who was struggling a bit; he’s also getting ready for an upcoming drama performance, so hopefully some more photos next week!

This week we took the kids out a few times; once to a sports club large enough that it has its own shuttle bus within the car park. The kids loved being driven around in the car park.

We stopped for dessert as well: the lady at the gelato place couldn’t believe how much Huff has grown.

There were some Christmas decorations, so we took the chance to get the kids in a photo together.

On Saturday we took a train into the city (despite the threatening weather) for breakfast and some family time. The kids were happy with the train journey (we played some distracting games in the train).

They were starting to tire after walking from Central to Pitt St Mall, so we rewarded them with some screen time while catching up with friends.

Oh, and this new thing happened – Huff is starting to ask her big brother for a piggy back, and he’s strong enough to do it, at least for a little while.

It’s great to watch them getting along well (when they do).

Another ordinary week has gone past. Dad was sick a few days this week, which mostly looked like resting for him, and some more sedentary activities for the kids. We watched Ratatouille together as a family: Huff found a lot of the first half quite scary, but started to enjoy it more in the second half.

We had a friend come over to watch a movie with us this week, so we had home-steamed dumplings. The kids were pretty excited about them.

Mum took Huff out for some Mum-daughter time after she sat patiently through some shopping activities.

Mum went to get a coffee, so Huff enjoyed every last drop of her babycino.

On Saturday, we went to have the kids’ eyes tested (there’s been some squinting and some complaints of headaches), and both are all clear! Huff probably enjoyed her test the most out of the two of them.

Afterwards, we had lunch together in a cafe. Not everyone was equally enthusiastic about the stop.

Huff is still small enough to go in the ergo-carrier, and was pretty excited upon waking from sleep to find she was riding on Mum’s back.

We visited one of the kids’ grandmothers on Friday, but didn’t really take pictures (Oops!). The kids also had a Sunday afternoon where they had their other grandmother to themselves.

Then for a special treat, we went to a place where the kids could ride on a golf cart to get to dinner. They were very excited.

We’ve had some time this week to reflect on the difference between academic development and social development. It continues to be a challenge to work out how the kids can move forward in different areas, but having a framework through which we can talk about it together as parents is helpful.

The end of a very short era – Huff has finished her kindy orientation. She was very glad to get a library bag / backpack and a certificate to commemorate the occasion.

Afterwards, we went out for gelato to celebrate, and even have some burgers together as a family.

The kids are getting more confident in their climbing on (and jumping between) rocks – it was encouraging to see them scrambling around.

On the weekend Dad spent a lot of time away from the kids working on a sermon: the kids played with their cousin, their aunt and their grandmother.They were glad to see Dad again the next day.

It’s great to watch the kids playing together in the morning. Puff often comes up with some way of including Huff in his games.

We had a school concert to listen to – Puff was playing violin and percussion in some different things. Huff was glad to go along.

There was a “gold” theme. Puff had a gold hat, Huff had a gold bracelet.

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Mum before she went away. The kids had a chance to try some fancy cupcakes.

Puff managed to keep the lollies from his for the rest of the day.

After dropping Mum off, it was time to swap over some Woolworths collectible cards, and then – after a quick jump on a bouncing castle – we went to the library. As is their custom, the kids walk through the sculpture as we leave.

We went to a food festival in Fairfield where the kids had ice-cream.

Then, on Saturday night, we went to laser tag with the church youth group – kids 6 and up were allowed to play. Puff had a great time playing.

Sunday morning the kids were ready for church nice and early, so we went out for a quick breakfast before church.

After church, the kids were very keen to play putt-putt golf, so we found a place where Grandragon could come along too. 

There were a few bad dreams this week (Huff had one where a fox was chasing some fairies through the woods), but mostly the kids are sleeping through the night, even if some nights start later than we’d generally hope.

This week was Mum’s birthday, lots of activity – a birthday party for a friend, Puff started practicing the violin more consistently, Huff keeps working away on letters and numbers, and only a couple of photos where there weren’t a bunch of other people in the background whose opinion about photography we didn’t gather.

Here are the kids waiting for Gelato.

And here are the kids at breakfast to celebrate Mum’s birthday.

The kids also had a chance to head down to the Illawarra region to see uncle J preaching.

Puff and Huff both made their own presents for Mum, which was very sweet. It’s good to see them looking out for others.

We’re back into the swing of school term again. Huff is very excited at the prospect of kinder orientation, and her big brother is looking forward to being at school with her.

On the weekend Mum was at a wedding, so Dad and the kids had a birthday party to go to with one of Puff’s school friends, and Huff was invited along too. They had a great time bouncing around a play centre.

Back from holidays, and school term starting up again. Here’s what we’ve been up to in the meantime.

During the holidays, the Powerhouse Museum had a minecraft exhibition on. The kids had the chance to play real-life Minecraft, making stacks out of cardboard cubes. Puff played Minecraft, and Huff had the chance to play Operation on a adult-human-scale board.

Saturday morning we checked out a new cafe, and Dad played Puff at chess again.

The road trip started off on Monday after a leisurely morning packing, and we drove up to visit friends in Gloucester. After staying there, we headed further up the coast to see another cafe Mum wanted to visit in Wingham. The kids enjoyed having a break from being in the car, and then we kept heading up the coast to Bellingen.

This is a look around the place we were staying – it was a farm-stay, with no internet access and free-range chicken wandering around.

The kids enjoyed playing with the chickens (and collecting eggs).

There were three (tame) horses living on the farm.

We had a day trip to Dorrigo to look at the skywalk.

The kids enjoyed a little bush-walk (and, with the promise of ice cream at the end of the loop if there was no whinging) behaved themselves admirably.

The trees were pretty tall at Dorrigo – here’s Puff as a point of reference. 

One of the physical challenges with the place we were staying was the cattle-grid. Puff was big enough to walk across without much trouble, but Huff took it very carefully (perhaps too confidently, but there were no mishaps).

All too quickly (there were board games where Huff insisted on being called by her name, with the suffix “Bank”, or she wouldn’t hand over the cards) the stay was over, and it was time to head north again. We stopped for coffee and gelato in Dorrigo. The kids were still in high spirits.

We spent a relaxed few days with friend in Queensland, where the kids played various games that were probably a little too stretching for them. Uno was a consistent favourite, with many requests for Uno Snap.

There was some cupcake decorating.

The purpose for the trip was a big family reunion event, but there are so many photos, and it’s hard to gather permission for all of them, so we’ll have to leave it for the next reunion next year.

Then it was time to head home. Huff is a big fan of moustaches, so this promo cut-out was too good for her to resist. 

The kids travelled back from Queensland amazingly well. We stopped at Woodburn, Nambucca Heads, and Taree. There was a lot of looking out the window, reading and drawing, some sleeping, and – for the final leg – some screens.

And then it was a lazy day at home to recover from the driving. The kids watched most of Empire Strikes Back with Dad, but were asking a lot of questions all the way through it (and it seems that Puff has already figured out the key spoiler from all the supporting literature he’s been reading). 

On holidays this week. Double-post next week.