Close encounters with an Emu - Part 2

After my trip to the zoo earlier this week with the little girls, the two big kids were feeling alittle left out. So, Saturday we made another trip to the zoo as a family. The main attraction? THE EMU!

A was happy to be near the Emu but M was not too sure about it when she saw how big it really was! Although, I have to admit, the Emu was not very interested in us today. It was really pacing back and forth and not following us around like the other day. Maybe next time!


We also had lunch at the zoo - only worth mentioning here because it was an Aussie first for me. I had a burger with some very Aussie ingredients. Can you see what it is? BEETS! It was actually very good. Next thing to try on my burger- a fried egg. That is a burger with the works. I will be sure to let you all know when I have conquered that one.

Of course we saw lots of other favorites like the giraffes. It is very fun to watch the baby now at the zoo. Hardly a baby anymore - she get so excited about the animals and squeals and points. Very fun. We have switched to the baby carrier most of the time now so she can see better.

Best buddies - an awesome big brother to his little sisters. And they just love him!

Freedom! Enjoying a little time to wander.

A - our budding photographer - took this picture of us! What a fun day at the zoo!

On the way home, I decided a little exercise was in order so the big kids and I decided to walk home rather than drive. J took the little ones in the car and put them to bed while we enjoyed the sun a little longer. It is not far to the zoo from our house -3km maybe - so it is an easy walk. On the way we cut through a little park area and had our very own local bushwalk. We all just love to use the word bushwalk so this was a perfect opportunity. Here are some pics from the walk home.

All in all, another wonderful day with my wonderful family!

Mommy's Little Girl

Just like mom - I could not be more proud!

The fruit of the spirit is...

Last year we started the fruits of the spirit tree in our house. Ironically, it is harder to peg those fruits than you think. You know, just simple obedience is NOT a fruit of the spirit. So, in an effort to increase the love, joy, peace, etc. in our household, we started this tree.


The way it works is the kids get an apple sticker whenever I see some "fruit" in them. Then when we get 100 apples on the tree, it is time for a family fun night. Might be a special movie and popcorn or an evening of bowling. We have been doing this for some time and of course, I have not been too consistent doling out apples lately. So, when a friend just recently made a tree with her kids, it gave me new inspiration to get our apple tree in full fruit again. When she sent me the email with her picture, she added jokingly, "who can name the fruits of spirit?" I thought this video was a great response to her email and too cute not to post for you all to see. With the help of Colin Buchanan's CD "Boom Chicka Boom," all of my kids can name the fruits!

Close encounters with an Emu

Today was one of our first sunny days in weeks. It has been raining buckets here almost every day for the last two weeks. I was starting to wonder if we accidentally moved back to the UK instead of Australia. The only positive is with weather like this, I just had to get myself a new pair of wellies... thank you shopbop.com for your free, 3 day international shipping! I am now the proud owner of a pair of Aubergine Hunters. Nice!

Because it was such a beautiful, sunny day, I decided to take the little girls to the zoo. We grabbed our fleeces, packed a lunch and off we went. Today we decided to check out the children's zoo. Amazingly, in all the times we have been to the zoo, we had not made it to that side yet. The best part of having a pass is we are happy to go for an hour or two. That means, we have not yet fully covered the whole zoo and sometimes only see a few animals before we head home.

Today we started with the elephants. These are my favorite and maybe C's as well. The new baby elephant, Pathi Harn, is lots of fun to watch. Today he was wrestling around with another young elephant Luk Chai. Even W loved it. She was giggling, squealing, and pointing the whole time. Here is a picture of the two young elephants from the zoo website. They are so much fun to watch.


After the elephants, we headed on towards the gorillas. Check out who was the cutest monkey at the zoo today!


Then on to the children's zoo. I am not one for petting zoos and fortunately was able to avoid touching the animals. The girls were content to look at the sheep and goats without touching. Phew!

Another part of the zoo is an area called backyard to bush. It is full of animals from the Australian bush.
We saw the kangaroos, wombats and then the emu!


As we were walking out of the wombat cave we were greeted by the scary looking creature.


He was very interested in us and got a little too close for my comfort. He was taller than me, had huge reptilian looking claws and red beady eyes. Not my favorite creature at the zoo! Oddly enough, the girls loved it! I guess the Wiggles and all those Emu songs are making an impact.

An Apple A Day...

We have been eating a lot of apples around our house lately. M has her first "wiggly" tooth and just can't wait to get it out. She usually starts very determined to get the tooth out and very brave...until the first bite. This face says it all - ouch! I wonder how long until we have a visit from the tooth fairy!



Of course, with each painful bite, we have another discarded apple. Luckily the baby sis is our little garbage disposal. She will eat anything and wants everyone's food. She is more than happy to take M's apples and chow down! Yum Yum!