The Squirt: 26 months

Chicky Boom, it's that time. Time for the monthly updates to slow down and stop because guess what my boy! You are a big two year old and to be fair, this is the time I stopped writing about your brother every month, too.

Since you turned two, you've been full of it to say the least. Everyone who meets you thinks your cute and funny and a special little guy, which you are. Your destructive nature has given way to a desire to wrestle everyone and everything in your path. And, you get so excited about playing and life that ultimately, you puke. I cannot believe that puke hardly grosses me out anymore. I guess that's what happens when in the last 5 weeks or so I've caught more of it in my hands, as a present from you, than I ever thought was possible for a human.

To commemorate your advancement to semi regular blogging I thought that it was apropos to share some of your favorite phrases. Your Great Grandma Bea and Great Grandpa Ted were here last week to visit and I think they each said a thousand times, "Oh, he talks so good!" or "We can understand everything he says!"

Yes, Chicky, you are good.

"Mama" (With a hint of a little french accent thrown in. I'll try to get it on video, it's hilarious.)
"No!"
"No, mama!"
"No mama, my can do it!"
"Mama, let me show you something."
"That's delicious!" or "That's disgusting!"
"Mama, I just saw a brachiosaurus)" (He and his brother "see" dinosaurs every day and this one, and a spineosaurus are Wyatt's favorites.)
"My belly hurts!"
"Mama, my tired."
"My a sleepy hippo."
"Mama, can I peas have a coke?"
"No!  You're coo-coo water!"
"No!  You're stinky poo-poo water!"
"Elliott, give it back!!!"

Observations from Oz

So after a week of being cooped up in an office, I finally had some free time to see a bit more of Adelaide and the surrounding hills.



It is a very pretty city and has quite the combinations of cultures. I am staying in a hotel downtown near the 'china town' district and there is every variant of Asian restaurant within walking distance. This includes Malay, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I have had some great meals here (Greek, German, Italian, Chinese, Portoguese, & Argentine).



I decided to make a listing of some things that I have noticed:



Lots of drive through liquor stores (think jiffy lube - the bays are open)

They call 'red pepper' (bell pepper) 'capsicum'

The indian guy at the shell gas station here was named 'Lovedeep'

A runaway truck ramp is called an 'arrester bed'

It is not carry out, it is 'take away'

Like the English, the Australians like their tea (even in the middle of a footy match)

It is not 'yield', it is 'give way'

I think that I am going to have a burrito tonight from a place called 'Burp' (burpburritos.com)

Kentucky Fried Chicken's popularity at home may be waning at home, but it is HUGE here - very strange

Burger King is called 'Hungry Jacks'

They have a $2 coin, but it is tiny.

TV is awful here....choices are news, bad sitcoms, bad sports (watching netball now), or bad racing

I have seen (in the 30 mins total that I have watched tv) snippets of the following three shows:

- Golden Girls

- The Dukes of Hazzard

- The Three Stooges

1986 is calling and wants is shows back.



Enjoy some shots from my trip to see Port Adelaide get smoked by St. Kilda.

October Fest!

What better what to cap off a trip to a wildlife preserve than to go to the oldest German settlement in Germany?

Hello Hahndorf. Love the Kranski with sauerkraut and german potato salad.


Weiner! Winner!

Australian Petting Zoo

When you go to a petting zoo in the states, you are likely to see sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, etc.

When you go to on in Australia, you get to feed Kangaroos (roos = big ones), Wallabies (medium ones), and Potoroos (mini ones) as well as exotic birds and Koalas (don't call me bear).

Totally extraordinary experience. 8 of us drove out and brave the soaking rain to walk with these guys. We also saw Dingoes (look like wolves) as well as Tasmanian Devils, Emus, Wombats, snakes, skinks, monitors, etc.

See below.

(Ross uploaded the pictures but I'll add some context)

On his Saturday, our Friday, Ross got to be a tourist in Australia and headed out with some folks he works with to a "petting zoo". This however, was unlike any petting zoo I've ever seen - unless you count wallabies as deer?

He got to feed a kangaroo/wallaby, pet a koala (not a bear!) and took some video for the boys of a Tasmanian Devil running around.

He's uploaded a bunch of stuff on flickr if you're intersted....click HERE.
(I've made him his own little set of photos...Rozz in OZ)

As good as they can be

It's been mentioned, but Ross is in Adelaide, Australia.  He's been gone 6 days and has another week to go.  There are a lot of emotions and feelings (and some passive aggressive anger) associated with such a long time away.  It's deserving of it's own blog post, but it's one that I'll never write - too personal and not necessary for the internets.  I realize that there are men and women who spend much more time away from their families for work, military, and a lot of other stuff, but for us, this has been hard.

To be honest though, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.  The boys and I spend so much time, just the three off us, anyway that even though our dad is gone and we miss him, it's really not that big of a difference from the norm.  It just means that when the Chick wakes up in the night, I'm the one that has to get up with him.  And, lucky for us, we've got grandma's and grandpa's picking up the slack, taking good care of us, and feeding us dinner.

That being said though, these boys of mine have been so good.  They miss ther dad terribly and Wyatt keeps asking why he's still at work, but were getting up and doing our thing each day.  Elliott and I have a deal that if he's good for the two weeks his dad is gone he gets a bike - a real bike that has training wheels and requires a helmet.  Yes, it's bribery but it's done wonders for his general outlook on life (and the Chicks because by default, he's going to get a bike, too).  There have been a few rough patches and meltdowns but I am truly amazed at how good these little guys can be.  They try so hard to be nice to each other, nice to me, nice to the random guy digging in the dirt while walking to swimming lessons.  They behave when I work in the yard and mow the lawn.  They sit down and eat dinner like civilized little boys.  They are taking good care of their mama and good care of each other.

It looks like most definitely, there are awesome bikes, cool helmets, and a lot more good stuff in their future.