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Piet's "grote bed"
Piet got an adult bed to replace his cot, which has been handed down to Emma. One day, we hope he will play in his room when he wakes up in the morning - typically between 5 and 6 am. For now, he is pleased and proud to have his
"grote bed" (big bed). During the day, he and his sister have started
playing more often in his room. In the living room,
Emma has discovered the
toy basket to play with.
Worldcup
For the first time, dad experienced being in the Australian time zone during a major football tournament. Holland's first two matches were at the benign hour of 21.30 pm, but the remaining five were at 4.30 am. Piet managed to wake twice around an important moment in the game: just after Van Bronkhorst's magnificent goal against Uruguay and just before Robben's golden chance in the
final. Although he tolerates watching football from his father's lap, he strongly prefers the worldcup advertisments featuring various safari animals.
Popular with both Emma and Piet is eating grated Parmesan cheese off the table: delicious. Emma likes watching the microwave going round and hence wants her parents to heat something up. The neighbours across the road came over - as always: by car - for a cup of tea and a play in the sandpit. Mum baked some pastries for a party, but the kids fell asleep in the car before we even got there.
Walk in the bush
On Sunday we went for a walk in Warrandyte State Park. We followed the Jumping Creek Nature Trail with
numbered posts and made a detour to Blue Tongue Bend for a picnic. Piet happily walked stretches
himself. When sitting in the rucksack, he is quite chatty and comments on the things around him. Among others, he spotted five girafs, three elephants and one naughty dinosaurus who bit him in the neck... During the picnic, we wandered off into the
bush, where we looked at
branches on the ground and a
camera.
Trip to the snow
As Australia has a number of ski slopes, we tried a trip to the snow with the kids. The nearest slopes are at
Lake Mountain and are only 100 km away. It is a beautiful drive through a region that heavilly burned during the February 2009 bushfires, passing the stunning
Black Spur forest.
The weather was poor with a drizzle of rain on the mountain, so we stuck to the little toboggan run near the car park. Piet was keenest on the toboggan sled. Emma joined him for a few runs, but after she started looking cold, she was happy to walk around on the snow to allow Piet a few more runs. After about an hour we were all back in the car eating peanut butter sandwiches before a little snooze.
Miniature railway
On Sunday, we
left home to go to the Diamond Valley Miniature Railway. Note in the background the blossoming
wattle tree, Australia's national symbol. They are common in our neighbourhood.
Nowadays, Piet starts most walks on his balance bike. He may bike along for five minutes or half an hour and then switch to the pram. Emma is still happy in the pram and will point out birds, often Australian magpies, to her parents. We bought her a new winter coat, which also keeps her warm during her naps in the pram. At the miniature railway, Piet was initially glued to the fence, watching a handful of trains go by in great frequency, without any desire to be part of the action. In the end, he did ask to go onto the train after all, but wasn't entirely happy being on it. However, after getting off at the train station, he seemed to retain font memories of the ride.
Back home, Piet and Emma splashed around during their eveing bath, which they enjoy taking together.
Oma Leonie arrives
On Monday, oma arrived for another short stay. She was quickly taken up by the kids: being
read a book by Emma, under supervision of
mum, or showing Emma how to build with the
blocks on the cart. On Thursday, we had a trip to the
Werribee zoo.
First we walked through some parts of the zoo and saw lions close to the
fence. Next was a ride on the bus through the safari park with Piet commentating all its moves - 'we're going, we're going', 'going up', 'going down', until he was
captivated by the giraffes with their long legs and long necks.
The camels got some brief attention, but the digger, truck and bobcat in the adjacent field were even more exciting.
