Emma en Piet - februari 2011

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The Melbourne zoo
One of our christmas presents was a one year family ticket for the zoos in and around Melbourne. The first time we used it, was on a visit to the Melbourne zoo on Tuesday 1st Feb. We wandered around as usual. Emma was interested in the monkeys and baby elephants. Piet was equally interested, but wasn't captured on the camera. We had an icecream, which Piet managed to eat with less mess than Emma. On the way back home, we had to stop in traffic and got hit by a car behind us. The kids in the back of the car woke up, but went back to sleep after a few minutes. We drove home, but as the chassis had been bent on impact, the car was a write-off. For the weekend away, we had to rely on our Volvo. We transferred the child seats and got a tow bar back onto it and it was ready to tow our 'new' camper trailer to the Wilson's prom national park on Friday.

Camping trip
The camper trailer had been used by Sarah's family in the second half of the 1980s and had been in caring storage ever since. It was checked during our trip to Bendoc and we took it home to Melbourne. It had already been used during our trip to Balnarring (see previous month), but that was in a backyard and did not really 'count'. This time, the camping was real. The campsite Tidal River is located in the national park Wilson's Prom. Rain had been predicted for the weekend, but most of it fell in Melbourne. This delayed our friends who set off a few hours after us, as they ran into flooded highways. The rain also flooded the house of the third family that had intended to camp with us, but obviously had to cancel.

We started the Saturday with unwrapping Piet's presents, as it was his third birthday. He had been looking forward to his birthday for days and had even spotted his cake the day before during packing. At least he correctly identified it as Thomas (the tank engine), so mum's efforts weren't in vain. But we couldn't have cake for breakfast, despite his requests, so we went for a walk on the beach nearby. We jumped around, sat on dad's arm, had a chat, played on the rocks and in the water and finally got digging.

Then it was time for cake! We jointly blew out the candles, had our piece and ate it, and started playing with Piet's presents. The batting set worked well. Piet could hit the ball, contemplate his next move, convince Emma to collect the ball and put it back on the set, and accept that Emma finally could have her turn as well.

Piet's first 'real' bike
His main present was a real bike with pedals - just like mum and dad. As he had been comfortably taking his balance bike on walks since July, dad decided not to put on the training wheels. This meant he would spend a fair part of the camping weekend helping Piet with his bike, which is still a bit on the large side. Fortunately, the campsite was much flatter than our backyard. After a day of practice, dad would still need to help Piet onto his bike, but after a little push he would ride off himself and confidently cycle in straight lines as long as dad was not too far off. Occasionally he would manage a turn and then come back from the other end of the road.

The next day we woke up in a drizzle. Fortunately, one of Piet's presents was an Australian animal puzzle, which allowed us to kill the first hour of the day. The weather was fine the rest of the day, bar the odd shower, and we went for a walk along the tidal river nearby. Near a rock formation that resembles the mouth of a whale, the kids had a great time throwing mud into the water.

Piet's letter to opa
One day, after a walk with mum and Emma, he wrote this letter to his grandparents.

Mum: Well, we need to find more blackberry bushes.

Eventually one street away from home on Mays Road, Piet says: 'There is one'. He is in fact correct and mum is very impressed that he spotted it. But it and the subsequent bush are very small and don't have berries. Shortly after the last small blackberry plant: