September Random Highlights

 Caleb as 006 Agent Super Spy and Batman Jackson.

The boys have settled very nicely into their school and after school activites.  Come December it will be hard to leave their classmates and teachers. Last Friday they attended a Halloween Costume Dance (yes, 1 month earlier than the real date) at their primary school.  Australians don't really celebrate Halloween, so plenty of people asked us questions of what it is like in Canada and if it is like what they see on American TV.  Note:  We've never been to costume party as good as ones you see in the movies.  Caleb and Jackson also participated in a 6 week circus school after school program on Thursdays.  Jackson loved playing with the diablo and Caleb the hula hoop. They also juggled scarves, balanced plates and did acrobatics.

Harvey Senior High School Showcase.  A Friday night full of talent, games, home-made movies, and displays.  Above is the beat drumming class drumming to their own song - very good.  Most subject areas had static displays of what was happening in the classroom.  The evening also coincided with a talent show - singing, juggling, monologues, fashion show, solos, and bands.  Other highlights included a Minute to Win It game show type games, like balancing a chocolate biscuit on your forehead and seeing if you can get it to your mouth without the use of your hands.  One game Mr. Walker mastered in 27 seconds was balancing 6 dice on a popsicle stick while holding it in his mouth!

Something that Collin is very proud of... Lemon Meringue Pie!  Made from scratch with lemons picked from the school tree and eggs from our three chickens.  (Looks like somebody already had a sample:0)

Yarloop Steamworks.  Just up the road from Harvey is the small village of Yarloop.  There they have a heritage museum with about 15 buildings holding all sorts of saw mills, steam trains, engine rooms of days gone by.  Only once a month they hold a working steam day and get many types of boilers and steam engines up and running for demonstration.  We went with the Bonner family and they had never been, even though they lived in the area for many years - sometimes it takes an invite from an outsider to see what's in your own backyard! 

Open Day at the Rec Centre.                             WA State Police visit was a highlight.           Good boys ride in the front seat!       

Collin also played his first game of squash during the Rec Centre's Birthday celebrations - man oh man was he sore the next day.

         

Kangaroo stew, kangaroo kebabs, and damper bread for NAIDOC week cook up.  All dishes were delicious!  Sorry for the internet stock photos - Mr. Walker forgot his camera at home.  What is NAIDOC? NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.  Celebrations are held around Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week 2011 was held during July holidays so our school moved it to Week 9 of Term 3. There was also Nyoongar language classes and a hike on the Bibbulman Track for the aboriginal students attending Harvey SHS and their families. 

Ferguson Valley

Gnomesville, Western Australia.  Only 50 km away from Harvey and we just visited it for the first time this past weekend!  A few years back some bloke placed a garden gnome at a roundabout many kilometres away from anything.  It grew from that lonely soul to a metropolis of 1000s of gnomes of various sizes, dimensions, colours, homemade, store bought, snow-white and the 7 dwarfs, killer gnomes, kissing gnomes, geocache gnomes, x-rated gnomes, and whatever the imagination of the place-layer holds.  We laughed and laughed at this tacky, yet feel good destination.

 Wow!  Look at the gnomes in Gnomesville.                                    Is it litter or art?  You decide.

Caleb, "Look up, look way up and I'll call Rusty". 

(A quote from the CBC archives.)

 

About 10 minute drive away from Gnomesville is the Wellington Forest Discovery Centre.  This is a part of the Wellington National Park, a jarrah forest ecosystem between the coastal plain and the wheatbelt.  Jarrah is a fast growing eucalyptus tree with an outer layer of stringy bark and a red hardwood core.  It is a very desirable wood for furniture makers and hardwood timber flooring. Jarrah can withstand bush fires and is quite a unique adaptation to the dry Mediterranean climate - it has deep sinker roots and slender leaves to stop transpiring water.  The forest is home to numerous rare marsupial mammals, snakes, reptiles and birds.

We keep telling our kids that fallen logs are home to venomous snakes, but they keep on climbing.
(One bite will learn 'em)

Other places we visited in and around the Ferguson Valley was the Crooked Brook Forest with its awesome and informative walk trail and then onto Boyonup to meet with some exchange teachers and gracious host families.  We ate a delicious meal in a small country hall with large country roasts and hospitality.

Just a typical Aussie farm in  Boyonup - trampoline for the kids and an emu for the chooks (chickens).

Another thing that Aussies got it going on - kids play areas at pubs and breweries.

Ferguson Valley was a scenic drive with a host of wineries, breweries, and galleries - some of the best of rural WA.  So close that it would be worth another visit.

Let's hear it for the boys....

 Some of the reasons we love travelling and exploring around as a family is the reactions and excitement we get to see from the boys as they discover new and cool things.  From snorkelling the coral reefs and hiking in beautiful gorges to making "stew" (consisting of mud, water, straw and a few bugs for extra flavour) outside with neighbourhood friends and learning to read, we are continually amazed and entertained as Caleb and Jackson grow and learn.  For that reason, we thought we would share with you pictures of and art work created by our little men.  Enjoy!

Jackson getting ready for some flower picking

Caleb loves math and won Mathlete of the week for his work on 'Mathletics'

In Australia, Father's Day is in September, so last Sunday the boys excitedly hid their gifts they made at school and sent Collin on a treasure hunt.

Fruit appetizers in bed, followed by Eggs Benedict (at the table of course!)

Jackson's picture for Collin

Caleb made a trophy for Collin -Best Lego Maker

A trek through the woods and a little geocaching at 
Dingo's Knob to end the day

                                 Skate night at the Rec Centre..with a pirate theme of course!

Crazy Hair Day at school

(Did not spray his eyes...honest!)

Caleb's picture of him and Uncle Clint on the quad

Jackson's self-portrait

Jackson singing one of the many songs he has learnt at school and shared with us.



Caleb reading....well, actually reciting as it is a super easy book and he has memorized it...but he does read harder books and reads every day.