James and Lachie go Swimming

James has taken over from me when it comes to swimming duties - Lachie had a ball. Here are some pics.

Stand back!! I'm yet to see a child do this jump the same way that Lachie does - always gives the other parents a laugh.

Brought struggling into the Web 3.0 age

Well here we are, it’s April 2009, I work in the IT industry and I am, as I write this, delving into social networking for the first time via this blog.

Hazzah!  I hear you cry, welcome to ‘Today’ old man! 

However I’m not so sure this is a celebratory moment.  I’ve been resisting this kind of involvement, why?  Mainly because I don’t have time, or my interest level is not high enough, or I just don’t see why other people would be that interested in what I am doing in order for me to write about it. (probably a combination of all of the above)

On the flip side my wife see's a contrary point of view.

As all other halves are aware, the best remedy in this case is to offer token contributions in an effort to waylay any nagging on the issue later. 

Consider my contribution made ;)

International Kite Festival - Semaphore

Today we went to Semaphore and spent the day with Wayne, Lauren and Riley. It was a nice day out and Lachie had a great time as usual, even if he was REALLY tired by the end of the day. The kites were amazing and some were quite expensive - some US$6000. Lachie played in the playground, ate just about all of the 14 pieces of calamari we had for lunch and a couple of chips, played on the beach with James and had an icecream. He was exhausted by the end of the day and was Mr Crankypants tonight but that happens when you have had only 20 minutes sleep all day.

Earth Hour 2009

We did our little bit for Earth Hour tonight http://www.earthhour.org/about/ All the lights went out at 8.30pm and we used torch and candlelight instead. Lachie read with both of us and used a torch to help us read the pages, he also delighted in the shadows and James' dodgy attempts at shadow puppets. He went to bed with his horse torch (a gift from Claire, Stuart and Emily) and we were blessed with the sound of horse neighing over the monitor until he fell asleep.

25 March 2009 - World's Biggest Playgroup Day at National Rail Museum

Yesterday Lachie, Cass and I went to the National Rail Museum at Port Adelaide for National Playgroup Week http://www.playgroupaustralia.com.au/sa/go/news/national-playgroup-week-playgroup--national-railway-museum and the World's Biggest Playgroup Day. When we got there it was chaos. We had to park a few streets away and there were prams everywhere. The line for the free train ride went on and on. Lachie had a ball looking at all the large trains new and old and sitting in the carriages.



















We looked at a model railway as part of a scale model of Port Adelaide and got to press the buttons of a train crossing signal. Once Lachie had finished with this, it was time for what he had wanted all along. A ride on the train. Though the line was long, he was content to wait, which was a pleasant surprise. The train ride, though short, was his highlight - he loved it and enjoyed it more than he had when we had been previously (probably because he is almost a year older now).

This was how Lachie reacted when the train left the station.

After the ride we went to the Thomas the Tank Engine shop and Lachie got a new wooden Toby train for his collection and a Thomas the Tank Engine balloon. By the time we left it was nearly time for lunch so we popped over to James' work and had lunch with him at a nearby park where there was a playground and Lachie ran himself ragged. All in all it was great day. I love these moments when you see the sheer joy in your child's eyes and it doesn't have to be something big or expensive, all that doesn't matter to them.