Play time the backyard

As I'm sure I've said before, one of the great things about this house we're renting is the backyard. It is big enough hold a big trampoline for the boys and a swing set and still have room to run around. This morning we were out in the backyard having a play and I took a few photos.

The boys actually sat still for long enough to get a shot of the three of them with Meeks

Sam and Lucas, were quite unsure on the trampoline at first, but are getting better at it. They are very cute when they're jumping around. Lucas even did a forward roll on there this morning for the first time without assistance. He likes to jump up and land on his bottom. Sam likes to jump around pulling his legs up under himself.

Mitch tends to go all out on the stunts. He's very good at various types of somersaults which is fine except he sometimes doesn't think about where he is going to land and ends up barrelling into his brothers.

In a total aside, tonight I'm working and we have a major delivery at work. The computer system that I have been working on and supporting for 13 out of the last 14 years is finally being replaced by a new system. This is the culmination of the work I have been doing since September 2007. Yes I have been working to effectively work myself out of a job for the last 4 years - in fact it was probably the only way they would let me go! What does that mean for me? Well, not that much in the short term, I'll still be supporting the new system for a while in a hands-off "how did the old system work" sort of a way. After that I'll move on to a different project somewhere.

The other bigger news is that the new baby is only a matter of weeks away now. The doctor has said he will deliver on 19th September if the baby hasn't already arrived. Meeks is healthy which is great, but uncomfortable and having trouble sleeping. Not long to go now!

Dad's 70th

Last night we went out for dinner to celebrate Dad's 70th Birthday. It was a nice evening with some amusing conversation as we celebrated the old man reaching this milestone. Here are some shots of the night

This is a shot of Dad talking to James on the phone who is in the UK so couldn't make it to the dinner. Also amusing because Rob's nose is making it's presence felt on the right edge of the frame ... family joke :)

Tickling twins

Meeks captured this video today and I had to share it. They sometimes do the cutest things when no one is watching but as soon as you pull out a camera or something they stop. This time Meeks managed to get some footage of a particularly cute game that we've never seen them play before.

Lucas and Sam playing

Mitch was off having an adventure with Ganny and Grandad today so it was just the small boys at home. So while Meeks was off at the shops we decided to have a play in the back yard. The weather is overcast, but that seems to make for really richly coloured photos which I like. Here are some from the morning.

Adorable!

Ducky park with the boys

I had a rare weekday off work today after working most of the weekend so this morning Meeks and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful winter sunshine and go to Fagan Park (or Ducky Park as it is known in our family). It is always fun in a park to see how far the boys' general coordination has improved. Mitch swings from ropes and other equipment like a monkey, whereas Sam and Lucas are getting to the point where they can climb and hang on to ropes and things - in fact they spend half their lives being told to get down from tables and benches they have climbed onto.

Here are a few of photos from the day on the play equipment:

and a video of Mitch on the flying fox:


Lucas and Sam decided to go and chase the birds

Mitch decided to join in

We also walked down to see the ducks.

No photos of the ducks because Meeks and I spent the whole time trying to contain the little boys excitement which meant keeping them from jumping in the water with the ducks and other scary birds (and eels). Unfortunately, after walking down the big hill we had to walk back up. Obviously we were all going too slowly for Mitch

 Sam was doing okay walking, but Lucas wasn't having a bar of it and Mitch was disappearing into the distance so Meeks decided to carry Lucas, at which point Sam decided he needed to be carried too.

Then there was a bit more playing on the equipment and off home after a fun morning.

Bushwalk

Last week Marion and Tony came up from Victoria so while they were up Meeks and the boys, Marion and Tony and Nana all went for a bushwalk down the end of our street.

Mitch took over the camera at this point:

 

That's watermelon juice on Sam's lip in the image below in case you're concerned :)

Mitch is fascinated by the idea of bush walks. Whenever we drive anywhere past any sort of bush he says, "We could go for a bush walk there". Uncle Mike has promised to take him and cousin Lilly on a long one, one day - Mitch is looking forward to it (hint, hint).

Diorama

A few weeks ago Mitch and Meeks made a diorama of a jungle for Mitch's animals to play in. Here are some photos of the making of and the final result:

Doing crafty things like this is one of Mitch's favourite things, but finding a time and organising it all is really tough - also tough is stopping Lucas and Sam tearing it apart in their quest to play with it. I think this one managed to last a few weeks because it was mostly kept out of their reach :)

Pirate Mitch. Normal Mitch

There was a church fair at the end of our street yesterday and Meeks and Mitch went down to see it. Mitch had his face painted to look like a pirate!

Scary!

When he's not being a pirate he can be a very cute little boy :)

That was just before his fifth birthday after he'd had a hair cut!

Two year old twosome

Yesterday was Lucas and Sam's 2nd birthday, so we braved the rain and visited the zoo. The little boys loved it and Mitch did to although he seemed more concerned about getting to see as many animals as actually looking at them. As a result he rushed us from animal to animal until we told him to slow down a bit. Here are some shots from the day

It rained from time to time, but we were able to get undercover for most of the heavy bits. We rode the sky car thing up from the bottom of the zoo and the boys loved looking at the animals from up above. On the way home three exhausted boys slept in the car.

Last night after dinner Meeks made a yummy cake which we all enjoyed!

Lucas and Sam really love cake!