A Photographer in Our Midst

Yesterday I stumbled upon Coen setting up and taking some shots with his "camera."
I'm not sure what exactly his subject is, but he took great care in the arrangement and put a lot of effort into the photo shoot.

It may be about time to get the boy a real camera, and then the grown ups can have the tripod back!

Jen

A Horrifying Week

It's difficult to know what to write about the devastating fires that claimed so many lives, homes and communities right on our doorstep. This wasn't something we could watch, detached on the news. We've felt the fear as we waited for news of my brother and his family, who fought the fire storm on their property at St Andrews and saved their lives, home and animals. The awful wait we had must be nothing compared to the terror they have survived. The fires took the lives of friends and relatives of our friends and relatives. Our friends have lost their homes and all their worldly possessions.

As the weekend unfolded, we took photographs. Looking at them again reminds me of just how close to home this disaster has occurred. The choppers flew low over our backyard as they went between water and fire. They used a local school oval as their air base. Fire crews constantly passed through town, and smoke was everywhere.

On Sunday we took Coen to see the helicopters. We had intended to go in, have a look, take a couple of photos and keep out of the way. While we were looking with a couple of other families and a handful of boarders, one of the pilots offered to show us the choppers, in particular the big orange tanker Delilah.

These are some of the photos that Tim and Beck took from Doreen at dusk.

The kindness, courage and selflessness I have seen has amazed me, the grief and loss have broken my heart, every new story of survival and loss brings me to tears, as I struggle to comprehend that this happened on our doorstep, to people we know and love.

Jen

Hidden Valley Pool and Kite Flying

To get through the Victorian Heat Wave we took some respite at the Hidden Valley Pool. (Not on the 40 degree + day's as that's just too hot to be outside)

Coen had great fun doing "little jumps" into the pool.

Coen impressed with his throwing arm

And Today, as it was a little cooler and there was a nice wind outside, Coen was able to take his Kite outside.

He got it quite some distance up there

Coen had a ball controlling the kite. Do you think he would let anyone else touch the line? I don't think so!

Perfect technique.

Face Painting

After trawling the internet looking for inspiration to make something, I rummaged through my WIPs and found a little doll that I made years and years ago, one of the first. Last year I found her again and started fixing her up. She had a horrible primative face and a circle of hair tacked onto her head. So I had already ripped off her hair, turned her around and given her hair implants to cover up her old face. But then she got shuffled back to the bottom of the pile.

In a flash of motivation I decided to paint her face. It's been a long time since I've made a doll. Over a year at least. I'd forgotten how fun it is to paint up their faces and see their personality emerge. Here she is with her new face.

She's only 28cm tall, and her hair is twice as big as she is. And now she has a cheeky smile and a bit of life. Now I must get some clothes on her. And some shoes. And a name.

Trams and Buses

This afternoon we headed out to Bylands for a look at the Tram Museum. They were having an open day so entry was $2 per adult, rather than the usual $22 for a family. Coen has a great love of all modes of transportation, however he has a special place in his heart for those on rails! The first thing we did when we arrived was jump on a tram for a quick ride.

This is the tram we rode. And the tram driver John, who has been driving trams since 1954! He told us how he had driven trams during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics!

We hadn't been there very long when we spotted a familiar car pulling up! Mum and Ed had brought Nathan and Shailea for a look as well.

We had a proper tram ride on a very full tram!

Then we had a look at all the old trams.

Some of them are really beautiful. I love the ones with wooden interiors.

Mum and Shailea sat in a very lady-like fashion on this tram!

Coen had a climb on the scrubber tram.


And the old tram.

This is what happens when you ask Coen to look at the camera and smile!


They have the old electricity poles. I think they're really pretty!

In the museum shed there are lots of old cable cars and some buses. Coen loved driving this bus. I think it may have been because his feet reached the floor.

The kids had lots of fun running around and climing on all the displays.

I had lots of fun reading all the little signs on the trams.

His conversation skills mustn't be up to scratch.

I don't know what this one was selling. All the others on this tram were ads.

This was written on the ceiling, so you have to look straight up to read it. I suppose there wasn't anywhere else to put a sign. I never found out what (who?) the 'Dummy' was.

Jen

A Park at the end of Our Street & Coen is a Pizza Chef

We live in a very short street. And at the end of our street there is a park! It's got all the usual playground equipment and is all under a huge shade structure. Coen loves it.

We wandered down there on Thursday.

Coen picked me some beautiful dandylions.

And literally ran circles aroud me!

When we got home we Coen made pizza for dinner. Now Coen is very experienced in the art of pizza making.

He can list the ingredients for the dough, and sifts, mixes and kneads with great enthusiasm!

And gets flour on his nose, too cute!

He has a pretty specific list of toppings he likes on his pizza too. Ham, salami, mushrooms olives and cheese. He asked to put soms sushi on too, but I'm pretty sure he was joking.

The end result! He gets to eat his own pizza, while Darron and I have to share the big one that I made.

Jen