The elusive present...

If you look closely at the image above, you will see a large red present near the back. So large in fact two types of paper have been used to wrap it. What can it be? Hints have been dropped, but which hints are "honest", and which are "decoys"? We're pretty sure it's not a pet, as there's no "air-holes"...even if Daddy keeps saying he can hear meowing...!?! Turtle thinks he "knows what it is" (this said in a high-pitched sing-songy voice). Confoundingly there's another smaller, but still pretty big, present on the other side of the tree. This "kinda destroys" Turtle's theory. We shall just have to wait and see "what can possibly be in that box". And as we are unable to take the "elusive present" to New Zealand for Christmas, we are having a "pre-Christmas Christmas" this Saturday morning. Which means only "two sleeps" to go! 

Christmas is coming...

...and the boys and counting down the days. We have "festooned" the apartment with the meagre decorations we have on hand (the rest being in storage in NZ). Mu took it upon himself to create decorations for each room, right down to and including the toothbrush holder in his bathroom. And this afternoon Turtle announced that he's so excited he's having trouble concentrating at school!?! Crikey and there's still 19 sleeps to go...

Latest offerings...

A "revised" boat drawing, complete with fishing net, and...

...an iPhoto book about a family of mice who live in a forest.

OMSI Camp...

Bright and early Tuesday morning, equipped with enough gear for a polar expedition, the boys departed for OMSI Camp. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology we received regular updates and photos via the teacher's iPhone. Come Friday afternoon two very tired, rather damp, and somewhat grubby boys arrived home, complete with enough sand to fill a bath tub. Aside from the "rustic" cabins, and somewhat "primitive facilities", both boys appear to have enjoyed themselves. And really, who wouldn't? Especially when you get to eat "french toast with peanut butter and jam" for lunch, and lie on your back "cracking open Oreo's to get to the cream, so you know what it's like for an otter to crack open a shell to get to the soft stuff".

Image from here.

Picasso & Oregon...

A little bit of Picasso inspired artwork, and an another map of Oregon, from Turtle.

A mouse called...

...Apple Tree. Why he has been given this name I'm not sure. He likes to spend his days exploring, but come nightfall you'll find him tucked up in Mu's bed all snug and sound.

A mouse in progress...

Mu's sock mouse is slowly coming together....tomorrow the nose, whiskers, feet and tail will be attached.

Fall festival...

The boy's school held their annual Fall Festival this afternoon. Organised by the elementary students to help raise money for OMSI camp, the festival was a roaring success. We headed along with our offering of brownies for the bake sale...

...and helped set up. There were lots of fun activities on offer including...

...scarecrow making, face painting, pumpkin painting, bat making, tee shirt printing, and pine cone crafts to name a few.

After a fun afternoon we returned home with two slightly manic looking pinecone birds, one painted pumpkin, a pinecone and pompom hamster, plus a pinecone hedgehog. (Note: the hedgehog wasn't available for photographs according to it's 'agent').

Fifth grade...

A fairly impressive Leaf poster (click to enlarge), along with trinomials and fractions....

A Lego street car...

...plus station, complete with pet monkey (visible near right), built from the remains of a 'destroyed' lego aeroplane.

A new subway map...

Summer holidays snapshot...

Here's a quick snapshot of some of the fun things we got up to during the summer hols.

We read an awful lot of books, and visited the pool quite.a.few.times...

...tried out the Canby car ferry, and took in a few 3D movies...

 ...drew heaps and heaps, and walked to the park, inspecting things along the way... 

...went to the beach, and ate yummy pastries... 

...walked here and there, and climbed a giant sandhill... 

...went to the coast with Grandma, Granddad, N and K, and tried out our funky school sunglasses... 

 ...visited Oaks Amusement Park, and rode just about all the rides...

...zipped down a giant slide, and did a spot of fruit picking on Sauvie Island.

A trip to spain...

Albeit a bit later than planned, here's a whistle-stop of our recent trip. First stop the Costa Brava, and...

...our villa, complete with bougainvillea and swimming pool. Our days were spent swimming, lying in the sun, reading, lying in the sun, swimming, and...

...exploring the region's incredibly ancient villages and towns...

The very pretty Besalu even had an impressive miniatures museum. After a wonderful week exploring, and doing lots of nothing-much-at-all, it was time to drive to...

...Barcelona, where we successfully negotiated the downtown traffic and made it to our fab hotel with only one wrong turn! A new town meant copious map-reading for Mu, and copious photographing for Turtle.

We took a bus tour of the city (in the scorching heat), and viewed the Sagrada Familia complete with cranes...

...strolled Park Guell (in increasingly searing heat)...

...we spent hours exploring the narrow streets, and viewed art installations...

...discovered many a shop with wonderfully intricate interiors, and found (according to the boys) the world's largest meringues...

...we viewed Gaudi's buildings, discovered ornate entrances...

...embraced the concept of siestas and tapas, and...

...the boys waited patiently while we shopped. We visited the..

...L'aquarium Barcelona, complete with an underwater walk-way and impressive hands-on displays. Then before we knew it... 

...it was time to say adiós and head back to Portland.

For more photos hop over here or here.

Personalised metro maps...

Travelling with 'map-mad boys' comes in very handy. Less than 24 hours after arriving in Paris we were being 'guided' to each 'destination' by the boys and their 'destination-specific' maps. Initially, the maps were rather basic (see above), but it wasn't long before they became more complex (see below)...

...before morphing into full-blown concertinaed versions, with logos! Note the smiley face on the 'stylised' Eiffel Tower.

A trip to Paris...

First stop Chicago, where we used up the four hour layover riding the subway.

Next stop, Paris! While there we explored the Jardins du Palais Royal...

...rode the (uber-efficient) metro...

...Turtle photographed everything in site & Mu developed a taste for limonade...

...we visited the Arc de Triomphe & ate macaroons from Laudree...

...viewed the Louvre & the Mona Lisa, & took time out in the Jardin des Tuileries... 

...and we scaled the Eiffel Tower (in the rain), before...

...collapsing into bed with a dolphin, Cushie, and a bear wearing headphones and an iPod.

More photos here.