One great drawing...

When I asked Mu if I could have it he said "nah you can throw it out" - !?!?

Weekend adventures...

Sometimes nothing beats a four day weekend! Turtle & Mu had Friday and Monday off school, which in turn meant lots of sleep-ins and lazy mornings. Perfect really. In between lazy starts we did have a few adventures. There was a trip to OMSI to see the Space exhibition. Not being an 'outer space' type, it was none-the-less fascinating. And with loads of interactive displays the boys thought it was brilliant!

We also visited Portland's very impressive Chinese Garden - a small oasis of calm in the middle of the city. And in between we made scones, went ice-skating, watched DVDs, hiked the arboretum, visited the library, 'jumped' from block to block around the neighbourhood, and took time to smell the blossoms!

The return of Coco...

Turtle and Mu's class hamster has been MIA for over a week. Renowned as "escape artists" hamsters immediately took a tumble on Turtle's small-furry-pet-desirability scale (SFPD). Where had Coco gone? Had she'd taken up with the "wild" squirrels, was she hiding in the walls, or had she simply packed her bags and left. And as each day passed hope of a safe and happy return faded. But miracle upon miracles this morning Coco had returned to the cosy environs of her cage. Woohoo! There was much celebrating and excitement! As a result of Coco's safe return, it is hoped that hamsters-as-pets recover on Turtle's SFPD scale bringing an end to his current desire for a "too close to a rat in appearance for Mummy" gerbil.

In other news - though not nearly as exciting as "the return of Coco" - R and I had a great trip to Palm Springs. Did you know they have 120 golf courses there? Who knew?! TED 2010 was brilliant in so many ways. I've posted my highlights here. Then R left yesterday for four weeks in NZ, so once again we are three. And since Portland is bathed in early spring sunshine I'm off to catch some of it before it disappears.

Image from istock photo.

The penguins will be getting sweaty!

I'm not sure if you saw my post here. The above comment came from Turtle when we were watching HOME by yann arthus-bertrand. It's such an incredible movie filled with stunning images that make you really gape at the wonder of the earth! You can watch it here. Definitely worth a viewing - with an interesting, at times scary commentary on the state of the planet.

We've been busy in the lead up to TED. We had an amazing weekend at Oceanside in a very cool 'prefab' house. It was kind of wet though (see above image). R has been frantic with work and will be for a while yet. I'm madly organising the boys, the childminders, the house, myself and everything else for TED. Luckily we have two great gals who will be minding the boys while we're being inspired in Palm Springs. Oh and I had my six monthly check-up and everything is super-duper fine! Yay!!

Right, I'm off to try my new winter challenge shortly! I will tell you more later :)