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 :)

It's all been about...

...this! Yes the release of the Apple iPad (not so sure about the name) has created HUGE excitement in our house. Discussions have centered around the features, the release date, the capability, the cost, pocket money, saving time frames, and so on. All the poor adults can do is mop their brows, sigh and thank Steve Jobs that it won't be released until June (meaning trips to the Apple store to 'try' the demo models can be put of for a few months). Conversely the obsession with The Sound of Music continues...unabated....

Image from Apple.

Our holidays...

We decorated our Portland apartment and found ourselves a tree. Presents were wrapped and ready for packing to take home. Before we left for the airport we each opened one as a wee pre-Christmas treat. Then we were off..

..first stop - a few hours in San Francisco before..

..the long haul to Auckland.

From Auckland to Wellington, where the wind was reliably blowing, and the view was as beautiful as ever.

It felt wonderful to be back in New Zealand where the pohutukawa were blooming. Christmas was spent with family in Kapiti.

We spent time at the beach, and caught up with friends before heading to..

..the Hawkes Bay for New Year. Friends visited and family stayed, and we remembered how much we loved this part of NZ.

Along the the way we visited cousins, rode their farm bike, and then all to soon it was time to drive south..

..to Kapiti. We stayed with D and D, where we relaxed and..

..Turtle helped grandma mow the paddocks. Then it was time to start packing for 'home'.

On our way 'home' we stopped in Rarotonga for a few days.

We swam and kayaked, marvelled at the stunning flowers, drank 'fancy mocktails', and..

..made coconut boats. And all too soon it was time to pack our bags (again) and head 'home'. With eight (!!) hours in LA we headed to Santa Monica to kill some time. And of course while there we visited..

..the Apple Store. And before we knew it we were back in Portland which felt comfortably familiar. A week after arriving it was..

..Turtle & Mu's 10th Birthday! We celebrated with a homemade pavlova which was a huge success. And R and I felt awestruck and proud of these two wonderful, crazy, creative boys in our lives.

And now we have been 'home' for just on two weeks. The boys have settled into school, and are learning (with a reasonable amount of success) to ice-skate! I am still waiting for snow - we missed Portland's one dusting - but there is always hope. R has been away for work once already, and our holiday feels like it was ages ago. Now R and I are organising ourselves for TED 2010 early next month, and we are busy planning our next family adventure.

I have been told...

I was handed this note by Mu this evening! So I have promised to post tomorrow on our latest adventures. Until then...

ps: I've just noticed both poor animals have sad faces!

A Christmas plea...

With all the craziness and chaos at this time of year, it's easy to lose sight of what Christmas is really about. So my Christmas plea to all is to take time to make a difference in someone's life. Who in your community could you help, an elderly neighbour, the homeless guy who stands on the corner, a friend in need? Could you make a batch of soup, volunteer at a shelter, invite someone who is alone to share a meal? As Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in the world".

Image from follow studio.

Fourteen sleeps to go...

Goodness - only 14! Or as Turtle pointed out "only 13 for us" as we lose a day flying home. We have presents under the tree (a first as I usually wrap them on Christmas Eve), snow is forecast for the weekend, and R will be home on Sunday. So as the man in the song says It's beginning to feel like Christmas...

And today's high...

...will be around 30. That's Fahrenheit folks! Which is roughly around zero. Referring to it as a high seems a tad contradictory in my books, but perhaps that's why the US uses Fahrenheit. A high of 30 sounds far more appealing than a high of zero. I now also appreciate and understand why people wear ear-muffs.

Image from here.

Saint Nick...

Hmmm... I can't work out whether Turtle & Mu do still really believe in Father Christmas, or whether they're stringing us along, or whether deep down they know he's not real, but like the idea of believing. I mean what's not to like about someone who pops up every December bearing presents. Given that the boys have worked out that Father C has a hangar full of jumbo jets flown by remote controlled robots, and that the elves no longer make the toys (apparently they're all ordered online!), I'm fairly certain they know he's not real, real. So then I suppose the next question is at what age does "Father C" stop giving gifts? Christmas - fun, festive, and fraught with "issues".

It's beginning to feel like Christmas...

Portland is bedecked in twinkling fairy lights, the Made in Oregon sign is lit, and their is a red light on the deer's nose, Christmas trees are springing up in the parks, and carols are playing non-stop! Now we just need some snow.

A Portland Thanksgiving...

...with a fire truck! The boys and I had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at A and R's last night. There were dogs, people and children everywhere, and all was going swimmingly until the chimney stopped working, and smoke started to fill the house setting the fire alarm off. Well between the smoke, noise, alarm, and so on no one heard the phone ring. So the fire department, not getting a response, opted to send a fire truck with lights flashing. Hugely entertaining for the neighbours and a unique way to get Christmas lights. Obligingly the entire fire crew tumbled out and posed happily for photos. Hilarious!

Weekend adventures...

We had a wonderful weekend filled with fun. Friday the boys tried out the local pool and the "cool" water slide. It was high, long and fast! On Saturday we made our second (and successful) trip to the Pearson Air Museum. The highlight was the virtual flight simulator. Turtle crashed a few planes then proudly landed a Cessna at Portland airport. Mu flew a Wright Brothers plane and a Boeing, plus quite a few in between. In other happenings Turtle painted a money box cow that looks suspiciously like a pig but as far as he's concerned it's definitely a cow. Mu was delighted to finally be able to (after lots of saving) buy himself a new watch, and has "decided" he no longer wants a Palm Treo for Christmas. Apparently a 96 pack of Crayola crayons would be "better"!?!? R is home tomorrow - albeit briefly, but it will be nice to see him, and the weather is such that it is now dark at 4.30pm! Ugh!

Oregon in 3D...

Turtle has been working away on a 3D map of Oregon - well the main mountain ranges in Oregon. And viola! Here it is in glorious techincolour. Other developments this week - in no particular order -
- our new couch arrived - hurrah.
- I skinned all the knuckles on my right hand - ouch.
- R left on Tuesday for a week in China.
- The boys and I travelled to the Pearson Air Museum only to find it was closed.
- In anticipation of a very wet and cold winter I purchased a pair of wellies and a pair of slippers!
- I sliced a quarter of the way through my left thumb and nail with the bread knife. Nasty.
- Mu announced he'd like a Palm Treo for Christmas, and Turtle chimed in and said he'd like some post-it notes!?!
So a bit of a mixed week - who knows what the weekend will bring. We've decided to make a second attempt on the air museum, and I'm avoiding all sharp implements for now.

Cloudy with meatballs...

A busy day shopping then off to the movies with Turtle and Mu. We saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D. Love those 3D glasses. Lots of fun! I'm still reeling from the size of the 'medium' coke and popcorn. Seriously you could have feed a small family for a year with that amount of popcorn! The boys are back to school tomorrow after a four day weekend, and we are just about starting to count down the days 'til Christmas.

Pumpkin hunting...

We went "pumpkin hunting" on Halloween which was fun. The results of our first ever pumpkin carving are below - not bad for first timers. This afternoon we stomped our way through all the leaves at Hoyt Arboretum. The boys have the day off school tomorrow so we're off to the movies, but the best part is we get to sleep in - hooray!

The travel game...

Turtle designed a new game this week called The Travel Game. Named this way because "it's small and portable, and you can take it with you". It's really neat and fun to play. Yesterday we had Turtle and Mu's parent/teacher "conferences" - they were both great. Both boys are doing extremely well and "are a delight to have in the class". The boys teacher - who is sooooo lovely - told us a story about OMSI camp. Apparently there was a ritual where each day a piece was added to a puzzle and the person adding it was meant to say "ooh ahh most revealing". One evening all the boys were being silly and kept saying "ooh ahh most revealing" whenever they spoke. After a while Turtle pipes up and says "ooh ahh most annoying". All the adults cracked up because it was totally annoying!

New headers....

Turtle and Mu have designed a range of new headers for the blog. There was a huge debate over which one should be used - in the end we chose one of Turtle's.

A wonderful weekend...

We've just had the best weekend away! Friday saw us drive south for about four hours (in the torrential rain) to Camp Sherman, where we holed up in a little cabin on the Metolius River. There was hardly anyone about, just the odd fly-fisherman and the occasional elk or squirrel. The scenery was stunning - lots of ponderosa pines, and autumn colours. There is one small store in Camp Sherman that sells all sorts of fly-fishing gear and basic supplies, oh and there's a tiny little post office but that's about it. Saturday we 'hiked' along the Metolius, got a little bit lost, and quite some time later managed to 'hike' back, before heading into Sisters for the afternoon. A bit of pottering about the odd collection of shops then back to the little cabin for some down time. On Sunday we drove home via Bend, then up through the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, on through Mt Hood and back to the condo. Being able to get away for weekend like that make all the difference, as much as Portland has lots to offer nothing beats getting out into the wop-wops* and getting away from it all!

* The wop-wops is not a small town in New Zealand, as someone who shall remain nameless thought. It is New Zealand slang for remote country areas.