Happy Third Birthday Zemiel!

Here's the big day! Shar and I have been cooking and preparing all week for this one. Almost everyone we invited showed up to the beach to enjoy birthday cake, cup cakes, fish shaped biscuits, cobbs and dip, lollies, juice and games. (And one friend came afterwards to our house). We even had some surprise attendances by Damian and Joshua, and Pop and Nana stayed longer than we expected too.

The wind was quite brisk at Front Beach where we all met, so the fishing game that I had planned didn't go according to plan. That didn't stop the kids from having a fun time.
Happy birthday to you

Arki's bouncy ball got taken by a seagull and dropped out to sea. (That poor girl has no luck with bouncy balls). Her last one was thrown out a window and mown over. A lot of trading took place between the children as they vied for an object of suitable appeal.

We got some silkworms for Zemiel to look after, and he got loads of things to play with, read and colour in. Zemiel loved his cake, all he could say was "fish!" again, and again.
Fish! Fish!

Zemi's cake

I think that the adult party goers were also suitably impressed. Zemiel now has a train track set, several engines, a number of carriages, not to mention a helicopter (with which Azzi is quite taken), a number of story books and a mat with streets for cars to drive on. In fact, so many things that it is quite impossible for him to keep them all away from Azzi all the time.

Rose Bay Discoveries

This afternoon, we all went to Rose Bay for a look into the rock pools and walk along the sand. Pop and Nana came and spent the afternoon with us also.
Zem with Nana, Are they fish??

We found small fish, mud skippers, crabs, shrimp, a type of cone shell and sea dollars.

We also found some sort of caterpillar or centipede buried in the sand. I've tried to search online to find out what is was but haven't come up with much except for this photo from somewhere in the Bahamas.
Here are some of the pictures we took:
What is it?

Is it a centipede or caterpillar...or niether?

We think this is its' mouth.

Zemi got totally soaked and sandy. Azariah was kept safe and dry first on mum's back and then on dad's shoulders (except for a trip by dad as we were going home).

Zemi looking out to sea and feeling the waves on his feet.

Zemi feeling the water washing in and out.

Some of the scenery at Rose Bay.

PS. Thanks Bon and Lindon for your insight. I do believe that it was a Bristleworm.

Sabbath drive

Last Sabbath we went for a drive down Euri Creek Road. We were blown away by the sheer scale of cropping that is going on there! Tomatoes everywhere, kilometre after kilometre! We stopped near a few horses and Sharlene and Zem gave them some grass.

This third 'creamy' horse was a youngster. He was interested but a little flighty.

Young Endeavour

We went to Mackay last weekend because Poppy Brian had a birthday. To celebrate we went out to the harbour for a meal on Sunday and while there, we noticed the Young Endeavour in berth. Zem and I went and had a closer look at it while waiting for our food to arrive. It was lovely to get such a close look at it, but unfortunately the camera was not handy.

Zem is starting to enjoy his tricycle that he got for his second birthday (in time for his third). His large green dump truck also gets a good workout. He is also doing very well with his listening skills right now. He has continued to advance using his "d's" and "t's". His teachers are pretty happy with is progress.

Azariah is coming out with new words and signs all the time. He signs "no" now, and can drop things on command (sign), but often chooses not to (a very stubborn streak).  He is a slow eater (and messy) but eats ANYTHING. He also is addicted to sultanas. He still wakes once - twice a night and generally rises about 5:30 am. Anything after 6 am is a real sleep-in.

It is time to get ready for church. Until next time...