With our first real cyclone of the season bearing down on us, it is time to batten down the hatches and tidy up the yard. Although it is only a category 2, it brings a nervous energy with it. Those south side of a cyclone always cop the worst of the storm. We don't expect anything bad to happen though. Here's a recent pic from the Bureau of Meteorology.
On Thursday we set up our guinea pig hutch. It wasn't the easiest job with Az and Zem wanting to spend almost all of the time in it. Azariah managed to crawl through every gap and fit into every crevice of the cage. He looked like a contortionist wiggling his way through. Thankfully, I managed to get most of it done whilst they were sleeping. Az woke up first, shortly after Sharlene came home. We took him over to the pet shop and chose out the new toy.... erm... pet.
After spending some time letting the little critter get used to the pokes and prods (and force feeding) from Azi, we took him down and let him get used to his new home. Diesel was all for eating him and ended tied up some distance away. Finally we roused Zemiel and brought him down to see it. He was amazed. I don't think he has fathomed that he can keep it yet or that it will still be there tomorrow. We had a terrible time saying goodbye.
We've decided to name it Cavalier. Partly to carry on our nobility names for pets, and partly because it is a cavy. Ha ha. For those who are interested and even for those who aren't, the names of our other pets are:
Diesel - the dog
Sir Mauvealot - the budgie
Princess Gwenevegg - the budgie
Razzamatopaz - the budgie
Baby bird - the budgie
Guess who named the last one on the list!
Zem surprised us and his speech pathologist yesterday with how much progress he has made. All the speech milestones that he needed to work on during the holidays have now been achieved. He is now talking in small sentences (with a little prompting) and babbling during play.
When we came home yesterday, we had our new guinea pig cage waiting for us and also my wambi and brazilian cherry trees were delivered. They are only small but one has to start somewhere.
Today's activities will likely be setting up the cage and looking for a suitable tenant.
We went to Mackay today. Well, we are still here actually. We came down because it is Rosie's birthday and Sharlene and family are going out for a dinner. Happy Birthday Rosie! It is also exactly one year since we moved into our house in Bowen, so it is a bit ironic that we aren't there. Tomorrow we're back, but not before we go to Townsville. Zemiel is starting up his speech pathology again and it will be one of the rare times for Sharlene to go as well.
Today we went to see how Janice and Gerard are coping at our Mackay school and it seems like they will have their hands full sorting out useful stuff from junk and writing programs. Janice has already made a lot of headway though. Zem and Az had a great time exploring and rearranging the toys and furniture of the room. Zemiel even got his train 'fix' for the day with the room's train set.
Sharlene has made some apricot slice for the today's and tomorrow's trip but honestly I don't know how many will remain for tomorrow. They have been pretty well received (and eaten) by everyone (especially me) since we left.
What a great day we had yesterday!
The day began at 4:30 with Azariah waking up and asking for an ice block.
We began watering the plants early. We've developed a system where I fill up a larger bucket with water and Zem gets a smaller bucket and pours water onto the pots and plants. Azariah also gets a bucket and pours water onto himself.
We got our windscreen replaced yesterday. The crack in it was getting bigger every day. (It started when a truck threw a rock at us on our trip from Brisbane in late December). The boys and I decided to spend some time down at the beach while we waited for the work to be done. The shop wasn't far from Front Beach, so that was a natural choice and we got to see other parts of the beach that we hadn't really been to yet.
There was a small shelter dedicated to the 'Catalina' floating planes which apparently had 11 squadron and 20 squadron stationed in Bowen during the 2nd world war. The whole place was quite nicely done. The tide was out and we could see many different birds out sifting through the sand looking for crustaceans and worms. Further on and we went to the playground where we usually spend our time. The boys spent most of the time wanting to play on the wheelchair swing. Which I'm not sure I understand entirely because it couldn't move without a key. Anyway, they played quite happily on/around it for about 20 minutes - until I got bored and decided to try something else.
Next, we went and had a water drinking party on one of the tables there. Bowen water is notoriously unreliable and potentially health threatening but I decided to chance it. The boys were definitely thirsty and we also enjoyed watching the black cockatoos in the she-oaks above. Following our drinks, I tried to get Zem interested in tree climbing by putting him up in a tree fork (about my head height). He wasn't too fussed at first, but got more interested when he could see the ants that were crawling up the tree. Even so, he was keen for me to try it. So down he came and up I went. It wasn't the easiest tree to get a hold of and up, but eventually I made it and Zem loved it. Azariah was watching from a safe distance in the pram. Now Zem wanted up as well. I couldn't reach him so we exchanged places. This time he liked it more and signed for me to go up, up, up (to the count of 10). (Which, for the uninitiated, means that he wants me to go up the tree as high as humanly possible). I decided that it was time to go try something else.
Next stop was the rocks. These rocks were used by the original surveyors to lay out the town. I released Azariah and both he and Zem had a lot of fun climbing up the rocks to get me. The only problem was that these rocks were out in the sun and so the boys got a little pink from this activity.
From there, we still had a few minutes to wait, so we went to the IGA nearby, besides being air conditioned, it still had a few low quality peaches remaining. (Because of the floods down south, all our fresh food up north has not gotten through. So we have a lot of empty shelves at the moment.) I got a peach each for the boys and we sat down outside to eat them. That done, it was time to go and get our car and drive home.
We had only been home for a few minutes (long enough to each a sandwich each and hop into bed) when Sharlene came in through the door - early home from work. The boys had a short sleep and then what to do? Why what else but go outside and chase and catch grass hoppers. And that kept everyone entertained until it was time for tea, baths and bed.
Thanks for a good day boys.
Today is a special day. It has now been two years since Zem was 'switched on'. I don't know exactly how we are going to celebrate, but perhaps we'll leave that up to him. At the moment he is interested in the beach, whales and trains. Azariah is interested in anything that Zem is doing.
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