Australia in photos... 5

craig, di, and callum explored the adeliade area...

first up, the lobethal bierhaus...


nandi and callum at the bierhaus...


callum hanging out in his new stroller...


after a busy day of exploring...

Australia in photos... 4

craig comes through yet again... more photos!

callum reading his book... reading always involves feet, didn't you know?


callum playing with the baby container/bucket...


callum IN the baby container/bucket...


babies babies everywhere... At Trent & Kelly's place on the floor with Charlotte & James...


more babies!



james, charlotte, callum, and zoe... (i remember when zoe was no older than the babies on the floor!)


uncle trent and callum...

Australia in photos... 3

Craig's humor... cracker snacks...



Callum watching some educational for him - and confusing for adults - television...



Playing with toys Nandi has provided...



Cozy in his carseat... (i personally can't get over the hat. i love the hat!)

Australia in photos... 2

More photos from Craig!

Bath time with Nandi and Great Nanna Sandery. Note that neither are wearing a rain poncho. Brave souls.


Hanging out with Great Nanna Sandery.


Hanging out with Great Uncle Dave.


Hanging out with Great Nanna Dickson.


Big Cheezy Grin.


In his new carseat.

Australia in photos...

craig sent these photos my way of the little man enjoying his first trip to australia.


First - Rain at Di's house.(we don't see much rain in southern california)


Callum's Favorite 'toy' - a wire clothes hanger in the lounge room. Here he is attacking.


Hanging out on the floor playing with his new toys.


Attacking his new stroller.


Playing with more toys.


In Starbucks.


"Playing Trumpet" craig says, "chewing on cardboard" i say.

The To'ing

So yes, as Jen as mentioned we did make it safely to Adelaide. I will politely summarize the trip simply as "an experience".

Generally speaking Callum was well behaved and not a screaming lunatic. There were enough friendly faces around me on the plane that I was able to pass him off to others a few times and the flight attendants were great.

The transfer in Brisbane was probably the low point of the trip. Here is a tip - if you plan to travel to Australia from the US and have to connect to a flight to somewhere internally, don't go via Brisbane - choose Sydney or Melbourne instead. The train that you are to use to transfer between terminals was a long walk from both terminals (oh irony, how you mock me), exposed you to the elements a bunch of times and forced you to leave the secured area, which means having to go through security again.

The kid slept the entirety of the flight from Brisbane to Adelaide. And we were met by Mum/Nandi and Nanna/Great Nanna Sandery - although in their haste and excitement, they were waiting at the wrong gate to greet us! :)

The rental car did have a car seat as requested (not necessarily a guarantee even with a "reservation"). It is forward facing, which is legal in Australia but is weirding me out a little as in the US Callum has to stay rear facing until his first birthday.

Callum assessed Adelaide rather quickly and declared it not to his liking by being fast asleep in the car seat before we even left the airport and was still asleep when we got to Mum's house.

green thumbs...

As summer rolls around I often get the urge to start a vegetable garden. The apartment complex we live in is rather tolerant of their residents customizing their homes and patios - however I suspect they would draw the line at me jackhammering half of our concrete patio to make room for a my plants. Rather than ripping out concrete and trucking in good soil I opted for a small planter garden this year. One Roma tomato plant, and one Poblano pepper plant.

I had attempted a small vegetable garden two summers ago. It all started out well enough, we had a tomato plant and a pepper plant, and both were blossoming and starting to make fruit. It was at that point that I got distracted and started neglecting the poor plants. I didn't water them often, and when they grew tall and started to slouch over I neglected to stake them up. When I finally picked my first tomato off the vine I was quite disappointed to find that there was no sweetness, juice, or even seeds. Since I had water starved the plant so thoroughly the fruit never got much further than creating the fleshy portion. I watered the plants a bit more diligently after that and we ended up with a couple peppers and tomatoes, but nothing staggering. I would tend to my plants well for a week or so, and then forget them for 3. By the end of the vegetable season we had two brown crispy plants.

This year I was determined to do better. I got the plants, planted them a couple days after, and then started to water them regularly. My two plants have been looking quite happy, and as it turns out, if you water regularly they grow fast! Since the boys are away I took some time yesterday to sit outside with my plants, and to tend to my little vegetable garden. I staked both plants so they won't collapse under their own weight (as the last garden did). I checked for bugs, worms, and other critters that think of my garden as their own personal buffet (as the last garden had). And I fertilized the plants so they'll have plenty to eat, and watered so they will have plenty to drink.

And now - my garden.