April 11th: Rein celebrates his 8th birthday playing laser tag

He woke up at 7 a.m. on Sunday asking when we were leaving for "Darklight", the laser tag joint we were going to that day for his birthday party. This was a two year old dream finally come true for him. Needless to say, he was excited! The minutes ticked by slowly for him but we were finally adding the
finishing touches to his
birthday cake and packing up to go.
Darklight was a half hour away and we were asked "When are we going to be there?" probably a dozen times. He meditated in the car chanting "I will be the best at laser tag". When we arrived his friends from his class showed up soon after. Including Silka there were 12 kids. We were soon suited up in our vests and laser blasters and we started playing. The darkness and somewhat scary faces
on the walls were
too much for Silka so I took her out and we played a "Dance" arcade game while we waited for the boys. The "boys' included Tom and one other father...
 After the first game, we took a break for a meal - yes, the standard hot dogs/chicken nuggets - and for Rein to open his presents. Then they played their second game and then they ate cake. It was loud, nerve-rattling for some, super-charged fun!! Tom was the last to emerge and said he got lost.......

Happy Birthday to all our friends and family with April Birthdays!

I was just going to post one picture but after looking at them, I had to post them all. It was pretty hilarious trying to set up the perfect shot....
We love you all and hope you have a wonderful time on your birthday. We will be thinking of you!



Don't ask me what I had to do to get the family to put candles on their heads....

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

April 3rd: Crabbing in Mandurah with the Professor

I think we will refer to Stephen Satchell, our friend and Perth guide extraordinaire, as "The Professor". All the Perth and Australian experiences we have enjoyed with him so far have been fantastic - referring to him as the "wine professor" just doesn't do justice to the scope of his knowledge of all things West Australian (and beyond). Well, Saturday, he took us down to Mandurah which is a town about 45 minutes south of Perth - a place where people come to partake in a quintessential Australian activity...crabbing - namely, Blue Swimmer or Blue Manna crabs.
Stephen picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we caravanned down to Mandurah. When we arrived, we changed into
            old          clothes, rubber boots, grabbed our crab nets and waded into the water. Tom volunteered to tie the "crab tub" (baby bath) around his waist. This is what you drag around behind you to chuck the crabs into as you catch them. It wasn't long before I caught our first one. After that it was slow going. The kids stuck close to me and trudged around along the shore - no further luck - while Tom and Stephen headed into deeper waters. Silka soon got tired of the whole exercise and I headed back with her so she could change and go play on the playground. Rein joined us soon after and changed as well.

When Stephen and Tom headed back to shore, we peered into the tub to discover 6 crabs. One was too small so he was let go - lucky fellow. After a short break, Tom, Stephen and I went back in. I caught another two - one was too small and the other moved so fast that I was running as fast as I could to catch up to him. This was not easy in thigh deep water....

All toll, we caught 8 crabs. We headed back home to enjoy a crab feast. Stephen showed up shortly after we did with another half dozen crabs to supplement our catch. After a crab cooking lesson, we sat down at the table on the back patio and tucked in - actually it was more like crab shells and crab meat up to our elbows as we sucked out and slurped up the delicate flesh. It wasn't pretty but it was delicious! We enjoyed them with some crusty bread, salad and a Castle Rock Riesling (from South Western Australia). Yum!

A Brilliant Comedian from Perth....

We just had to share this with you. Tim Minchin is a brilliant comedian and musician from Perth, Australia. He is a fantastic story teller and will cleverly make you feel uncomfortable at times. A number of his gigs are on youtube.
Here is his "Prejudice" song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw

Saturday Morning Surf Lessons

Rein and I had our second surfing lesson Saturday morning. Tom came with Silka this time to watch and go for a swim. This time I managed to get up and surf right to shore without falling once. Yahoo! Meanwhile Rein makes it all look so easy....haven't got photos of us in action yet but will post some soon!