March Madness 2011

march 2011

march in adelaide is a time of perfect weather and heaps to do. the adelaide fringe festival is three weeks of cabaret, comedy, circus, busking, music, theatre, dance and general merrymaking in the city. we took the kids to an acrobat/circus performance and then jessica and i attended a late-night cabaret show - puppetry of the penis. i'm not really going to go in to anymore detail about it. but that's why it was me and jessica and not me and payton. the fringe festival is brought to a magnificent close by the four day WOMAD (world of music and dance) festival. we dragged the kids down for a day of bohemian dress, hippie dancing and FANTASTIC music - as well as organic doughnuts (does that make them healthier?). yummy. some artists i would encourage anyone to check out include ash grunwald, imelda may, bob brozmen, and the gadflys.

the following weekend is clipsal (i think there is more to the title, but i'm not that in to car racing - despite being WAY in to the british car show "top gear") - a three day car race staged not to far from our house (there is a loud humming when you walk outside). the most exciting - and loudest - part of clipsal is the planes that buzz our neighborhood for the air show. the loudest is the fighter jet - which sends me and payton scampering outside to see it, scares the bejesus out of nova and hopefully does not render canon deaf. anyhow, at some point in the ensuing conversation with nova about the plane, the words "ship" and "fighter" were sprinkled in to the explanation (i don't know why the word "ship" was used, but it was). later, nova asked me if the shit fire was really loud. it's hard not to encourage these phrases... oh, are you a shit fire pilot? look honey, there goes a shit fire! c'mon kids, let's go to the shit fire show!

anyway, here are some pics of the goings-on around 12 sheldon st, norwood.

nova in the blinding sun with her crown and carrying jelly roll in her "baby carrier" (i.e. backpack)

we went to anna's four yo birthday party. she is a friend from kindergym and her mother is a german ex-pat. turns out we were the only who couldn't speak german.

farmer canon

enjoying cake and each other

check out the bug on canon's ear...

womad tent area. such a family-friendly event! we set up a sun shade in the designated area - it provides a relaxing re-grouping spot (necessary with kids) where you can still hear the music. delightful!

nova and canon enjoying some good irish music

payton enjoying a rare moment of looking at the musicians instead of one or both of the kids.

womad also has a great kids' area. there is a venue called the nylon zoo, where you can dress up, among other things, as a koala.

enjoying the cool, green back yard.

payton has been invited to interview for a couple professorships at university of texas, austin and university of oregon, eugene. he is actually in the states as i write this, and thus determining the direction of our future - and future residence! we made sure to watch "animal house", filmed in eugene and "whip it" (about roller derby. i am checking into roller derby wherever we move), filmed in austin. the soundtrack to both movies, btw, are awesome. we celebrated payton's 33rd! birthday before leaving and had a birthday dinner of okra and tomatoes and t-bone steak. mm mm mmmm.

canon thoroughly enjoying his dad's birthday dinner.

the float doughnut acts like a bumper - he can't quite get in to nova's suitcase full of tiny choking hazards

toys toys toys

i poked my head in from the kitchen to see nova running out of her room dragging her comforter and a couple pillows. she made a "bed" on the living room floor and tucked herself and canon in. canon thought it was about the funnest game ever.

brian and jessica had dinner with us and brought birthday/good-luck-with-interviews carrot cake before payton left. sadly, there was some cream cheese icing leftover, so i was FORCED to make brownies (somehow nicknamed "emu pudding" in our household) so as not to waste the incredible icing. when i asked nova if she wanted a taste of batter, i was (well, wasn't, she is my daughter, after all) surprised to see her use all five fingers. the emu pudding is an effective bribing/bartering tool in this stint of single-parenthood.

here, too, are a couple links to some you tube footage of canon...

http://youtu.be/U2sSLZQNdo8

http://youtu.be/iiNGlAq_Pic

we'll keep you posted on when and where our return to the US will be. in the meantime, we are SO EXCITED to have iris come visit us for five weeks in april/may. cheers, all.

Back in the trout water

january to march 2011

well, as always, it is nice to come back home. utah, oklahoma, san francisco (for payton), colorado and new mexico were all wonderful to visit and we had a blast with family and friends, but we were delighted to come back to a cool, wet adelaide summer and stop living out of suitcases.

canon and nova partied in his crib. they share a room now, so we've had a lot of talks about how nova is not allowed to crawl in to bed with canon in the middle of the night.

nova uses the jolly jumper like a swing.

turns out there's a couple of grizzlies in australia!

i went to a hen's night (i.e. bachelorette party) for a friend and nova got dressed up to come with me. i especially like her accessories: trucker's cap, scarf and silk coin purse. still, she seemed ok with staying behind once she realized daddy and canon weren't going...

are those penis straws in my hair or am i just happy to see you?! hen's night.

canon in his command center. i love the bogan singlet romper. klassy.

our elfin princess

if she is a future prom queen, it is going to come with a LOT of sass and sarcasm. that's my girl!

daddy, by nova.

do do dooo! sweet shades.

canon loves solids. literally.

does anyone remember the disney cartoon "robin hood"? nova is more in to it than canon.

i mean, really. what is a little brother for - stranded on the carpet and sluggishly immobile - if not for putting things on...

... like his toy box, for example.

awww. i will tape this picture to my forehead when the kids are 13 and 16 and we're on some REALLY long road trip and nova wants to read while canon is blasting death metal, or vice versa. and payton is singing "we're going to bonny dune". and i will wear earplugs.

first haircut...