Ari and Fenton's Theme Park Trip

One thing southern California doesn't have in short supply is theme parks. Apart the the big and well known ones -- Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm among them -- there are plenty of smaller ones scattered about the place and all seem pretty popular. Recently, Ariana earned herself a free pass, from a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser, for Castle Park. She gave me plenty of warning (nagging) that the day was coming up and that I was expected to attend with her. So Memorial Day weekend just her and I headed off for an afternoon of thrill rides and follow-on headaches. Ari pretty much picked the rides she wanted to go on and we had a great time, just the two of us. Gaynor and I try hard to make sure the children get individual attention, making time (even scheduling it) so that they don't get lost in the crush.

What is less fun however is removing a china egg cup after it has done the rounds with an in-sink garbage disposal unit. A child, who shall remain nameless, forgot to check the contents of the washing-up sink before draining and then later in the evening the same child threw the switch for the disposal unit instead of the light. Nasty crunching sound and a jammed disposal unit later found myself and some children with slender hands coaxing the remains of the egg cup back to the surface.

Remains of the Egg Cup and some of its friends that helped bring it back from the brink, err sink.

Week 19, 2008

Sorry, no catchy title for this post -- it is simply an update on recent goings on. Remember, you can always check out our published calendar of activities with the "comings and Goings" link on the left hand side of this (and every) page.

Firstly, Gaynor is hanging in there with the pregnancy. She has a little over two months to go and says that is tired and has had enough but the pregnancy is going well. No complications or health concerns and we sometimes wonder why we even bother with ante-natal care. (Yes we do know, so no need to email and remind us). He is kicking well -- vigourously and frequently -- and is already head down.

Mara was a a busy girl this week. She participated in two acts -- one a solo ballet dance and the other singing and dancing with two friends -- in her school talent show. She also spent last Saturday morning at the school district track meet where she ran in the 50 yard shuttle relay with her school placing second.

The boys have been busy preparing for a very large dance festival which will involve youth from the church from all over southern California. It's such a major event they only hold one every 20 years or so. More on that in July when it's finished.

Gaynor and the girls attended an open house at Mara and Ariana's school this past week. The girls were very proud to show off their neat work. Bryna was excited to visit the kindergarten classroom where she will be attending in the new school year, after the summer.

Finally, since Gaynor's interior design plans have outstripped our budget (actually they were never within) I have begun construction of a number of furniture pieces. First on the agenda is a pair of large bookcases -- our books are the last thing really waiting to be unpacked -- and a pair of low modular-type shelving. These will be followed, though the time frame isn't yet fixed, by bedside tables, another coffee table and bar stools. A work colleague with an extensive woodshop has kindly offered it and some advice for my use. So, more on them when I've got something to show.

More Room to Travel

Since we are expecting a new family member our current conveyance -- a Honda Odyssey -- will not be sufficient to fit us all in. So rather than try and find an 8 seater vehicle (seemingly somewhat rare) we thought we'd go the whole hog and have bought an older 10-seater, and as the Americans say, "full-size" van. And when an American says "full size" you know they mean it. The idea was that though we all fit into an 8 seater, there would then be no room for a friend or grandparent or two. And a 10 was just as easy to find as an 8.

This van probably won't get used that much, even though it is the "economical" model at 17mpg (13.8l/100km) -- probably just when we need to go somewhere as a family. There are a number of things to fix on it but it's currently driveable and I do have a few months to get them done before we really need it. Elijah has already given his numerous (and expensive) ideas on how we can best pimp it out.


Elijah and Bryna modelling our recently acquired 10-seater van -- vehicular expansion for the incoming child.

Expecting the Sixth

We are pleased to announce the expected arrival in mid-July of our sixth child. We are all quite excited, the children especially. Bryna, in particular, is thrilled to become a 'big sister' Gaynor traditionally has relatively easy pregnancies and this one is about as well as could be expected for the sixth.

It has been an introduction faster than we would have liked to the US medical system. Gaynor spent some time researching the procedures and attitudes of local hospitals and, unfortunately, found them not in-line with her own. Mostly, they take an 'I am in charge and you are merely the patient' approach, including insisting on monitors, drips and bed confinement. In addition, the two local hospitals only have a limited number of beds where they allow 'rooming in', where the baby stays with the mother. Hospitals further afield are more, in our view at least, enlightened but given the unpredictability of arrival time we'd rather not be attempting to get to one an hour away (and longer if the traffic is heavy). She's therefore engaged a local mid-wife, a profession seemingly not as widespread here in the US as in Australia or Europe. She'll be doing most of Gaynor's antenatal care as well as being there for the actual delivery, which we plan to be a home birth.

Given the results of a recent ultrasound examination, we have a much greater suspicion of the gender of this one than with any of the others -- the first definitive sign being at their birth. It's always been a deliberate choice on our part -- what can I say? We like to have some surprises in our life -- but this time Gaynor peeked and he wasn't being, shall we say, discreet.

Thanks Giving

Ok... I know Thanksgiving was a while ago, but it was fun so I'm going to write about it.
So as you might or might not know we went to San Jose for Thanksgiving which is not far from San Fransisco (about 50 miles or 1 hr). So there is a reason we went there and the reason is a couple of friends we knew from Germany live there. So the drive up there was long about 6 hours. So we get there at 2 am, some might think that is a bit early but really we are morning people. So after waking up our friends and get inside we settle down for another good 5 hours sleep before Ari wakes us all up we had a nice cooked breakfast and it is now Thanksgiving day. We hanged around for a couple of hours before we got too hungry and set off for her sister (his sister in law). They had a semi manchen on a hill not too far away. As you could think their house was big and there were a lot of people visiting from all around the states. They conveniently had a lot of food. We waited around playing pool and other various games while the food finished being prepared. Eating the food was even better than watching it being prepared. The food was good, there was a traditional turkey and a lot more. We played a bit more and nibbled on some food while we waited for the dessert. Finally the desert came there were various desserts such as pecan pie and ice cream. After that we left before the washing up. The next day we went to San Fransisco with our friends and there we met more friends we knew from Australia. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked around and found a nice place for lunch. After eating lunch we went to this famous street called : DUNNO We ended up not going all the way up because there was such a long line. After that we split up Dad and I went to the car show and the others wen t o see the fortune cookie factory. The car show was great lots of great cars. And really I don't know much about what went on at the factory. The ones that went to the cookie factory didn't take that long. So went home directly after that. Dad and I stayed at the auto show till about 8pm. We got some take-away on the way home and got home about 8.30. On Saturday we went to big basin Red Wood National Park.
It wasn't that far away. The trees there were really big and wide. We walked a trail there and went home to finish packing before we leave that evening. We ended up leaving at about 6 pm. And
so we drove and drove and drove, till we got home. And that was the trip to San Jose