Mount Barney

I have been meaning to get these photos up for a few weeks.

My friend Mike and his friend Jim (who is, by virtue of our trip, now my friend) and I went hiking in Mount Barney National Park at the end of September. It is about a two hour drive from our place, which makes it a nice overnight trip.


Mount Barney, East Peak--elevation 1,351 metres. This is a view of the East face, about a kilometer in from the trail head.

Most people do it as a long day hike, but we split it up and camped on the saddle between the two peaks.
There was a sub-tropical rain forest in a gully on the way up the mountain. It was odd hiking among gum trees, and then following the trail through this dense, cool forest of palms moss and ferns.
We ditched our packs at the camp site on the saddle and then scrambled up the remaining face to the summit. Mount Lindesay is in the background.

Mike , me, and Jim (left to right) at the summit

View from the "Old Hut" camp site on the saddle.

Jim reserved the best camp site in the park. We had a gorgeous view down into the valley, a creek for water, and as we ate our dinner that night we watched a lighting storm roll in. None of my lightning photos turned out, but it was great to watch it near the cloud elevation. We were able to see lightning streak across the sky and extend up into the sky above the clouds. It was outstanding. We were also lucky enough to avoid the lightning when the storm blew over us later that evening.

Hiking back to the car along the old access road.

dragons and butterflies

Cole can do some amazing things with paper, tape and scissors. He crafted some wings out of two A3 (11"x17" for all the non-communists) sheets of paper. He then figured out how to cut around the neck line and tuck them into the back of his shirt so he can run around the house making flying noises. He also taped extra little triangles onto the upper corners for talons and constantly watches out for our safety so we aren't needlessly slain by their razor sharp deadliness. And as I sit here typing this, I realize I am an idiot for not actually capturing his wings on film. In my defense, he has been using them all week and they are a little tattered from all of the dragon missions he has been on. It is also past midnight as I sit here typing this and I lack the ambition to wake him up from his slumber to have him model them.

All week he has been asking me to make him some dragon wings. I have no idea why, because his are pretty awesome, but he clearly understands the concept of prototype development and then outsourcing while retaining executive design privileges. He was standing over me the entire time reminding me about the talons--as if I haven't battled dragons before.

This is me, getting blasted by fire. you can imagine the devastation.

Not to leave Cora out, I crafted some lopsided butterfly wings for her. I thought she would be more into it, but I think she was secretly irritated I didn't make her a set of dragon wings too. Maybe she was mad that I neglected to put talons on her wings--as if I haven't battled butterflies before.

we love our bellybutton

Cole's Birthday

Why does batman have horns on his head?

Why can’t I fly?

Do dragons eat bananas?

Are ants afraid of me?

Why don’t cows wear underwear?

Why isn’t my nose working? (he had a cold)

Do cows drink milk?

These are just some of the burning questions in the mind of a four year old.

Cole turned four last Sunday which brings to close the last event in our six-week birthday fest (and Mary's chocolate cake trifecta).

At the end of the day he exclaimed “I have everything!” Everything happens to include: new books, new clothes, a cricket set, a batman kite, a guitar, a head lamp, and a skateboard. I am assuming that he was also thankful for a loving family, good health and a roof over his head. It warmed my heart to see him so grateful for everything he received. It was also probably the last time we would be able to meet all his worldly desires, because the next morning he was already asking for roller skates.

Cole is an ideas man. He has grand plans for the future and it is sometimes hard for me to get him to stand back and enjoy the moment. He can think of a rhyme for almost any statement you say to him, so once in a while I finish my sentences with words that he can’t rhyme (like “orange” and “month”). It doesn’t faze him; he will just make up a nonsense word and come away from the exchange thinking he has won.

He is also enamored with music. We got him a little acoustic guitar (with plastic knobs that won’t stay in tune) to assist him in making up his own songs and insert his own lyrics into time honored standards.

In between listening to the wiggles and other children’s CD’s in the car, Mary and I often sneak in a CD of our own liking and he has lately become very fond of Bob Marley. “No woman, no cry” and “Three Little Birds” (don’t worry about a thing, cuz every little thing is gonna be all right”) are his favorite songs at the moment; he does a pretty good punk version of Three Little Birds, which I didn’t even think was possible.

It’s not even a week after his birthday and he already has the next year planned out; which includes feeding us ideas for next year’s cake. We scaled back the size of his cake after it took us a week to finish eating Cora’s bunny behemoth. I was a bit disappointed when he wouldn’t let me put yellow icing flames on the guitar. I think I have my work cut out for me during the next year to show him the virtues of a properly executed flame paint job. It makes everything more awesome. Maybe that is just my formative years of the early 80’s talking.

Cora turns Two

I know I am not going to win any decorating awards with this. My free-hand pen sketches didn't have quite the "shell shocked" blank expressions on them as this poor rabbit does. There is no ctrl-z command when you are piping pink icing on a cake. With that said, I am happy that it was close enough to a bunny that Cora was able to recognize it as such.
Mary baked the chocolate cake and it tasted wonderful. She is batting 1000 with chocolate cakes this month.

We came to the realization that two-year-old girls are seriously neglected by toy executives. Boys are easy: dump trucks, Lego, dinosaurs, any form of inflatable ball, nerf, action figures, the list goes on...
Girls: pink hula hoops, my little pony, dolls in hundreds of different forms, and domestic indoctrination (Shopping trolleys, play kitchens and other such nonsense)

I think grocery shopping and cooking is great fun, but I don't think my daughter needs toys to help her imagine doing these things. Where are the mini lawyer brief cases for her? Why don't I see commercials on Saturday morning television pimping a pink socket set for barbie's corvette or a little girl's formula-one racing suit and helmet? The obvious answer is that most grandmothers, mothers and aunts wouldn't buy it. I say there is an entire population of fathers and uncles who shop for presents and are yearning for a choice in gift giving. We are an untapped market.

Back to Cora. She doesn't know she is two. She just floats around the house making happy squeeling sounds that are reminiscent of a tea kettle boiling. It is actually sort of musical when compared to the noises she makes when she is angry. She also does a little dance when she is happy where she bounces from foot to foot, while bobbling her head from side to side and forms the letter 'W' with her arms--with jazz hands just to complete the effect. we can never get it on camera. It is like lighting in its unpredictability and fleeting presence. So many things like that we can never capture, and we know we will forget about.

At this stage she still doesn't say much unless she wants to. If she thinks she can get you to do something or provide something through brute vocal force, then she will scream to get it. But if it is something interesting or thoughtful (like shoe, bunny, water, bird...) then she will use the word, but only if you haven't asked her a direct question about it. Everything is on her terms; deal with it. and I still haven't come to terms with that. I still have this delusion that I can get her to see that I am the boss.

Mary likes to point out that the stubbornness and insane mood swings come from me. And she is probably right, but I have to say Cora's ability to get me to stop what I am doing and come to realize that I am going to have to do what she wants definitely comes from Mary.