Twelve Feet, Six Continents, One Year

First of all, is my math right? I know that we started on June 23rd but that was in the United States. Today is January 8th but that's in Australia. It's only January 7th in the US. Does that mean the trip is longer or shorter? Can anybody explain daylight savings time to me? Second, we've been having a really good week. Elise took the day off on Monday and regained some energy. We found a daycamp here that is effectively drop-in during their school holidays. For friends in Portland: this is like Campfire mixed with Trackers. In other words, it's awesome. We showed the kids the "menu" if activities on each day and the result was that Henry and Lily went on Tuesday, Ali and Cate on Wednesday and all four on Thursday. Arriving at St Kilda Park Primary School for TeamKids Camp We feel really satisfied and proud that our kids show up at a new venue with unfamiliar kids and adults and plunge right in. Henry made a friend, which led to a playdate and possibl...

This was an idyllic day of adventure. Somewhere, months (or years) and thousands of miles ago, I read about a penguin colony you can visit about an hour south of Perth. You can even get there with moderate ease via public transit, although we didn't. We left around 10:45 and had an easy, 50-minute drive to tiny Shoalshead, just past the slightly-larger beach community of Rockingham. The Googles helped me find a straight-forward looking seafood "take away" joint a few blocks from our true destination and we found parking quickly. As soon as we sat down, though, Elise pointed out that the menu didn't match he name I had mentioned. The bad news is that my fish-n-chips joint was closed (maybe for the holidays, as seems to be common, or maybe for longer). The good news is that Elise got to have brunch in a restaurant, which is one of her favorites. At 1:00 we were on an adorable little ferry for the five-minute ride across to the aptly-named Penguin Island with wrist-b...

Our Christmas morning was not very much unlike any other year: stockings with gifts from Santa, a decorated tree surrounded by a pile of wrapped gifts from mom and dad, cinnamon rolls, all the excitement done by 8am... With a smile like this... This is what the sound of wrapped lego looks like Typical Christmas morning chaos Henry got some beyblades! Santa brought Ali (and Cate) a ribbon Santa brought stick on nails to Ali and Cate Happy! If you know Elise, you know this is a Christmas morning tradition Henry's new sunglasses (aviators!), combined with some found items, equals superhero! On the other hand, the rest of the day was quite out of our ordinary. First, we drove to the highly-recommended Cottesloe Beach. Because when else are we going to spend Christmas frolicking in the Indian Ocean? One observation I would like to make is that the demographics of Christmas beachgoers was far more diverse than what we have seen elsewhere in...