iSonto #42

This week we are thankful for the family trip we took to the North of the state where we had all kinds of adventures! This trip was part of our "family celebration" of our fifth anniversary.

We visited the Don River railway where we all enjoyed a ride on a vintage diesel train.

On the way home we stopped at the "House of Anvers" Chocolate factory, a fun opportunity to sample their delicious wares, watch them make chocolates, and ride the "chocolate delivery truck".

Nate received a raspberry sorbet ice cream as a reward for being an excellent traveler on our three hour drive the day before, which was liberally shared . . . thus the dirty face!

We were thankful for the way the children loved both places we stayed. The first one had model train tracks galore, while the second one had fun animals to meet. Here is Nate, with Mercy's favourite "Doggy Benny". It was lovely to see her laughing and playing with this gentle dog.

Another good thing was coming up with a scheme for adult reading/relaxing time - swap children! We did family activities together but also swapped childcare.

Elnathan was a little daunted by the statue of John Glover, a painter whose prints hang in our home.

He was sweet about all our detours, including this one to see John Glover's grave at a quaint country church. He was the perfect traveler!

On a frosty morning there was lots of ice, which Elnathan added to his little rock garden.

He loved making roads for matchbox cars amongst the flowers. Here he is running to tell me about it! Sadly Nate also gained a leech in this patch, a much recounted event.

Mercy was happy whenever she was allowed out of the car. The remainder of the time we got by with wholemeal crackers regularly distributed to the back seat, music, and singing "Old MacDonald" together when things got really bad!

Mercy loves playgrounds. Here she is listening to an aeroplane go over one.

Mercy also enjoyed sea horse world, and seeing echidnas. These two centres are across from one another at Beauty Point.

A book we enjoyed together was "The Boy Who Changed the World", one of our gifts to the children for family celebration.

One funny moment was asking Mercy questions like "Are you bossy?" to which her reply is inevitably "yes"!

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iSonto #41

This week we are thankful for .. . .

* Our new trampoline, put up as part of our "family celebration" in August, celebrating our marriage. It is a 12 foot, big enough to accommodate our little ones and their cousins (bouncing gently)!  
 

* Boxes that turned into buses.

* A totally delightful day trip we took to Mt Field National Park, complete with a rainbow reaching over the road on our way back! Dave is always excellent at pointing out items of interest in the natural world. This is a lesson about a spider's web.

* Here are the children taking in the wonder of the water fall. We are thankful for the way their enthusiasm adds extra joy to such outings.

Elnathan was thrilled with the various logs and trunks that could be "houses".

He had fun throwing sticks and leaves into the river and watching them float or sink.

Here he is running over the bridge.

Natey's memory verse was  Psalm 23 which we have returned to as he does not remember all of it from last year.

 Mercy was happy to walk with Daddy, although very distracted! Moss is so interesting, you see!

From garden to tummies . . . silverbeet put in a very simple tomato sauce (canned tomatoes, half an onion, curry powder) and put over chicken breasts and roasted.

A book we enjoyed together was "A Drive in the Country" by Michael J. Rosen.


Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from the beauty of Scripture and catechism put to song through Dana Dirksen's "Songs for Saplings" music. We highly recommend their CDs, and especially love the ABCs. Adults and children can enjoy them together. When the children fussed in the car we often found that one of these songs helped.

One funny moment was Nate's continued statements about going to the "moral high ground". Since hearing this expression in one of our conversations Nate has taken it to heart and is convinced it is a place. Maybe he will need a ladder to get there?

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