Merrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!!

<-- what we look like in real life

a huge crowd for the music. The crowd also got an unexpected treat from our Solid Gold little dancer -->

A big Merry Christmas to cyber space, and hope that 2010 is better than ever.

These are from about a month before Christmas. They had some Christmas Carols. We didn't last until the carols came

<-- No need for a cage for this go-go dancer. I said, how's your hearing, OLLIE?

hittin the highs -->

Ollie and Louis are really well. Louis is smiling at everyone, and has some excellent strength. Ollie is entertaining now. We were getting used to his limited vocab with little words like Mama and Papa. Here's a list from February of this year
hello, hat, bye, all gone, up please, hot, car, bus, truck,
bike, ball, see ya, mama , papa, book, shoes, woof,
meow, no, ta(thanks), fish, walk, baka(grandma),
are you?(where are you?)
We are very proud of his language skills, and every new word was pure delight to hear.

But now Ollie is now really expanding. The other morning he came up to the bedside. I asked him How are you? And he replies "Not too bad!". We both had to laugh. Before that I told him I love you, and he responded "You're welcome!". We went to Ang and Steve's today, and he entertained everyone with his odd sayings. At the local daycare he encourages the other kids with "come on!"

The 27th of December

<-- What do you call THIS? His first taste of ice cream. Looks like he liked it.

Louis, Marie, Ang, Steve, Alexandra, Gabrielle and Ollie escaping -->

Ivana was playing in a tournament near Manly. It is a sensational beach, with an overcrowded plaza. At least its just for pedestrians.


<-- the happiest man alive

ta naaa!!-->

Citect Christmas thing

Michael, Wei Ching, Tim

Dean, Bernard - 2 bosses up, and me -->

I just thought I'd put up a couple of shots from this one, as it was fancy dress, and lots of fun.





<-- Marie, me and crazy in a good way adventurer Dave

Bernard says I can still turn up on Monday, as long as the moustache is gone. He won't have competition -->

Boxing day 26 Dec

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd look it up. I'm not sure how many people boxed on Boxing Day, but now there's a yacht race, the Sydney to Hobart, and not much else on. It's a public holiday, so Christmas is the best time of year by far!

Merrry Christmas!

<-- at Tim and Zdenka's in the Alladin's room

Beautiful Milly -->

Christmas this year was at Ceal's and Zdenka's. Ate too much as usual. I was astonished at the huge room piled up with presents for the hordes of children. Had a great time.





<-- Louis and Marie

At Ceals-->

<--at the bowlo in Tribal Zone

on the way down-->

We went down the South Coast to Sanctuary Point, Jervis Bay with Zdenka and Tim at their place. Had a lovely time at the beach. It's perfect for kiddies. Louis watched everything excitedly, and Ollie just loved getting into the water, building sandcastles, and annoying hell out of the cats next door.




<--telling the cat where to go

The weekend

<-- one the trampoline at Tess, Belle and Will's

very excited about "going in the water"-->

We've been doing some swimming lessons. Ollie enrolled for his first set. He absolutely loves the water. He just started to understand kicking to get some propulsion. It's marvelous to see the idea click.


<-- Beautiful Louis

Fran holds her latest beautiful grandchild -->

The trip to work

Here's a 3 minute video of my trip. As Marie said, it's more interesting than I thought it would be.

The way there is via Pacific highway, then back home on the back streets and the path.

The school fete

A day at the school fete. We went on every ride, and even the jungle gym. Had two huge slices of watermelon.

<-- the best slide ever

2 happy customers -->

<-- one of the cutest boys

what's he thinking? -->

Emily's 2nd birthday!

<-- beware the cake monster behind

Emily and Anna watch closely -->

Aramageddon today

<-- the road to Armageddon

the normally busy Pacific Highway -->

Just as soon as Ken warned us about environmental problems, and then we have this. Waking up, it appeared as though the whole place was on fire, on we'd had an atomic attack. Turns out it was dust. I can't get the taste out of my mouth.

<-- they stayed inside for most of the day, until the dust blew over

at the local cafe days before -->

Ken Livingstone former mayor of London

<-- only Dave can bs his way into photographing 2 of the most moderately powerful people around Ken Livingstone and Clover Moore.

Proof that I was there. -->

On the way home yesterday, I rode uphill, slowly, much to the annoyance of a large BMW 4WD. Rounding me, his turbos whistled loudly, the revving engine testament to his testiness at being delayed by some seconds. He reached the top of the hill at speed, then turned left onto the highway and stopped. Friday night traffic heading North is more stop than go, so I passed him soon after.

The transport needs of a city is an interesting problem, and former Mayor of London "Red" Ken Livingstone was in town last Wednesday to give local mayor of Sydney Clover Moore a few tips. London has been renewed. From gridlock of cars shrouded in smog to a reduced free flow of cars, and increased alternative transport. In a speech from the heart, Ken also touched on environment, obesity, and the downside of consumerism.

The focus of the talk was the problems facing London. Car usage in the city had reached a critical level, and producing a gridlock. Public transport was underutilised.

A congestion charge was introduced on cars entering London. Overnight, there was a drop in car trips by about 40%. Now those, who really need to use their car, can drive in freely flowing traffic.

Only unemployed and pensioners used the buses, which were old. A new fleet of buses was renewed so now all kinds of people use them. Business people and even rich people use them, as they are now more convenient than a car. New unified ticketing means you only need a single Travelcard, which is more convenient and cheaper since one ticket covers buses, trains and trams. Bus trips have increased from 4 million to 6 million per day. As we all know a single bus can replace around 50 cars. Rail capacity also has also been increased by around 50% to cover for the reduction in cars.

With the reduction in cars, bikes are now being seen on the streets again. The number one problem for wealthy English speaking countries is obesity, and cycling is a simple way to achieve people's exercise needs, while getting to work at the same time.

A reduction in greenhouse emissions of 36% can be achieved simply by lifestyle choices, without any need for new technology. Producing electricity locally would cut down on losses during transmission from remote stations. Red Ken also reeled off some statistics concerning the rising oceans. 15% of Bangladesh will be underwater, and 4% of the resorts around the Mediterranean will be desert. Without action on emissions, this will get worse.

Earlier speaker Anthony Albanese said improved transport is also a social issue. He pointed out that many people spend more time in their car, than playing with their children.

Personally, I just hate breathing car exhaust outside my front door, and that there are almost no pedestrian crossings. Dear Ken, I hope you get back in again. More power to you!

Coffs Harbour 4-9-09

<-- A good time had

by all -->

Nice beaches, plenty of time in the water. Despite turning purple, Ollie complained bitterly when it was time to get out.

The trip up was hell, but on the way back we took all day, with plenty of stops.



<-- storm boy looking for pelicans

a long lunch stop at Taree -->

Kindi farm 2-9-09

<-- beautiful Louis

making friends -->

Ollie spent some time checking out all the animals, but still found time to go off with his ride on trucks. The larger animals poked their heads through seeking food pellets, but scaring the kiddies away. Lucky for the birds who sat calmly.





<-- The golden goose

some very cute animals -->

Holly and Lola's 29 Aug

<-- a nice time had by all

I know what you're thinking -->

Rara with one of the guests of honour -->

<-- hey there