Lovely friends

A few more shots from the beach. Michelle and Steve (Lucas' parents), Amy, Kirstin & Clara. A great day spent with special friends.

Clara's Beach Birthday

Now this was a 2nd birthday bash worthy of praise. It started with a beautiful handmade felt embroidered fish invitation, (I know, I should stop here shouldn't I?) which invited us to spend the day at the beach for Clara's 2nd birthday. We had a ball - the weather was perfect, not too hot (I know this is hard for you to imagine Dad), the company was great and the kids had a brilliant time. Amy gave us lessons in how to fly her fabulous kites - we bombed but it was fun, Kirstin made cupcakes with umbrellas and lolly beach towels (who knew this could even be done?) and the kids dug and swam and ate and laughed. Truly, a memorable day. Thankfully Sophia is still too young to understand the fine art of comparison - Orestes and I would be done for!

We love the zoo and our friend Clara

Clara and Sophia are great mates and as luck would have it Clara doesn't like berries but loves to feed them to Soph - what a deal. We have been feasting on this bush outside our house all August long and it seems we need to drive our green car to get there.

Soph was fascinated by this beautiful lorikeet at the zoo - certainly wasn't the Bunya Mountains but what can you do?

Summer fun

Soph loves to paint, draw and help me in the kitchen or garden. Here's a few shots of her engrossed in these activities. I love the one of her drawing (hat on backwards) with Yia Yia on the deck. You have to look closely at the beautiful apron Kirstin made for Sophia - she's wearing it in the kitchen, it's so gorgeous.

Never ending summer

This really has been the summer for adventures. We had a great week down in Bend with Orestes' Mum at the end of August. It was so lovely to watch Sophia and Yia Yia spend their days together. Sophia also had a great time with Orestes putting around on the Deschutes in the boat and going to the High Desert Museum. She got to experience camping when they pitched their tent out in the meadow and slept (well Sophia did) soundly for two nights. They have also made a habit of bundling up to watch the stars from the deck. Daddy loves it when Sophia falls asleep in his arms. What a fantastic August we've had.

Tide Pools

I had to show these incredible photos from the tide pools at Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach. Orestes and Soph spent ages each morning down at the pools = lovely leisurely reading and coffee time for Mum - love that! Naturally sea anemones and star fish are now a big part of the conversation. Aren't they beautiful?

Birthday at the Beach

The dust had barely settled when we loaded up and headed to the beach for a week. Again, Orestes found us an incredible place to stay. This time a little cottage one house back from the ocean - it was gorgeous. Sophia and Orestes spent hours at the beach, digging in the sand, swimming and exploring the tide pools. We celebrated Soph's 2nd birthday in a very low key fashion. Orestes went looking for a carrot cupcake at 4pm on the 27th, luckily found one and some candles. Sophia blew out the candles and then the poor urchin had to share her little cupcake with her parents! And that my friends is our idea of the perfect 2nd birthday party.

New Zealand

On our way home from Australia we had a week on the North Island of New Zealand. Orestes' found us an unbelievably beautiful unit that perched truly on the edge of the world. We had such a relaxing week and so enjoyed the beauty that comes with rolling hills and rain.