TGIF

Another Friday has arrived and with it another week in Australia behind us. After the excitement of skiing last weekend, we took it easy at home this week. The weather is finally starting to warm up and feel like spring. Here are a few pictures of Zach throughout the week. He continues to get bigger and more mobile. He can now move about six feet in less than 30 seconds. He'll soon be faster than Mom and Dad.

It has taken a while to find food that he seems to like but squash now suits him just fine. It's hard to believe from this picture, but more tends to go in his mouth than on his chin. Mom thinks he is trying to look like Dad with his goatee.

Zach helped Mom make brownies. Love the cooking utensils as toys.

We took time out to watch Obama's acceptance speech live today. Listening to him talk made us feel very close to home.

Zach seemed pleased by what he heard.

(August) Winter Wonderland

At the invitation of our friends, Glenn and Lisanne, we went in search of snow this weekend. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to go skiing in August.

A windy drive to the top of the ski mountain led us past snow-covered tree ferns and towering gum trees.



We bundled little Zacharoo up in his Baby Bjorn and hit the trails.



It all started out okay....

Zach squealed and laughed as we glided through the trails lined with snow gums. He even took a turn skiing with Glenn, the expert skier in the group.



But after an hour he had had enough of the snow and cold.

Absolute misery set in, poor guy!

So we headed into the lodge to warm up and enjoyed watching the crowd of people on the sledding hill below.

The tears didn't last long.

Needless to say, it was a big day for little Zach.

And in the end he just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He's already dreaming of snowflakes and his next skiing trip when he might just be wearing his own skis!

Standing Tall

Look at me! I'm getting close to standing by myself!!

Here Birdie, Birdie

We had a quiet weekend at home. No special outings, but we did enjoy a long walk in the woods near the river. Although it is the middle of winter, the weather is pretty mild and the early spring flowers are starting to bloom. Even the cherry orchards are beginning to show their pink blossoms. The birds continue to amaze us. We picked up a new set of binoculars to aid us in our attempts to identify the colorful avians. If only we could capture them on camera as well as we can see them with the binoculars. Here are a few of our recent bird pics.


Brett and Zach exploring the gum forest with early spring blossoms.


Red rumped parrots in our backyard.

Splended fairy wren in our front yard.

Emu at the neighborhood animal farm.

The kookaburras were all around us but we couldn't get close for a good picture so instead we captured their laugh on video. We hear them echoing through the trees on the golf course most evenings.

After a long day of strolling, Zacharoo enjoys a bedtime story.

Flipping for Footy

Zach is a serious steam roller! And he's using his rolling skills to grab for whatever he wants. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are trying to take advantage of the few remaining months (weeks?!) of Zach's (relative) immobility. We're sure it won't be long until he figures out how to scoot and then crawl.

Flipping for his footy.

Zach also tried on a little gray hair for a change from his beautiful baldness.

Little Cutie

Enough said!

B-double-E-double-R-U-N (Beer Run)

We woke up to a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and decided to take a drive to see more of the surrounding countryside. We packed the guide books, the babe, and a map listing the closest microbreweries and headed out. We drove north from Shepparton toward the Murry River, Australia's longest river, passing bright green pastures dotted with sheep and cattle along the way.

The road then took us to Rutherglen, a region known for its forified wines especially port, tawny, and tokay. We found a small microbrewery attached to one of the wineries and stopped to take in the views and the brews.

The last stop on our journey was the historic former gold mining town of Beechworth that is best known for its role in the Ned Kelly legend (Australia's Jesse James) and its bakery. Sadly, we missed the festivities of Ned Kelly Days by one weekend.

Instead we had to settle for a full sampler of brews from the local microbrewery.

Much to Brett's delight the beer was great! Lots of flavor and hops.

Even Zach thought it looked yummy!

Animal Farm

Zach and Brett continue to enjoy the countryside while Anna works. Today they headed out of town to visit some friends on their sheep station (ranch). Zach charmed everyone while Brett had time to check out the woolies.

Later, all three of us strolled down the block to the neighborhood animal farm. Zach wasn't sure what to make of the deer and camel, and they weren't sure what to think of him. We also saw an emu, goats, and three wallabies.

After such a busy day, Zach worked up quite an appetite. Can you guess what he had for dinner?

Blah Blah Blah

Besides working on his vocabulary, Zach has been busy helping Dad.

Look what turned up in the laundry pile!

As a reward for being such a good helper, Dad picked out a new t-shirt for Zach. Something only a brewer could love...

And for those who might be interested, Zach has learned a few words besides blah blah blah...

Did he just say "mom"?