They call me "NO FEAR" Evan

because I love to feed the kangaroos and am not afraid to march right up to them, stick my hand in their face, and offer them a treat! We had to stay close to home this weekend because mom might have a baby soon, so mom and dad took me to Lone Pine Zoo and the Brisbane Botanical Gardens.

On Saturday we went to the zoo and since we have a family pass for a year we get free kangaroo food. I loved feeding and petting the kangaroos and mom said I had "no fear" because I wasn't scared at all (and believe me kangaroos have some long, scary looking claws!!)

On Sunday we went to the gardens at Mount Coot-tha to see flowers and plants . . . and so I could feed the ducks at the lagoon. I loved running after dad on the trails and trying to skip. Mom also caught me trying to smell as many flowers as I could. It was a fun weekend!

As promised . . .

here are some pictures of me at swimming lessons here in Australia. We had a make-up lesson to complete so mom scheduled it when dad could come (in the evening) and watch and take pictures. Some kid threw up in my regular pool so they had to shut it down and move us into one lane of another pool. We were crowded, and I had a different teacher, and we didn't do our normal routine and songs . . . but at least dad got to see me swim. Mom calls the swimming lessons here in Australia "hardcore" because even at my age they are teaching us to swim under the water as well as how to jump in the water without being scared. My regular teacher, Jen, always scolds my mom because she says that mom is too protective of me in the water and that she needs to just let me go. I think mom is learning as much from the lessons as I am!!We have one more week of swimming lessons before "holiday" (spring vacation) starts here in Australia. The next term starts in two weeks and dad is going to be taking me to swimming lessons on Tuesday nights then.

I have also discovered a new treat that I love . . . suckers! (Or "lollies" as all candy is called here in Australia.) I was so amazed that my blueberry sucker turned my tongue blue. Mom has to be careful because when she says "ready for SUPPER" I always think she is offering me another SUCKER . . . hmmmmmm.

Daddy's Home!

Dad came home from being gone a long time and we had a fun weekend. He actually wasn't gone that long but we were so used to him NOT travelling that it seemed like a long time for us. We spent the afternoon on Saturday at the park down the block from our house. Dad helped teach me how to throw a frisbee and we watched the ducks at the lake and found lots of these REALLY BIG lizards out roaming around. (I guess there are alot of lizards in Australia but the ones we saw at the park were probably 2-3 feet long!) I also had fun on the play equipment, going down the slide, walking on the balance beam, and swinging.

On Sunday we went down to the Queen Street Pier and Queen Street Mall to the street-side market and shopping area (along the Brisbane River.) Dad and I enjoyed the good weather and walking around . . . mom enjoyed buying things. They have some really cool trees in downtown Brisbane amongst all the skyscrapers and I had fun playing "peek" with mom and the camera. I also got to see several (weird) mime's as we walked.

Dad leaves again this week for New Zealand . . . but only for 3 days this time. He is getting all of his travelling out of the way before the baby comes.

Happy Father's Day . . . again!

We are celebrating Father's Day again this year. Yep, in Australia Father's Day is the first weekend in September so dad got lucky and gets two this year. Poor mom, she still only gets one Mother's Day as they celebrate it at around the same time as they do in America. So, I made dad some special Father's Day presents when I went to my school. Dad also bought me a new helmet for bike riding (my melon is getting REALLY big and I already grew out of my last helmet!) AND, my present to him for Father's Day was to actually WEAR THE HELMET without fussing! I like to be the same as dad so it was fun to both wear our helmets! Our neighbor, Billy, is a policeman and he told me that we have to wear helmets or mom and dad have to pay alot of money if we're caught without helmets. Since things are so expensive here in Australia I thought I would save mom and dad some money and just be cooperative and wear my new helmet! We also brought our Burley bike trailer from America so this is what I ride around in while dad bikes. Everyone looks at us funny because these trailers aren't as common here in Australia.