Thanksgiving in Colorado

We drove in the car for a long, long, long time to get to our Thanksgiving. We went all the way to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to celebrate with Grandma Perry's family at Aunt Janis's house. Mom & Dad drove all night long so I slept most of the way. While at Aunt Janis's, Aunt Jane brought Great Grandma Hubbard's old butter churn so that we could all learn how to churn butter. Check out the slide show to see some pictures of me and all my cousins learning how to churn butter.

Halloween 2008

I had a great Halloween this year! I dressed up as Baby Jaguar from Go, Diego, Go! There was such great weather on Halloween night here in Iowa that we didn't even have to wear coats! (Thank goodness, I wouldn't have wanted to cover my costume!) Trick-or-treating was HARD work. I didn't quite understand what I was supposed to do until about the last two houses we stopped at. I thought I was supposed to ring the doorbell and yell TRICK or TREAT right away. I didn't realize that I needed to wait until someone actually answered the door! Whew . . .

And why does everyone seem to pass out chocolate on Halloween??!! Don't they know I don't like chocolate?? (At least I tell myself and others I don't like chocolate . . . but mom and dad don't really believe me!) The first house I went to gave me M&Ms. I ran to mom crying because I don't like chocolate!! She told me I couldn't be rude and I should just thank everyone that gives me chocolate. We then decided we would just take all of our chocolate home to dad. So, being the good boy that I am, I told EVERYONE that gave me chocolate that night, "Thank you, it's for my dad!" They all thought I was just too cute! Doesn't everyone just give all of their candy to dad??

Hope you had a great Halloween! Here is a slide show of Kaden and I on Halloween and a few other pics as well.

The Pumpkin Patch

It's was our last weekend in Moline so mom and dad decided to take us to the Pumpkin Patch at "The Pride of the Wapsi." I had a blast! I got to do so many things! I jumped in the giant pumpkin trampoline, took a pony ride, went through a haunted maze (with mom), rode this REALLY bumpy train, and took a big wagon ride to "the patch" to pick my very own pumpkin. Whew! It was a busy two hours! We only got to pick one pumpkin because we are moving to Cedar Falls soon and mom doesn't want to move alot of pumpkins . . . we'll buy more and make a jack-o-lantern later. Anyways, here are some pictures of my great day at the pumpkin patch.

Mom has been slacking again (Gee, I wonder what she has been up too!) It's been awhile since she updated my website so here are some September picutres for you to see. You'll find me enjoying a Krispy Kreme donut at my Grandma & Grandpa Dammast's house, getting my haircut at Big League Barbers by Jen, sporting my new Colorado outfit from Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Vern, and having fun in the swimming pool at the hotel in Cedar Falls.

I'm 3!!

I turned 3 on August 2nd! We celebrated my birthday in Bellevue, Nebraska with lots of friends and family. I got to have a CARS birthday. Grandma Dammast found someone to make the coolest CARS cake too . . . check out the picture! I got so many great presents that mom won't even let me open them all right now. Thank you to everyone that helped me celebrate! I had alot of fun!

It's about time . . .

that mom got on the ball and let you know what I've been up to!!

Well, first I'll share some of my final pics from Australia. I just had to get my picture taken with the animal murals that were near our house. Each day as mom drove by them I would shout, "Hi, Koala", or "Hi, Crocodile" . . . aren't they great? These murals were painted under an overpass of the motorway. Mom & Dad says it's a great idea so you don't have to stare at ugly cement walls all the time. I think they are wonderful because it gives me something beautiful and bright to look at everyday.

I also wanted to share some pictures of my Kiah school. Not all of my teachers were available for pictures but I was happy to get photos of those that were there on my last day at Kiah.

I survived the REALLY LONG plane ride back to America. Mom had promised me that we would have a TV/video screen at our seats on the flight back . . . but she was wrong! I spent alot of time watching my iPod, coloring, sleeping, and wandering around. Fourteen hours is a looooong time to be on an airplane.

We finally arrived back in America on July 10, 2008. Mom & Dad had been telling me about America for quite awhile now (I don't really remember much about it from before.) Well, I got off the plane, looked around, and said, "So, where IS America?" Hmmmmm . . .

After arriving in Denver, Colorado and flying for over 22 hours straight we jumped in a car and drove for three more hours to Kimball to visit Grandma and Grandpa Perry. It was wheat harvest time in Kimball and dad wanted to try to help and also check out our farm ground in the area. I was able to ride with dad in the combine during harvest and ride with Uncle Justin in the tractor hauling the grain cart. I also had fun going to the Kimball swimming pool, playing with Bella (Uncle Justin's dog), and meeting lots of friends and family at a welcome home dinner in Kimball.

Bright & Shiny

It's school holiday time in Queensland again so we are busy trying to find things for me to do during the day. (No swimming lessons, playgroup, or gym tots during school holiday time.) Well, yesterday mom took Kaden and I to the Ipswich Art Gallery because they have an exhibit there called Bright & Shiny. It is just for infants and toddlers like Kaden and I. We had alot of fun exploring all of the bright and shiny things that were just for kids. I'm sure going to miss all of the cool things that Australia has to offer us little kids!

My Final Aussie Swim Lesson :(

Today was my very last swimming lesson in the land of OZ. Boo hoo! I love going to my weekly lesson. I actually graduated this term and was promoted to the Big Little Bears group. That means that I would have moved on to a new swimming pool and worked on independent swimming (without parents in the pool.) Can you beleive that??!! I sure hope mom can find me some swim lessons in America like these!

Here is a video of me enjoying my last lesson in the Baby Bears pool.


Dad took off work to come to my last lesson and he took lots of pictures of me having fun in the water. Check out some of my great moves!

Lots of Fun!

We just finished with another holiday and more American visitors! This time though our visitors brought kids for me to play with everyday (even though we didn't always play nice!) The Davison's came to visit and brought Anna and Max with them. We took them to some of our favorite places in Australia. First we flew in a plane to the Whitsunday's. Anna, Max, Kaden, and I spent a day at the Skipper Club on Daydream Island while mom, dad, Chris, and Heather went to go explore the Great Barrier Reef. I enjoyed the Jungle Jumble playground on Daydream Island and I liked swimming in the pool with dad. When we got back to Brisbane we took them to Currumbin and stayed at Sand Castles resort and went to visit our Australian animal friends at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We also visited the prettiest beach in Australia (at least we think so) down in Byron Bay. Our final days were spent showing them the city, visiting the Gold Coast, and hiking in the rainforest.

Now it's back to our normal routine. I have two more weeks of swimming lessons and Gym Tots before school holidays start again. This will be my last time to do swimming lessons and gymnastics because mom and dad say that we'll be headed back to America soon. Mom says she has some fun things planned in July though to keep me busy, so stayed tuned!

Gym Tots

This term I have been attending gymnastics, or Gym Tots, once a week with mom at the Y-West center (YMCA.) Kaden goes to the gym's kids club while we go to Gym Tots. It's alot of fun at Gym Tots. There are always two different themed obstacle courses for us to complete. I am learning to sit, listen, and then play. I always want to run around the gym and do things on my own but mom reminds me that we need to sit and listen to our gym teacher first before we run and play. This can be REALLY hard when there are so many fun things all around me to do!! My friend Emma attends gym tots too so we always have fun falling into the HUGE foam block pit and trying to get out.

The CARS kid

Did you know that I absolutely love anything to do with CARS? Well, yeah, I like all cars, but I really love the Disney CARS movie. I watch it ALOT, and I have it almost memorized! I have so many CARS cars (see picture below) that I can act out every scene perfectly. Our CARS movie can only be played in Australia on the DVD player so we're definitely going to have to get one for America! Mom even downloaded the CARS movie to her iPod . . . for "desperate times" she said.


Here I am sportin' the CARS slippers that Aunt Kara and Uncle Carl got me.


Here are the CARS boys. Yes, even Kaden loves to get his hands (and mouth) on my CARS whenever he can!

Evan . . . The Travelin' Man

We just went on a really looong holiday and rode in the car for a really looong time to get to our destinations. Mom and dad said I did pretty good considering all of the driving we had to do . . . I guess I'm growing up - at least that is what they have been telling me.

First of all we flew to Melbourne. Dad had to teach training for work for a couple days so mom, Kaden, and I hit the big city on our own and our first stop was the Melbourne Aquarium. I had alot of fun here. I've been to the aquarium at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha and at Underwater World at the Sunshine Coast but this one topped the cake! There was a tunnel for us to walk through and it ended in this big room that was shaped like a bubble with fish and sharks and turtles and sting rays swimming all around us! We even got to watch the divers swim in the bubble tank to hand feed the fish. It was pretty cool!

After dad was done with his training we hopped in the car and drove to Phillip Island, south of Melbourne, to watch the Penguin Parade. Mom and dad had to buy me a winter coat - that I hated wearing - because it was alot colder on Phillip Island than anything we had ever experienced in Australia! Seeing the penguins was also pretty neat.

We saw alot of the ocean on the rest of our trip while driving, driving, driving. We made stops along the way as we traveled through the Otway National Park and along The Great Ocean Road. We visited a sub-temperate rainforest, the Cape Otway Lighthouse, and the 12 Apostles . . . all things that mom and dad say I will appreciate one day.

By the end of our two weeks of flying and driving all over Australia I told everyone that I was "tired of traveling" and wanted to go home and play with my cars. Mom, Kaden, and I flew home from Adelaide while dad went to Sydney to finish some work. Boy was I happy to get home and get back to normal!

BFF!

I would like to introduce you to my best friend Harry! I met Harry at Kiah school and everyday I tell mom that Harry is my best friend. My teachers have told mom that I get pretty territorial of Harry at school and don't want him to play with anyone other than me. The other day Harry and his mom and sister met us at the park to play and we had lots of fun! This is a picture of Harry and I at the duck pond by our house.

Guess what??!!

I can spell my name . . . without any help! Mom and I have been practicing everyday and I can finally do it all by myself. I guess I'm lucky that I have a pretty short first name though! Here is a video of me spelling my name for you


I am also sharing some pictures with you of when I went with Aunt Stephanie to dig up thundereggs at the Thunderegg Mine. While Dad and Justin went on the ropes course at Adventure Parc and mom fed Kaden I got to go dig Thundereggs. It was lots of fun to do boys things, like dig in the dirt and mud and use cool tools!

Australia's Funniest Home Video?

We went to O'Reiley's with Steph and Justin and everyone thought it would be a great idea to turn my hat inside out to feed the birds. As you can tell I wasn't too thrilled with the idea!

The Beats Bus

Last week was my last week visiting The Beats Bus so mom took some pictures. There is a picture of me and bus driver Brendan playing some of our favorite instruments from this term. We played egg shakers, castanets, maracas, animal shakers, and tambourines this term. I liked the maracas the best and am really good at keeping the beat. You'll see some other pictures of me with Bette the Bus and some pictures of Bus Driver Brendan and Celebration Shea doing their crazy songs and dance for us. They took us on several song "tours" this term . . . including trips to the farm, zoo, circus, garden, city, and park. I'm sad that I won't get to go to The Beats Bus next term but we are going to be traveling alot and we'll miss too many weeks, so we're taking a break for awhile. It sure was fun while it lasted!!

The "Train Park"

All Aboard the Evan Express!! Mom & Dad took me to Milton Park today, AKA the "Train Park". It was so cool!! It was set up just like a train station and we could climb on everything. I loved it and didn't want to leave. I even wore my favorite train shirt just for the occasion.

Feeding the Birds

I had a fun time feeding the pretty birds at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. I'm learning the concept of "gentle" because I would always try to feed the birds just like I feed the kangaroos (shoving the food at their mouth) and the birds didn't really like this technique. I also got to walk on these cool bridges in the rainforest. Mom and Dad wouldnt' let me climb the tall ladder to the top of the rainforest but I still got to bounce across the bridges and roam in the garden.

I have been busy on Friday's this term going to The Beats Bus to learn about instruments and music. We have alot of fun singing and playing clackers, castinets, and wooden sticks. We pretend to go different places every week . . . the farm, the beach, the city, and the garden, so far . . . and all the music is geared around these places. Maybe mom will take some pictures sometime so you can see what The Beats Bus is all about.

We have also been busy every Saturday morning hiking up Mt. Coot-tha. I'm becoming more and more independent and want to try to walk the entire way but mom and dad say I'm a slowpoke and eventually I end up riding on dad's shoulders. I really like looking for caterpillars and butterflies as we walk.

Busy Boy

I learned all about the Chinese New Year this week. I got to see "lion dragons", as I call them, dance and take money from people. I wasn't quite sure about putting my hand in their mouth, but Jamie helped me and I didn't have to get too close. I played with my friend Alex at the restaurant the entire night and got to stay up until 10:30PM . . . that's REALLY late for me. BUT, I was up and ready for our next adventure at 6:30AM the next morning!!

The next day we took a family hike at Mt. Tamborine. I rode on dad's shoulders the whole time. Well, I would walk for a few feet then determine I was too tired and get on dad's shoulders again. Whew! Hiking is exhausting . . . at least mom and dad say so!! I really like rainforests and am trying to get my picture taken with every cool fig tree that I can find and crawl into.


I have some new phrases/sentences I've been using alot . . . and in the right context too!
"That'd be cool!" AND "Let's get out of here!"

Learning New Things

Mom and Dad took me to the Science Centre last weekend. It was lots of fun. I ran here and there and everywhere doing all the neat things they had available. We even went to a balloon show and I got to watch balloons fly around the room. There were long balloons, short balloons, and many different colored balloons. After the Science Centre we went to my favorite place in the world to eat . . . "Uncle Donald's", as I call it - otherwise known as McDonald's or Macca's. Mom and Dad say that by the time we leave Australia we might have eaten at almost all of the McDonald's in Queensland . . . not really, but it feels that way to them!