Sundays in my City #15 - PNG (again!)

It has been a very long week that again hasn't involved any photos of worth.  I spent the majority of the week sick in bed and only ventured out today.  Sure I took heaps of photos at soccer but they aren't that interesting and I didn't even take a camera to the ice hockey, wanting to watch the game rather than photograph it.  So again I am stuck with the dilemma - What to share for Sunday in my City?

I know, how about some more photos from Papua New Guinea!  A random collection of photos that show the beauty of the country and the really diverse landscapes.

Just keep walking...

Shopping anyone?

Sun flare over Brigade Hill

The long path home

Most of the group on top of Imita Ridge

The end of the track is in sight - Owers Corner

I promise I will get out of the house and get some photos worth posting this week, or at least be inventive enough to dig through the archives and find something new to post, in the meantime, join in the fun of  Sundays in my City.

iHelicopter

For ages now, all I have wanted was to fly my very own helicopter, not a real one, a little remote controlled helicopter that I could fly around the house.  I even wrote it on my Christmas wish-list last year but it didn't help me, I didn't get a helicopter.  Do you know who did get a helicopter?  Dad did, for his birthday from mum, she picked it up duty-free on the way back from Papua New Guinea.  (I think mum was feeling guilty that she was in another country for his birthday, I remember she gave me extra presents when she was in India for my birthday!)

Anyway, when I came back from holidays with nan and pop, there is this helicopter sitting on top of the TV cabinet, just begging for me to play with it.  I asked if I could have a go but dad said he couldn't get it working using his iPhone as a remote, he was going to have to try it with the iPad when he had a chance to download the app.  Well apparently dad tried it with the iPad too and it still didn't work, he didn't know what to do.

That was a month ago.  Since then, it has sat on top of the TV cabinet, just reminding me of how cool it is, if only it worked.  Well today, I decided it was time to see if I could get it to work, I had nothing else to do.

AJ - Dad, can I try the helicopter?
Dad - It doesn't work!

AJ - Yeah, but can I try it anyway?
Dad - Sure, give it a shot.  (Then walks away muttering something about it being useless!)

AJ grabs the helicopter and the iPhone as Sean walks away.  Seconds later, there is a little helicopter buzzing around the room.

Sean - How did you get it to work?
AJ - I pressed the ON button!

It was awesome flying a helicopter, I even let dad have a go at flying it too before it ran out of power and needed to be put back on the charger.

Once he realised that the chopper worked, dad figured that he could throw out the box that it came in, that is when I showed him that even the picture on the box showed the ON button, I am guessing he didn't read the instructions either!

Next time something electrical doesn't work around here, I am pretty sure that I will be the person who has to fix it, not Dad!

Love AJ Pickle

PS - Mum is feeling better, she laughed at dad as much as I did.  She is a little off her game though, she didn't get a camera out in time to make a movie of the debut flight!

Winter Woes

Remember on the weekend we had no new photos to share of our week because we stayed inside most of the weekend because I was feeling pretty ordinary and had a really bad cold?  Well I felt OK on Monday and I went to school but by the end of the day I was feeling pretty ordinary again so we all decided that since mum didn't have to go in to work on Tuesday that I should spend the day in bed resting so that I could recover.

On Tuesday morning, AJ headed off to school and mum and I snuggled on the couch watching Glee.  Now normally when we have a sick day, we have to spend the morning in bed either sleeping or reading.  I really expected mum to remember that sick days mean sleep and not endless hours watching tv shows but mum was sound asleep on the couch!

Other than when the guy came to fix the tv antenna, Mum spent the entire day sleeping, either on the couch or in AJ's room.  I figured that she must really be sick when she didn't even answer her phone when it rang!  I didn't want to bother her so I made my own lunch and even told AJ not to annoy mum when he got home from school.

When dad finally got home from work, he decided that mum was too sick to stay at home and before we knew it, we were heading over to our neighbours house for some dinner and dad was taking mum in to the hospital for some tests.  It turns out that they thought mum might have had malaria but luckily it was only dehydration from the flu.  They gave her some IV fluids, some drugs and then let her go home for some more sleep.

So today I am back at school feeling almost normal again and mum is at home, still in bed sleeping and hopefully feeling a little better.
Love Princess George

Sundays in my City #14 - the people of Kokoda

The cold of the Melbourne winter where everyone seems to be struggling with cold and flu has finally hit here.  Instead of spending the day outside, exploring and having fun, we spent the day inside, resting and napping on the couch.  Milla was unwell and I was in need of a day of rest too.  That means that we don't have any new photos for this week, but I have plenty of photos and great memories that I haven't had a chance to share.

The people of the Kokoda Track
The gorgeous kids we met in every village we visited.

The wonderful porters who helped us, every step of the way.

 The fantastic young people that I trekked with, who came alive when playing with the local kids.

Paying respect to someone who supported Australian diggers during WWII.

An amazing journey that I was lucky enough to share with some dynamic young people who I am sure will change the world.

If you want to join in the fun of Sundays in my City too, click on over to Unknown Mami.

Chuck a Puck

Just in case you didn't know it, we are huge ice hockey fans around here and every chance we get we go to watch Melbourne Ice play.  Today was one of those days, game day.  Better still, it was the Melbourne Derby - Melbourne Ice were playing the Mustangs.

We knew that it was going to be a huge game and sell out so we bought our tickets early and went in to the game hours before the game started just to make sure we had good seats.  I was glad we went early, not just because we did get good seats but because I was asked to be in Chuck-a-puck at the end of the first period!

I was pretty excited to be in Chuck-a-puck.  I was contestant number 3 and I was pretty nervous.  We were all interviewed and it was shown on the big screen.

Finally it was time to Chuck a puck.  The first 2 contestants aimed for the target - a big bag of chocolates on the ice but their puck wasn't very close.  Then it was my turn.  I chucked my puck, it wasn't a great throw but it was much closer than the first two.  Contestant number 4 threw her puck and it was a pretty good throw, it looked to be about the same distance from the chocolate but on the other side of it.  The last 4 throws weren't really very good so it was between me and number 4.  I was pretty sure that my puck was closest, but her throw was straighter so the prize was given to her.  I was a little disappointed not to win, but I still had a great time.

Better still, it was great to spend the afternoon with my family, and extended family - Sarah and Fred AND the Melbourne Ice won the game 4-1.

All in all, a great day out,

Love Princess George

Sundays in my City #13 - on Friday the 13th

This is the my second Sundays in my City post for the week, making up for missing out on posting last week.  Here are the beautiful people that I missed as I was trekking through the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

the superRelish family :-)

Wandering together around Werribee Open Range Zoo - the only activity we have managed to share as a family during the holiday break.

If you want to join in the fun of Sundays in my City too, click on over to Unknown Mami.

Sundays in my City #12 - Last Sunday at Kokoda

I didn't get a chance to play along with Sundays in my City last week.  I had a really good excuse, I was in Kokoda and completely out of range for any wifi.  In fact, there was no phone coverage, no electricity and not that it has any impact upon my ability to blog, there was no plumbing either!  Even if I did work out how to connect via the emergency sat phone, I really didn't have any room in my backpack to carry a laptop (not even my tiny little macbook air!) as my pack was already 20kg and jam packed with essentials like sleeping gear, a tent, food and water.

Instead I made the most of the beautiful surroundings, got to know the wonderful people that I was sharing the journey with and we walked.  Over 8 days we walked from Kokoda to Owers Corner - 96km of back breaking trekking, through tropical jungles and over a mountain ranges.  It was stunning.

Walking along the airfield as our plane takes off.

Being welcomed to Kokokda.

Remembering where I injured myself last year! (Who needs ankle ligaments anyway?)

The view from lunch at Deniki

There are so many more photos to add and memories to share in the coming weeks, in the meantime, there are a few pics and articles over here if you want to know more.

If you want to join in the fun of Sundays in my City too, click on over to Unknown Mami.

Wandering around Werribee Zoo

With all the craziness that has been the last few weeks - Mum being in Papua New Guinea walking the Kokoda Track (again), Dad making the most of some quiet time at home before he starts his new job next week and us on holidays with Nan and Pop, we really haven't had much family time.   We decided that we should spend the last real day of the school holidays together, doing something fun.  The tough part was to decide what to do.

It may have taken us all morning to work out what we were going to do, but when we did make a decision, it was a good one and we headed out to Werribee Open Range Zoo.

 

There were heaps and heaps of animals to meet and greet... but we had more fun running around, climbing anything we could and exploring.

We are so glad that we are Friends of the Zoo so that we can go to one of the zoos whenever we have a spare afternoon.

We had a great time together.  

It is a shame that the holidays are almost over, we could get used to this!

Love AJ and Milla

PS - if we ever get time, we will fill in the gaps that we have missed because we have all been too busy to blog!

What is Art?

I figure that art can be pretty much anything.  It is something that you create to tell a story.  Sometimes people know what the story is even if you haven’t told them.  Other times you need to tell people what the story is and even if they don’t understand the story, they might still like looking at the art you have created.  

In the art show, I had one of my works on display - The Boat of Life.  

It represents a journey in life, it shows that even though you never give up and have a light to shine the way, life is slowly ending.

The story Milla tells with her art is of making people happy, that is why she created a blue wool felt piece with her friend to represent the calm ocean.  

Milla also likes cute things that make people smile so she made a teddybear too!

You know, I think art can be fun for everyone.

Love AJ Pickle