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Alex has been watching some animal documentaries as well as Trollhunters – he’s really loved this series. He also got into Tarzan and Jane briefly. He found this one scene where Tarzan kicks the ball so hard that it bursts through a football net fascinating! I think the latter has inspired some recent drawings of cheetahs leopards and falcons. He’s gone back to playing school of dragons, though only on his iPad and is requesting membership.
Daniel has loved duplo and we spent lots of time together building houses.
We’ve had the kids’ cousins over for the last time in the holidays too – they watched a movie, we played rat-a-tat cat and animal charades, and eagle eye at the park.
We’ve been down to the oval to play and run, throw and catch. We should really do it more often. As I write this (actually 4 weeks after the fact, I have realised how little we’ve been out in the evenings since activities have stopped).
Out and About
We went to an open gymnastics session for 2 hours with friends. It was enjoyably quiet and Alex discovered a new skill – doing a full flip on the trampoline and landing on his feet. He was so proud of himself! After he’d had enough of flipping, he asked me to hold a hoop as he jumped through it into a roll. Daniel enjoyed the time too, jumping lots – even into the foam pit, hanging and swinging from rings, and jumping off of the horse.
We went camping to Phillip Island (all of us). It was a long drive, and we stopped in San Remo to have some fresh fish and chips. Alex asked if it was close to where we did the rockpool ramble, so I explained the layout of the bay to him and showed him on google maps. At the campsite we all helped pitched the tent – it’s often a time of limited patience! But the kids want to help and knock the pegs into the ground. The kids and I headed to the play area whilst vio did a shop run for necessities. The campsite was rather crowded. Once Vio returned, we headed to the nobbies centre. Alex remembered that we’d been there with Craig over 2 years ago. We walked along the cliffside and saw lots of nesting boxes – Alex said he saw a penguin inside one but I’m pretty sure they are shearwater nests. We also talked about the water as it made waves and splashed against the rocks. We tried to spot seals on seal island through the viewers but didn’t manage to.
Inside the centre we walked through the ‘Antarctic journey’. The kids weren’t that interested in the information – we watched some short videos about different animals but it was mostly written info rather than audio. They followed the path and attended to the interactive parts. They especially liked the cold room and Alex found the thermal images quite interesting.
Afterwards we went to the penguin parade. We saw some 4 day old chicks in their nest, plus a stuffed penguin up close from a ranger who told us some interesting facts. The time spent waiting for the penguins was hard for the kids. They found another kid to play with and we spotted wallabies on the hillside. Fortunately the penguins came early and the kids enjoyed seeing the first group waddle over. We watched them as they walked up to their nests. the kids were really interested in this one chick that harrassed every adult that went past it for food.
We visited the trout farm the next day as Alex has been talking about fishing a lot. We went to the outdoor lake where the fishing is more natural and challenging. We received a brief lesson on casting and Alex was determined to do it himself. However he was very impatient and kept reeling in nothing. Vio helped Daniel and on one cast he got the hook caught in the tree which we all found highly amusing! 
We must have stayed out there for about 30 minutes (other families came and went) and so we headed indoors upon Alex’s request. I was less keen on this scenario – the pool was teeming with fish! Alex caught one in less than a minute then we watched the guy on duty hit it on the head twice which was quite confronting. Alex proudly posed with his catch and asked to catch another. We decided to take them home for lunch, unfortunately Alex decided against eating them!
The kids and I ventured to Diamond Valley railway. They got lucky and got a turn on both yellow and green engines (their respective favourite colours). On the second run we stopped at a lot of signals, so Alex and I worked out what they meant. We played at the playground too, and got a slushie. They played mostly on the roundabout and the kids made some friends. We tried playing in the oval , per Alex’s request, but it didn’t last long!
Friends
The kids have been playing mums and dads with friends. We’ve also seen school friends and it was not much fun at the skate park – the other kids were a bit excluding of Alex. They have a lot in common, I did feel a little sad for Alex.
We’ve had the neighbours over. They actually spent most of the day coming and going from our house, and there were some goings on that weren’t very respectful so we’ve had words with Alex about what we expect and also for him to respect himself and consider what is an acceptable way to be treated.