Lucas's new do

We gave Lucas a hair cut today. Its quite a trauma cutting his hair so its been a long time since his last one. His little blonde locks were scattered outside and we can now see his ears and kneck! His brothers think he looks very cute, I would have to agree.

Sleepy face

I like to check on the boys most nights before I go to bed, to tuck them in or turn them the right way round or just look at their wonderful sleepy faces. There is something about the boys little content asleep faces when they are in dream land, it puts my mind at ease and lets me go to bed happy every night.

Cardiac Arrest

Another Sunday morning MTB ride at sunrise and another Camber Vs Stromlo showdown. This time Stromlo kicked my ass. I didnt have any bad falls but its been raining alot here lately so the track was slick and riddled with puddles, mud and loose rocks. I also tried to climb the hill that was made sprecifically for the World Champs a few years back, it is very suitabley named 'Cardiac Arrest'. A really tough and technical steep accent where for most part I was on my feet pushing the beast up. Didnt matter though because when I got to the top I was greeted with this -

Whats up with that?

What is going on with the weather lately? Storms every afternoon for the past couple of weeks. Has the world tipped over and we are now closer to the equator?? Its like living in the tropics. Canberra used to be so predictable.

Whats up with that?

Pick and choose

The great thing about moving a lot and travelling is that you get to see a lot of one particular country and experience the town your in as a 'local' for the time your there. Really getting to know the in's and out's of a place, when just on a short holiday you dont really experience that.

As a couple Jem and I have lived in Canberra, Reggio Calabria (Italy), Townsville, Bologna (Italy), Avellino (Italy), Perth, Wollongong, Bendigo, Townsville again, Wellington (New Zealand), Hawkes Bay (New Zealand), Albury, Mt Gambier and now Canberra again. Lots of places seen, lots of people met, lots of memories shared.

We have gotten to know some really nice people which became close friends for the time we were living in these places, but then comes the time of leaving a town or a city and then unfortunately leaving friends behind as well. We have a few close friends that we love to be around and dont get to see enough of anymore as they seem to be scattered across the country. We wish we could scoop them all up and put them in one place and we would no dought move there in a heartbeat.

As a young family we really dont have any roots or ties anywhere and no town/city we really call home, so its tough to decide on a place you want you and your family to settle one day. You can underdstand why some people never leave a place when all their family and friends are in one spot, but then again if you live in one place forever what wonderful places with wonderful people have you missed out on seeing? There are obviously places we love, but are they right for us?

Money talks in the case of property, there is no question. If you have the coin you can pick and choose and ultimately it makes the decision on where to live easier. Unfortunately for the most of us this isnt the case and to call a place home there are many factors that have to come in to play, especially when you have kids.

At the end of the day it comes down to what you want as a family, what makes you happy, what drives the family engine and where can you live a fullfilled life, money cant always buy that. Im positive we will find that place and when we do, even if it doesnt tick every box, it will be our dream home and a warm and happy place of many memories created that our boys will grow up in and inevitabley want to come back and visit.

'You cant rush a tough decision, but you can definately try to make it happen quicker'.

180 turn

"You learn that whats important is how you got there, not what you've accomplished" Yvon Chouinard

I watched a great documantary the other day called '180 degrees South - Conquerers of the Useless'.

Its about Jeff Johnson, a surfing and climbing enthusiast who decides to take an extended trip and re-traces the footsteps of Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia clothing founder) and best mate Doug Tomkins (who founded The North Face company) on their surfing and climbing adventure from California to Patagonia back in the 60's. An epic journey that changed their lives forever and inspired Jeff to do the same.

After months of travel, sailing and then being shipwrecked on Easter Island, Jeff's dream comes true and he makes it to Patagonia to surf and climb the almost unclimbable Mt Fitzroy.

In the doco Yvon Chouinard talks about not taking a backward step at any stage. He says "You just need to stop, turn 180 degrees and take another forward one". He is referring to his and Doug's attempts to conserve the natural wonder of Patagonia by trying to stop the damming of rivers in the region for hydro-electricity. Although a good source of energy for us city dwellers, it completely wipes out the rivers natural ecosystems and destroys small communties who rely on it. He urges these private companies who are building the dam's to stop, see the damaging affects, change what they are doing and move forward.

Thats a great example to follow with anything thats served up in life. Somedays I find things inevitabley seem to get too hard. I have to remember to regroup, refocus rather than going backwards, stop, turn a 180 and move forward.

To try and conserve Patagonia's natural state, Yvon and Doug have used much of their personal fortunes to now own over 2 million acres of what they call 'The last wild place on earth'. Incredible.

Its a really moving and powerful message you get from this documentary. It poses the question - Should we all be stripping back to basics, living simply and conserving the natural state of this world that we all rely on rather than unintentionally destroying it?

Remember that song - part 9

Jem and I went through a stage of watching Australian Idol back in 2009. I generally didnt like most of the contestants as its primarily a popularity contest and the judges just gave me the sh#ts. But we kept watching week after week as a young kiwi named Stan Walker was on. His vocal range far and away blew all the other contestants out of the water and there was no way he wasnt going to win.

One of my all time favourite songs (not that im religious) is Hallelujah. Many people have covered it, but Stan Walkers version in front of a live audience that night gave me massive goose bumps, and still does.

Baby blues

All our boys have the most amazing eyes (not bias!). They are like little tunnels of love and sencerity and we are constantly mesmorized when looking deep into them.

William has a light hazel brown colour to his eyes, Jacob's are blue, Sam's are dark brown and Lucas's are a wonderful baby blue.

Giggles

Its a wonderful thing to see your children playing together nicely. Some days it feels like they are all at war with each other for one reason or another and other days they can all seem to be best friends. The strange mind of a kid would only be able to know why that is.

William and Lucas have a pretty special little bond going at the moment. William being the oldest and therefore generally the most understanding, doesnt seem to get annoyed at Lucas's occasional madness. William loves Lucas cuddling him and is really patient and nurturing towards him, almost like a mini adult. Therefore I think Lucas looks at him like one too, sometimes going to 'dob' on the other boys to William like he will then go and tell them off. They share a room at the moment as William is the only one who can stay quiet whilst Lucas sings himself to sleep and like a rooster, wakes the house up. A special bond between the youngest and the oldest, very sweet.

William loves to make him have a giggle fit and just the other day he had him cackling in histerical laughter. I just cought the end of it with my phones camera. If this doesnt make you smile you have either just had plastic surgery or theres something wrong with you. Keep smiling and have a great day!

Stromlo Vs Camber Comp 29er

Camber Comp 29er won!

This evening I took off for Stromlo. I had an unbelievable ride. This bike is amazing, probably took about 20 minutes less on the same track I wrode last month on my old bike. Gliding over and flowing with the trail, I was able to pick spots better, ride more economically and at times it felt like the bike was an extension of my body. Incredible the difference a good bike makes to an average rider. I cant wait to get out on the beast again.

Stromlo at dusk, lightning in the distance, preparing for the downhill section. Im still smiling thinking about it.

My new toy in twilight

Bed time stories

The boys have always loved a bedtime story, ever since they were all little babies. Probably with the exception of Lucas who seems to only just be getting to the point of concentrating for a whole book.

Jem has been reading 'Enid Blytons' story books to the boys for a while now, with the 'Adventures of the wishing chair', 'The magic far away tree' and 'The Enchanted wood' to name a few. The boys really seem to be entranced by her stories and Jem's passion for reading really translates to their increased interest.

This is a common occurance at about 7pm every night at our house, all snuggled around and being taken away to a magical land before bed time. Lovely.

Wow!

Now these 2 guys are amazing! They made this extremely hard downhill run look like a walk in the park! Wow!

Fat Biker

Its funny how many of these you see around. If only they could just lose a little weight before entombing their bodies in lycra. Maybe lose 10kg then you dont have to spend thousands more on an ultra light carbon bike. Its great your exercising, but surely you can chose a more appropriate style of clothing in the mean time so we all dont have to see every detail of the incredible specimens that you are.

I think this guy might need to lose a little bit more than 10kgs!

Williams party

We had Williams birthday party today with some of his friends from school - Archie, Jacob, Ayman and Kavindra came and they all had a great time. We went to one of those play centres for kids, a new one called 'Lets Play' and we went just as it opened. It was relatively quiet for the 2 hours we were there which was good as sometimes places like that can get a little psychotic with unsupervised kids running riot, but today was great.

William has chosen some really nice friends and they all seem to get along really well without the typical rough and tough behaviour you generally associate with boys.

William here on the 'really steep' slipe that they had to work up the courage to go down. So brave!

Camber in Canberra

Well my birthday has come early this year! Real early! Dad very generously offered to buy me a new mountain bike as an early birthday present so I could ride it in the Capital Punishment event next month. I have been eyeing off a large variety of different bikes to buy when we had the money, as riding alot of late I have been really struggling on my old (too small) Giant from 2004. I never imagined I would be riding a new bike in the near future.

After much deliberation on which make and model to chose from I picked out the 'Specialized Camber Comp XXL 29er 2012' with dual suspension. Amazing bike with amazing components. I picked it up today and havent stopped smiling since, I think some drool may have dropped out at one point. Hopefully the weather holds off for tomorrow as I'm VERY keen to take the new toy out for its maiden run.

As much as you try not to be meterialistic, its very pleasing to get something brand 'spankin' new thats obviously of quality and perfect for you, bliss!