Ben paused in his Swan River exploration for lunch and pictures of playground fun. Nikki and Michael enjoyed a bouncy frog and twisting slide in Toodyay.

On Sunday, Ben took the kids over all eleven bridges that cross the Swan River! I joined the explorers for the last three bridges after luxuriating in six kid-free daytime hours.

It took a while to drive to where the Swan started, and by the time they had made it near the Swan’s head and crossed two dry tributaries, Michael was asleep and Nikki asked to go home. But then the magic began, and Nikki and Michael were thrilled to watch the river grow and grow. At each new bridge it grew wider and deeper until finally the Swan met the ocean.

As Ben researched day trips from Perth, he discovered that Western Australia has several larger-than-life replicas throughout the state. One of these replicas, a giant ram in the town of Wagin, is nine times the size of a live ram. The fiberglass-covered steel structure weighs four tons and rests atop a picnic area, with ram-shaded tables beneath.

Wagin’s residents number 1800, but at sheep-shearing time in March the town hosts 30,000 visitors at its annual woolorama. In addition to woolen goods, visitors can enjoy the Giant Ram Park, which boasts a playground, as well as a pond with minnows, tadpoles, fish, bridges, and boulders.

Our washing machine stopped draining on the 23rd, and the repairman can’t come until the 29th, so this year we spent part of our Boxing Day at the laundromat. The kids had a grand time, hopping around on the black and white floor, tipping themselves over in our laundry basket, and both drumming on and climbing through a stainless steel table for folding clothes.

Ben and I enjoyed washing machines that finished their loads in less than 30 minutes (for years now we’ve had front-loading washers that take over two hours to finish a normal cycle) and chatting with the other people using the laundry facilities. Funny, everyone there thought the national holiday would provide a good chance to have the machines to themselves!

Crucially, we also solved the mystery of where those odd socks end up… in the laundromat car park, of course!

Sunday was hot (36C or 98.6F), so we packed a picnic lunch and ate at a park overlooking the Swan River. Pleasantly cool, with a sea breeze and a backdrop of luxury homes, it was a decadent picnic location!

Wassily Kandinsky Upward (Empor)

Peggy Guggenheim’s Venice collection is visiting Perth. Ben had the day off, so we walked in to central Perth as a family to see it today. My favourite painting was Wassily Kandinsky’s oil on cardboard, entitled Upward in English, or Empor in German. I love the way the artist playfully integrates the letter “E” into the work.

We are easing our way into Christmas decór this year. Once we found some candles, we put together an Advent wreath and have been lighting the relevant candles (can you believe it’s the second week in Advent?) each evening at dinner.

Today the kids helped me set up our nativity set, using some hay from the garden to give it that authentic stable feel. I remember adding straw to our nativity set growing up, and it felt nice to carry forward that tradition.

We put our tree up as well, and added lights a different day, then tinsel another day. No ornaments yet, but we’re building up to it. Lex likes to hide under the tree. So now when I sit on the sofa, I hear a rustling under the tree prior to our cat jumping up on my lap.

We ported our mobile numbers over to our new network provider today. Everything seems to be working smoothly so far, and I have been impressed with their customer service (which is all completely web-based and very responsive). We are looking forward to saving around $60 a month on our phone bill!

This evening we made a bowl-licking-good yogurt chicken curry. Seriously excellent. We couldn’t find the green chillis the recipe called for and used dried chillies instead. All three of our children enjoyed it, but I think next time we’ll put in one less chili to make it even more kid-accessible.

Today marked a change from a couple months of feeling slightly nauseous to requesting a second breakfast. It seems I have successfully transitioned to the second trimester of this fourth pregnancy, and we look forward to welcoming a new member to our family in late June! :)

Have a fabulous Friday!