took this shot today

I really like it, especially the birds. It is an old flower mill from the early 1900's.

GPS is awesome

We are lucky enough to have the GPS Navigation system in our rental car. Dongara has tested the limits of this... we have driven on a few roads that weren't quite "on the map". I took this little shot today as we were driving...

aussie update: Dongara

Dongara: A quiet quiet coastal town known for it's lobster, small population, bakery, sandy beaches and gas station.
It has lived up to it's definition, and has been great! We have a small chalet right on the water, our time so far has been spent sitting on the balcony, short walks on the beach, driving on the beach, some sea-kayaking and surfing in the water, surfing the wireless internet, and not much else. Some photos are below...

aussie update: goodbye apartment

The time has come to move on from our sweet apartment in South Perth... to give you an idea I took some pics from out of the window, I wil miss watching the ferrys going across and kookaburra's sitting in the old gum tree. Next stop, Dongara.
Incase you didn't know, Dongara is a sleepy coastal town about 5hrs north of Perth. I didn't know that either!

the bear cage

A distant memory of mine as a kid was heading for a big day out at the Perth Zoo.
it wasn't the biggest zoo on the planet but it had plenty of animals and kept me entertained. I distintly remember the bear cages at the Perth Zoo as a row of concrete and steel with a few different cages for a few bears, it wasn't the most creative of envorinments and I have memories of this.
Last week we went back to the Perth Zoo with the kids as it was just over the road from where we are staying. While the bears are long gone and many parts of the zoo renovated, they have left the old bear cages as a memory of how things used to be, and how they have now attempted to make better environments for the animals.
This captured me for a second, but then when I took a look at the old cages it just reminded me of LOST! I looked around for Kate and Sawyer, but I guess they escaped these cages! I thought it was pretty cool, nostalgia and LOST coming together...

australia: updated

I just posted a bunch of pics at the kids' blog so feel free to check them out! Below are some random pics from activities such as golf, casual family walks, and other Aussie stuff!
We are heading up the coast to a beach house tomorrow, so that should be fun, plus they have wireless internet access!
I have been spending quality time at the McDonalds with internet access down the road form our apartment uploading blogs and downloading LOST this evening. Both very worthwhile ventures.
More blogs to come soon from the beach house!

looks like we made it!

It took a couple of planes, a lot of snacks, some disturbed sleep, and some patience from Bella, but we finally made it to the motherland of Australia. Perth was sunny, clear and quite lovely today... not a trace of June, or even April gloom.
Internet is a little hard to get at our apartment, but the view is good. Not too many blgos in the next few days, but got some good material, and the sartiparty blog will be flowing with photos in the next week.

Bella says G'day!
Leighton says No Worries!

one sweet automobile

This was a car I saw when I was in Paris back in December... only in Europe, and can you believe two people got out of that thing? It's actually a good idea for parking, especially when two people parallel park just far enough apart from each other that a regular car can't fit!

some highlights of my week

Both of these people were captured at the Easter Eggstravaganze in RSM last Saturday. They were delightful!

#1: TRIPOD BOY
This young man was forced to carry around the family video camera, but chose to carry it while leaving it on the tripod, fully extended, and upside down. It was a treat to spectate this. I blurred faces to protect the innocent.


#2: AWESOME DENIM
My mind couldn't quite get it's metaphorical arms around why someone deliberately chose to pull this denim jacket out of their wardrobe, and then go out into public space. I can agree that Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher were a great team though, circa 1993-97.

i'm not even kidding... strollers for pets

I thought strollers for children were ridiculous (joke), unti I stumbled across this web site this morning. You have to at least scroll down the page for 10 seconds to see the comedic value, as well as wide range of pet strollers at competitive prices.

Here is the link: (sorry, Safari can't do links in Blogger.com)
http://www.petstorebyconny.com/site/785824/page/824781