Happy Zoo Year

Tonight we all went to the Zoo for their Happy Zoo Year celebrations. The zoo opened up at 5:00pm for us and about 4,500 other people. To say the place was fairly packed, would be a little bit of an understatement.

We were able to wander around the zoo for a couple of hours and then the girls got to watch some circus performers and then the main attraction, the band Murphy's Lore.

The girls had a great time but they were a little disappointed that they could not get to see more of the animals. With so many people and so little time, there were always lots of people banked up at each display.

Can't keep up

So much has been happening lately. There have clearly not been enough updates but most of the blog readers are he in town and there first hand. Christmas is over and the girls are already counting down to the next one, and the Easter and birthdays in between.

James, Marcus and Lily have move out, Cameron and Mackenzie have moved in but the girls are house bound at the moment, pending them actually cleaning their bedrooms.



The girls have both enjoyed having a baby in the house, and they both feel like big ladies when they have a hold.





Since Christmas there has been lots of playing with the toys that Santa bought for everyone and lots of playing with the old toys. Brooke spent a couple of days out of favour with everyone when she announced to Grandma "I wish you were died" because Grandma was telling her what to do.

Recovery Day

Today (it appears) did not start very well. Brooke answered Grandma's phone call this morning with, "This is grumpy Brooke speaking, would you like to speak with grumpy Courtney?" It appears that the girls woke upon the wrong side of bed, CJ even questioned if Santa had been generous enough... That went down well.

It appears that it is not just thecranegirls that over did it yesterday. Marcus found a Boxing Day session on the Playstation this morning too much.



The girls spent the day getting away from the heat. They spent a good part of the day, waiting for it to get cool enough to go for a swim in the pool at Nana and Grandad's house.

Historical Moment

Australian cricketer, Shane Warne takes his 700th test cricket wicket. Also "the godfather of soul music" singer, James Brown dies.

Christmas Day

Christmas 2007 has been a wonderful day for the girls. Santa came to their house some time after 11:30pm (‘cause Brooke was awake up to that time) and delivered lots and lots of presents. The girls woke up about 6:00am and Mum managed to hold them off until about 7:00am before waking Dad.

After tearing open their presents at Mum’s house, it was over to Grandma’s house to open more presents with Marcus and James and then onto Nana’s for even more presents.

Courtney’s received (in part) an organ, a recorder, a Poke’mon game for her Gameboy and a new scooter. Brooke was given a Baby born, lots of ponies and her very own Gameboy, amongst other things. The girls were very spoilt by everyone.

After the present opening, it was back to Grandma’s for lunch and a sleep and then back over to Nana’s for a swim in the pool and Christmas dinner.

A christmas lunch

Today was the first time that the Crane girls and their cousins were all together in the one place. We had a christmas lunch of sorts, just a little early because we are all do busy on Christmas morning.

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy 18th Birthday Ben!

Family Holidays

The girls' cousins have arrived for a holiday and the girls couldn't be happier. We've all been to the park and the beach, we've played cricket in the front yard and even been out to see all the Christmas lights around the area.

All very tired kids tonight.

Baking a cake

Yesterday, the girls and Grandma made a cake as a surprise for Dad. To decorate the cake, the girls drew Dad's face in candy pieces on the top.



They had a great time making the cake, but not as much as when it came time to eat it.



Christmas is really starting to take up all the girls thoughts and along with the fact that the first of their cousins arrive tomorrow, they are in for a really intense week.

Reserved

This place is reserved for a photo of Cousin Cameron who lost his first tooth today, after a little assistance from a wall and a dentist.

The dog Beach

This afternoon the girls took Mum, Dad and Chloe to the beach. That poor old dog still has the mind to go bounding into the surf to chase the tennis ball. Her only problem is arthritis in her hips and a wide girth.



Brooke "accidentally" fell over in the surf a number of times.

A Message

Today Brooke and I are going to make Christmas decorations.

Hydrotheropy

CJ didn't go to school today as she has a sore leg. She may have simply over done it during all the playing yesterday. Brooke was also up most of the night with an ear ache.

This afternoon Dad took the girls up to the Ando house for a little hydrotherapy. Today may have been the girls first spa bath... It won't be there last. They thought the outside bubble bath was really cool.

Today the girls went to the family picnic day put on by Dad's work. Santa Claus was there and gave the girls a couple of nice presents. As always there was pony rides, petting farms, rides, fairy floss, ice cream etcetera.



In the afternoon the girls had a pool party for on of the girls in Courtney's class. We're amazed that they were still awake come dinner time.

Christmas is here.

Christmas is here and the girls are getting right into it. They have put up the Christmas tree at both Mum and Dad's house. Mum gave the girls a little artistic right whereas Grandma was a little sterner, ensuring that there was some balance. It has worked out well really, Brooke put the fairy on one tree, CJ on the other.

Little Nan

Unfortunately the girls lost their Little Nan who passed away today. It the days leading to her passing, Brooke spent some wonderful moments at her bed side, bringing a smile to little Nan's face and holding her hand. We'll all miss you.

Busy weekend

Last Friday afternoon, the girls had a disco after school and they had a great time. The girls wore matching dresses, personally fitted by Grandma.



Both of the girls are starting to think about Christmas. Courtney has drafted a few letters to Santa Claus, below is one of her first efforts.



Tonight Courtney got a little confused. Grandma and Pa explained how Aunty Rita is adopted and how she has brothers that are not Dad, nor Uncle Scott. Complicated for a seven year old.

Also tonight, Courtney wanted to listed to Christmas carols, and put on a CD. On reading the cover, she announced that one of the songs was sung by Frankenstein... Sinatra is a difficult word to pronounce.

Halloween Photo

Aunty Kirstie has sent through the photots of the night that she took the girl Trick or Treating. The girls had a ball this night.

Under the sprinklers

This afternoon, the girls came over to have dinner. When Grandma and Aunty Les went down to pick up the Chinese takeaway Dad assumed that the girls went with them. 10 minutes later, Grandma and Les returned home to find the girls, still in their school uniforms complete with shoes, playing under the sprinkler – soaked.

 

Not wanting to take the blame, Brooke straight away said “but, Pa let us out the front”

 

The First Filling

Today CJ had her first filling. That is one more than her father has ever had.

Courtney tells us that the Denist had to put her tooth to sleep with some gel on a cotton tip and then they showed her what the drill felt like on her arm. She was surprised to discover that the drill feels really bumpy in your head when they are drilling into your tooth.

New Blogger

Blogger has changed their format a little so Dad is currently learning his way around a slightly different system. Shouldn't take too long before everything is back to normal.


Brooke is slowly recovering from her week of being sick, she is almost back to 100% now. Keeping that in mind, the girls had a fairly quiet Saturday but got to ride their bikes in the afternoon and then they watched the Wizard of Oz.



On Sunday we went to Bunnings and made planter boxes and then in the afternoon, we went to Mindarie for the blessing of the (crayfishing) fleet. Once again we lined up for the face painting which ended in somewhat mixed results...

Worthy of note was the incident when Brooke was pouring herself a glass on milk at the kitchen counter. Being that the counter is about her chin height, it was a tough ask for a little girl to have a two litre container above her head and neatly pour the milk into the glass. When she spilt a little milk, Courtney started to tell her off. Dad was just about to throw out the line about crying and spilt milk when Brooke defended herself saying, "Courtney, my tippy toes weren't long enough"

Incursion

This week Courtney had an school "incursion"... A school trip to the assembley area to see the reptile man...

In other news, Brooke has been sick most of the week with a stomach bug and CJ has been summonsed to attend the school dentist to have a small filling. She is a little concerned.

Illness

This morning Courtney woke up with a sore throat and feeling a little unwell. Brooke woke up sniffing and coughing.

Brooke refused any suggestion that she should stay home. Being that she only gets to go to school two day a week, she was not keen to miss out on anything. Courtney on the other hand, leapt at the chance to skip school.

Dad took the day off work today so he picked Courtney and Brooke up, took Brooke to school and then dropped CJ on the couch at Grandma and Pa's house. It appears that not being allowed to do anything fixed up her sickness fairly quickly.

This afternoon Dad and Pa went and watched CJ's netball training. Sorry no photos allowed....?

Halloween

Tonight the girls got dressed up in their costumes and went Trick-or-Treating with Aunty Kirstie. They cleaned up in the street and now both have more lollies than they will be able to eat in November... Aunty Kirstie has some great photos which will be posted shortly.

Party Girls

On Thursday, the girls' school had an exhibition of the art work that they have been doing this term. Here is Brooke with her classes monsters.



The girls have had a very busy few days. They have attended three parties in as many days. Two birthday parties and a Halloween party where they got to make ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. Of course as soon as they got home, they had to show Dad which meant that we had to make another one. Brooke is mighty pleased that she got to light the candle with the stove lighter – Dad is just hoping that he hasn’t created a pyromaniac.



Brooke was so tired after he big Saturday that everything got too much. She argued and cried when Dad and Grandma tried to dress her into a new pair of pajamas. She was certain that they were not right. She ended up sleeping in her day clothes – skirt and all.

A brief update

Well, it’s been pointed out that there have been very little news posted on the site lately. Dad has been busy with other things and has neglected his duties by forgetting to update on a regular basis. Here is a quick update to bring you up to speed.

About a week after the royal show, the girls got to go to a family picnic that was put on by Dad’s work. The girls had just as much fun as they did at the show (at a fraction of the cost) and obviously they were let of the reins a little.





CJ has a lovely new bed. A purple four poster! Mum’s friend John took on the challenge of making the bed after CJ (and Mum) couldn’t find one she liked – there will be a picture shortly.

Yesterday Courtney went on a school excursion to Hills Forest where she learnt a little bit about the Noongar people and life in the forest.

CJ has taken a term off swimming with the intention of taking on netball. Brooke on the other hand is swimming like a fish even though she rarely listens to her instructor, spending most of the lesson with her head underwater.

Last week (or so) Leighton and Teagan went with the girls to the Beach House where they played for hours. Courtney was very upset when the day was over.

Royal Show 2006

The girls loved the Royal Show and to tell you the truth, Mum and Dad had a great day as well. Clearly the girls best moment of the day was riding the ponies but they also got to go on five rides which they paid for themselves out of their pocket money. Brooke picked out a My Little Pony showbag and CJ chose a Winx Club. This year Mum and Dad got to look at a few displays as well which the girl patiently waiting through.

A trip to the Zoo

The girls have had a really big weekend. Mum's old friend, John has been making Courtney a big four post bed so the girls went over to consult on the finishing touches. It is looking really good and CJ has asked that the bed be painted a nice purple colour.

Today the girls joined in on Katrina's 14th birthday at the zoo. Having been there only a few weeks earlier, Courtney was an old hand, showing Dad and Brooke around.



Obviously the lions and tigers were up there with the favourite animals but the silver gibbons put on a very funny show and the girls didn't want to leave their enclosure.



Dad's favourite was the salt water crocodile - it was amazing to see the under water view as well as the eyes and nostrils on top of the water.



How the girls managed to stay awake all the way home in the car - I do not know.

Historical Moment

The West Coast Eagles win the AFL Premiership. Today, the girls (and most other kids in WA) are fans of the Eagles.

A week without

Last night, CJ took her Gameboy to bed with her and got caught up by Dad, playing it at about 9:00pm. Needless to say, Dad was not impressed. CJ is not allowed to use the Gameboy, Playstation or the computer for a week.

All Quiet

The biggest news of the weekend is that Brooke has had a haircut.



It was fairly quiet all across the weekend with the girls playing their usual games. Courtney is looking forward to writing a post this weekend coming.

Dad Can't Win

Courtney is a little upset because Dad posts news before she gets a chance to tell people. Apparently Nana and Grandad had heard about her coming first in the running race before Courtney got a chance... ooops.

Then today Dave from BHM Photography, told Dad that he wasn't posting enough...

One thing that they will forget long before the culprits return, today Brooke wanted to know why 'Dad's' horse fridge magnet was right up the top of the fridge where she couldn't reach it - "Dad!, you have to put it down, so you know it's a horse, not a bird!"

Nothing Much To Do

If you ask Courtney, we did absolutely nothing today. Dad remembers it somewhat differently, waking up and making pancakes before heading down to our now ritual of arts and crafts at Bunnings.

Then after lunch, we took up the challenge of trying to make the largest bubble that the girls have ever seen, trying different solutions in our attempt.



Brooke had a sideline game going where she was trying to collect as many Rolly bugs as she could, putting them into one of Grandma's jeweller boxes...



Then the girls glued together every piece of scrap wood they could find in order to make a town and course for the match box cars and then this afternoon we (Dad walked) rode down to the shops for a milky way.



Perhaps Courtney was right – not much happened today.

First place

Today was the sports carnival at Courtney's school. She is so very proud of herself because she cam first in a running race. Apparently Mum was very proud, shouting out from the sidelines.

Historical Moment

Today Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, died after being struck in the chest with a stingray barb. The girls were always glued to the television when Steve was on.

Fathers Day

Yesterday, the girls went to the shops with Grandma, armed with a couple of dollars each to buy Dad a present. Three hours later they came home.

Fathers Day started with Courtney waking Dad, franticly saying “Dad, Dad… stay in bed okay!” A few minutes later, the girls came in with toast and a hot coffee. Dad was spoilt with a back massager, coffee mug, a key holder and key tag.



Dad also received a horse fridge magnet, a packet of colourful beads and a packet of open glitter glue pens. He also was given a nice book which contained pictures that the girls had drawn with the glitter glue pens….

We went back to Bunnings this morning for the kids workshop. Brooke had decided that the tool box that she made on Thursday, she wanted to give to Mum and the girls wanted to make another one for Grandad.





The girls spent a fair bit of the day blowing bubbles and this afternoon they rode (or got a tow on) their bikes to the park for a big play.






A really nice day.