French

Tasmania Zoo, Launceston

Yesterday we braved the dreary, winter weather to visit Tasmania Zoo in Launnie. Thankfully the rain held off for the most part, with just a drizzle here and there...

  

There were so many wonderful animals to see...

   

   

Those snappy, snarly, growly Tassie Devils were particularly gorgeous. 

   

However, the big attraction of the day was the tour of Jurassic Swamp...

   

Lots of life-sized fibreglass dinosaurs, apparently made by the same guy who did the stuff for The Lord of the Rings. Roars and growls over the speakers added to the atmosphere.

   

Loo bounced around excitedly saying "Look, there's a stegosaurus! A brachiosaurus! A t-rex! A parasaurolophus!" etc.

Shmoo walked around excitedly spotting the speakers and trying to figure out how they worked.

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In the afternoon we headed back to the undercover cafe near the meerkats and enjoyed cups of hot chocolate as the rain started to bucket down. 

Venus

The other day the kids were sitting around the table and I overheard Shmoo talking about poisonous substances. He informed his brothers that there was a substance called Venus that was toxic.

I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. The atmosphere on Venus? Venus fly traps? Then he informed them that it wasn't the planet Venus. I was even more puzzled.

Then he said that Venus used to be used in thermometers.

Ohhhh. He meant mercury! :)

Dr Karl in Burnie

Science Week!

Last night The OH and Shmoo went to see Dr Karl Kruszelnicki in Burnie.

Twinkles

Beanie Bear and I have this routine where he'll come up from his bath, hold his hands up to show me his pruney fingers and say, "Look what I got in the bath!". I'll pretend I don't know what he's talking about and I guess, "Hands? Fingers?".

Last night he looked at me in exasperation and said, "Noooo! Twinkles!".

Haha. Wrinkles. :)

Cooking with Shmoo

Love having my biggest boy help me make dinner. He really seems to enjoy cooking. He helped wash, peel and cut veggies and then we made pancakes and macerated strawberries for dessert... I've even started letting him crack the eggs now that Loo's no longer quite so allergic. (Shmoo and I have recently become quite fond of Masterchef - the OH and I have always loved Heston Blumenthal so we particularly enjoyed this week).

Kids Science Kit - Electrical Alarm

The OH found some cool looking DIY science kits at KMart so Shmoo saved up his pocket money and purchased the electrical alarm kit ($6).

Shmoo had fun putting it all together and it was a great lesson in reading instructions for him. It's an awesome little kit for the price.

Now comes a lesson in patience as he saves up more money for another kit.

Cardiology Review

We had an appointment with Baby Bear's cardiologist (who we can't think of without being reminded of the Aqua song... Dr Jones, Dr Jones, calling Dr Jones...). Fortunately he was in Launceston rather than us having to fly all the way to Melbourne.

Baby Bear had the standard ECG and echo. He still has the small VSD and leak at the edge of the patch but, again, they're confident that they'll eventually close on their own. In fact, Dr Jones was so happy with Baby Bear's progress that he doesn't need to see him now for another year!