Lark in the park

We headed to Newfarm Park for Mother's Day and Eli and Alora were treated to a spot of golf - Alora's Grandpop had brought along a toy golf set. Eli quickly struck up a fashion catalogue pose with his club under a nearby tree - and yes, I'm sure he knew that it was around the wrong way.


It turns out that he was actually pretty good at hitting the ball (probably by virtue of our cricket training routines at home) and he was certainly pretty happy with himself when he gave the ball a mighty whack...


Unfortunately, like most golfers, not every shot goes where you want it to go...


The game ended in smiles all round though, especially once I started declaring 'No more smiles!' to Eli and Alora...

Kangaroos are funny!

Eli and I were at a loose end a couple of weekends ago, so we decided to go and visit the animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where I used to work. Eli had been there before, but as a four month old he'd slept through the visit and really didn't take any of it in. What a difference a couple of years makes! Eli loved the koalas, especially when I woke them up with my koala call, but he got really excited when we went into the kangaroo paddock.


I had to stop him from running straight up and cuddling/tackling the kangaroos. In the end, the compromise that was reached had Eli 'gently' flicking the roos ears and watching for their response. He thought it was just hilarious when they shook their heads in annoyance! From my perspective, it was a delicate balance between wanting to capture these interactions in photos and making sure that Eli wasn't about to get swatted. Here he is, having a good giggle...


Eli also liked the feel of the kangaroos soft nose on the palm of his hand - these roos are really used to being hand fed - and I must admit that I was impressed with the restraint shown (by both Eli and the roos). I figured it must be because they're both so well fed.


Despite my confidence in the behaviour of the roos, I did try and keep Eli away from the biggest males...in this photo you can see him checking with me regarding his decision on which roo to 'play with' next.

Fortunately Eli didn't seem to mind which roos he interacted with - he pretty much just thought it was funny any time any of the roos moved or reacted to his movements. All in all, it was a pretty good excursion and there was certainly plenty of hopping like a kangaroo when we got home. In fact, that's how we get up and down the stairs now, with me grabbing Eli under the arms and helping him hop up (or down) one step at a time.