The "tank number two" holiday challenge.

We set ourselves a challenge for the September school holidays - we were finally going to set up our second aquarium with some fish. I'd spent a day earlier on in the break getting the tank ready and then it was time for Eli and I to go fishing. I had considered going far and wide in search of some really good fishing spots, but in the end we figured that we ought to at least try our local creek which is less than 100 m away from our house. So armed with our pink net (and a baited fish trap) off we went in search of whatever we could find. Here are a few photos of Eli getting busy with the net, in search of critters in our creek.


It turned out that our local creek was more exciting and more alive than I'd expected and despite significant catches of non-native fish like guppies (which Eli loves incidentally - it's the colours!), we also managed to catch some native gudgeons (of the purple spotted and empire varieties) a dragonfly nymph and lots of damselfly nymphs and snails. We also collected some aquatic plants for the tank too, so it really is a tank that represents what we find in our local creek.
 




Here's a collection of our collection...including snails, damselflies, a dragonfly and fish.







 
Here's a photo of a rather satisfied Eli next to the new tank - you can see all of the guppies swimming around near the surface.

 



And here is my favourite new addition to our collection of aquatic creatures - we caught this purple spotted gudgeon (which just happens to be my favourite native fish) just 100 m from home. Not a bad job for a school holiday period. Eli has enjoyed the entertainment at breakfast time too - I've moved a little table and chair so he can sit and watch the fish eat their breakfast while he eats his...not sure how long this ritual will last, but it certainly beats watching tv!

Zoomy on foot (his own and Eli's).

I don't know what was going on in Zoomy's head, but on a recent turtle walking adventure he was quite interactive with Eli. I often set Eli the challenge of keeping on eye on the turtles while I'm cleaning the tank, both because we don't want them to disappear and we don't want a kookaburra to fly off with them. 

On this particular occassion Swifty hunkered down at the edge of the grass (as per normal), but Zoomy was really active - every time we put him on the grass he quickly headed in the direction of the nice warm rocks alongside our garden bed.


To control the risk that Zoomy would disappear and/or take a tumble down the steps, Eli decided that he'd sit along the garden edge and play the role of the sentry. It turned out that Zoomy didn't mind at all and he just continued in Eli's direction and would ultimately climb over Eli's foot, leg or hand to get to his desired destination.

I must say that Eli did a great job of staying remarkably still during these interactions, especially since Zoomy's sharp claws do tend to dig in a bit when he's trying to climb over your leg!


 


This video shows Zoomy in action, approaching, assessing and ultimately climbing over Eli's leg. It also features my coaching about staying still (which is certainly not a highlight) and Eli's little yelp towards the end relfects the sharpness of Zoomy's claws...no scratches though, so it was all good. Ultimately Eli had a lot of fun and Zoomy got a great workout.

First year tiger...

Eli has been a real little squirt this winter. That's not a derogatory term, it's just what his age group is referred to at his soccer club, the Tarragindi Tigers. Squirts don't play real games - actually they do play lots of games, it's just that none of them are soccer (and yes, it is ironic). In fact over the course of their one hour session each Friday night they enjoy lots of different activities, all of which are designed to get them moving and using their feet (and heads - including brains). Eli really enjoyed it, but I was frustrated by the lack of actual soccer (and I wasn't the only parent in that boat), but I guess that will come next year and for years and years and years after that, so I shouldn't be too impatient. One of the highlights was the bond that Eli forged with one of his coaches, a 12 year called Ollie - here are a few pics of Eli and his coach on the last session for season 2012. I'm not sure what pose and face Eli is pulling in the second photo, but I thought it was amusing enough to include.



At the end of the season Eli and all of his team-mates received a medal for their efforts across the season. Eli was particularly excited when he was the first person to receive his medal - I think in his mind that meant that he was the best and that he'd managed to win a more signifcant prize than everyone else. For what it is worth, I didn't try too hard to discourage that thought - after all, he was definitely one of the best players!

Here's a photo of his 'team' - otherwise really just a collection of energetic five year olds. Will any of these kids play for the socceroo's in 15 years or so?

Here's a photo of Eli proudly showing off his medal - he was really pretty chuffed with himself.


  
















There is one game that they play in Squirts that resembles soccer. This involves the coaches maintaining possession of the ball amidst the pressure that about 10 5 year old impose on them (not all of it legal under regular soccer rules). Eli tends to put his speed to good use during this 'drill' and he tends to be one of only a handful of kids that can actually win the ball back off the coaches from time to time. Here's a video of Eli and his team-mates in action, chasing after the coaches!

  
 All in all we both enjoyed Eli's first year of soccer and we're both looking forward to some real soccer action in 2013...