The grass is greener

After some pondering we decided to make some use out of the side of the house, as it started out as a funky looking area with pebbles and small plants.

But 3 years later had evolved into a bit of a jungle as the plants grew like mad and even when I chopped them back they just grew back quicker and sharper than ever.

And now with Logan in "running man" mode and not having anything but concrete and garden beds around the rest of the garden we decided to create a "grassed area" for him. Real grass would be a struggle as it is a mostly shaded area and of course with Perth climate require a lot of extra watering to stand any chance. So false grass it was or AstroTurf for my Canadian readers.

And happy to report it seemed to be a case of many weeks of planning made the actual execution of the job go better than expected. Had the plate compactor picked up by 8am and Glynn came round to help by 9am, then off to the soils place to pick up a trailer load of "cracker dust", otherwise known as road base or metal dust. Recommended as it sits better than sand and forms a more stable base over the compacted pebbles.

Pebbles compacted and base going on

To prove I did do some work too

So after a good main base and filling in some gaps the compactor did its work well and we were even laying the grass by about 2pm with a beer to help - too easy!

I then had the fun task of cutting up the last pieces to size, finishing off pinning it down and spreading the layer of sand over it all and pretty happy with the finished job. Not the most expensive grass which I could tell on the edges when trying to get it to fit, but for the area it's in and a practical place to play "jobs a good 'un"!

And Logan has given it some preliminary testing(see side videos) and will be reporting back to me this week with his findings....

Practising for his next rap video

Birthday Party

Just realised that I hadn't put anything up about Logan's birthday party he had down at our local Yokine Reserve. There was a good turnout from and a good spot to keep the kids happy playing, instead of crammed in our house and back garden.

Big Logan and Little Logan enjoying the water play area

And Janice baked a great birthday cake which started as a robot, then morphed into an alien!

And more photos on the picasa album.

Walking with style

If you count style, staggering along with at least one "chewing implement" in your hand most times and doing the sidewards wobble walk :) In this case it's his mini super heroes which are one of his favourite things of the moment.

Is crazy how much more he walks every day even as his confidence grows. Went out for a meal last night and think we are just about at that time when its going to be a struggle to get him to sit still for too long, as he just wants to explore everywhere and wave/say-hi to everyone. Just like his Dad, so can't really complain....

Watch out while gardening, the bear might get you!

After our rain and cooler weather the bushes have taken off on their yearly growing spree, so Logan and I took to the garden to chop them down and tidy things up. And with one of his favourite past times being taking things in and out of boxes/buckets he makes a great helper! Especially as has he has a "waterfall nose" of a cold at the moment, so being outside and busy is a great distraction from that :)

When are you going to do some Dad?

But beware! If you aren't careful and stray off the path into the woods while you're out there, the fuzzy bear might get you....

Thanks Auntie Laura, it still just about fits!

"Passion" Fruit

So after a lot of "passion, dedication and persuasion" Janice's passion fruit plants have finally given us some fruit! They have grown from tiny plants to big creeping plants up the trellis and even some flowers last year on one plant but no fruit, until now.

Yes, it is winter but don't let a simple thing like seasons bother the process :)

Very crafty and hard to see, we only just spotted them

And yes she is happy, not deranged...

The day I turned one

Decided to have a lie in this morning and Dad wasn't up to "accidently" wake me up before he goes to work! So here I am after the usual battle planning to take on the world with my entourage...

Then we went for a fun day out at the Zoo and Mum got a pass for the year, so we can go as often as we like!

I liked seeing the elephants

Look behind us to see the tree kangaroo

And in case you haven't seen the video on the side I'm walking now in random spurts around the house, usually whilst carrying one or two things and trying to fall on my face (which Mum really likes!).

Looking forward to my party tomorrow down at the Yokine Reserve and planning on getting as dirty as I can then jumping all over Dad :)

It was a calm day...

Looked at the forecast and was dead calm over the weekend and as I hadn't been diving in a while we decided to head down to Hillarys so I could get a dive in and Janice could take Logan for a play on the beach.

It was a flat calm day when I jumped in off the wall but unfortunately the visibility didn't match the conditions, so I got to practise my navigation skills! Then spent most of the dive nosing under ledges and near the reef as turned out to be a good macro dive afterall :)

A red-lipped morwong chilling out under a ledge

Took the long walk along the wall to jump in right opposite "boy in a boat" reef, instead of doing the longer surface swim instead.

And met up to go for some good sushi afterwards with Logan enjoying his first sushi train experience.

Eating, my way

Not content to be fed like a baby all the time now our little boy is happier when he's feeding himself and as you can see with breakfast this morning.

Although this "self feeding" also leads to some messy moments, hence being fed outside sometimes :)

I think I missed my mouth?

The relative peace is over

In just the last few days Logan has started taking a first few steps....mostly from one piece of furniture to the next and been a bit quick to be captured on video yet, but it starts! Good job were both trying to get fit for this mud rush race in August, as think life is about to get more hectic :)

And he is really trying to talk properly too although mostly only "phil-type" noises, you can tell he wants to tell you things. Pretty funny until it turns into whining...

And to complete the post a photo on the beach with his new bucket and spades.

Makes you think

Worrying about small daily problems seem not so important when you hear about terrible events like the Boston marathon bombing today!

Then that got me thinking about if Logan was grown up and travelling, he could be there, which is too horrible to ponder! Which then made me think about all the crazy travels and places we have been to and how much our parents must still worry sometimes...

So in a weirdly roundabout way, this is to all of our parents to say a big thanks for worrying AND supporting us. Especially with another stage of life's travels to begin :)

Phew, that's hopefully my serious post for the year.

And for lighter note to finish, check out the new video on the side bar.