Rain, Xmas sillyness and paper lanterns

Last Wednesday we had 10mm rain at the lab in 10 minutes. It tested our drainage systems, but the brave men of our maintenance department, especially Staff-Sergeant Ralph, did an admirable job of keeping us dry(ish). The heavy rain certainly highlighted the odd leaks.

The roadway just outside our boiler and compressor rooms. No drains were blocked, so this shows the amount of water coming down.

Here is our sampling van driving through the same area. Check the haze on the van's roof. This is rain hitting, and bouncing off, the roof.

The afore mentioned Staff-Sergeant Ralph....

Princess Karla playing "silly billy". Dad and Mum did the same, but the photo's are of a limited edition and can only be obtained by depositing roughly $1,000 into their bank account...

Tried as we may, Eugene just stayed cute!

Jon Trowbridge (a colleague from work) gave us this idea. We bought some paper bags ($2.08 for 50 at Coles) and BBQ fat-absorbing sand, and hey presto, paper lanterns. Good on ya John!

Dad needed some pants altered (length, not width haha!), and Karin ripped out the trusty Janome and fixed them in no-time.

Eugene's little hand, which he now uses all the time to pull himself upright. He walk 4-6 steps at a time, before (effectively) taking a flying leap. Mum and Dad must then just grab the little fella lest he remove most of his (very beautiful) facial features!

I almost can't stand looking at his blue eyes. He has clocked-up somewhere in the region of 10,000 kisses in the last 48 hours.

The happy lad enjoying his bath. He loves everything except for rinsing his hair.

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Hiperfi's

Don't ask me, I assume "Hi-per-fi" is some girly-word for high-heel shoes. I mentioned these in an earlier Blog post, so here is the evidence. Too cute for words! Ma & Pa, click on the pic and tell me who's feet you see.

Eugene is also getting into the Krissy-spirit, and loved being our little Elf earlier this week.

It gets hot in Sydney people, and I don't mean a lowly 30 degrees. Think hotter. Don't believe me; here is my mate Werner standing in front of the standard Sydney domestic fan. He has osmium-filled (look it up) shoes and heavy-duty velcro on the shoe-soles, which is how we managed to get this photo.

Finally, one for my "Woolly" friends in-the-know. Here is a photo of some rather nice wool (yeah, subtle understatement, I know). Just remember you saw it here first!

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The Christmas Tree has gone up

As per tradition, the Christmas tree must go up on 1 December, and we stuck to "the rules". Before starting we switched on the air-con (it was warm last night) and put some Christmas music on. Karla could hardly contain herself, bouncing around like Bambi!

Eugene made it to about 8:30PM, and then decided it was time to visit Lala-land.

One of the highlights for (a very impatient) Karla; putting on the star....

...and then switching on the lights!

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Milkshakes & Rouse Hill

Our new favorite spot for coffee & breakfast is "The Coffee Club" in Rouse Hill. Good food, great coffee and excellent service. Can't ask for more.

Me with my two bestest, most beautiful kids....I appologize for the picture quality; these were taken as JPG's, not RAW's

Karin and Karla getting "something" special for themselves. Girls love jewelery stores, and we don't do this often, so it was nice to spoil them. Karla also got some "low" high-heel shoes. She looks so grown up!

Karin whipping up some cherry milkshakes. Man, they are nice. Is there anything Karin can't do well when it comes to cooking etc??

While waiting for the time to pass up in Newcastle (Xmas function there last Friday night) I snapped this photo. The angler caught two good-size fish while I was watching. This type of coastline is very similar to Port Elizabeth/East London in South Africa. I can just see my dad standing in the wind and braving the surf, waiting for "the next big one" to bite.

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