Yet another busy week at our place!  Our best friends (the kids and mine) are visiting Perth and as we don't see them very often we are making the most of it.  We had them down for the day so no school work that day.

Our nature finds for the week -

Libelluidae Blue Skimmer Dragonfly

 First off let me say we didn't hurt this little guy his tail was bent when we found him.  According to my field guide these guys normally hang around water courses.  I'm not sure how he found his way to our place!  We don't have any lakes or streams in our immediate area.  I found this guy on the washing.

Armadillidiidae Introduced Rolling Slater

We have these little guys all over our yard.  They especially love the wood pile.  They are a crustacean and not an insect.  As his name suggests when he is threatened he rolls himself into a ball using his segmented outer as a protective shell.

I took the kids on a field trip this week to have a ride on the ferris wheel which is visiting Perth.  It was wonderful!!  The kids loved it.  They enjoyed looking down on the people and cars.  It gave them a completely different perspective.  It wasn't cheap, but it was fun!

 The nature we encountered on the way -

Rock Dove

 I grew up calling these guys pigeons.  They were introduced to Australia and are scavengers.  Some councils now have signs making it illegal to feed the birds because they are such a nuisance.

Silver Gull

 I have always called them Sea Gulls because they are always at the beach, lol.  These ones were having a dip in the Swan.  They are very common here and can be as bad as those 'pigeons' with their scavenging.  Don't leave your food unattended at the beach, they will sneak up and pinch it!

Ethany's reading is really taking off!!  I tested her 2 weeks ago and she was reading a a solid Grade 2 level, in only 2 weeks i think it closer to a Grade 3 level now.  Over this last week we have buddy read (she reads a page, I read a page) the entire collection of First Fairy Tales which we borrowed from the library.

All 3 of the kids started swimming lessons this week.  Xavier has been petrified of the water for a long while, wont take a shower, wont go under the hose, wont get his face wet at the beach etc.  But surprisingly he has done really well.  Ethany and Imogen are both water lovers so no worries there!

I have decided to take a slightly different tack with Five in a Row this year.  Last year I found I was trying to do too much and we skimmed over stuff and didn't stop to smell the roses so to speak so this is what we are doing.  I have dropped Before Five in a Row for now although i will pick it back up soon.  I am putting more into planning Five in a Row and letting Xavier just come for the ride.  I am getting the manual and looking at all the activities then choosing what I want and fleshing it out.  Then I work out how much will be reasonable for a day and work out how many days we are going to work on that book.  We have started The Story of Ping and plan to work on it over 6 days.  If we miss a day, no big deal we will just pick up tomorrow so we will still achieve everything I planned but not on set days if that makes sense.  It is working sooooo much better already!

Take care

Amber