This is a great skill that has been difficult for Colin.

It’s so great to see him settling in at his school and doing his homework with little fuss.

There are 2 kids in there somewhere.

We have several local cafes. One of our favorites is a very short walk from the house and they make all sorts of beautiful breads, cakes, and pies.

Cliff was out training for his upcoming volunteer work (taking seniors from the local home for bicycle rides), so the kids and I went for a treat.

Laura had Nutella hot chocolate and a custard tart, Colin had a tropical smoothie and vanilla cupcake, and I had peppermint tea and a chocolate chip muffin. We bought a gorgeous loaf of multigrain sourdough bread to bring home.

It was a lovely morning in the sun!

Life has gotten in the way of posting on the blog this week, but it didn’t get in the way of making cookies!

Colin and Sarah made cookies together on Sunday. They took a quick break to document their time with a cooking selfie.

A colony of little blue penguins (also called fairy penguins) lives near our house. Last weekend we went to check them out.

We knew it was best after sunset, but went during the day just in case, and to familiarize ourselves with the location. We saw plenty of signage, but no penguins. We took some time to play on the beach.

We returned around sunset that same day and…

Penguins! They are very tricky to photograph, since it’s night time and they are disturbed by flashes. Penguins can’t see in the red spectrum, though, so there are volunteers with red flashlights to help illuminate the birds.

It was cold and blustery, so we didn’t stay long, but we enjoyed the penguins we saw. We will return on a warmer evening and see more of them!

I think this is the closest we will get to snow in our back yard in Melbourne.

Turns out the poor possum is possibly sick or injured.

It was still around this morning so I called the local wildlife rescue.

They told me how, and I rescued the possum, bundled it up and took it to the vet where they will treat and care for it as needed.

This possum appeared on our porch this afternoon. After napping the afternoon and evening away it’s up and on the go. Not sure if it’s normal behavior, but the kids are loving having an animal outside.

Laura and I went to a play on Sunday: Puffs, the play. It’s the story of three Hufflepuff students who attend Hogwarts the same years as Harry Potter.

As a proud Hufflepuff herself, Laura was thrilled. We both enjoyed the funny, clever show.

Colin and I took in the Melbourne Museum today while Laura and Sarah went to a show together.

We saw dinosaur bones, fossils, gems, and some optical illusions as we leaned about the brain.