Big Haul Weekend!

Friday night Mom took Logan out to a dry river bed with some friends to
get a bunch of sand while Daddy went to his last Sunchase Model Solar
Car meeting (since the event is next week). Mommy needed the sand so
that we could layer the ground along our narrow side alley-way with it.
This way we could easily level some pavers down and provide Logan a nice
pathway to ride his toy bike along.

Saturday Dad and Logan got up at 6:20 AM for a day of joy and fun (for
Dad). We went to the computer store to get some parts, to the toy store
to get Logan some 'fake' food like veggies, fruit, canned items, eggs,
chocolate, etc... We also hit the playground for the usual expending
of energy reserves from the little one. The 'fake' food was because we
borrowed a kitchen set, to include oven and sink, from the toy library.
Well, Logan 'ate' it up and was entranced with using it, so we felt it'd
be worth it to stock full of other goodly items. While all this went
on, Mom went to her Alexandria Quartet practice as there is only one
week left until they perform as part of the Annual Desert Festival
(expected to be a big turnout this year what with all the hype and
promoting they've been doing).

After Logan's nap on Saturday, Mom and Logan baked cookies, then we all
ate them. To relieve ourselves of the sugar rush, we unloaded the sand
from the truck and started placing it along the side of our house. Hmm,
still there was energy. So we all went out bush again just outside of
town and got some more sand, brought it home, and unloaded that. Yay!
But we needed a bit more sand. That could wait until Sunday as our
cookie high had long since depleted by that point.

Sunday morning and Logan yet again woke up at 6:20 AM. This time Mom
got him (thanks Ma!) We didn't have long, though, because at 8:45 AM
we had to pack on up the truck and hustle ourselves out past the
Heavitree Gap ridge along Stuart Highway for the BIG EVENT! What was
the big event you might ask? Well, it was only the largest Truck parade
and rally that Australia has ever seen. It was the 10th anniversary of
the Road Transport Hall of Fame, so all the truck enthusiasts from
around Australia hauled butt over here for an annual convention. The
parade itself had 400 trucks of various vintage, type, and flavor.
Thousands of spectators were lined up all along Stuart Highway from the
north thru the south of town. From about 9:15 AM until 11:05 AM we saw
truck after truck pass us by, honking their high-decibel horns and
waving as we all waved back. At 11:05, after changing a diaper, we
quickly set back on the road towards the Road Transport Hall of Fame.
We needed to be there by 11:30 because we had to catch our booking for a
ride on the Old Ghan train. The train has not operated for three years
and we were to be the first ones on the re-built and operable train.
Of course we ran into a dilemma in which everyone else wanted to go to
the same destination as well... so we were stuck in a traffic jam for
about 30 minutes (good as Logan caught himself a power nap along the
way). As soon as we got there we jumped out from a faraway open
parking spot and practically raced to catch the train. Luckily
everyone was having the same problem and so it didn't leave until about
12 noon, giving us about 10-15 minutes to catch our breath.
Incidentally, the train still had extremely few passengers, perhaps
because most folks were enjoying the trucks, food, beer, and live band
entertainment and they probably felt they could just wait until the next
train run at 1:30 PM. Logan really enjoyed his train ride, especially
so because his best pal Bradon was there as well. They kept having fun
going from car to car as the train hobbled down the track about 30 km.
For some unknown reason, both boys seemed to be particularly interested
in the on-board shower! They kept saying "Let's go back to the
shower", "I want to see the shower", and "Let's get in the shower".
Perhaps this was because the shower was at the very front train car and
we were sitting in the lounge car which was almost at the opposite end.
A few heartbeats would be skipped as the boys went between cars; there
was an open gap that could easily have either one of them slip through
and down towards oblivion.

After the train ride, we disembarked and hit the rest of the
festivities, looking at trucks and hopping on tractors, eating food and
listening to the overpoweringly loud music. Once again, Logan knocked
back an entire knackwurst sausage (this one had cheese in it). To top
it off, he scavenged grapes, blueberries, and strawberries from his pal
Bradon. Our kid is one heckuva eating machine!

Well, the sun was getting to all of us and Logan's lack of naptime meant
it was time to hit the road (at about 1 - 2 PM). He was being a bit
grouchy as we got him into his car seat and so we thought that he'd be
out like a light once we hit the road... or so we thought. Nope, he was
wide awake and remained so... so... so... so we decided we'd burn
everyone out completely by driving up north out of town to get SOME MORE
SAND! Yes, what else would one do on a hot Sunday afternoon? After
a time, we hit the unpaved lesser-travelled road yet again, and as we've
done before, we convinced Logan that bumpy roads are actually fun (one
of these days he just ain't gonna buy that anymore). We hopped out and
everyone, to include Logan, helped put sand in a few buckets. This
didn't last long before Logan went to climb the rocks and play in the
water (we were at Junction waterhole) and Momma went along to supervise,
leaving Poppa to do the menial labor of hauling sand.

Some time later and finally at about 4:30 PM we arrived back home, Logan
dragging a bit on the way back, but still managing to keep control of
his faculties. Mom unloaded the truck of our day's asundries while Dad
unloaded the sand to complete our walkway (now will just have to haul a
bunch of pavers next week). While Dad did this, he saw Logan bring
Momma a cup of 'pretend' tea with milk from the new toy kitchenette. He
said, "Here's your tea Momma, with milk." Pretty cute. A little bit
later Dad could hear Mom and Logan taking a much-needed bath. They
kept giggling and laughing hysterically and Daddy was beginning to feel
the need to find out what was going on. Mom called Daddy in and he got
to find out what the laughing was all about. Logan had his hands on
Momma's belly and his little baby Sister was evidently moving all around
with her hands. Whenever she would move or punch Mom's belly from the
inside, Logan could easily feel it on the outside. This may not sound
like much, but Logan was getting a huge kick out of it and was smiling
and laughing from ear to ear. Mom explained that his baby Sister was in
her belly and trying to talk to Logan... Logan tried to respond back by
blowing hard on Mom's belly. What a great way to end the day!

At bedtime (an early one of 6:45 PM) it didn't take Logan long to drop
down to sleep. In fact, the previous 3-4 nights he's been pretty beat
and has decided to hit the sack prematurely after Dad or Mom has read
him only 2-3 books... very abnormal! Albeit he can be asleep and then
somehow still be awake enough to 'require' from us that he be set down
on the ground so he can be a kangaroo and hop over to the crib, to then
be lifted and dropped down in.