One Man's Trash...

Abe's always been a bit of an oddity. Rarely has he been gifted a toy that he actually plays with. He'd rather kick around plastic bottles and throw cardboard boxes in the air to see how high he can make them go, or draw his own intricate board games with pen and paper. In the meantime, his Lego, Bakugan, and Bionicles - all of which he "really, reeeeaally need[ed] for Christmas!" - gather dust on the shelf.

I mean, why play in this:

When this is so inviting?

1,001 Reasons We Love Living Here: Reason #57

Our massive garage.

It can fit five cars. We have one, and it is never in the garage.

Instead, the garage is bike storage, BBQ shelter, hard rubbish overflow, and a second playroom. It is Hank's favorite place to play. He spends hours out here driving his cars, rain or shine; it's often hard to get him to come into the house.

I'm sure once the rain and cold really get going, we'll have to move the car into the garage more often. In the meantime, it sure is nice having a big empty room almost as large as our entire apartment in Colorado.

Sport

Australia, as it turns out, is every bit as sports crazy as Boulder or Norman. Of course, the sports are different, but fans are just as rabid. It's awesome. Fitness is a general given here; I've yet to see a child walking around staring blankly at the screen of a Nintendo DS. Instead, kids are throwing and kicking footballs, swinging cricket bats, riding bikes, running, jumping, climbing. In January, we had a ward party to celebrate Australia Day. The main event was a four-hour cricket match, during which Ben bowled and batted for the first time (and got a wicket!) and Abe joined the kids' game once the adults wore themselves out. Needless to say, he has caught the fever, playing pickup games of footy (Australian Rules Football) during both recesses every day at school.

Cricket season - like baseball season in the U.S. - is a summer game, ending in autumn when footy starts - again, just like the American football season. Abe starts Auskick on Saturday, and he couldn't be more excited. We're excited to be able to learn more about that crazy game and Hank can't wait to play outside every Saturday morning for two hours.

The sports obsession here is infectious. Everyone is trying to get us to barrack for their team, but thanks to Travis Humphrey, we're staunch Melbourne Demons fans. Go DEEEEES!

Who would've thunk we'd have been influenced this way, with not an athletic bone among the four of us until now?

Steph's Christmas present. I've ridden almost 2,000 kilometers since just before Christmas!

There is some sport being played in the front yard, every night.

Not that the backyard is being neglected.

FOOTY!