Those of you who were around when Matilda was a little baby may remember that she had an uncanny ability to save herself when falling, with lightning reactions and a vice like grip. She hardly ever actually fell, always grabbing something on the way down, from seemingly impossible positions.
She loves to climb up stuff... like lamp posts for example. We found her up a lamppost when we were living at Conor and Katrina's. She'll attempt almost anything.
So when we came across a climbing wall at the local gym, Daile and I both had the same thought and we took them along the very next day. Daile and I had to be shown how to belay, we all got fitted up with climbing harnesses and away we went... or more specifically away Matilda went. I can only really describe watching her in terms that fall short. I was standing at the bottom of the wall feeding the rope through the fall arrester as fast as you would for an competent adult. She went up like a spider, and I found myself grinning from ear to ear. Not a shred of fear or hesitation as she flung herself from one hold to the next. We were there for two and a half hours, and by the end, she was attempting the black (extreme) runs...
Phoebe, I should say put up a very competent show as well remembering that she's only five - and mortal, but Matilda was just 'natural' on there... totally in her element... giggling to herself, like she does when she's chuffed with something.
This is Phoebe...
After we'd done, appetites were raging and we stopped in at the local supermarket. I saw some Mentos, and had a thought. We bought a bottle of coke. When we got home, we set about wiring up the bottle so that there were a couple of vertical spikes rising from the neck, and we rigged a urine sample tube with two pairs of rings to run over the wire so that it could be accurately held over the mouth of the bottle. The sample tube is just the right size to fit Mentos...for those who fancy a go at this...and who can stomach putting foodstuff into a urine tube. I tied the bottle to an upturned galvanised flower vase so that the kids couldn't accidentally knock it over in exuberance. The plan was that Phoebe would remove a strip of paper that separated a line of six Mentos from the coke, and after a beat, Matilda would whip away the sample tube to clear the mouth of the bottle. I think I may have over egged the danger by getting them to wear goggles (mainly cos they look funny) and as a result, Phoebe really took off! Ha ha. Good gag though.
I was thinking that it might be fun to fit a balloon over the bottle with the Mentos in, (and some device to release them perhaps) and cut a small hole in one end of it... to see how far the coke would spray when constrained?
Phoebe has been quite busy drawing the last few days. I've had a lot of stored pictures out, and these two old school photos of Josh and Molly are on my desk. Phoebe decided to do her own rendition...
Now I don't reckon they were too bad! So if you two are feeling sorry for yourselves, get this:
Later that same day, Phoebe decided to paint me. We got out the desk top easel and set her up. This is what she looked like whilst she was painting me... intently.
and this is the stunning result. I had no idea that I looked like Shrek. Daile tells me its quite accurate!
Er... yes. Isn't it remarkable how far our self image can be out! All this time I saw myself as a George Clooney type.
And just cos she never gets on here.. here's one of Daile, with Gilly. The main reason Daile doesn't feature on the blog much is that she doesn't like pictures of her. However, given what Molly, Josh and I have endured in the name of bringing you art, I feel this is a small imposition... my beautiful girl.
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