Panitz Family Blog

Harry has really flourished at Prep. Initially he was pretty tired but once he got over that he was very enthusiastic. He goes off the Prep each day with his little red shopping bag filled with boxes to reuse. He has such great ideas. I love asking if he would like to take a box or piece of cardboard to school he will say, “Yes” and then proceed to tell you just what he will make with it and sure enough the next afternoon home it comes. Here are a selection of his constructions or ‘destructions’ as he says. We take photos so they can be recycled - mum loves having them all over the house!

This first photo is his “Empire Theatre” which he had made little people for to performs shows with. The second is an x-wing fighter. Star Wars never ceases to provide endless inspiration for the boys in our family! The third is a robot to help him to his cleaning up. You can’t really see it but his toothpaste box arms move! The fourth is a cars ramp - often played with for hours using the hallways as a race track. The fifith is his train, my favourite, he made for all his friends so they could get to places. The final photo is a photo frame of his family - I love this one too.

This Easter was our 20th year camping at Glenlyon Dam. It is such a special place for us. Having spent so many good times there as a kid it is so great to take our kids there now and enjoy all the same things. We had a ball this year. Tim was able to come with us which was fantastic and we also had the company of Mum and Dad and their friends Steve and Vicki and Steve. All the adults were so great with the kids and enjoyed spending time with them. Here are the boys playing in the dam, Thomas had just eaten a lollypop that turned his tounge blue.

Fishing was a big priority this year for the kids especially Tom. He was given a fishing rod from Nanny Annie last Christmas and was very keen to have a go. Steve was very generous and let us use his fantastic boat. It was so wonderful to see my Dad showing the kids how to bait the hook with the shrimp and how to cast the rod and hook a bite. It was also hilarious to see the kids wait 30 seconds before complaining about being bored and then another minute and a half before exclaiming they were hungry - just like Em and I did when we were kids! It was especially exciting for Lucy who caught her first fish. Even though it was a catfish we sent back, it was still a flurry of screams and laughter as she hauled it in.

So while our first fishing trip started off well with these antics but soon turned nasty with a big storm blowing up and almost blowing us off the water. It took 3 of us to batten down the storm cover but the kids were calm sitting in the cabin munching on snacks. Mum on the other hand was not travelling so well. She was back at the campsite literally watching everything get washed and blown away. As you can see by the pics below our tent was a little worse for wear. The puddle of water towards the back is actually about 20cm deep and had hail floating in it!

Needless to say mum was extremely glad to see us all safe. Turns out we were on the water worrying about her and she was at camp worried about us. But despite the torrents of water and the soggy beds , when some people just threw all their belongings into their boats and headed home, we managed to see the funny and exciting side to this challenge. Of course by the time we arrived back at camp it was almost dusk so Tim swung into action and repaired the broken and commensed bucketing water off the top of the tent - trouble was it was so cold because of the hail that he could only stand in it for a few seconds. Meanwhile the kids went off to find a dry spot in Nanny’s camper and I started sorting wet from dry. Surprisingly some of our stuff was still dry under that tent so we were doing okay. Piecing together rugs and ponchos for bed clothes that night made it all the more important to cuddle together.

And then the new day dawn and so did the Chinese laundry. We busied ourselves drying sleeping bags and clothes and by lunchtime on Saturday it was as if nothing had happened. The fishing was back on and we were in business.

You wouldn’t think that many people would get their haircut at camp but it seems to have become a bit of a tradition with our crew. Dad brings the inverter and Mum gets the clippers going. Not wanting to have his hair cut at the best of times, $2 to spend at the shop was too good a prospect for Harry to refuse so he lined up too. As you can see he really didn’t like the whole idea!

The other photos above are taken after the Easter bunny visited, ever our little scientist, Thomas couldn’t just eat his chocolate - he had to investigate it first.

Then it was time for me and Thomas to have some success fishing with him catching his first yellowbelly and me learning how to fillet properly. All in all a great weekend, looking forward to the 21st year!

We were all so excited to be invited to Mark Hams’ (Tim’s cousin) 21st birthday celebrations. Mark has lived in Toowoomba for a few years now going to boarding school and now uni.

Although we don’t catch up anywhere near enough he is a very special person in our lives cause he is always willing to pop over and have fun with the kids when we need a hand. He is a great guy who even does your dishes for you ladies so he would be a great catch! The kids just adore him and we love visiting him on the property his parents mangage called ‘Pealinga’. Rob and Janelle always welcome us with open arms when we have a bi-annual Panitz Kids Campout.

We had a great night sharing some great memories and spending time with special people. This is a photo of Mark and Gavin (his ‘big’ brother on the right LOL) and then Janelle and Mark during the speeches. We wish Mark health and happiness as he ventures into adult life. Good on ya mate.

Lucy had a lovely day sharing her birthday with a few of her close friends. They had a fantastic time dancing and playing games. She was spoilt with lots of great presents including lots of vouchers to go shopping, some beading equipment and a hair accessories kit. She also got a brand new bike from Nanny and Poppy Bruton that she just loves.

As you can see Lucy is really growing up. Time goes so fast she is now a confident, talented and creative young person.

These are Lucy’s lovely friends and some little sisters who are always welcome.

I made a chocolate mud cake which, now she is 9 and knows absolutely everything, Lucy insisted on cutting. Don’t wince when you see how she is holding the knife. Poppy would not be impressed.

Here are some pics of the kids on the first day of school for 2008. Lucinda is now in Grade 4, Thomas is in Grade 2 and Harrison is in Prep.

As we all settle down into 2008, we here in the Panitz household thought it time to get a fresh new look for our website. (Mainly because we were envious of Sarah’s cool new site - Sarah’s Photo Solutions ).

We have just had a great weekend end camping at Flanagans Reserve, near Rathdowney. We had a blast and Tom even managed to finally get the training wheels off his bike - No stopping him now.

Here are some pictures.

We are still waiting for this little person to arrive.