This week we travelled to Denmark to meet the relatives. We flew straight from Sydney to Copenhagen with short stopovers in Singapore and London. Aiden behaved like a little angel pretty much all the way although he was pretty tired on the last stretch from London.

The purpose of our trip was initially to introduce Aiden to both his Grandmother and Granddad (Bedstefar), but since my mum passed away last month he could only meet my dad.



It took a couple of days for both granddad (Bedstefar) and Aiden to get used to each other, but now they really enjoy each others company and have fun playing with eachother (although it will take some time before we get him to babysit as he refuses to change nappies).





We also went to the cemetry to visit my mum who passed away recently and my brother. It is a pity my Mum didn't get to meet Aiden, but at least he has now been to the cemetry.



We also went to visit my grand parents (Aidens great grandparents) as well as my great grand parents and great great grandparents (5 generations in one place).








One afternoon we went to my Aunties house to visit.



On a couple of evenings we had an outdoor BBQ. My dad was looking after the meat and we were looking after the side dishes and deserts. On the first evening my dad managed to burn the chicken a faid bit.



One afternoon we all went to the local zoo (It must have been 30 years since I last went there).







We tried the swings there, but Aiden wasn't happy with them (Maybe when he is older).



In the evenings we went down memory lane where my dad pulled out old 16mm film from when I was a toddler.





We were in Denmark a week and a half and it was really nice to see Aiden and my Dad getting along. I am hoping that my dad will come to Sydney in the near future and spend more time with Aiden...it will be good for him to know Bedstefar as he is growing up.

Today was a beautiful winters day...cool, windy and blue skies and we decided to use this beautiful Sunday to go on a bushwalk with Aiden (his first real bushwalk).

The walk we decided to do was one up at Cowan from the station down to Jerusalem Bay (5km return). I carried Aiden all the way in a small sling/backpac we have for him.



He is still not used to the sling and keeps leaning back...but hopefully we can get him a bit more used to it before our holiday to Croatia.

The walk follows a creek with a small stream running through it. Eventually it reaches the bay which is a picturesque little place.



It was a great trip and it was great to get out and get some exercise.



Afterwards we had lunch at Berowra at a place I had been to before. Unfortunately it had changed owners and didn't have the same quality to it any longer.

We had a beautiful winter day yesterday and we decided to head down to the beach to get Aiden used to the feel of sand.



He took it a lot better than expected and although wasn't playing with the sand at least he tolerated his feet and hands touching it.



He was also quite content sucking his fingers being full of sand.

This week it was Kims Birthday (one of the big ones with a zero in it). In the morning she was surprised with a big bunch of flowers delivered and she thought they were from me...she was very surprised when she discovered they were from my dad.



...and I got an earful because she thought that I hadn't gotten her any...well I did and they were delivered by the end of the afternoon and they were different from the ones I ordered (they just delivered a palin bunch of roses which was very dissappointing but the florist gave me a refund when I complained about it).




In the evening we had Kims dad baby sitting while we went to Sepia for the degustation menu.




The food was really yummi and time just flew away.





On the Sunday we celebrated with the family on a japanese restaurant followed by cake and birthday song.



Happy Birthday Kim!!

Week before last my mum passed away.

She had her birthday on the Saturday where we called her and sang har Happy Birthday. The next day I received an email from my auntie saying that my mum had another stroke on the day after her birthday and that she probably wouldn't make it through the night.

Obviously a bit of a shock and after calling the hospital they confirmed that she was in a coma and that it wasn't looking good. The stroke was on the opposite side of where she previously had a stroke so even if she woke up she would probably be totally paralysed.

Later that day I managed to get hold of my aunt and spoke to her to try and decide whether I should jump on a plane immediately or wherhet I should wait and see. I decided that because she was asleep there wouldn't be much value in me going there since it could be a long wait. My mums health has been pretty bad for a while so every time I've spoken to her I've know that it could be the last time. The one regret I have is that I only spoke to her briefly on her Birthday because we were going out for dinner.

On the 8th I reveived a call from my Aunt in the middle of the night saying that my mum had quietly slept in and that I better make my way to Denmark because there was a lot of decisions that had to be made.



When I arrived to Denmark my Dad hadn't arrived yet and his neighbour was out so I was unable to get into his apartment. I decided to go for a walk down to the hospital where my mum was and I was sitting outside for a while. Every time I saw someone in a window I was hoping that I would catch a glimse of my mum.

Next day my dad had arrived and we had a very busy day organising the funeral with the funeral company and starting to clear out her apartment. I had to make a decision as to what I wanted to keep and what should be disposed of. Over the next couple of days I managed to pack two boxes of stuff to keep and the rest was thrown out (apart from one box of porcelain painted by my grandma which I gave to my auntie). It was belongings that represented my Mums entire life and I had to make decisions as what to keep. In the end I only kept a few things that I would like to remember her by where the photos were an important part. I also kept a few of my grandmothers things that she had.

My mum had kept a lot of my things which I had to throw out as well. There were a number of really old bottles of wine from before I moved to Australia where the only one that was perfectly drinkable was a 1987 bottle (The rest had turned to vinegar). My dad and I shared this bottle over an outside BBQ one evening.



It is really sad to see how my Mums last few years has split up the family as well as old friends...when she had her first stroke years ago she was very much let down by both family members and friends that she thought she could depend on. A couple of these turned up to the funeral service...I am sure my mum would rather have had them not being there.


On the thursday we had my mums funeral at the church next to where she was born and I found it really hard to say my last goodbuy to her. It is one thing knowing she has passed away, but it really sunk in when she was right there in her coffin.



It was difficult for me to take these photos, but I needed something to remember the funeral by.



After the funeral we had lunch at Marielyst. It was good to catch up with some of my family members especially my mums sisters and my cousins and I am grateful for all the flowers that were sent.



In the middle of the lunch my dads sister came and threw a spanner in the wheels. She has days before promised that she would take care of the legal side and in the middle of the lunch she declared that she didn't want to do it afterall. I find her timing absolutely appaling and dissapointing. She could have let me know of that decisions earlier...instead I had to rush around and organise a lawyer in the afternoon where I thoughs I could finally site back and reflect on the loss of my mum and pack my things to finally go home next morning.

Anyway it got all sorted and next day I returned back to Australia.

I am really sorry that my mum never got to meet Aiden and I am sorry that Aiden never got to meet his grandmother. She passed away day after Aidens 1yo birthday and we were planning togo to Denmark next month to finally introduce them to eachother.


I hope that if there is something after that she has finally found some peace and that she is with my brother and that both of them are young, happy and healthy. The years since my brother passed away were really tough on my mum...she has had a tough autumn and her wish was always to be buried next to him in Vaeggerloese.

We will all miss her very much...

Today it was Aidens 1st Birthday and we celebrated it quietly with a birthday song and a little cupcake with a candle in it.



He is now a lot more curious about his environment and crawls around the livingroom investigating every corner. He is still commando crawling, but when he is determined to get to something then he is pretty quick.


We also measured him up against a wall and he is now 74cm tall and weighs just over 10kg. He is starting to become a real handful. He is used to me taking him with me in the shower and really doesn't like being bathed in a bathtub any more and it now takes the two of us to dress him (one of us to hold him while the other person dresses him). He is getting so strong that it is hard to one person to hold him is he starts wiggling like a worm.

On Sunday is his big birthday party and I really hope that I will be able to be there and celebrate it with him. Aiden's Grandmother (my Mum) had another stroke on Sunday (the day after her 69th Birthday) and things don't look very good at the moment and I may suddenly have to rush back to Denmark. I really hope she will hold out as I don't want to miss my little boys first Birthday party.

I am really sad that my Mum and Aiden hasn't had a chance to meet. We are supposed to go back there in August to visit her...but now we will have to re-evaluate our plans.

Again this year I went into the city to have a look at Vivid Sydney. This is a festival of light and music in the city around Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Opera House.

On the first few days of the festival it was raining a bit, but one evening when there was a clear night I went into the city leaving Kim and Aiden at home.

I managed to get a couple of good photos I think although I spent way too much time on photos of the opera house and therefore ran out of time.








This was the third year of the festival and I found this years festival much more creative than the previous years.


Anyway, here are some of the more interesting photos from the evening.

This weekend we made another trip to Centennial Park to go for a walk, have lunch & coffee and take some photos. Is it becoming a regular event so expect some more post in the future.

This Sunday the park was car free, meaning that everyone had to park outside the gates rather then drive into the park. It meant that there was a lot less people in the park which made it even more enjoyable. The trees as beautiful with their golden yellow and red leaves.


It is currently Autumn in Sydney and lately the weather had been fairly miserable and even this Sunday when we went to the park it looked a bit dark and gloomy at first. Fortunately the grass and leaves were fairly dry so I could do our 11 Month photos of Aiden. At first he didn't like the leaves at all, but after a few minutes he warmed up to the idea and started having fun playing with them (and eating them).








He is very funny at the moment, he is starting to crawl a lot faster and would try and get to the camera so I had to keep crawling backwards to keep the distance between us.

Friday night Kim, Dylan and I joined a number of Kims friends on the Abba cruise on the Sydney Harbour.

Dylan had completed a writing assignment we gave him a couple of weeks earlier (to write a 500 word essay about our easter holiday) and as a reward we took him along on the cruise.

The boat was a fairly small boat (almost house boat sized) and probably fitted around 80 people onboard. The Abba band was pretty good. The singing wasn't brilliant, but still very good entertainment and they managed to get the boat rocking. We even managed to get Dylan up dancing (even though we didn't give him much choice).




^{(oh...this photo is intentionally blurred...I tried to create a cool effect by zooming while I took the photo with a rear-curtain sync).}


It was a beautiful calm night, so it was nice to once in a while go up on deck to enjoy the view of the city line. Vivid Sydney had just started so Circular Quay, The opera house and The Rocks was all lit up. I will be heading in there one of the next few nights to take some more photos (I tried to take a couple of photos from the boat but Abba was rocking it too much ;-) ).



I hope Nikon will soon announce the D800...my old D50 was really strugling this evening with the low light conditions and I didn't bring a Tripod along.

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )

Arrival	Silam / Jungle Home 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bowling 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet One day we went playing bowling...I had a dream round where I played my best game ever (including a Share One day we went playing bowling...I had a dream round where I played my best game ever (including a turkey - three strikes in a row). 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Boys Soccer 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet This year both the boys played soccer for the first time.They made some good friends while playing a Share This year both the boys played soccer for the first time. They made some good friends while playing and did pretty good considering it was the first time. Lucas' team won the competition in his age group. Aiden made a great effort considering he is a head shorter than all the other boys in his age group. 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kims dads 90th 22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Kims dad celebrated his 90th(we think) Birthday this year.He is mostly bedridden these days, but we Share Kims dad celebrated his 90th(we think) Birthday this year. He is mostly bedridden these days, but we managed to get him downstairs to celebrate on this day. 22. December 2020 00:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Various kids activities 22. December 2020 00:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Strange year indeed, and other than a few things, it is remarkably the same.The kids have still done Share Strange year indeed, and other than a few things, it is remarkably the same. The kids have still done a lot of activities and here are some of them. Aiden hanging out with his friend Jake at the beach. Mini golf with Sammi. Doing puzzles at home. Aiden had patience to do one of the simpler ones. Me trying to teach them how to use photoshop...not a bad result for a first try. Painting the old way. One of Aidens favourite drawings. It got soaked by accident and he was absolutely devastated. I managed to rescue it somewhat and take this photo. He went through a phase where he was obsessed with the Titanic. He was also into Harry Potter and made a drawing of the sorting hat. I took Aiden out for a run and he did 4.5km without a break...very proud. Ice skating with friends Backyard tennis Ice cream Karate - Lucas got to wear a black belt after doing a 3 minute plank. Their Kumite (sparring) gear. Aiden reading a bit. Reading is really difficult for him. He can read all the words and sentences perfectly, but it is hard for him to comprehend the stories he reads (almost like he is unable to visualise and imagine the story as he reads it.). 21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Covid backyard camping 21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet During the lockdown we spent a lot of time in our backyard having a firepit on the weekends.One week Share During the lockdown we spent a lot of time in our backyard having a firepit on the weekends. One weekend I put up my old tent and I camped in the backyard with the boys...they had a blast. 21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Coastal Walk - Kamay national park 21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet On the other side of Botany Bay is Kamay national park.On a very stormy day we went for a walk over Share On the other side of Botany Bay is Kamay national park. On a very stormy day we went for a walk over there to experience the wild weather. 21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Harry Potter 21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Aiden likes to dress up, this time like harry potter... Share Aiden likes to dress up, this time like harry potter... 21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments School award 21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet It is not often gets an award from school, so he is super proud when he gets a little encouragement. Share It is not often gets an award from school, so he is super proud when he gets a little encouragement. 16. September 2020 16:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Pool and Beach Photoshoot 16. September 2020 16:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet At Boracay I did another shoot with some beautiful models. It was a fun shoot on the beautiful beach Share At Boracay I did another shoot with some beautiful models. It was a fun shoot on the beautiful beach and at the hotel pool. 26. July 2020 10:07 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Gold Coast 2020 26. July 2020 10:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Early in the year we made an extended weekend trip to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Main attraction Share Early in the year we made an extended weekend trip to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Main attraction here was for the boys to visit Movieworld and Seaworld. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ... 93 94 Older posts Home 2. May 2013 07:16 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Vanuatu food 2. May 2013 07:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet vanuatu food Share You would think that a country with access to some of the best seafood and freshest produce would have fantastic food. Although the food was Ok, we didn't find it fantastic and generally very over prised. There was plenty of restaurant in and around Port Vila and some of them serving specialties such as coconut crabs and flying foxes. We tried the coconut crab...but it was overcooked and dry and had surprising little meat on it (no meat in the body itself). So we stuck to more traditional seafood which most often was battered and deep fried. And as usual Aiden got into the free kids menu desserts 2. May 2013 05:26 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Lake Macquarie 2013 2. May 2013 05:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet lake macquarie 2013 Share This weekend we went up to Lake Macquarie with the family to stay for a couple of night at a resort. I didn't take a lot of photos because we either didn't do much or were too busy with the family. I did however take this one photo one evening at Katherine Hill Bay. 1. May 2013 12:38 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Vanuatu - Star fish 1. May 2013 12:38 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet vanuatu star fish Share The beach at the hotel was full of really big and colourful star fish....couldn't help but take a few snapshots. 26. April 2013 10:46 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Lucas 7 Months 26. April 2013 10:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet lucas 7 months Share Lucas is now 7 Months and for this month we decided to take his Monthly photos while he was on his first overseas trip to Vanuatu. This series of photos was taken at Eton Beach on the east side of the island of Efate in Vanuatu...he loved the water and had a hard time to understand that it is unpleasant to eat the sand and drink the salt water. He is now almost able to crawl...he just needs to figure out that it is not enough to just move the legs...you also have to move your hands. 3. April 2013 07:20 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Another old Lucas 4 months photo 3. April 2013 07:20 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet another old lucas 4 months photo Share I know it was a couple of months ago, but I only now got around to processing it. Here is another photo that I took of Lucas when he was 4 Months. 27. March 2013 11:15 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Axolotls 27. March 2013 11:15 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet axolotls Share The other night we went for dinner at Marks place. He asked us if we could help him take some photos of the kids Axolotls...our response was 'Their WHAT??'. Anyway, it turns out to be some sort of Mexican Salamander and he'd attempted to get some photos using his point and shoot camera, but wanted something better that he could print and hang on the kids wall. Here are some of my efforts: 27. March 2013 11:12 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Sucking feet 27. March 2013 11:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet sucking feet Share When Lucas doesn't have any toys to play with then his favourit pass time is to suck his feet. Here is a quick snapshot from the other day when he was at it again. He's now got two teeth, so hopefully he wont chomp off his toes. 12. March 2013 09:27 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Lucas 6 Months - Pictured and Framed 12. March 2013 09:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet lucas 6 months Share Lucas is now 6 months and is enjoying the easy life... On the weekend we went down to La Perouse to do these creative shots of him at sunset. I always said that I would take a photo of him and put it in a frame...but not sure if this is what everyone had in mind. It was pretty good fun trying to set it all up. A lot of other walkers on the beach were wondering what we were doing. I have been planning this photo for a while. The frame I had picked up from a garbage collection day last month outside a block of units with this particular photo in mind. The chair and table are bath aids and foot stools from home. It was really cool to see everything come together in the end. Unfortunately we missed just the end of the sunset as there were a few clouds on the horizon. A lot of lessons learnt came out of it. Even though the photos came out almost as I had envisioned...I still had a few things that I could have done better....just small things such as two flashes to light frame and Lucas independently, CTO gelling the flash to match the ambient, using an umbrella to avoid hard shadows, bringing a mid range zoom to have more composition options and be able to get a bit closer, use black string to hold up the frame instead of white, bring a pillow to keep his head up and then stripping his clothes and then bring my light meter to check the setting to start with instead of chimping. It was the first time I've used the D800 for this (in the past I've been using my D50 with a different shutter system) and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to balance out the ambient with the flash and still stay below the sync speed...but it worked out like a charm...or maybe I was just lucky! 12. March 2013 09:16 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kims Kitchen - Raspberries Creme Brulee 12. March 2013 09:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet kims kitchen raspberries creme brulee Share Last night Kim made a very nice Creme Brulee...Yummiiiii!!!! She asked me to take a couple of photos which I think turned out quite nicely. 12. March 2013 09:15 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Sydney Wildlife Park 2013 12. March 2013 09:15 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet sydney wildlife park 2013 Share On the weekend we went to the Sydney Wildlife Park at Darling Harbour. It was good fun to show Aiden all the different animals (Although he was pretty tired by the end). The highlight of the exhibition is the 4.5 meter long Saltie (Saltwater Crocodile). He is such a darling and he loved his girlfriends so much that he had them over for dinner (Ha Ha). Aiden wasn't sure about the crocodiles and definitely wasn't happy with the big mouth and all the sharp teeth... ...Daddy came to the rescue and threw himself at the monster. He was a bit more happy with the smaller cuddlier animals... Such as the wombats... ...the Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies... ...or even the Tasmanian Devil. The start of the exhibition is pretty amazing as you wank through a large enclosure with lots of butterflies flying around. And besides from that there is of cause a lot of lizards, frogs and snakes on display. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 ... 93 94 Older posts