Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

It is not often gets an award from school, so he is super proud when he gets a little encouragement.

At Boracay I did another shoot with some beautiful models. It was a fun shoot on the beautiful beach and at the hotel pool.

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.

These photo are from a workshop I did with Kateriina as a model.

It was mainly studio with fixed (hot) lights instead of strobes which I am more used to.

Advantage of the fixed lights in a workshop setting is that it is easier to see what the light is like before taking the photo as well as having multiple photographers shooting at the same time.

Aidens birthday was during the covid lock down.

Fortunately we were still allowed to have a couple of his school friends over for a little celebration (his school was still open anyhow).

We decided to have it in the garden with a fire pit with roasted marshmellows, sparklers followed by cake.

Recently I had the chance to visit the shooting range at Malabar headland with a group of friends.

I used to do a lot of shooting in my younger days, so I was curious to see if I still had it in me.

On this day we were shooting on the 800 meter range (which is a very long distance) with 7.62 NATO rounds.

The distance means that you cannot see where you hit, so they have an electronic readout next to the shooter. The two circles in the middle are about 25cm in diameter at the far end.

Below is the group of shots from my round.

This photo gives a better idea of the distance we were shooting at (It was also a very windy day)

Apparently I shot the best round of the day including the regulars...

Conclusion is that, yes, still got it and I may pick it up as a regular activity some time in the future.

With Kim having a few weeks gap between jobs and badly needing a break she wanted to go somewhere relaxing and where the water and weather would be warm.

After a bit of research we settled on a week to the Phillipines to an island called Boracay.

This is a small island with the most beautiful beach we have seen anywhere outside of Bora Bora (interesting that both have the name 'Bora').

The boys (and adults) managed to get a mighty sunburn already on the first day.

The island also has the most amazing sunsets at the beach.

Also lots of activity on the beach in the evenings whereas during the day is is mostly empty.

We stayed in a large resort built around a golf course. It had seven swimming pools and we spend a lot of time here relaxing with the boys and sipping cocktails.

It was really nice in the evenings to sit in a bar listening to cruisy music. Most of the restaurants and bars would have live entertainers on in the evenings.

One day we went on a snorkeling trip around the island. The boys are well accustomed to snorkeling now and love it. Unfortunately I didn't bring an underwater housing on the trip, but I can say that the coral reef looks to be in a good shape although a lot of the larger schools of fish and large predatory fish seems to be scarce.

We also did a day trip to the main island where we went through one of the local caves.

The cave was full of little bats and also had other creatures that were attracted to the bats and insects such as a snake and spiders I've never seen before.

We even spotted a large hermit crab (size of a hand).

We also went to a local river where there was waterfalls and also rafts for the boys to have a play with.

The food in general was pretty good although we only tried a couple of local dishes (Phillipines is not famous for its food). Especially some of the seafood was really nice.

The way we got around the island was on these small tricycles. There are two types, the old ones pulled by a small moterbike and then the new ones which are all electric. The government wants to have all the old ones off the roads by 2024 which is very sensible both environmentally and economically as even the locals say that they make more money on the new ones.

The main road however is horrendous. In late 2018 the island was closed for 6 months to any visitors due to them sorting out a lot of issues with the sewage system. This means that they have dug up the entire road to install large pipes along with a road widening. A lot of this was still ongoing with the main road being full of holes, but given that it is such a small place it was alright to still get around.

This year the boys started doing Karate.

It was something that I've always wanted do do with them, so we looked around for a place where initially they could join some kids classes and then along the way I'd join as well.

Initially they got their red and white stripe belts (automatically)

And then later they went up for grading to get their Red belts.

They love training with some of the equipment that we have at home for it.

Late in the year I joined as well once the sensei established some adult classes and I have now after 20 years (I did a bit of karate back in 1998) finally received my Red belt.

Even Kim has taken a couple of classes - maybe she will even grade on of these days.

Aiden as part of his school had to do his holy communion.

He looked very handsome in his little suit.

One weekend we went to the Royal National Park (half an hour south) to go canoeing with the Family.

It was a fun day out and fortunately we can still fit the boys into a single canoe unlike Chong who had to get a rowing boat for his family - they are a lot harder work.

The other day was in the park with his daycare group to play at the playground.

While he was there he was bitten by some unknown insect and the morning after his whole face was swollen.

Fortunately he was happy enough and it didn't require any visits to a doctor.

Last weekend it was our Niece Emma's first birthday.

This was celebrated with lots of cakes and a jumping castle on which Aiden had lots of fun.

I just updated the map of the countries I have set my foot in...now 66 countries.

Africa	Rene(68)	Kim	Aiden	Lucas
Kenya	YES
Tanzania	YES
Uganda	YES
Egypt	YES
Tunesia	YES
Morocco	YES
Gambia	YES
Senegal	YES
South Africa	YES	YES	YES	YES
Zimbabwe	YES	YES	YES	YES
Zambia	YES	YES	YES	YES
Europe
Turkey	YES
Spain	YES	YES
France	YES	YES
Swizerland	YES	YES
Austria	YES	YES
Greece	YES	YES
Italy	YES
Lictenstein	YES
Vatican	YES	YES
Yougoslavia	YES
Croatia	YES	YES	YES
Slovenia	YES	YES	YES
Bosnia	YES	YES	YES
Montenegro	YES	YES	YES
Poland	YES
East Germany	YES
West Germany	YES	YES	YES
Belgium	YES	YES
Holland	YES	YES
Denmark	YES	YES	YES
Sweden	YES
Norway	YES
Finland	YES
Portugal	YES
Luxenbourg	YES
San Marino	YES
Monaco	YES	YES
Cyprus	YES
Hungary	(YES)	(YES)	(YES)
United Kingdom	YES	YES	(YES)
Americas
USA	YES	YES
Canada	YES
Mexico	YES	YES
Chile	YES	YES
Peru	YES	YES
Bolivia	YES	YES
Argentina	YES
Brasil	YES	YES
Asia
Japan	YES
Russia	YES
Malaysia	YES	YES
Thailand	YES	YES	YES	YES
Singapore	YES	YES	(YES)
Cambodia	YES
Laos	YES	YES	YES	YES
Phillipines	YES	YES	YES	YES
Burma/Myanmar	YES
Hong Kong	YES
Yemen	YES
Qatar	YES
Indonesia	YES	YES
Diego Garcia		YES
Vietnam		YES
India		YES
Australia/Pacific
Australia	YES	YES	YES	YES
New Zealand	YES	YES	YES	YES
New Caledonia	YES	YES	YES
French Polynesia (Tahiti / Bora Bora)	YES	YES	YES	(YES)
Vanuatu	YES	YES	YES	YES
Fiji	YES	YES	YES	YES

They finally caught us and wanted to put us in the big pot...

...but we told them that we are too skinny and that some of the fat tourists would taste better and be able to feed the village for months, so they let us go (whew...)!

While in Vanuatu we went on a couple of tours to get some insight into the old tribal culture.

We did one evening tour with food, song and dance and then a couple of days later we did another one during the daytime with a bit more insight into the tribal life.

On the evening trip they would be jumping out at us in the middle of the bush.

Afterwards they entertained us with song and dance.

During the day tour explained the significance of things such as their tribal drawings.

How they would use bark for making clothing and other items.

How they would preserve banana for several months.

...and the wild pigs they would hunt.

And they would also explain how cannibalism used to work in their society.

As well as other traditions.

I took a whole bunch of portraits of the people in the village.

There were also a bunch of kids around.

On one of the trips to a local village Aiden started playing with the local kids.

It was great that he had some fun as it is pretty hard for someone his age to sit still for long periods of time.

The local kids were great at helping him around and holding the dog so he could pat it.

One evening we went to see a fire show...

This turned out to be probably the best fireshow we have ever seen...spectacular.

Fortunately I brought my tripod along so I could capture the following amazing pictures.

The whole show was about 30 minutes with 6-10 performers and finished with group dancing where all the local kids also participated.

Obviously I took a large amount of family photos in Vanuatu.

Here are some of them.

...and...all this holiday can be very exhausting...

Kims Dad joined us in Vanuatu.

It was great to have him along and quite funny at times.

When we were out and about he wanted his photo taken with people we met.

And he was brave enough to try the local Kava...I didn't tell him how they make it.

And it was great to have him there to help with the kids.

On one of the days we made a day trip into Port Vila city centre. Here was the big market with is open 24 hours per day.

The market is full of fresh produce of all sorts depending on the seasons.

There is even some live produce available such as chicken and crabs.

Because the market is always open, people live and sleep between the stalls with their families.

It is also the place that people go to during lunch to buy food to eat.

There was a whole row of women sitting their waving their arms to keep the flies away from the food.

Also, I don't understand why the western world is spending so much effort and resources on finding cures to diseases such as cancer, diabeter, high blood pressure, arthritis, obesity, athma etc. since they here in Vanuatu already has one magical cure that takes care of them all. It was cheap and easily available at the market and it doesn't matter how much you buy, the price is always the same.

They were also selling improvised charcoal stoves bringing back memories of Kenya where everything was cooked on a Jiko's.

While we were outside the market discussing where to go next this woman and her little girl walked past. The little girl let go of he mums hand and walked over to Aiden (who was sitting in his pram) and gave him a BIG kiss...Aiden is such a chick magnet.

As per tradition we again did a family Christmas photo this year.

We were running out of time, so it was a bit rushed getting it done.

We also tried to make one with a Karate theme. It is a nice photo, it just wasn't christmassy enough.

Kim had booked a Christmas show in the State Theatre. It was an okay show, but as she said, it was more for the 'dads' than for the kids due to the costumes.

A couple of the awards received by Aiden and Lucas

We have been trying to encourage Aiden and Lucas to once in a while do the cooking. This is so that they know how to cook when they become older and adults.

Lucas is really loving it and Aiden doesn't really have the patience.

2022 was also the year where I finally got my Black belt in Karate (Sho-Dan - first belt).

I had to fly up to Brisbane for the grading/exam with the head of the Australian organisation.

This year Aiden was in the last year of primary school (year 6). This means that this was the year of his confirmation and also his graduation before he next year starts in high school.

Kim and I went to see Moulin Rouge at the Capitol Theatre. It was a beautiful production.

One day we made a daytrip into the city to see the NSW art gallery.

My dads backyard

Crashing after a busy day

Nisse/Hvids Oel

My dads house

The house in Vaeggerloese where I grew up.

Cooking and eating Eel.

Some of the old houses in Nykoebing F (probably 3-400 hundred years)

Love the hotdogs

Eating Pheasant (Fasan) that Bedstefar made.

Bye-Bye Bedstefar - See you soon again.

My dads backyard

Crashing after a busy day

Nisse/Hvids Oel

My dads house

The house in Vaeggerloese where I grew up.

Cooking and eating Eel.

Some of the old houses in Nykoebing F (probably 3-400 hundred years)

Love the hotdogs

Eating Pheasant (Fasan) that Bedstefar made.

Bye-Bye Bedstefar - See you soon again.

Aiden is a bit of a worry...although he is a social kid he is quite scared of a lot of things and requires a lot of help doing things.

Because he has been delayed on a lot of fronts including his comprehension he would like to play with the other kids but doesn't understand the games they are playing.

This means that he in a lot of cases finds comfort just playing by himself rather than with the other kids.

It does mean that whenever they have group games then he will require someone who can give him step by step instructions until he understands the game.

Mind you when he does find someone who is interested in playing the games he does understand then it is great to see.

Last week we made the trip to Fiji with the kids.

Kim is just about to finish her maternity leave and my work asked me to reduce my accumulated annual leave days by taking some time off so we decided to go away for a week.

We stayed at the Hilton close to Nadi (we found it too far to travel with the kids to the coral coast). This is the view from our room.

Aiden and Lucas had lots of fun playing on the balcony (Lucas enjoyed throwing toys off the balcony).

And we did spend some time in the sand as well.

And trying to teach Lucas to walk (he can almost stand by himself now).

But all the swimming was done in the swimming pool at the hotel.

We didn't venture out much, but on most of the evenings we would walk over to the local Marina to eat (the food was better and cheaper).

One day we hired a nanny to look after Lucas (with little success as they were unable to feed him and settle him, so we still had to be there).

The other day I went for a walk in Centenial Park. For the first time I ventured into the memorial (normally there are lots of dogs and poo in this area so I generally avoid it).

The ceiling of the memorial is quite pretty and I can see myself coming back to do some more photos at some stage.

Last weekend I went for a walk along the harbour with a couple of friends and Aiden (in my backpack).

It was a beautiful winters day being sunny and 25 degrees.

We started out at Waverton and walked almost across to Greenwich. It wasn't a long walk but very pleasant (especially since I also had Aiden to carry).

The other day we went to Maroubra beach to let the boys play in the sand and also to try and get some photos of them together.

It is currently winter here in Sydney which sometimes provides this beautiful cool light.

Lucas and Aiden are now really good at playing together...Lucas is doing his best to copy everything that Aiden does and at the same time tried to keep up, whic is difficult when you cant walk yet.

...And Aiden is good at sharing his toys and make sure that Lucas has something to play with.

The other day I did a couple of test portrait shots...I wanted a portrait that was a bit more moody than usual.

It is not easy getting the low key lighting right...much easier to do high key where you can pretty much blast the subject with light.

I haven't had the time to experiment further to accomplish what I wanted...but here is what I did get after 10-15 minutes experimenting.

Yesterday Kim caught Lucas grabbing her car keys and the trying to use the keys to unlock the front door...with a bit of practice and some extra height me might succeed one day.

I think he just wanted to take the big red car outside for a spin...

On the weekend we went to the beach for a little family picnic...ham and cheese sandwiches.

we also wanted to get some photos of Lucas and Aiden playing together in the sand.

We especially wanted to get one of them sitting together look at the waves. Normally Aiden is terrified of the waves, but because Lucas was there we were able to get him to sit still.

It wasn't the best light in the middle of a sunny day but I love the cool winter light this time of the year. It is hard to describe...but the light has a less warm feel the during the summertime.

Aiden and Lucas are now best of mates and having a lot of fun. Once Lucas learns to walk they will be big trouble and we will constantly have to chase after them. Aiden can sometimes get a bit rough, but Lucas is a tough little bundle of muscles and loves copying him.

On my birthday this year I went climbing at Barrenjoey with some friends. It was the first time for over a year that I have done any climbing...let alone outdoors, but fortunately it was all top ropes.

Barrenjoey is one of the most beautiful spots in Sydney.

I am totally out of shape but still managed to get through the climbs we set up.

We were supposed to have had a dinner the night before but most people were busy so we decided to cancel the dinner and the let me go climbing instead. I was supposed to have been taking Aiden with me (Barrenjoey is relatively safe for kids), but he was still a bit unwell from his hospital visit. I think I will start looking for a good climbing helmet for him so that we have it for next time.

I had a great day out with friends and it was great to get back on the rock.

Last night we had a bit of a scare when we suddenly had to rush Aiden to the hospital in an ambulance...

He was over at grandads place most of the day playing and when he came back we noticed that he had a bit of a temperature and didn't want to eat, but otherwise ok and playful. We decided to give him a quick shower before giving him some panadol and then bedtime.

In the shower he was playing as usual with water and his plastic cups when I left him to get dressed. When I came back a few minutes later to turn off the water and get him dressed I could tell that he was not his normal self and was shaking a bit. Thinking that he was cold I quickly took him out to get him dressed but could then tell that he was pretty bad...I couldn't get in contact with him and his breathing was irregular and shallow.

I quickly called Kim and had her call an ambulance. While we were waiting he started having some muscle spasms and started throwing up. Fortunately we are close to the ambulance station so they arrived pretty quickly and took myself and Aiden to the children's hospital which is also close by.

At the hospital he started responding again and the doctors there think that a spike in his fever caused it. They kept him there for most of the evening until his temperature had dropped and they were sure he was well hydrated which was around midnight.

Good that all turned out ok...Aiden has been pretty happy today even though he hasn't eaten much and slept much of the day.

Lucas version of a Miro painting

We took the older children to see Peter Pan - this was their christmas/birthday presents.

My dad was here earlier in the year visiting.

We have started to take the boys climbing occasionally. Especially Aiden enjoys it and is able to climb to the top without being afraid.

Lucas just had his 5th birthday.

It was celebrated at the local park with his friends and we had hired an entertainer to do some activities with them.

Some photos from Aiden 7th Birthday

His party was at the climbing gym. Unfortunately he was sick on that day, so didn't enjoy it as much as he could have.

One of his presents was a crystal growing dragon - here is before and after.

Some photos from Aiden 7th Birthday

His party was at the climbing gym. Unfortunately he was sick on that day, so didn't enjoy it as much as he could have.

One of his presents was a crystal growing dragon - here is before and after.

Chinese new year with the boys.

A couple of funny faces

As per tradition we again did a family Christmas photo this year.

We were running out of time, so it was a bit rushed getting it done.

We also tried to make one with a Karate theme. It is a nice photo, it just wasn't christmassy enough.

Kim had booked a Christmas show in the State Theatre. It was an okay show, but as she said, it was more for the 'dads' than for the kids due to the costumes.

A couple of the awards received by Aiden and Lucas

We have been trying to encourage Aiden and Lucas to once in a while do the cooking. This is so that they know how to cook when they become older and adults.

Lucas is really loving it and Aiden doesn't really have the patience.

2022 was also the year where I finally got my Black belt in Karate (Sho-Dan - first belt).

I had to fly up to Brisbane for the grading/exam with the head of the Australian organisation.

This year Aiden was in the last year of primary school (year 6). This means that this was the year of his confirmation and also his graduation before he next year starts in high school.

Kim and I went to see Moulin Rouge at the Capitol Theatre. It was a beautiful production.

One day we made a daytrip into the city to see the NSW art gallery.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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22. August 2019 13:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden - awards card

22. August 2019 13:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is not often that Aiden gets an award for good work at school, but when he does, he is very proud.

10. August 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Camping - Barrington Tops

10. August 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Earlier in the year at Easter time we went camping up at Barrington Tops 5 hours drive north of Sydney.

It is a very tall mountain range with some excellent walks, rivers etc.

We had a great weekend with friends sitting around the fire roasting marshmellows, walking and canoeing.

23. July 2019 10:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine

23. July 2019 10:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

8. July 2019 12:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Karate - Boys getting their red belts

8. July 2019 12:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Fairly recently we started the boys on Karate.

We thought it would be a good activity for them to build strength, motor skills and discipline.

Especially Aiden is really enjoying it and putting in the hard work at home practicing. He has become stronger throughout the classes which is great. Before we started he had almost no core strength and now he is able to do sit-ups and pushups.

This weekend both Aiden and Lucas were pulled up for their first proper graduation from the white belts to the red belts and they both passed.

17. June 2019 20:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Bali - 2018

17. June 2019 20:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Photos from out trip to Bali with a couple of friends and kids.

2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Osaka aquarium

2. April 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The Osaka aquarium is massive and very impressive. The centre piece is the massive tank in the middle with two large whale sharks and which is also full of other sharks such as hammerheads.

2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Dontonburi Osaka

2. April 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Tontonburi is know as the chefs/kitchen area. Here you can buy everything needed for a japanese restaurant.

It is also full of actual restaurants and other oddities such as more exotic places. It has what is known as Osaka's best Ramen restaurant (the one with the long counter in the photos below) - and Yes, the Ramen was very good.

Here it is also possible to eat specialties such as the Puffa fish.

It was also one of the few places where I saw real Samurai swords for sale.

2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Osaka tower

2. April 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Below the Osaka tower is a restaurant area with lots of yummi food.

The area was once a very modern part of Osaka, and worth a visit during the night.

2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Osaka Castle

2. April 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Osaka castle is a beautiful multi story pagoda like castle inside these massive moats and ramparts with several layers of defense.

2. April 2019 18:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Toei Film Studio Osaka

2. April 2019 18:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

In Osaka we went to the Toei Film Studio.

This is an area where they have filmed lots of traditional Japanese movies and where they have all the old houses and also some theaters.

It is also used as a bit of an entertainment and cultural area to teach the Japanese about their culture. Surprisingly we seemed to be the only foreign tourists there and it was definitely worth the visit even though we didn't understand a word of what they were saying.

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Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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30. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas 2021

30. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Christmas was almost normal with the Covid restrictions lifted.

As usual we did our annual Christmas photo.

Kims dad is staying at Kims sisters place over Christmas after haing been in hospital. He is looking the best he has for years.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Surfing 2021

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas and Aiden got themselves a surfing lesson. Aiden was too scared to go, but Lucas had a great time.

Because he liked it so much we decided to get him (and Aiden) a surfboard for Christmas as well.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Various 2021

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This are from various events of 2021

Lucas Holy Communion

Lunar Esclipse

Swimming at Yarra Bay in the middle of winter

Aidens Learning award

Empty Maroubra Beach during covid lockdown

Seafood dinner with family

Chillies harvested from the garden

Cooking lobster at home during lockdown

Spotted Herbie in our local area

Monkeys in a tree

Playing games at home during Covid lockdown

Enjoying a hot chocolate during Covid lockdown

Boys make a mess and have to clean the house

Dinner at home during Covid lockdown

Conference call with family during Covid lockdown

How many people can you fit into a dinghy?

Pho at the local cafe

Going for a walk after Covid restrictions lifted

On a conference call with Dalai Lama from home

Kim received a Hoodie to keep her warm in the cold winter evenings. I thought it was something else and wrote instructions on the packaging.

Aidens birthday was bowling with his friends and dinner with family

Kim dressed appropriately for walking 20 meters to the car

The boys learning to use a hammer.

Spending time at Yarra bay

Aiden still struggling, although him now having a piano seems to help him.

Lucas got some more awards at the Athletics carnival to add to his swimming awards.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Guinea Pigs

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We were looking after a couple of guinea pigs for a couple of weeks while one of Aiden friends was away.

The boys had to do all the work cleaning and feeding them.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Karate 2021

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Again we did karate this whole year. This included a number of gradings followed by social events.

I treated myself to a new gi (uniform) when I graduated to my 3rd Kyu.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Playing Chess

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas has joined the chess club at school, so for fun (and to give him practice) we sometimes play. I was very proud that I one day managed to checkmate him with just two pawns and my king.

29. December 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Piano and Guitar

29. December 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Mid year I decided to get an electric piano. I've always wanted to learn and we wanted to boys to start playing as well.

We have been using an online lesson system and it has been working really well for us. Especially Aiden seems to pick it up quickly.

Aiden has also been begging to get an electric guitar, so this Christmas we got him one. It is fortunate that the same online lesson subscription also covers guitar playing.