March 2013 Updates: Quality Time with Dad Barak has been embracing his Inner Geek (and nurturing his Aspie pride) and got some cool T-shirts and 20-sided dice for the car from the lovely website ThinkGeek (highly addictive, but great fun! Google it). Another must-have he got was a pizza cutter shaped as the Enterprise (of course we needed one...) and decided it was time he introduced Star Trek to the girls. We had a pizza night and watched the first episode of the original series. Hahgoot took it really badly. She was terrified of the alien (who was a human looking shape-shifter creature that sucks all the salt out of humans...) No matter how much we explained they were all actors with cardboard props and make up, she just freaked out. When spending time with the girls Barak tends to stay on the sofa passively. Alma found a creative way to keep him engaged in her game... Although he sits a lot, Barak is actually very involved with the girls. Top right: giving instructions how to build a racing track Bottom left: judging at a song and dance concert Bottom right: playing pick-up-sticks The five boxes I sent from Israel arrived and the girls taught their dad how to play the beloved Bunnies Game (left) and spent time reading the large new books collection (right). A wild and daring obstacle course Alma designed: You climb over the chairs, step onto the sofa, and then dad throws you over onto the sofa - fantastic! The girls had a great time and Barak got a workout... We spent a fun morning at the Penrith Regional Gallery, exploring the Birds exhibition First we checked out the Science Room From there we spent some time in the corridor, building birds from shapes Next the girls enjoyed the quirky video in The Song Room and did some drawing. To encourage them to draw, I made them pencils with cockatoo feathers. The dress ups area was very popular. Alma, the fashion- queen, came with a bird-themed t-shirt... The Portrait Room had also other activities besides dress up, like continuing the birds conversation. The girls especially liked the next room, The Balance Room They took great pleasure in colouring their birds and placing them on the thin wire. They also enjoyed adding their little figures to the exhibition We also had a quick glance at the Japanese rock garden and Bonsai exhibition. In our next presentation: The girls get creative!