Riaan's Lego Moria Scene...

Riaan built this amazing scene from The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring recently. It depicts the Fellowship as they run along the towering staircases in Moria, deep under the Misty Mountains - and Aragorn and Frodo get stranded on a tottering section of the stairs. He completed the scene with orcs down below. Wonderful creativity!

Legolas fires off a shot.

Riaan even added a hinge so that the section could tip forward!

Bench Swing...

We brought Candace's grandpa's porch swing (that he made himself) with us from Indiana to Michigan a couple of years ago. We had been unable to hang it until now - as its stand was rusting in Indiana. It fits perfectly if we take down the children's swings on the new playset!

Eliza applied a black and white filter while she was taking photos. :)

Luna Moth Caterpillar...

We came across this bizarre-looking caterpillar in our back garden last month. After some quick research, we discovered that it is the luna moth caterpillar. It's amazing to see all the things that we can find in a small area in a city!

Another view of the caterpillar. Look at that interesting head!

Pretty Princess...

Another beautiful artwork courtesy of our middle child. :)

New Playset...

Candace's parents visited us a couple of weeks ago and assembled the children's belated Christmas present in our back garden. It was a full day's project putting up this playset, but it was a time punctuated by lots of laughter and stories - and really no stress at all. 

The next day, we drove into Detroit itself and visited the Awake Cafe and the Riverfront, and Candace and her mother drove into Canada for a few hours. What a lovely visit, and one that the children will remember every time they play on their new swing set. :)

Starting to build the kit.

Making progress on the A-frames for the swing.

Testing out the swings.

Dusty was a constant presence throughout the project.

A bonfire in the evening to end the day.

The girls enjoy a book at the Awake Cafe.

Snuggles with Grandpa.

Exploring the Detroit Riverfront.

A yacht heads out onto the Detroit River.

Photo with their grandchildren before they drove back to Indiana.

Pine Cone Kids...

Our three children are such good helpers. They helped gather some pine cones for our bonfires and braais for the next while. Picking up sticks and pine cones is a tradition that has been in our family for decades. :) 

Parasitoid Wasp...

After taking too long to emerge, we discovered that some of our swallowtail chrysalises had been destroyed by a parasite. Some of the remaining chrysalises had a perfect round hole on the side of them. This was where the parasitoid wasp emerged after eating its host from the inside!

The wasp lays its eggs on the caterpillar, and once the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, the eggs hatch and the wasp larvae eats the poor caterpillar inside its chrysalis - before it has a chance to transform into a butterfly. Nature can be quite scary sometimes!