Last weekend, the sprogs and I were delighted to attend a late Australia Day/early Darwin Day party. Our hosts apologized for "not having much interesting kid-stuff" on hand. Little did they suspect that the abundance of cookies (not just ANZAC cookies, but rolled ginger and lemon cookies in the shapes of kangaroos and giant Galapagos tortoises), and of cute stuffed animals native to Australia, and of art supplies, would keep the Free-Ride offspring more than happy.
Did I mention that the art supplies included Australia-themed stickers? Terribly useful to have road signs so your duck-billed platypus is properly appraised of the road conditions. Elder offspring notes: "The duck-billed platypus is one of only two mammals that lays eggs. The other is the echidna, and they both live in Australia. Mammals that lay eggs are called monotremes."
Younger offspring: Can we get a monotreme as a pet?
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Aw, a monotreme's not for you. It's more of a Shelbyville idea.
What better accompaniment could there be for your eucalyptus tree than a koala? Especially if it's a koala wearing a hat and waving an Australian flag. The sprogs are fairly disappointed that none of the eucalyptus groves in these parts are populated with koalas, but my sense is that natives of Oz are rather less enthusiastic about them.
The sprogs would like to recommend Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. It relates a story of what happens when two different species encroach on each other's turf. Also, it makes the life of a wombat look very appealing, what with all the napping.
Cool fact we learned at the party: wombat pouches are "upside down" compared to kangaroo pouches. This means they don't instantly fill with dirt while the wombats are a-digging.
We found this prehistoric (now extinct) marsupial critter in our favorite dinosaur field guide, Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life by Hazel Richardson. First sprog reactions to seeing the Cladosictis:
Elder offspring: Wouldn't it be neat if they had had one of these guys in Puppy Bowl III?
Younger offspring: Yeah!
Dr. Free-Ride: A prehistoric marsupial would be all over those Golden Retrievers and Pomeranians and Samoyeds. This guy would be tough!
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Doesn't the fact that they're extinct argue against their toughness?
Dr. Free-Ride: Nah, it just means that, given another chance, now they have something to prove!
While I was reading today's entry to him, Duke came up with echidna before I could wrap my mouth around it to pronounce it. The Sprogs come from a long line of strange.
_Diary of a Wombat_ is adorable. I bought it for a cousin and was hard-pressed not to get another for myself.
Whether or not there are koalas in "these parts" depends on how far out you think your parts go. There are quite a few koalas at the San Diego Zoo. Eucalyptus was transplanted to Southern California long ago, and IIRC the zoo got koalas initially because they already had plenty of eucalyptus to feed them.
mmmm...ANZACs...I haven't made those in a long time. I enjoyed the subtlety of Dr. Free-Ride's better half's reference to the Simpsons'. The sprog that created the top drawing has a pretty good grasp on perspective.