Some of the answers

The top picture is a pair of Kookaburros
The large white birds (2 pics of these) are cockatoos.
the black and white bird is a magpie.
still trying to figure out the one w/the crown.

The weather remains hot. It's been partly cloudy and around 90 daily.

We grilled steaks last night, they were excellent!

Frank is getting a lot busier at work.

We've still heard nothing about where the stuff is that we shipped.