First Day of School

Today was our initiation into the Aussie school system. The big kids started school in their new uniforms and were very excited. It was a busy morning getting everyone ready and out the door. J is still out of town so I was running solo which made it that much more chaotic! But, we all were up, fed, and dressed at 7:45 and ready to walk out the door. It was an uphill walk to school and we had lots of stuff. A had his sport bag, his music bag, his library bag, hs backpack full of his school books, his lunchbox and his bag of school supplies. Megan was able to fit most of her stuff in her backpack but it sure was heavy. Thankfully the stroller has a big basket so lots of stuff went in there.

Our first stop was A's campus. After getting him situated we walked a few more blocks to M's campus and got her settled. They both seemed happy to be at school and will hopefully have great days. Little C wanted to join them of course and spent plenty of time crying " I a big girl not a baby. I go skoo too!" Poor thing has another whole year before she can go to preschool. So, now after pushing what had to be at leas 100 pounds up hills and around town this morning, I have decided to forgo joining a gym and just take a nap instead! Phew!

Check out these cute uniforms

Handsome boy

Australia Day Adventure

Today was a holiday here in Australia so Sydney was in party mode. Unfortunately J is in China for the week so he missed out on the adventure. I decided to take the kids to central Sydney to enjoy all the festivities. Because I was alone with them, I decided to take the easy route. We could have walked to the ferry and gone across to Circular Quay which is where most of the ferries land and is closest to the Central Business District (CBD). But, we wanted to be at Darling Harbour where there were lots of other things to do. So, I investigated my options and realized that if we drove to another ferry stop, we could go straight to Darling Harbour. Even better, this stop is at the end of the street by J's office. I took his parking pass and off we went. Well, due to the holiday the office was not open and there is no street access from the parking garage. So I could have parked and gone to work but I am pretty sure I would not have made it back into the building once I left. There goes that idea. Next we looked for parking for a few minutes- of course there was nothing to be had so I bit the bullet and parked in a parking garage for (gasp) $32! But, it was easier than driving all over with the kids so I just did it!

We found the ferry with no problem and got right on... perhaps I should have looked a little closer. We got on the ferry heading the wrong direction. So, we ended up in none other than Circular Quay! On a normal day we probably could have just stayed on and rode it back the other way but not today when hundreds of people had been waiting over an hour for their turn. But, not to worry, this little mistake allowed us to ride the train too! We hopped the train to Town Hall and then walked the rest of the way to Darling Harbour. We made it in no time at all and were not too much worse for wear. We saw all sorts of shows, street performers, bands, ate icecream, played in the fountain and just had an all around good time. On the way home, we got on the correct ferry and made it home in time to cool off in the pool before a dinner of Thai takeout. With the little girls in bed, the big kids and I enjoyed some fireworks from the deck. Happy Australia Day!

Darling Harbour

During one of the shows, A was the lucky participant

Had to include a pic of the two sleeping (or almost sleeping) beauties!

Playing in the fountain

In front of the cool ships at the Maritime musuem. A is already asking for that trip next.

Move like an Emu moves...

Today is one of the hottest days in Sydney since we have been here and possibly one of the hottest all summer. It was over 100 degrees and just downright steamy. This morning we decided to go to the zoo (what were we thinking?!) The Taronga Zoo is an amazing place. Aside from the great selection of animals, the setting is just breathtaking. The zoo is set on a hill so you start at the top and walk downhill through the zoo. Then they have a skyway tram that takes you back to the top at the end of your visit. We decided to purchase a year membership since our new house is less than 2 Km from the zoo. When we got the membership, we discovered a bonus - when you have 2 adults in the family you can leave one as an "unnamed adult." This means that I can bring any other adult with me to the zoo. So, if you come visit, we have one extra zoo pass.

The kids loved the animals, with the favorite being the bats. We even saw one that had just nabbed a rat and was hanging with it in his mouth. I thought it was gross but the older two said it was the highlight of their visit! Here is a little of what we saw...

Incredible views across Sydney
One giant Koala!
Lucky Giraffes to have their home here.


Skyway snapshots

Check out the view in the background - we could see J's office from up here

"Articulated" Python - a favorite of Mr. A (actually called a reticulated python)

Little C loved all the statues as much as the real animals

Koalas - so cool how they sleep in the trees like this. The kids swore they were fake!

Do bubs poop?

This is the question of the day... Do Aussie babies (aka bubs) poop? Several places we have been lately are severely lacking one thing - a changing station! I have been in several restaurants and a mall bathroom - all that had no place to change a baby. What do these mums down under do? I have resorted to changing our little bubs on the bathroom counter but there seems to be something wrong with that picture. So, next time you are in a public bathroom with a koala station, thank your lucky stars!

On another note, we bought two cars today. We have been on a wild goose chase but we finally completed the task. We bought a Volvo XC90 and a Honda Accord. I have to say, I am very thankful not to have a minivan! The best part about the new cars is that they both have park assist - otherwise known as rear parking sensors. So, all that parallel parking on busy streets and reversing into parking spaces should be much easier for us all.

Aside from the new cars being a great birthday present for me, we also had a great dinner. We went to Outback Steakhouse of all places. Yes, they really do exist here. There was one close to where we bought the car and we just could not resist. Things were mostly the same - even the yummy ranch dressing. Now, I can proudly say that I have dined at Outback on three separate continents! What an accomplishment!

No shirt, No Shoes = Service

We have been in Australia now for 5 days and it has been wild. We have seen a remarkable number of men with no shirts on. Every where we go, people are half dressed. Shoes also seem to be optional. Even in a cafe or a store, people walk around with no shoes and no shirts. After all, we are in Oz!

We have been very busy trying to get our new lives in order here. We have been house hunting, car hunting, appliance hunting, car seat hunting and more. I had forgotten what the expat money hemorrhage feels like. We just spend and spend and feel like it will never end!

Speaking of things that never end... the refrigerator beeps. and beeps. and beeps. Every time the temperature drops it starts to beep again. In fact, not only does this lovely appliance serve as a cooling device (sort of) it also serves as an alarm. Three nights in a row, we have been awakened around 2 am to reset the fridge! Of course we have called the agent for the house and she is working on it but it looks like things are not done quickly around here. The earliest appointment for service at the time is Tuesday. Looks like a 2 am wake up beep is in order for a few more nights!

All this beeping makes me wish for a place to call home - so we have been house hunting. But, house hunting was disappointing on the whole. We only had 7 houses to look at and only 4 of them were within a 20 minute drive to the kids school. We looked at a few on Manly beach which were nice but would have been about 30 minutes to school. And, with 2 campuses to drop off and pick up at, I think that would mean about 3 hours a day in the car for me and the babies. Not ideal by any means. Several houses were just a lot smaller than what we wanted or were in poor condition as well. But, in the end, we found one house that is very nice and should work just fine for us. It is about a 10 minute drive to school and about 25 to work so the location is great. Plus, it is just up the hill from the beach and has a park at the end of the block. Unfortunately it lacks any sort of dining room but it has enough bedrooms for our brood (in fact this is the ONLY house that had 5 bedrooms) and has a great pool. It even has a basement with space for a guest room and a play room. So pack your bags and be on your way...

the house

the pool
(this is an old picture and it is not currently
covered but is open to the Aussie sunshine)

the kitchen

the view

Now that the house is settled, we need to buy two cars. Now, for J that is pretty easy. Something to get him from point A to point B that has a/c and that is about it. But, for me, the task is more difficult. Fitting 4 child safety seats in one car is a challenge - especially with the strict regulations here in Oz. So far we have decided to be law breakers and continue to use our American car seats although we have been told by many people they are illegal. But, they are safe even if they don't have "the sticker" on them. Maybe I should start selling approved by the Australian gov't stickers to other poor souls like me. I just can't justify $1 200 Aussie for 2 new car seats when we have ones that work just fine and are arguably the safest seats you can buy. Speaking of new careers, I think I will become a car designer in my next life. All these car manufacturers really need a mom on the design team. The problem seems to always be that the seat with the anchor points for the car seat is also the only seat that slides forward for access to the back row - which of course cannot be moved if a car seat is actually installed! This makes finding a car that we can use while the 4 seats are in it very difficult. We have narrowed the search to a Volvo XC90, a Mazda CX9, a Ford Territory or a (GASP) Chrysler minivan. Let's hope we can pass a clone of "Liz's Van" by and make something a little more exciting work! I will let you all know what we settle on.

All frustrations aside, this week has gone by very well. The kids seem to be adjusting well to the time. Only little W is waking up at night and this morning everyone slept until 6:30. The weather is beautiful and the area is amazing. We have visited several parks and beaches to let the kids have some time to run free in between all the house hunting and shopping. I am looking forward to getting all the little details settled so we can just start living life!

G'day Mate!

At DIA with a lot of luggage! Believe it or not, we packed light!

Greetings from down under! For my first post from Australia, I thought you all would like to see some pictures of our temporary house and hear some first impressions. But first, our long flight... We flew from Denver to LAX and then on to Sydney. The first flight was only 2 1/2 hours and passed fairly quickly. Although, we left at 6 pm so the babies were pretty tired and grumpy. We got off the plane to discover our stroller was missing a few wheels. Not a good sign of things to come - or at least this seemed to be on par with the way this relocation has been going. Nothing has happened with out issue this move. Fortunately it was the center wheels on the double stroller so we were able to make it work okay to get through the airport. Unfortunately for us, United Airline's policy is the following - "United does not assume liability for normal wear and tear to baggage which includes damage to or loss of protruding baggage parts, such as WHEELS." We still plan to follow up but I think the outlook is grim on this one!

So, it was on to our long 14.5 hour flight. We did not have seats together but after some begging, we were able to get some people to move so that we had 6 seats together. Little W fell asleep before take off and slept for a good 6 hours before waking up. C and M fell asleep fairly quickly while the big boy could not wait to start watching movies. He watched a few and about 3 am Denver time, he fell asleep and slept for a very long time! It was about 3 am Sydney time when we all started to stir on the plane. C was bored and got a little wild - we had to go to the potty at least 10 times an hour but fortunately we were seated right next to it! And also fortunate that the flight attendants thought she was cute and did not get too annoyed. After we deplaned, we made it through immigration and customs with no issues and basically no wait time. Our only loss was the one small ziploc of trail mix -no nuts are allowed in for fear of some disease. All our baggage arrived with no problem and our ride was there as well. We got to see a little of the city on our drive to our new rental house and even got to cross the amazing Harbor Bridge.

Sleeping soundly on the flight to Sydney.

Our rental house is an old victorian in a great area. We have beautiful views of the Harbor bridge, the Opera House, the CBD (central business district) and of course the water around Sydney. What a fabulous spot. We have a pool in the yard that we were able to try out yesterday. Looks like it is going to to be a fun final few weeks of summer here in Sydney.

Last night we all slept great. The kids were all asleep by about 7 and I was asleep by about 8:30. The babies woke up about 5:30am and the big kids followed a little while after. Not too shabby for an 18 hour time change! Today, we are headed to the kids school where A has an interview with the principal. Then I think we will go in search of some necessary items like a blow dryer, Australian approved car seats, two new cars, and many other things. Of course we will not achieve all this in one day but hopefully we can make a start. I am sure I will have many stories as we start trying to make our way around Sydney and get settled! Stay tuned...

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 to everyone! We celebrated in Denver with my parents and brother et al. The cousins had fun together and of course enjoyed making lots of noise. Our countdown began somewhere around 9 pm and then it was off to bed for the kids. They did not seem to even realize they did not get to stay up until midnight. They just had a great time playing with the tatoos, glow necklaces, poppers and more!

Making noise with Uncle B!

Such a pretty hat.
Hanging out with Boppa!
Two cool cousins!

Did Santa come?

Christmas morning and the kids were instructed not to leave their bedrooms before 7 am. A was up about 5am and so full of excitement he could hardly stand it. But, he waited patiently in his room and around 7 it was time to see if Santa came! The kids headed downstairs and sure enough, the room was full of presents galore. Santa brought everything the kids wanted and they had a great time opening up presents. After presents we all enjoyed a big breakfast and then played with all our new toys for the rest of the day (mom and dad included!) Favorite Christmas presents this year included Rock Band for the Wii, a Baby Alive (she really pees!), a new kitchen for the little girls complete with pretend slice and bake cookies, an i-touch for mom and a slingbox for dad (to keep up with American tv while we are in Australia).

Then, later in the day we all enjoyed Christmas dinner complete with Christmas crackers. For those of you that don't know, you don't eat crackers. You pop them open and inside there is a little treat and a funny paper crown. This is a fun little Christmas tradition we picked up in England. Merry Christmas!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve and the kids could not be more excited! We started our festivities by attending a Christmas service at Christ the Rock. It was a wonderful service and the kids were completely mesmerized by all the cool lights and effects. After that it was home for our Italian Christmas Eve. This is a tradition from J's family. His grandpa was Italian and used to cook for Christmas Eve. I am not Italian but I think I make a good lasagna so that is how we have carried on the Italian Christmas Eve tradition. After that, it was time for dessert of course. Being Christmas Eve, the only logical dessert is "Happy Birthday Jesus" cupcakes. The kids enjoyed frosting and decorating them just the way they wanted and then of course, eating them. Our last Christmas tradition, adopted from my side of the family, is opening one present on Christmas Eve. The big kids are getting smart though and have realized the present they get always seems to be new Christmas pj's. Perfect to keep the kids all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums dance in their heads! Finally, off to bed in hopes that Santa will come soon!

Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes!

Santa is coming soon! AHHHHH!

All ready for bed in their new pj's. Sleep tight!