I have not been very good about taking pictures lately and we have not been up to much. We have had some immunizations for the one year old, followed by an ear infection and tonight a new molar. Needless to say, she has not been the happiest camper the last two weeks. Aside from that, she is growing up way to fast. She has an increasing vocabulary that includes words like bath, milk, her brother and sister's names, more, all done, hello, hi, mama, dada and probably some more that I cannot remember. She is also quite a little monkey crawling up on everything and taking a few steps here and there. Her new favorite trick is crawling into the bathtub - fully clothed of course! She will repeatedly say bath while signing "water." Funny enough this comes right on the tail end of screaming through every bath for about 3 weeks. Go figure! Here is a picture of the little monkey trying to ride her sister's bike - and I know, we need to do something with that hair! Rest assured, when we go out in public it is usually in a bow!
Girl number two is pictured here enjoying a babycino. Fortunately she is taking after me and will indulge in coffee breaks. A babycino is pretty standard at the coffee shops here. It is just frothed milk with a little chocolate sprinkled on top. If you're lucky, you might get a marshmallow too. This particular picture was taken at the car wash. A very fancy car wash you might think. Indeed it is! Well the wash itself is nothing special - a basic vacuum and wash, inside and out. But, you pay a very fancy price of about $45 and of course, you get a free coffee while you wait. I am sure there are a few less expensive places around but the price is really par for the course when you consider everything just costs a lot here. So, every once in a while the car needs a good wash and we will enjoy a good coffee break while we are at it.
The older kiddos are doing great. They are enjoying school and seem to have made lots of friends. The big boy just returned from 4 days and 3 nights at camp with his fellow classmates and teachers. They had a fantastic time. He went bushwalking (hiking), abseiling (repelling), ponding(splashing around in the pond - not totally sure on this one!) and more. He came home thoroughly exhausted and filthy. Supposedly they showered every day but funny enough the bar of soap had never been wet and the shampoo bottle was nearly spilling over the top. What do you expect from a 9 year old boy?
The biggest princess is just that - a princess. She is prissy as ever and thinks she is the boss of the world. She did once tell me that "soon she will be the boss" and I think she is trying to live up to her word. Most of the time her little sisters are happy to oblige and they play well together. She is learning by leaps and bounds and is loving her newly acquired reading skills. She was put on the fast track by skipping half of kindergarten but seems to have adjusted fine and is becoming a super reader. She has a new best friend here as well and the two of them are inseparable. Lucky for me her mom and I get along great and she has little brothers that play well with our little ones. So, it is great for us all to have some good friends here in Sydney.
As for the man of the house, he had his first trip to India this week. He has traveled a lot through Asia but India seems to be a world of its own. He is still there but shared his first impressions with me - lots of cows in the very crowded dirt roads. Can't wait to hear more when he returns tomorrow!
Now this blog entry is feeling like a Christmas card - so, if you read this far, you must really love us - or you have too much time on your hands! I will try to round up some real adventure for my next post. In fact, I am headed back to America (with just the two big kids) for my brother's wedding next week. I am sure we will find some excitement along the way!
