Sydney Weekend

We just had a wonderful holiday weekend in Sydney. Matt took Friday off so we could get going on our 4-hour flight and arrive at dinnertime. First order of business after checking in to the hotel - walk two blocks to the harbor and gawk at the sights. The huge harbor bridge:

And the iconic opera house:

It was really exciting to see in person and was pretty spectacular from every angle. Then it was off for a great Italian dinner and bedtime for two tired boys.

The boys aren't used to sitting in restaurants that much since we tend to do lots of cooking and picnics on our trips in WA, but flying to a big city meant eating out every meal. Alex kept busy with Daddy's phone. This was at Pancakes on the Rocks, which had the best breakfast I've eaten in Australia so we had to come back a second time.

Then we walked around the harbor and checked out the opera house in person. I'd pointed it out to Ben in Finding Nemo so he was pretty thrilled to see it in real life and kept showing me the picture in the brochure he found.

Glancing back at the bridge from the edge of the opera house.

It was much prettier up close than I'd expected. We would have liked to take the tour inside but it was pretty out of the question with two very energetic boys. I did read that it has the best acoustics in the world but is too small to host a full opera.


Next, we hopped on a ferry at Circular Quay to do some sightseeing from the other side of the harbor. Alex loved the ferry and got his sea legs immediately.

Ben was a bit more impatient but tolerated the boat. These pictures would be much better if I could ever convince him to smile!

We rode over to the zoo entrance but didn't want to spend the rest of the afternoon looking at animals so we just took in the view before catching a ferry back.

Still haven't managed to teach Ben to take a proper picture so I had to long-arm this one.

Later the kids chased seagulls in front of the customs house and then we decided to take a free bus ride around the city.

This little guy absolutely passed out once the bus started moving. We walked a lot and the exercise and excitement took their toll. Ben has so much energy that sometimes I forget he needs a break.

Interesting street music...the best part about this guy in particular was that he played his didgeridoo along with techno music. We declined to buy the CD.

This was our hotel in the Rocks suburb. It had a 6-story building or several historic rowhouses along the front, so I opted for the house. It turned out to be great because the kids slept downstairs and we slept upstairs, except we found that people in Sydney stay up much later than Perth folks and like to talk loudly and drunkenly as they walk home from the pub. Historic rowhouses are not very soundproofed so we got to hear lots of those conversations but it still beat sleeping in a hotel room all together.

On our way to dinner we ran across a really cool 3D map of Sydney.

Our favorite dinner was at Cafe Sydney from a friend's recommendation. It was a gorgeous evening and we ate outside at sunset.

The view over the harbor was fantastic.

Later I noticed there were a bunch of birds flying, then we realized they were bats coming from the botanic garden to feed for the night. They were HUGE. Thank goodness they're just fruit bats.

The bridge was beautiful as all the lights started coming on.

Rare family photo with everyone looking at the camera (but I don't dare hope to get one with 4 smiles).

Two sleepy boys watching cartoons on the second morning. Ben slept on the foldout couch and was really excited about the "magic" bed. Doesn't take a lot to get this kid excited. He still tells me that his favorite part of the trip was the hotel.

Second favorite was still the opera house, as he pointed it out every time we passed.

It was a rainy morning so we took the ferry over to Darling Harbor to visit the aquarium that we'd heard so many great things about.

It really was a great aquarium with lots of animals we'd never seen, like a platypus in action.

A display of box jellyfish, one of the most deadly animals in the world. Not many people live to talk about stings from these guys. Thank goodness they don't come into the waters around Perth.

There were a couple amazing tanks with huge walkways to watch sharks and rays. Alex was thrilled about the kiddy-sized walk on the left hand side and gave me a heart attack when he disappeared in a matter of seconds. We had a few tense minutes trying to track him down in the crowd but he was very calmly walking himself up the ramp to the next exhibit.

This was another great tunnel in the Great Barrier Reef exhibit.

Pretty cool to see a turtle under the floor.

It was definitely worth the visit - best aquarium we've ever seen. And of course we found Nemo there.

Back on the ferry headed toward our hotel.

Sunday was the annual observance of Anzac Day, marking the anniversary of the first major military action by Australian/New Zealand forces in WWI. There were tons of people at all the pubs all day and we ran into the parading bagpipers several times.

We enjoyed our last evening in Sydney by catching a sunset in the harbor.


Alex stayed entertained through dinner with the ice bucket. Why didn't we think of this before?

On Monday we got our last look at the opera house on the way to the bust station and finally got a smile (or a grimace?) out of Ben.

We wanted to see Bondi Beach, probably Australia's most famous, and spent some time wandering around before we had to pick up our bags and head to the airport.

Big discovery at the airport - Krispy Kremes!

We definitely have two big fans. I didn't realized how much I'd missed a good old-fashioned donut until I ate one. or two.

It was a terrific weekend in a beautiful city. Too bad it's not a little closer, but then again, nothing is close to Perth. Thank goodness it was our first and last time with Alex as a lap infant because this kid is not built to share a seat with anyone for 5 hours. We were all glad when that flight landed!

Weekend Teaser

We just got home from a great weekend holiday. More details and lots more pictures coming soon, but here's one to enjoy for now. Our classic foursome - Alex with his blankie and paci, Daddy in his everpresent Berkshire Hathaway t-shirt (how many places has that shirt traveled?), me with crazy hair, and Ben whining about taking a picture. Good times...

Updates

Ben saw his eye doctor again last week and he was very pleased with the vision correction but could tell that glasses alone will not fix the lazy eye. We were given two choices - patch it for 2-3 hours a day or give him two drops a week to basically freeze the good eye's lens and force him to use the bad eye. Kind of a no-brainer. Granted we're putting chemicals in his body and keeping his eye dilated but he's shown no adverse reaction so far to the drops or the light. He looks a little freaky with one huge pupil and one normal pupil but I feel in the long run this will be much more successful than patching. We go back in two months to see if he's made any progress and if not, we'll discuss surgery to correct the muscle in the lazy eye. Two months is right before we leave for the US so that leaves us with a big decision on whether to pursue surgery here or at Texas Children's. I don't know if it's even possible to get in to see a specialist in time at TCH but I'm trying to line up at least a consultation. Every time people ask how it's going with glasses, I'm so proud of Ben for being responsible with them and I'm so glad he didn't have to wear them as an infant...I can't imagine how difficult it would be to keep glasses on a boy any younger than him.

I got a wonderful, much-needed break from kids and life in general last weekend when Matt generously held down the fort here and sent me off to Singapore to catch up with my old girlfriends there. It was a wonderful two days full of talking, eating, and talking some more and just reminded me of all the best things about the amazing little dot on the map we had the pleasure to call home for two years. I made some lifelong friends there and love getting to see them whether it's been 6 days or 6 months since we talked. Plus, it didn't hurt that I ate shamelessly for two days in an effort to enjoy all my favorite things (but didn't come close). I definitely enjoyed the plane rides by myself and not having to be responsible for anyone else, but I was sure happy to come home and see all my guys here.

What games do we have going on this week? Fun in the sink, requiring the entire contents of the silverware drawer. They each went downstairs and chose their own stepstools to carry up so I decided to take down the baby gate at the top of the stairs before it causes an accident for these wide loads.

Very seriously testing the water holding and tasting capabilities of all utensils. This game also required a lot of water on the floor while I was busy cooking dinner, which is why it hasn't been played again.

The very popular night-night game. Ben makes the beds and then orders Alex to go to sleep. I'll have to get a video of Alex's snore because it's pretty hilarious.

Ben's bed looks pretty comfy. I cannot believe how BIG he's getting!! But still skinny as ever.

I picked Ben up from school this afternoon and asked if he wanted to go to the park. He said no. I told him Brynn would be there. He asked how fast we could get there! This was a great park we'd never visited right on the river so we'll definitely be back.

The other memorable moment this week happened in the car. Ben said, "Mama, did you hear that?" I told him no, but I had no idea what he would be talking about...it could be anything. He said, "I just farted but it was real quiet so it's a surprise." And yes, the odor was quite a surprise. Oh, how lucky I am to be living with three males!

Busy Boys

These kids never stop! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this week:
Playing airplane with Daddy

Working diligently at the table (but really just trying to skip out on dinner)

Smelling lots of feet....also a favorite dinner avoidance technique

Sniff, sniff...pee-yew!

Is there such a thing as too many pacis?

Not sure where this game even started, but Alex will clench his fists as hard as he can until he about passes out. It's hilarious!

After a beautiful summer and a couple weeks of fantastic weather, it looks like the dreaded Perth winter is descending upon us again. The days are noticeably shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and the wind and rain have returned. It's actually been fun for a change, especially since we don't have much going on this week and have jumped at the chance to be pretty lazy. Both boys have been taking long naps so I won't argue with that, but the novelty is going to wear off very quickly. I'm not sure how I'll be able to handle these little guys inside all the time! Thank goodness we're going to disappear for 6 weeks to a Texas summer in the middle of winter here.

Zoo Day

We're in the middle of two weeks of school holidays, so all our normal activities are on hiatus. I've been keeping the kids busy with playdates and our favorite one last week was at the zoo. We met 3 other moms and their kids for some fun at the zoo and even though we didn't see a lot of the animals the kids had a great time. I never had to worry about Ben because Brynn held his hand the entire time.

We found the kids activity area with some coloring and crafts.

Alex did a little coloring but was more interested in climbing in and out of the chairs. This little guy walked until his legs just couldn't go any more and he finally let me push him in the stroller.

Lunchtime! We all had a picnic together. Australians are big on bringing their own food and drink, which I love, but I did think it was a bit weird to find a coin-operated breathalyzer next to the main picnic grounds. Somehow I don't picture the zoo as a place to get drunk.

Alex, Malcolm, Brynn, Ben, and Austin. We were missing Brynn's sister Ansley but 5 out of 6 kids sitting and looking near the camera isn't bad!

The fall weather here is absolutely gorgeous. It's in the high 50's at night and mid 70's during the day. It's already too cold for swimming or the beach but perfect for picnics at our favorite playground on the beach.

We hand fed a lot of the more daring pigeons and Matt picked this one up.

Alex stayed busy chasing the rest of them away.

Somehow the kids always manage to find any place to get wet, dirty, or wet and dirty. Alex was washing his feet in the tiny trickle of water leaking from the foot shower.

Two of my guys walking home.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! Hope you had some time to celebrate a living Savior with family and friends.

It's been a busy week around our house. The boys were head over heels for the toy guns that Daddy brought home from London. We were all pretty excited to have Daddy home.

It was the end of Term I here in Perth and Ben's school had an Easter celebration and tea on the last day of class. It was so precious because it was the first time Ben had been involved in a performance at school and he kept turning around to say hi to me. We missed all the Christmas programs in Singapore because we were always gone in December.

Alex was sitting behind the parents and couldn't see anything. Let's just say he was less than thrilled by the singing.

My little bunny! He's such a good boy at school and loves going. I can see so much progress in his speech and socialization now that he's back in school again.

We missed all the official Easter egg hunts when we went to Margaret River but did get to have one with friends yesterday. We spent the afternoon with three other Houston couples and their kids. Ben is absolutely in love with Brynn, the adorable little 5-year old blonde. She was teaching him how she plays with her webkinz...guess we'll be doing that sooner or later, too!

We got to see our first rainbow of the year. It's weird having Easter in the fall and knowing that a cold, rainy winter is fast approaching. The days are still pleasant but it's cooling off and getting chilly at night already.

The kids enjoyed cookies and watched the Barbie movie. Ben and Alex loved it.

Then we had a little Easter egg hunt for the kiddos and Alex had a great time finding eggs.

As soon as he realized there were treats inside the eggs it was all over.

Look at that chocolatey mouth!

In other everyday excitement, the boys made the most out of the latest diaper boxes. It does seem like a waste but these boxes come in quite handy for a variety of uses like making trains.

We planted some tulip bulbs (I give them about a 50% chance of seeing spring considering the help I had and that we planted them all with the kids' plastic shovels) and the fun in the dirt didn't stop there. They got so dirty I just turned on the sprinklers to clean them up before they came inside.

Ben always had a thing for my shoes, especially heels. Alex prefers bigger shoes to fill!

We've been playing more on youtube. Their current favorite is two cartoon babies farting in the bathtub...thus the big smiles and laughs.

This is one of my favorites. This little boy can dance! Alex loved watching him and was trying out some of the moves.