Mandurah

Today is Labour Day (yes, that's the correct spelling here and no, I don't use "ou" for colour, favour, or any other words since I'm still American) so we had a 3-day weekend. We took another trip out of town to check out Mandurah, a great town just over an hour south of Perth. It's been so nice to be able to drive and get out of town after two years of living on a tiny island nation and having to fly everywhere.

The boys had a busy day Friday getting ready. They washed their cars and Ben was busy drying his while Alex figured out the finer details of the drain. After I walked inside to put the camera away all those toys on the ground disappeared into that drain...will that ever lose its excitement? (but luckily my skinny arms can reach down to the water level to fish them out)

Afterward, the guys warmed up in a nice bath. It does amaze me that it can be 102F outside and any wind can make your wet skin cold pretty quickly because the humidity is so low. Total opposite of Houston where you can pour sweat for hours and feel hotter.

Then they had to play with boxes while I packed their bags. Ben filled his box with every toy from his room determined to take them to the hotel but I finally convinced him that we weren't staying in a hotel just to play with toys. But to all new moms or moms-to-be out there: yes, all you really need to give your kids are boxes. don't bother with the toys!

We woke up Saturday morning and wandered down to Mandurah, then had a nice lunch at a cafe off the river. It was a HOT day so we didn't explore the foreshore as much as I would have liked.

Ben was waiting anxiously for his food to arrive. You can see the brilliant aqua water over his shoulder. I didn't get a good picture but Mandurah is on a river and criss-crossed with canals so all the beautiful water made for great scenery.

We spent the afternoon in the pool cooling off (no camera, though) and Ben and Alex both had a terrific time. They jumped and splashed and played until they couldn't move any more which would explain why we saw this in the backseat after 5 minutes of driving:


On Sunday morning we hit the beach first thing. The sand was darker here but the water was still clear and we chose this beach since it barely had waves. Ours is the blue tent in the middle. The beach did fill up a little more by mid-day but can you believe this is the crowd on a holiday weekend? No US beach would be this empty.

Alex crammed as much watermelon as possible into that big mouth.

Ben and Daddy spent a long time working on a sand castle.

I finally got Alex to give in and take a nap in the tent! It took a lot of crying but he finally wore himself out and gave up. I love sleeping at the beach and have always hoped we could teach the kids to nap out there, too!

I watched several pelicans floating and fishing.

These two were diving together.

Ben with the finished masterpiece.

Nice work, Daddy!

But what's more fun that a beach? Or even a great box? A bucket full of water.

And balloons aren't too shabby, either.

The kids each got one at dinner and it kept them busy (and awake) while Matt and I enjoyed some of the best ribs we've had in years.

Alex and I were up before sunrise this morning so we took a walk along the waterfront to watch the ducks and pelicans.

This guy enjoyed the sunrise with us.

While we were sitting on a dock watching the birds a lone dolphin swam all around us while he was obviously hunting some fish. This was the best picture I got but it was a lot of fun seeing him so close to us for several minutes.

We made it back home before lunchtime with two happy, tired kids. I went to check on Ben as rest time because it was really quiet in his room and this would explain it. He totally passed out on his floor. Rest time works really well for us because I don't ever ask him to sleep anymore but now he usually does fall asleep if he's tired enough but other days just plays for an hour or so.
We got to wrap up a great weekend over dinner with our friend Aaron, in town from Houston for work. It is so wonderful to see old friends from home and get to catch up half a world away.
Thanks, Aaron, for stopping in and bringing treats for everyone!

Glasses

We got an official diagnosis on Ben's eye - severe astigmatism, probably because of his prematurity (contrary to what our family said, but I'm more inclined to believe the pediatric ophthalmologist who sees preemies every day). Looks like that glasses bullet we thought we dodged 3 years ago has come back around! But after reading up on other possibilities of a child's eye suddenly turning, astigmatism is not a big deal.

Here's a good explanation I found online:
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is shaped more like an Australian Rules football than a spherical tennis ball, which is the normal shape. In most astigmatic eyes, the oblong or oval shape causes light rays to focus on two points in the back of your eye, rather than on just one. This is because, like an Australian rules football, an astigmatic cornea has a steeper curve and a flatter one.

So basically Ben's left eye is getting really confusing images and his brain is basically starting to ignore it and see everything through his good right eye. The muscles aren't working as hard and that's why we're seeing it turn in. To correct the turn and the vision, we'll start with glasses.

Okay, not the 3-D glasses but a real pair. Luckily Ben really likes to wear sunglasses and pretty much anything else on his head so hopefully these will go over well since he'll need to wear them all day. I'm talking them up a lot right now!

And Alex can't get left out of the action:

This is more along the lines of what we've ordered. There is no 1-hour service here so we're expecting them to be done next week sometime. And Ben's will be blue, not pink! They're incredibly flexible and will have plastic lenses so hopefully we'll make it at least a few days before either of the kids destroy them. After he's been wearing them about 6 weeks we'll see the doctor and evaluate his progress then decide if he needs to patch the good eye for a while.

While we're waiting on the big day, we're keeping entertained with all the usual activities. Only now there are two boys raiding our closets for shoes!


And one more cute picture from this morning!

It's weird to be talking about Ben's prematurity again after forgetting it for so long. I really thought we'd made it past all the problems and complications but have been reminded we may see effects for years. I'm thankful all over again for how well Ben has done and for what a healthy and normal little boy he has grown to be. My sister just crossed the 24 weeks and 5 days mark this week in her pregnancy (jump over to her blog if you want to read about it) and it still blows me away at how early Ben was born.

Buddies

These two are quite a pair most days. They're pretty inseparable and are nearly always playing with (or fighting over) toys together. I guess I should call them "mates" since we're in Australia, but whatever you call it I love watching them grow up into friends. My sister and I are two years apart and she is still my best girlfriend, even from 10,000 miles away, and I want so much for these guys to have lifelong friends in one another. Here are their latest addictions - little cars they picked out at the toy library. There was no discussion and has been no fighting over the fact that Ben's is blue and Alex's is red...they seem to go for those colors frequently and when we can find a red something and blue something it works out well.

"cheese!" Ben piled a bunch of junk in the back of his truck "so it would be like Grumpy's". Even at 3 years old he noticed that Grumpy keeps a LOT of stuff in his truck!


Hmm...not sure if he's exceeding the weight limit on the bed of this truck.

And sometimes they do sit down and play together, but about 10 minutes later the playdoh all ended up in the cars.

Of course, not all their interactions are pleasant. Here is the perfect example which I happened to catch while I was trying to get some smiles on camera. Alex was busy pouring water on Ben's head in the bathtub and I think ended up whacking Ben with the cup.

Yep, pretty sure there was some violence involved! But more drama than pain so it was just one of many situations I had to referee for the day. Thank goodness they still don't usually hit or push one another yet, but I know those days are coming.

Alex LOVES corn right now. He won't eat it by hand anymore since he discovered he can eat it straight off the cob and he puts some muscle into it to get every piece.

After he finally quits saying "cheese", you can see how excited this little guy is over some fresh sweet corn.

And later with a full tummy, he was ready to streak around the house a little before getting his pajamas.

Demonstrating his ability to get the door open in 2 seconds flat. Silently. The monitor never picks up his ninja moves in the morning when he wakes up so it's a surprise when he arrives in our room.

The 16th tooth has finally cut through so I think we'll have a reprieve from teething for a while now until the 2-year molars make their debut. Click on the picture to get a good view of all those little teeth.

A couple of days ago we went to an outdoor cafe/playground so the kids could play in a nice, fenced area. Much easier than chasing them in all directions in open playgrounds! Poor Ben and those crossed eyes...we're seeing the pediatric ophthalmologist on Wednesday and I'm anxious to find out what's causing the problem and how we can fix it.


Puppy still goes most places these days. And because of experiences like this, he's going to start getting baths while Ben is at school. He got his first one today and no longer smells like dirt and sweat.

Remember Ben's old shopping cart? He never went anywhere in our old condo complex without it so most people knew his as the "blue cart boy". It's on its last legs so we finally got a second cart and Ben insisted on pushing the new one (and ordered Alex to push the old one, of course) down to the beach last weekend. I think now we can say the cart has been everywhere.

Sweet baby toes in the sand!

And long little boy legs in the sand!

Mmmm...orange juice and milk...together!

Last weekend was the annual swim to Rottnest Island, 19km (11.8 miles) from Cottesloe beach. The swimmers left in 15 minute heats starting at 5:45am and lucky for me, Alex had me up already so we sat out on the porch watching all the action. Notice the helicopter...not for photographs, looking for sharks. Shark sightings aren't uncommon and people have been fatally attacked right out there. Just one more reason for me to sit on the porch and not swim!

Each swimmer has to have a boat accompany him the entire swim in case of emergency so there were tons of boats and kayaks out as well.

About 4 hours later the entire party have moved way off into the distance but most still had a ways to go. The winners made it in about 5 hours but most take around 6. That's a loooong swim!

6 Months

It's been half a year now since we moved to Perth and I've been reflecting on our lives here. I really love having this blog because it's also a journal for me and it's fun now to look back and read about what we've experienced. Hopefully one day the kids will enjoy looking at all the fun things they've gotten to do, even if they're too young now to remember a lot of them.

After 6 months I was totally in love with Singapore and was so excited to get back there after our first home leave. I wouldn't say I'm in love with Perth exactly, but I'm adjusting to life here. It's the smallest city I've lived in (with the exception of College Station, but it was only a few hours to all the big cities in Texas) and by far the most remote place. It feels like we're so far removed from the rest of the world, especially when you look at the fashion and technology here and think you're still in the 1980's. People still wear parachute pants, mullets, and rat tails. A lot. Or are those making a comeback everywhere else in the world?

We live in a lovely neighborhood called Cottesloe with tree-lined streets, hills, and a great beach. It's a narrow strip between the ocean and rail line that connects Perth city and Fremantle, and as soon as I drive across the tracks I immediately feel calmer here. Maybe it also has something to do with the terribly timed stoplights at the rail crossings, too, because I get irritated waiting up to 5 minutes for the trains to pass. Unfortunately for us, Cott ranked as Australia's most expensive suburb last year so, as you may imagine, it's not the friendliest place in the world. I've found it very hard to meet local women or even strike up a conversation on the playground. Thank goodness for the American Women's Club and the ladies I've met through it.

There are some things I love about it here. The beaches are among the best in the world and there are just so many of them here, and it doesn't hurt to live across the street from a beautiful one. The animals and birds are amazing and for a nature lover it's so exciting to see rainbow lorikeets, parrots, and cockatoos every day.

Galah parrots (I thought for a long time they were cockatoos). These guys are LOUD.

Endangered black cockatoos. We don't often see them in the neighborhood but love watching them fly by.

I think this is an Australian Ringneck. We tend to see a lot more of these when we drive south but they're around the city as well.

This is my favorite little bird here, the restless flycatcher, probably because it reminds me of a mockingbird. It's smaller but also catches insects and has a pretty song. We have several around the house all day.

I'll never get tired of spotting kangaroos or seeing other interesting marsupials running across the road. It's pretty fun to hear a kookaburra "laughing" first thing in the morning. The summer weather is ideal because the highs average in the 80's or 90's with little humidity so it cools off quickly in the evenings. There are no pennies to deal with here. There are few stop signs in the suburbs and instead they use roundabouts and yield signs so it's quick to navigate across the neighborhood. The Margaret River area just south of here has a perfect climate for growing grapes so we've enjoyed some terrific wines at great prices. Even better, Australians like to bring their own wine everywhere so many restaurants are BYO. (and ironically, the grocery stores are closed on Sundays but the drive-through bottle shops and wine stops are open. go figure) And one of the best things about being in Western Australia is that we enjoy the sunset every day. Last week we saw a particularly beautiful one because there were some clouds in the sky and the entire world turned pink for a few minutes.

Just gorgeous.

The next morning at sunrise the clouds were still around and the ocean reflected the salmon color in the sky.

This is a more typical evening without a cloud in the sky and a bit of color after the sun slips into the ocean. In another couple of weeks sun should move back into our view at sunset.

There are still some things that drive me crazy. The money is huge here. My wallet has revolted and split a seam on these monster coins. Below is my wedding ring next to a 50 cent, 20 cent, 10 cent, 1 dollar (large gold), and 2 dollar (small gold) coin. A US quarter is between the sizes of the 10 and 20 cent coin, so the 50 cent here is ridiculous. Most machines won't take them, either.

Everything is so expensive, but you still have to sack your own groceries most of the time. We don't get many imported groceries so the kids don't eat things like goldfish or animal crackers unless friends from Singapore are kind enough to bring us some. We don't get any fruit out of season, which I find particularly frustrating since I know there is lots of good tropical fruit in Indonesia which isn't all that far away. People like to go barefoot to places like the mall, the grocery store, even the doctor's office. I saw it more in the winter than in the summer, maybe because the concrete is too hot to cross barefoot now? Dogs are like some kind of religion (and the only religion...church is definitely not popular) here and they are not on leashes all the time...that bothers me a lot when the kids are around them. I've finally gotten used to the old-time shopping hours of 9-5 M-F and maybe a few hours on Saturday, but I still don't like it. I'd love to be able to grocery shop occasionally in the evening after the kids are in bed or hit up Big W on a Sunday afternoon.

All in all, Perth is a very nice place to live. It's a much slower pace and might have been an easier adjustment coming from Houston but it felt like a dead stop coming from exciting Singapore where the opportunities were endless. Everyone says it's a terrific place for kids and I agree, but more for school-aged kids who enjoy sports. Not an ideal place for preschoolers because of the dearth of activities for 0-3's except for all the playgrounds scattered in the neighborhoods. I had hoped to be able to go to the beach a lot more but I can't possibly take them near the water myself at their ages. There are definitely things I'll miss whenever we leave but I don't think it will every steal my heart the way Singapore did.

Surprise Pictures

I got a wonderful gift from my friend Suasti, a very talented photographer in Singapore. Suasti Lye Photography for anyone needing portraits! We were models for her several times when she was playing with new equipment and hired her for family portraits in 2008. When we got to visit with her during our quick trip through Singapore she was sweet enough to give me a disk of old pictures, including several I'd never seen. I thought it would be fun to share my flashback...

Ben at 2 1/2...


Alex at about 4 months...



I just LOVE this face!! Ben completely wore himself out playing in the heat.

All my sweet boys...

And for the real flashback...I think this was at 36 weeks just before I had Alex. How is that belly humanly possible? But man, I loved being pregnant and carrying a baby in there.

Ben at 2 years old looking for the baby in his belly.

Our family of nearly 4.

Thanks, Suasti, for such a special gift!! Pictures mean so much to me.