Being Tourists - Rainforest, Water Park, and Blowhole

Brad only gets two days off per week so we try to make them count! This past Saturday the weather was perfect for a jam packed day. There's so much to do within an hour or two of where we live. We have yet to go on "holiday" and I feel like we've seen a lot!

First we headed over to the Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk. Essentially, it's a suspended walkway that was designed to have a "soft footprint" with minimal impact on the environment. It offered a unique perspective of the rainforest - from the canopy of the treetops instead of the poisonous snake level. Despite being a hot and hazy day, the views were spectacular. Alan got a kick out of bouncing and swaying on the cantilevers and climbing the stairs of the tower. I don't think he realized that he was supposed to be looking at the trees. Oh well! Maybe in a few years.

The boys ready to explore the rainforest

Family photo at the top of Knight's Tower which is 150 ft above ground (whew)!

View from Knight's Tower of the rainforest (looks like a regular forest to me)

A view of Knight's Tower from the walkway

On average, the walkway is 80 ft above ground.

As you can see, Brad is having more fun going down. Alan preferred climbing up the stairs which is why Brad decided to carry him down. Otherwise we'd never get to Jamberoo!

Another hazy view toward Lake Illawarra and the South Pacific Ocean

A massive Dicksonia antarctica (tree fern).

View from the cantilever once it stopped bouncing and swaying.

A little weak compared to a 39 mile breast cancer walk (but didn't get any blisters either). Not a bad start for Alan!

There was a fun surprise waiting for us when we returned from our walk in the rainforest - a helicopter and fire trucks! Lucky for us, the local emergency services were having a demonstration that was open to the public. It ended up being a huge bonus! Alan got to sit in the pilot seat of the helicopter and to my amazement didn't touch a single button. I can only imagine how bad he wanted to.

We watched the helicopter fly in while we were on the walk.

Even Brad was a big kid when it came to seeing a helicopter up close and in person.

Look at all those buttons! This kid is in heaven!

After that he got to sit in the driver's seat of the fire truck (to the folks back home it probably looks like the passenger seat). He was on cloud nine because the radio went off every few seconds and he was "responding". We spent a good fifteen minutes letting him soak it all in. The fireman couldn't believe how fascinated Alan was with the truck and commented that we might have a future fireman on our hands.

Getting ready to climb into the big fire truck

Trying on the safety helmet

Alan "driving" the fire truck and talking on the radio.

Somehow we managed to escape our first activity of the day without a tantrum. We moved on to our next stop at Jamberoo Action Park. It happened to be the HOTTEST Saturday during SCHOOL HOLIDAYS! Truly INSANE on our part. The place was seriously jam packed. We had to park in overflow parking which was a pasture (cows were literally grazing when we returned to our car). We can't wait to go back during the week when the kids are back in school and hopefully it's a little less crowded. We mainly went for the water park but they also had mini-golf and go-karts. It reminded me of a concert because people had pop-up tents with coolers out in the grassy areas. We'll have to keep that in mind next time we go.

My only pic from Jamberoo so I'll have to take more next time.

From there, we made our way over to the Kiama blowhole. Alan fell asleep in the car on the way over so Brad and I took turns going out to look. It doesn't erupt like Old Faithful so we want to go back another afternoon and make an event out of it with a picnic. Apparently, Alan knew he wasn't going to miss anything at Kiama. He woke up in time for a delicious dinner at Outback Steakhouse to end our fun-filled day.

Walkway to Kiama blowhole

The Kiama lighthouse with Norfolk Island pines

Technicolor trees

In Sydney, spring sprung in the months of September, October, and November. Brad and I share a passion for landscaping and every spring look forward to seeing our bulbs, plants, shrubs, and trees bud and bloom. We usually check progress daily since things seem to happen at different times. Every year I have the same random thought - hosta's look like asparagus when they first emerge.

After our first spring in Australia, I fell in love with the purple flowering Jacaranda trees that are abundant here. I love how the color pops! I turned to trusty Google for help identifying their name and learn a little more about them. According to Wikipedia, Brisbane has a proliferation of the tree which was given by hospitals to new mothers in the thirties and forties. I love the idea of giving trees as a gift for a birth or housewarming present. My Oma & Opa gave my parents crab apple trees for my sister and I both. Brad and I adopted the tradition and gave our friends the Swatek's a Magnolia tree for their new home. Not sure where we'll end up when we move back to the states. If we end up in Florida or Texas, we may just have to incorporate one of these technicolor trees into our landscape. In the mean time, I'll plan to visit Brisbane next spring to see the Jacaranda's in bloom.

A row of Jacaranda trees in Tumbalong Park a short walk from Darling Harbour.

Viewing Hyde Park from Sydney Tower and look what stands out in a crowd!

St. Mary's Cathedral from Sydney Tower with a few of my favorite trees.

Future Picasso's?

These two play so well together and had a blast pudding painting! All the artistic stuff happened in the first few minutes. Then our little artists discovered that pudding paint tastes delish and the masterpieces came to a screeching halt.

Gymboree used to have a pudding painting session once a month but he wasn't quite old enough to fully appreciate all the fun of this activity. Plus they used chocolate pudding so not nearly as colorful. I used to love taking him to Gymboree Play and Music for classes. They have a Gymbaroo here in Australia so I may have to check it out.

Liesl got the idea to use vanilla instant pudding and add a few drops of food coloring to make things more interesting. Move over Martha! Here comes Liesl! She's such a creative inspiration for me. I'm so thankful for all her help adjusting to life in Australia. She introduced me to a great play group, book club, Rhyme Time at the library, swimming lessons, parks, beaches, and other fun activities for the kids. Don't know what I would have done without her! Alan is so lucky to have a play mate so close to his own age (2 days apart). We love spending time with them!

The partners in crime before all the fun began.

Alan is so excited he can hardly contain himself!

Time for some blue - sky or ocean maybe?

Watching Annabelle out of the corner of his eye. "I'll paint on you!"

How bout that - it tastes good too!

Alan's first hair cut

Seems like Alan has always had hair. We had a 3-D ultrasound and the technician showed us the hair on his head in the womb! So amazing that technology can pick up on such minute details and facial features.

Can you see the hair in the 3-D ultrasound photo?

Six weeks later he was born with plenty of brown hair. After a few months it turned blonde. For the longest time I've been saying he needs a hair cut. It started to get long in the back down to the collar of his shirts, flopping over his ears, and he had bangs that would have benefitted from the help of a barrette. He's had this alfalfa thing going on for as long as I can remember. I bought a special brush that has a squirt bottle in the handle to keep it under control. Poor kid has at least two cowlicks (I think he inherited them from his daddy).

At six months with a faux hawk!

Hair blowing in the wind at nine months.

At fifteen months, he finally went for his FIRST hair cut! It was on my list of to do's while in the states. I took him to Kid Snips in Hawthorne mall where he got to sit in a CAR wearing an apron watching a Mickey Mouse video. He was a very good boy! No tears and he stayed very still the whole time (we left with both ears intact). He was happy to sit quietly and drive the car. At the end he got a certificate with a locket of hair, a balloon, and a ornament from the treasure chest. It's been a little over a month since his hair cut and I KID YOU NOT he needs ANOTHER! I'll have to see if I can find a place that does kid hair cuts here in Australia. My hands are way too shaky to go near anyone with scissors so I'd better leave it to a professional. Our next visit home won't be for another five or six months. He may end up looking like a shaggy surfer dude and fit right in with all the Aussies!

Here is a before the day of his hair cut

Not sure if you can see the little cell phone he's holding while sitting in the car. He DIDN'T learn that from me!

A little more concentration here - both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road (or Mickey Mouse video).

I couldn't believe how thorough she was! His first hair cut was the real deal.

Afterwards, we went and played in the mall and look who found another car!

Looking like a little boy with his new hair do.

16 Months going on 16 Years!

Alan is quickly developing a love for cars! He is delighted any time he gets the chance to sit in the driver's seat of a real car. "Heaps" of entertainment I tell you! Buttons galore to explore. He plays with toy cars in church saying "vroom, vroom" in a sweet little voice. He has trucks too and somehow knows to make a different sound for those. He's a boy through and through. It must be instinctive. Good thing too because I wouldn't know how to teach him those sounds. Here is our big boy on a kiddie ride at the mall. He usually sits in them and is content to pretend. We happened to be at the mall early one morning and he had the ride all to himself so we let him give it a go. It's hard to believe that in less than fifteen years he'll be legally behind the wheel of the real thing. If he's lucky, maybe daddy will buy him a used DM Camry ;) All the fun stuff to look forward to!

Christmas Carols at the Temple

On a warm Saturday in December, we headed over to the Sydney LDS Temple for Christmas Carols. Although the sky looks ominous, it was a perfectly pleasant evening. We brought lawn chairs and picnic blankets to spread out on the temple grounds. One lady had her own picnic with snacks and refreshments by the glow of a lantern. In a way, it reminded me of Ravinia. Members of the church directed traffic to an overflow lot and handed out glow in the dark bracelets for kids or battery operated candle sticks for adults. The atmosphere was very festive and put us in the Christmas spirit. I'm sure other temples have carols as well but I had never experienced it before. So for me it was a novelty. I probably wouldn't sit outside the temple in Chicago to hear carols in December (nor would most other people in their right minds). Guess we'll have to wait to see where we end up in the states to find out if we'll be able to continue attending carols at the temple in the future.

The abundant Christmas lights were a welcome sight! Very few people in Australia decorate with Christmas lights. 1) Because the lights are SO EXPENSIVE and 2) It doesn't get dark till almost 8:30 PM which for us that meant turning them off at our 10:00 PM bedtime. Nonetheless, Brad found a good deal at K-mart and stocked up on enough lights to decorate our tree and both balconies. At first we were the only apartment with lights. But by Christmas day there were a handful of others. Bah humbug Aussies!

We thought of it too late for this year but next year we're going to do a seashell themed Christmas tree. One would think it will only take 1 trip to Shelly beach in Manly or Cronulla to collect enough shells. Au contraire mon frere! It will actually be a challenge. We rarely see shells intact. We've been to both Shelly beaches and there are indeed shells but they're crushed up into lots of sharp little pieces. Not the best beaches for sun bathing or strolling bare foot. Any way, wish us luck finding a sea shell jackpot in the next year!

The sky created a really pretty special effect

It's the biggest of the 5 temples in Australia

The stained glass windows were so intricate!

Angel Moroni - perched atop every LDS temple

Life size nativity scene

The choir from our seats on the lawn.

The Christmas lights came on when it got dark around 8:30 PM!!!

"Heaps" of lights

These lights had to have cost a fortune!

Deck the halls

I can always count on Brad to do the Christmas lights on the tree and outside the house. I'm so thankful for that because I lose interest in that project so quickly. If it were my task, I would procrastinate till St. Patrick's day! My job is to take the lights down which I have unlimited patience for because it's like a puzzle to me. This year Brad got lucky since Alan decided to be his little helper. I think they thoroughly enjoyed decking the halls. The only thing that was missing was the SNOW!

Our little Christmas monster!

They spent more time playing than decorating ;)

Alan explaining to daddy how to put the lights on the tree

Pretend this is the tree - just like this!