I don't want summer to ever end..............

There are hints that fall will soon be here - morning dew and fog, the kids wearing long sleeve jammies, sweaters and winter outfits in store window displays. But most days it is still warm and lovely outside. The weather has actually been perfect- sunny and warm - not too hot if there is such a thing in March. Not to rub it in but it has been a great US winter to have missed.

We have been savouring the nice weather, taking advantage of the opportunity to play outside. We discovered a new (to us) park nearby the house and Reese loves looking for the "hop hop" (bunnies) that live in the school yard next door. Reese has been teething this week (when will that girl ever have a complete set) and waking up super early. Sam is the only one in the house who is pleased. So Sam, Reese and I sneak out and go for long walks to the park or out by the beach to check out the morning surfers.

On really warm days we spend the late afternoon playing in the pool. Nate likes learning new pool games and has been working on this swimming skills (still a bit of limp chicken arm paddling). Check out the video of his latest trick. Reese just floats around - occasionally moving her legs like a duck...not really swimming but she seems to have fun.

Last night we had a picnic dinner of fish and chips at nearby Dee Why beach. Here are some fun photos of the evening- great view no?. Unfortunately we didn't capture the pictures of the swarm of seagulls who surrounded us (a little freaky) after Nate threw some french fries out. Of course Reese 'the fry lover ' would have fought them off if they touched hers....look at that face- doesn't it read don't mess with my fries...intimidating no?

Ok that is all for today- time to hit the beach :)

all I want is phone

As you might have read below- we moved into our new house. Everything has been great - all but getting the house set up with cable, phone and Internet services. Unfortunately cell coverage sucks up here in the northern beach (boonies) so we get no cell reception at the house. Something we obviously didn't notice while touring the place prior to renting. So you end up having to stand in the driveway to make a call. Annoying but not dire. But we decided we'd need a local land line phone after all. Well setting up cable, phone and Internet has been a disaster. There are only two companies to offer these services- old government monopoly (think ma bell) and new start up. Not to give away the story but they both stink. Service is an unheard of concept (I think because there is no tipping in this country)- just not part of the culture. So we were told that our house was "hot" and ready to go all we'd need to do when we moved in was plug in the equipment. Then found out that nope- it isn't set up and can't be (not without tearing up our driveway to lay new wires since it is against the law to have aerial cables- and that wasn't going to happen). Of course each of these pieces of information were gained only after countless hours on hold and several truck rolls to the house. And by the way, all this could have been avoided if only the owners of the house had told us that we had only one real company option....in the middle of tense protest in our front yard with an installer unwilling to rehook a piece of wire so we could get a signal we received a call from the owners " ya....that is why we have Optus- we built the house that way so you can't use Telstra you can only use Optus "(all of our services were ordered thru Telstra). Might have been good to know ahead of time. You can only imagine how well Michael has taken all this information. I think his name is now on some watch list for customer who may go postal.
A month later we now have Internet and cable but no phone service.
So next time you think that Comcast or anyone else is horrible just think- it could be worse.

Homeless no longer

5 months after our arrival in Sydney we have finally found a place to live. We're renting a lovely house in North Curl Curl (don't know where the name comes from - maybe just surfing related)- a great beach town North of Sydney (only a 10 minute commute for Michael to Manly).

The nice family who are egregiously charging us a small fortune for the use of their home are taking a one year "walk about" of Australia ( a common Aussie thing to do). While it would be nice to tour the county for a year the idea of living out of a Toyota Land Cruiser with a small trailer hitch and two young kids sounds like torture.

It was fun to live in Manly so close to all the shops, market, restaurants, beaches and library right out our door. But what a relief to be done with touring potential houses- we must have seen over 30. Plus it is nice to have all our stuff which had been held in storage. Our supply closest looks like be hijacked a Target truck ( I think we have enough deodorant for years- not like they don't see it here ;). Unpacking the playroom box was like Xmas all over again for Nate - I think he forgot some of his toys.

I think Sam is the happiest of all.... no longer living in an apartment he now has a backyard, several parks nearby and a pool. On the downside (for him) he has no become an outdoor dog...which is a lot easier to do here than in cold Seattle. We've all been enjoying the new backyard- Reese is in heaven having a swing set and Nate likes the trampoline. But the pool is the best feature for everyone. Nate is becoming part fish- often learning new pool tricks- he is very brave as long as his is wearing his mask. He can now swim across the pool without stopping and is working on improving his chicken like arm strokes.

We are all feeling settled in and pleased with our selection of house and neighborhood. All is good (utility hook up horror aside- worthy of a blog entry on it's own) except for the birds. While lovely to watch while eating dinner outside it quite annoying to be woken up at 6am to the sounds of parrot jungle. Some sound nice and chirpy while others sound like monkeys (one night at 2:00am I swear I thought Sam had killed a neighborhood cat but it was only a bird). It is living at the zoo. Michael might be driven to investigate owning a BB gun (highly unlikely to be found in this country). Maybe we'll get used to the sounds- I can only hope.

Now that we are settled in and have the guest room all ready our Inn is open for guests. Please come visit.

photos:

Who likes the pool more???