Nate's first soccer game- sort of

I had hope to write a cute blog entry about Nate's first soccer game. A gripping play by play recap of the Brookvale Laser's triumph over the Cromer Bull Shark's....in this daydream I'm sure that Nate would have scored the winning goal. OK now for the reality. Nate recently joined an under 6 team- his first official sport's team. The team had one practice which involved of kicking the ball wildly until the coach blew the whistle at which time all the kids were instructed to stop and put their head on the ball (not a practical drill but the kids had fun and learned how to listen- kind of). With one whole practice under their belt the Laser's were geared up and ready to play a match.

Let me explain little kid soccer: Under 6 teams play 4 vs. 4 for about 15 minutes on a field about the length of a car. It is udder chaos with all 8 players typically swarming after the ball. There is no keeping score and no winners (but if any of the kids were asked they could all tell you who won and by how much).

So back to game day. Nate was suited up with his over sized shirt (one that would fit a 9 year old), team socks and new boots and ready to go. That is until we reached the pitch (i.e. field). Then he saw the hundreds of kids and dozens of games going on- mayhem really. We took a couple of photos - see below then like switch going off he no longer had interest in playing. As the game began his determination grew stronger....now no longer didn't he want to play but he didn't even want to stand next to his team mates. He was willing to step (or be dragged/carried) out on the pitch with his dad and stood there for 10 seconds then ran off. It was a full blown melt down. (mutter to myself: "Great! Glad I paid money to sign him up on the team...how many matches do we have left"....out loud voice: "good try buddy").

The season has just begun and hopefully he feel more comfortable and get out there and have fun. After all half of his DNA is loaded with soccer skills and passion for the game.

I'll keep you posted.

Bush in our backyard

We live on a quiet, residential street in a small beach town about 40 minutes outside of Sydney. Not exactly what you imagine when you think of Australia (or watch the movie)- not a lot of outback near here. This is the suburbs baby. And yet we are often reminded of what fascinating (some time creepy and scary) wildlife live in this country. Nate quote of the night "In Seattle you can touch any animal and you won't die".


There are the wild birds of all varieties- some you would expect to only see in fancy pet shops. All of whom are incredibly noisy. But they are tame and aside from leaving poo in the pool they leave you alone. On the tame but creepy side there are the ants. You see millions of ants everywhere- little hills everywhere you walk. Luckily they seem to have plenty of food outside and stay out of the house. Continuing on the creepy scale we reach the roaches. These F*&! do make an indoor appearance from time to time....especially at night. I swear I've seen them fly- really they can leap up a wall. Rationally you know that they are more scared of you then you are of them but sometimes I'm not sure. Did you know that roaches will be the only survivors of a nuclear war? Anyway the suckers here are big (and I've lived in Florida and Hawaii).


Then we get to the top of the icky scale - the spiders. You see webs everywhere and are left to guess who's home it is- and are they of the deadly variety. Sydney is home to the world's most deadly spider the funnel web- who basically lives in every one's garden. One bit and you have only a few hours to get to a hospital or you die....yes die. Makes you want to stop gardening all together. I've been told that it is very rare to see one but I'm keeping my eyes open. Day 3 at our house I spotted a red back spider by our front door. I figured anything with a red strip down his back must be a mean bastard. I didn't realize that he was lethal....had I known I might not have alerted Michael as calmly as I did.


I'm just thankful that we don't live in Queensland where crocodiles are extremely prevalent and have been know to show up in backyards and swimming pools.


Safety is all relative :)


check out this video of a large wolf spider getting eaten by ant- this was filmed in our back yard.

This picture is of a large web suspended between two trees at the playground by our house. We looked up form our picnic lunch to notice that there were 8 large spiders living in that web. Hebee Geebez

coming to America!

Happy April....no witty April Fool's jokes this year....I'll try and do better next year.
only a couple of weeks until we head back to the States for a visit. Hope the snow will have stopped by then - we've become accustomed to the warm climate and are cold weather wimps now.
We are planning on getting our fill of all things American - BACON, In n Out Burger, Disneyland, and cheap shopping.
Hoping to see everyone while I am back.