lost my camera @#&)*@!&(*^)

I was hoping to share lots of fun photos from our recent visit back to the States. Unfortunately I lost my camera :( and it had all our Disney photos on it. Total bummer.

We had a great visit- not really a vacation since there were too many doctor's check ups and errands. But it was fantastic to see everyone; fun to visit our old favorite haunts; filled a whole suitcase with USA goods (yes I came with only two large bags and left with four); and of course stuffed ourselves with all the foods we had missed over the last several months. Although by the end of the trip I was feeling like a unhealthy American and was looking forward to returning to smaller Aussie portions and healthier food.

I got a bit nervous when at the start of our trip (when boarding the plane for a 13 hour flight) Reese threw up in my hair. She was on my shoulders and laughing so hard that she puked....not a lot but it made Michael and Nate roll with laughter. We were quite the scene. Everyone around was silently praying that that weren't seated near us.

Overall the kids were champs on the planes and adjusting to the different time zones (thank goodness for hotel blackout shades). Of course when I flew back with them alone they decided to only sleep 5 hours...odd since it was the middle of the night for them (made for a bit of a cranky mom). Let this blog entry be a public apology to anyone who might have been on our Seattle to SF flight. Sorry for the horrible screaming you endured during the last half an hour of the flight and taxi to the gate (poor Reese was so over tired). And to the old lady who suggested that I sing to my daughter during her meltdown....wow I wish I had thought of that idea (jackass). One serious thank you- thank you to the Thrifty rent a car guy who let the kids sleep in the car (parked in the return lane) then drove us (in our rental car)to the airport and helped me with the 6 bags and a stroller so I won't have to take the shuttle bus. It was a long day returning back to Sydney....and I'm sure that I must have looked like I had been traveling for over 24 hours because all the customs people took pity on me and let me pass with all my suitcases filled with US food.

But we made it. And I have since put away our suitcases - hoping not to need them for some time.

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.

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???