Seeing Green

Yesterday, my friend and I took our Little Princesses to see the musical Wicked at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. It was her first "grown up" musical show. Such a wonderful girls day out- from the ferry ride to the curtain call- we enjoyed every minute of it. I'm so glad we have friends here in Sydney to share these special days.

They looked adorable in their "Popular" t-shirts, and on more than one occasion I caught the Little Princess singing along with the show.

Can't wait to take her to another one!

Seeing Red

Photo by abbt1947 on Flickr

This is what the sky looked like at 6 a.m. today (23 September 2009). I had fallen asleep in the Little Buddy's room after comforting him in the wee hours of the morning. (He had a nightmare about a broken birthday cake- but I digress). I rolled over and saw him standing on his bed, pulling up the blinds and marveling at the sight of the world outside. "Mommy, the sky is red." I could see the bright red-orange glow coming through the window. But I couldn't pull myself from his bed to actually take some photos. That's why I'm sharing some of my favorites found on Flickr.

I'm from Southern California. I've been through some bad brushfire seasons when the sun glowed bright red through a smoky sky. But this time the red haze covered everything. High winds and dry conditions caused a rare dust storm to cover the city. It was eerie, and beautiful too.

Photo by fabian-f on Flickr

We stayed home all day, and slowly watched the world come back into view. And then, tonight at 6 p.m. as if on cue, down came the rain. Washing away all that red dust.

Photo by NSW Maritime on Flickr

It was an amazing sight to see- the day the world was red.

Here's to Love and a Beetle

On Sunday my neighbors Ivan & Beth celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in style. They hired the New South Wales Fire Brigade Band and the Precision Marching Team. They had a big sausage sizzle (that's a BBQ for you Americans). And they invited the whole town. What a celebration.



In 1961, when they were newly married, Beth & Ivan bought a new VW Beetle and drove it from London to Calcutta. Thirty-five years later they took the same trip in the same Beetle. They still own that car, and I occasionally see them cruising around in it.


Beth & Ivan know how to throw a party. Heaps of people turned out to enjoy the music, marching, food and sunshine. Check out Ivan's crazy pants. (Wish I knew the story behind those).

The kids, of course, had a great time practicing their marching skills.

(I think the horn players have higher kicks than the marching girls!)

Congratulations Beth & Ivan. You're an inspiration to us all. We're looking forward to your party next year. And I know exactly how I want to celebrate our 50th in 2047.

184 Days

Exactly 6 months ago today we arrived in Australia. 184 days.
Since then we've had our first American visitor, and taken our first trip back home.
We've been to the Blue Mountains and Shoal Bay. We've taken bushwalks and cliffwalks, seen the zoo and museums and so many beautiful beaches. We've mastered the public transporation system and become used to driving on the other side of the road. We've found a church, a school, a babysitter, and some favorite restaurants.
We've made friends.
We've made a home.
It's strange to think that 25% of our projected time here has passed. I find myself wondering if we'll have time to see everything, do everything, experience everything Australia has to offer.
The Little Princess asked me last night, "After we move back to America, will we still visit Australia?". I hope so.
Today is a reminder to myself to enjoy our time here, because it's not going to last forever.


And that, at least, is good news for the Little Buddy who still asks me once a week, "Why are we in 'Stralia?"

Aussie Father's Day

Today, Sunday, 6th September, is Father's Day in Australia. We celebrated with gifts and cards and hugs and kisses.

The primary school held a Father's Day Stall last week. The Little Princess got to pick out a gift all by herself and buy it for her Daddy. She lovingly made the wrapping paper and the card. She was so proud of her selection, The Bather's Pavillion cookbook.

It doesn't matter what day it is on the calendar. My kids have a dad who loves and cares for them, plays Robot Dad, goes exploring, and listens attentively to school speeches and spelling words. He gives baths and reads stories. He loves them. And me. That's worth celebrating every day of the year. Happy Father's Day.

Shelly Beach Walk

Since it's Saturday, the weather is perfect and Spring has sprung, we pulled out one of our CityWalk cards and set off on the Manly to Shelly Beach bushwalk.

Plenty of surfers out at Manly Beach.


Our destination: Shelly Beach. (That little patch of sand in the distance).


Beach pool along the way. Why don't we have these in the U.S.?


Cute little water dragon. Not nearly as scary as the Godzilla-like creature we saw last time!


Looking back at beautiful Manly Beach.


It doesn't get much better than this.