Highlights of our busy week:
* Taronga Zoo (this time to check out the Wild Australia section) Photos of our little picnic here.
* Sophie and Harris checked out the Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society in West Ryde
* We did more cleaning/sorting/boxing/putting up art
* Early dinner at fantastic local Japanese restaurant Sushi-Ya. Great atmosphere, great service and great sushi. Photos here.
* I went to Brown Owls to do some crafting (working on a stuffed teddy garland)
* Caught up with the Isterlings at a local playground
* Harris met up with some old Time Inc work buddies
* Playdates with Lola + Archie (photos here), Cliona (photos here), Karsten + Daniel (photos here).
* Finished checking out preschools – we’re now on the waitlist for 4 great local preschools and 1 daycare with a preschool component. Fingers crossed.
Oh, and Michaela is now commando crawling around everywhere, going from sitting to all fours and back again, and lots of “conversations”. Cute thing!
August 15th, 2010
6:30 pm
Random
After 20 months I finally finished renovating the old deck chairs that Mum found for me (with a little help from Harris of course). I think they look great! Just in time for Spring. Photos here.
August 15th, 2010
6:23 pm
Random
A fun weekend for us with the little ones. First up the Sydney Design festival at the Powerhouse Museum where Michaela and I checked out the designer’s market and Sophie, Harris, Paul and Cliona checked out the rest of the museum. Then we found a great new playground (Buffalo Creek) in East Ryde where Soph could hang upside down to her heart’s delight (first upside down!). And then the Zoo again, where we got caught in a hailstorm! Luckily we were well prepared with raincoats, umbrellas, stroller covers and hoodies. Harris and Sophie had even more of an adventure, arriving by 2 trains and a ferry across the harbour! Photos here.
We had our first night out together in Sydney (and babysitter for the girls) for our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday night. We found a great spot in Neutral Bay close to our place that serves regional American food, called Blue Plate Bar and Grill. The ribs, cornbread, crab cakes, onion rings, apple pie and cheesecake were all great, and Sophie loved Francis, her babysitter.
August 10th, 2010
6:49 pm
Sydney
In Brisbane we got such a lot out of our yearly membership to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, so here in Sydney, we signed up for membership to Taronga Zoo. It’s an amazing zoo with some of the best views in Sydney (those lucky mountain goats). I’m hoping to get there with the girls most weeks. Photos here.
We are really lucky to have some good friends live just 4 houses away from us, and it was their son Karsten’s 3rd birthday this weekend, so we sauntered over for a lovely party outside. The weather co-operated and the kids had a great time climbing all over Karsten’s new tree house. Estelle and Paul made a fantastic dinosaur cake that the parents loved as muich as the kids. Photos here.
We have arrived in Sydney! We’ve had one of the coldest winters on record and lots of rain but the sun came out long enough on the 17th July for us to take a ferry on the harbour to Cockatoo Island (an old shipping and prison) to check out the 17th Biennale of Sydney. We went with our friends and new neighbours the Mullers who have 2 boys, Karsten and Daniel. On the way back 3 out of 4 kids fell asleep in the strollers so we stopped at the fabulous Opera Bar for a drink in the sunshine. A great start to our new city! Photos here.
After we arrived back from the US and before we moved down to Sydney we had a lovely holiday at the Sunshine Coast at Mum and Dad’s place. Mum and Dad were unfortunately away in Canada visiting Justy, but we managed to have some fun:
* Pick Your Own Stawberries. I’ve never had more delicious strawberries. Photos here.
* Eumundi Markets. Soph had a great time on the bungy jump swing thing. We went to all the markets at the coast so she could jump on the jumping castle
* The Massi’s. It was great to spend a little bit of time with Cate and Marcello and their boys.
Photos from our holiday here.
* Michaela’s first food. Michaela started on pumpkin at around 5 and a half months old. She loves her food!
All the photos here.
We had a fabulous trip to the US this year visiting family and friends. All the highlights:
LA – Santa Monica and Venice Beach, CA
We stayed in Santa Monica with Justine and Greg and checked out:
* The Montana Ave sidewalk sale
* El Cholo for lunch with Monika and Mariam
* Venice Beach park with Monika and Mariam
* The merry-go-round at Griffith Park
* Porpoises in the ocean as we did a tourist drive from Santa Monica to Century City
* Two great meals at the R+D Kitchen in Santa Monica
Photos here.
Roanoke, VA
Lots of R&R in Roanoke with Mimi and Pop-Pop
Photos here.
Deep Creek Lake, MD
Great fun with the Masters (Lisa, Dick, Jeannie, Craig, Beth, Anna & Izzy), Mimi and Pop-Pop in our lake houses. Highlights:
* Mini golf and the arcade
* Playtime with the cousins
* Izzy’s 2nd Birthday party (Photos here)
* Fishing with the Barbie Princess rods (Photos here)
* Paddling in the lake and the Explorer Centre
All the photos from Deep Creek Lake here.
Pittsburgh
We had a great weekend with Uncle Marv and Aunt Lynne and got to spend time with cousins Rachel, Josh and Daniel (and Jody and Steven). Highlights:
* The Incline and views of Pittsburgh
* The Carnegie Science Centre
* Dinner with the family
* ‘Gelati’ (layers of frozen custard and Italian ice) from Rita’s
Photos here.
LA – Zoo
We couldn’t get out of Pittsburgh on time to make our flight back to Australia (storms), so stayed an extra day in LA. We stayed at a great hotel by the airport, went to the LA Zoo and the West Hollywood farmers markets (and The Grove shopping district). Photos here.
We’ll be offline for a little while as we’re off on a trip to the US from 14th May. First stop LA to see Justine and Greg, Mark, Mariam, Monika and hopefully Tom, Dan and Danny. Then off to Roanoke to see Mimi and PopPop, and then Maryland where we’ll see Beth, Craig, Anna, Izzy, Lisa, the Masters and the Hutkins, and then to Pittsburgh for few nights to see Uncle Marv and Aunt Lynne. Back to the Sunshine Coast early June in preparation for our move to Sydney!
