Luna Park

Okay, we went to Luna Park last weekend and I am just now getting around to posting it. It is a small ammusement park in Sydney. I learned a few things at Luna Park that i want to share.
1. Brooke seems intrigued in the rides (the scarier they look, the more she smiles!) She was actually trying to shove her head through the bars on the ferris wheel! But she is terrified of characters dressed up in costume. This is not a good sign for a kid going to Disney in October.
2. Cotton candy is called fairy floss here. Kind of like their name better.
3. No matter how bad our parents scarred us, they never a. dressed themselves up like clowns and took us to a public place nor b. made us dress up like clowns and took us to a public place. There was a whole family there - mom, dad and about 4 kids complete with wigs, clown shoes and funny clothes. Pat snapped a pic of a couple of them. Unreal!
If there is free wi-fi in Fiji, I will post more in the next week. If not, i will have to post final pics and thoughts after our return on August 7th. Love you all, KK.

Food Part 2

Here are a few more final things I noticed about food here...
1. Rice Krispees are called Rice Bubbles
2. They have a tendency to have caramel in a LOT of food (which I LOVE!) including a kit kat with caramel and these dreamy creations called caramel squares.
3. There are a lot of things here called, "meat pies". They seem to be served at every corner stand. Pat and my dad both say they are delicious but I don't wantt o try and find out.
4. They have Krispy Kreme donut shops here (which I tried for the first time the other day) and I found out that they serve Krispie Kreme ice cream there. I didn't try it (but may before I leave).
5. They have a sweet chilli thing that they make into jelly and sauces and it is awesome!

Shoplifting

I hate that in some of the souvenier type stores down here, people are on you like white on rice the second you walk in the door. I have never shoplifted anything and am not about to start shoplifting crap from a souvenier store. Trust me, if I am going to risk jail time, I am going to make sure the item is worth it.

Fashion Part 2

Okay, here are a few more things I have noticed...
1. Billabong makes more than just surfer clothes here. I did a double take in church when I saw an older woman wearing a very pretty and not at all surfer-style Billabong sweater the oher day.
2. Esprit is going strong here. Is it even sold back home? Probably is and I have never noticed!
3. Men who are able to dress in "business casual" here only ever wear black, dark grey or navy pants with their button down shirts. Pat found this out the hard way once he packed only khaki pants for his 3 months here.
4. It is my pet peave when people (both women and men) where pants that look like denim but aren't. Either wear jeans or don't but the denim looking pants are ugly.
5. I saw a kid come out of a shoe store with his mom and I noticed him running and jumping all over to text out his new kicks. Guess that is universal. :-)

Australian Phrases (Part 1)

Some Aussie phrases I have noticed...
1. Brekkie (Breakfast) - doesn't it make it sound so cute?
2. Tip (Tag) - as it the children's game. I heard it when Sean was running around playing tag (tip) with a couple other kids in the park.
3. How ya goin? (How ya doin)
4. Oz (Aus) - How they refer to Australia (Oz) or Australians (Ozzies).
5. Sydneysiders (people who live in Sydney)
6. Tinnie (beer)

I also LOVE the accent - can't get enough of it! And I love the fact that their voices go up on the last word of every statement so that it sounds like a question. They also pronounce the words oregano and shallots funny but I'll have to tell you when we get home because I won't be able to do it justice if I try to spell it phonetically.

Snuggie

The Snuggie has just recently hit the Australian shores and boy are people crazy for it! Every radio and tv show is talking about it and mentioning that it was featured on Oprah. They keep mentioning that the US loves the Snuggie. I wonder who in the US they are referring to? The people I know that have one seem sadly disappointed with their purchase.

Hyde Park

Today we met up with Pat and had lunch in Hyde Park. One of my favorite things about Sydney is the plethora of green spaces and how people truly use them. You can see people running, doing Tai Chi, eating lunch and taking naps all around the parks. They really are so inviting!

Beach (Pics Part 2)

I had to include a few pics of Brooke!

The Beach

For those of you not on Facebook, I learned that I need to pack an extra set of clothes for both kids before going to the beach! I took the kids yesterday as it was 75 degrees and sunny. We found a nice family beach and since it was a bay beach (colder than straight ocean beaches), I figured the kids would dip their toes but not go in so I put Sean in shorts and Brooke in crops and took off.

Sean dug in the sand for a few minutes then quickly decided that running up and down the water's edge was more fun. (Fine with me, tired kids are good kids in my book) Of course running in the sand isn't as much fun as running in the water and soon Sean's shorts were soaked. It was only a matter of time before he took a digger and sure enough, when he did, he was drenched from head to toe. He then decided it would be fun to roll in the sand. Think of breading chicken to imagine how covered in sand he was.

When it came time to leave he was still soaked so since I didn't have another pair of shorts for him, I gave him Brooke's pink leggings. Lucky for me, he is quite skinny and fit into the leggings no problem. They were a little shorts (think capris) but the pink leggings looked especially nice with his orange shirt and orange crocs. Quite a sight!

Souveniers

A couple of funny notes about souveniers...

1. I will be lucky to escape Australia without a didgiridoo. Pat keeps saying that he doesn't want to bring one home but more frequently he mentions how it would be cool to have one. We thought the kids were loud with their band-in-a-bag set.

2. We tried kangaroo jerky today. Pat liked it, I almost puked. Lucky for me, we found out that we cannot bring it back in through US Customs. I hope this isn't too disappointing for any of our friends back home.

3. We are going to try to bring home some Vegemite (our neighbors want to try it) so let me know if you are interested and I'll save you a spoonful.

4. They have "aboriginies" down at the ferry dock playing their didgiridoos with techno music pumping in the background and for the right price you can buy one of their cd's or an "authentic" boomerang or better yet, get your picture taken with them while they hold their didgiridoo and boomerang. Some of these "aboriginies" look an awful lot like a white guy with a decent tan and some matted hair. the only thing that would make it worse would be if they had a chained up kangaroo who they would get to pose for pics with them.

5. Someone who will not be named bought two hats while he was here - one of them made from Kangaroo. To be fair, he looks good in the hats but I have to bust his chops for buying a roo hat. Here is a pic of the kids wearing his hats. Enjoy!

Favorite Thing About Today

No matter what we do or how much fun we pack into a day, when we ask Sean his favorite part it is always the ice cream or cupcake or small treat he had. Maybe I should save the money we spend on the fun activities and do nothing but give him an ice cream sandwich each day! Brooke is such an ice cream fan (don't know where she gets that from) that she enjoys not only her ice cream but usually she is able to convinve one of the adults to share their ice cream with her as well. Here are a couple pics of the kids enjoying their favorite things (Paddle Pops) and them enjoying Grandma and Grandpa reading them a bedtime story. We were sad to see them go. We miss them already.

Aquarium

Last Wednesday we visited the Sydney Aquarium (what a great place!). The kids really likes it. They had lots of low tanks so Brooke was able to walk around and check it out. She was very interested. Here are a couple pics.

Zoo Part 2 (the elephants)

The Zoo (Part 1)

Yesterday we went to the Taronga Zoo and spent the entire day checking it all out. We were able to take the ferry over and then took a tram to the top and slowly worked our way down. It is huge and by the end of the day we had seen most but not all of it. I think the coolest thing we saw was a baby elephant that was only 9 days old. So cute! It was the first elephant ever born in Australia. It seemed a little unsure of everything and spent most of the time we saw him standing under his mom and aunt who were both doting. Great day! We were all pretty tired by the end of the day.
(Elephant pics will be in the next post. I can't seem to have more than 3 pics in each post)

Botanical Gardens

We have been to the Botanic Gardens in Sydney many times as it is a beautiful park and allows us lots of room to enjoy a picnic lunch and for the kids to run. This past week, we have enjoyed exploring the park with my mom and dad who are visiting. Here are a couple pics. By the way, they are quick to correct you if you call them the botanical gardens. For some reason it is only botanic.

Sydney at Night

Just want to add a few pics so you can see Sydney at night from the ferry and from the ferry station near our house.

Bondi Beach

Yesterday we went down to Bondi beach and let the kids run around and watched people surfing for awhile. What a great beach! Even though the air temp was in the low 60's,. the water temp was a bit higher at 64 degrees. (It felt warm when you dipped your feet in). There was a large stretch of nice clean sand and then crystal blue water. I am including a couple pics.

Michael Jackson

I loved his music as much as the next guy but I also remember the child molestation and his crazy behavior. I am so glad that the news isn't dominated with stories of his death and burial anymore. That was all that was on tv for almost two weeks! They broadcast the cornorer's office briefing and his funeral service live and then replayed it during prime time. They also broadcast his last concert a couple of times.

Possibly worst of all is how they also gave a lot of air time to Jordan Jackson a, "super fan". He is an Austalian fan of Michael who has had plastic surgery to look like the king of pop and seems to be the first person interviewed by the Australian media for thoughts on Michael's passing. As if Michael himself wasn't creepy enough!

Bathroom Notes

1. The tubs here must drain faster or have more suction than at home because both kids are out of the tub like a shot when there is a loud suction sound as the last of the water drains out. Sean has actually started voluntarily getting out the tub early to avoid the sound and Brooke literally jumps out the moment she hears it. I would videotape it but have been laughing too hard to do so.

2. The toilets flush in a strange way here (all straight down not counter clockwise) but the really strange part is that they have two buttons - one for half a flush and one for a full flush. I guess it is the Aussie way to conserve water. Interesting.

Fashion

I know, I am probably not qualified to comment on fashion seeing as I have a uniform that basically consists of 5 items (crops, jeans, sweats and short and long sleeve tees)but there are a few things I have to mention.

1. Leggings are in! Are they in back in the states? Did I miss the memo? I hope I did! I am all for leggings - comfort is always a plus!

2. Along with the leggings is the prevelence of riding boots which are frequently worn with the leggings. Again, hoping this style is popular in the US as I really like the look and think it might be a style I can actually implement.

3. Stiletto heels. Not sure if there is a height requirement for heals to be considered stilettos, but women here seem to wear these skinny, high heel shoes a lot. Not a fan. They can't be comfortable and I know I couldn't walk in them.

4. It has been between 60 and 75 degrees here and people are bundled up looking like they are about to set sail for Antartica. I mean really! There is no need for wool coats, scarves and hats. Thicken your blood a little!

That's it for my fashion observations. At least for now.

Food

Okay, so the food here is pretty similar to that in the US with a few big differences...

1. Instead of Sabarros anchoring every food court, there is hardly Italian to be found. They have a lot of Asian food. The food court in Pat's building for example has Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Stir Fry (not sure of the nationality - mongolian perhaps?)

2. There is a Thai food place on almost every street (Yea!)

3. Everything is sold in small quantities. So different for someone who is used to shopping at Costco and stocking up for nuclear winter.

4. They don't have grape jelly!!! How can you make a respectable PB&J without grape jelly? I have scoured three different grocery stores looking for it. I finally decided this was God's way of telling me to branch out. I found spreadable chocolate (think nutella) and am going to try PB&C sandwiches instead. Okay, so maybe this wasn't God's intention.

5. Since we don't have a car, we have to take public transportation to and from the grocery store so I can't really buy ice cream as it might melt before we got home depending on the bus schedule. This was a little scary as so much of my diet depends on ice cream but it is probably better for my waist that it is not readily accessable. Not to fear though, I have had one sundae and part of an ice cream sandwich.

6. There are a lot of American foods sold in the grocery store but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. The randomly have bagel chips and Philladelphia cream cheese but I have yet to see an actual bagel.

7. In three grocery stores, I have only found one that carries exactly one type of pretzels and none carry a tostido type product. I find that odd. Does no one down here appreciate a good ammount of salt with a little crunch?

8. In small grocery stores with a fair selection but limited space, there seems to be an inordinately large ammount of space dedicated to various types of baked beans and many styles of rubber gloves for cleaning. Are these two items related? Gross.

9. In addition to Thai food places on every corner, there are also bakeries everywhere. I could get used to a place that serves choclate croissants and fresh bread every 50 feet.

10. It seems all hard cheese is known as cheddar (at least at the grocery stores) and cheddar cheese itself is called "Tasty".

I will post more on food as I go along. As a P.S., I have a newfound respect for my city dwelling friends who either have to buy a couple meals at a time or have to drag their grocery carts to and from the stores and off and on public transportation. My hat is off to you.

Driving in Australia

For the most part, I have observed that even though they drive on the wrong side of the road, the drivers are pretty good here. If not, people are quick to give the finger. However one driver that I noticed today was in the small minority of jerky drivers.
I was with the kids waiting at a red light for the light to indicate that it was safe to cross the road. Waiting with me was a blind man (complete with cane) and his wife and an elderly lady. This car pulls up at the light and is so eager to make a turn on red that he keeps inching up and since he is on a hill, revving his engine to keep from sliding back.
I'm not sure which one he was going to take out to make his turn, the blind, the baby or the elderly.

McDonalds Porn

Last week we were at McDonalds eating lunch when i noticed the two guys at the table next to me laughing and pointing at the big plasma tv on the wall and then looking at Sean and glancing at me. I look at the tv and there was this couple going at it buck naked. Luckily Sean didn't notice. Soon after, someone changed the channel.

This says two things, 1. tv sensors are liberal here if they are showing porn at noon and 2. if you want lunch and entertainment, eat at McDonalds.

Koalas

We went to the Wildlife Park with the kids on Saturday and were able to get up close and personal with the koalas. They are even cuter in person!

The Wildlife Park started off a bit rough (lots of exhibitbs about the unusual bugs, spiders and snakes of Australia - YUCK!) but ended well with Koalas, Kangaroos and lots of pretty birds and butterflies. The animal life here is pretty incredible. So many animals thrive here that aren't found anywhere else in the world.

Kids really enjoyed themselves too. We are going to try to hit the Taronga Zoo next week. Should be good!

Countdown

Is it bad that Pat has a countdown to Fiji and I have one to Sean's first day of kindergarten?

Names

As many of you know, I am slightly obsessed with names and being in a new country has a new pool for me to obsess about. I have been evesdropping on conversations and paying attention at the playground. The kids names here seem to be pretty traditional English but there are some that are pretty old fashioned and a couple trendier ones too. I will post more as I hear them and they catch my interest.

Some examples of common ones I hear a lot...
Kate (I love the way the pronounce it!)
Sophie
Jack
Lily

Some old fashioned...
Angus (poor boy)
Cordelia (poor girl)
Charlotte Grace (the name of the baby baptized this weekend at church)
Lucy (I like that this is coming back - it is cute!)

Some newer ones...
Neve(Neive?)
Cooper
Lachlan (this may actually be traditional - I'm not sure)
Scarlet

Second Update

It is early Sunday morning here (6 am). Things are going well. Everyone is dealing with jet lag better than I could've hoped. We went to bed on Friday night at 8 pm and woke up at 3:45 am Saturday (okay, that is a little too early!) We got up, Pat made breakfast and we stayed up till about 7, Everyone stayed up til about 7 then went back to bed for about 1 1/2 hour nap. When the kids woke up again, we decided to just get up and get on with our day.



We showered and caught the bus to Milson's Point (a town just over the harbour from the CBD (Central Business District - where the opera house is). We walked around a local Saturday market and then walked across the Sydney harbour bridge. They have security all over I guess for jumpers. Kind of sad. Anyway, we walked around another Saturday mraket and then all over the CBD. We pretty much walked around for about 5 hours. Brooke took a nap in the stroller and seemed content to just sit there and take everything in. Sean hopped in and out of the stroller to check things out as they caught his interest including a Street performer dressed as a statue. Cute pics. Will send once we upload them.



We ate lunch at the Opera House Cafe and were sad to find out that there weren't any tickets available for a show there today called Babies in Tutus. A ballet performance geared for the kids where the girls are invited to wear tutus (I brought Brooke's). Pat has been trying to get tix for awhile now with no luck. We had hoped for a couple last minute ones to open up but I guess they didn't.



We ended up catching the 4:45 ferry back home (only an 8 minute ride). Saw Russell Crowe's house which is immense and overlooks the harbor bridge and is directly accross from the Opera House. Go figure. We then ate chicken parm (one of Sean's favorites) The kids and I were in bed by 7:30 (Pat at 9) and then we all woke up at 5:30 am. Going to try to stay up and power through the day (giving Brooke a nap this afternoon) and then going to sleep between 8 and 8:30 (a normal bedtime for the kids). Hopefully we will wake up a little closer to 7 am tomorrow (a normal time for the kids).



I think we are doing pretty well adjusting to the time difference. Let's hope I didn't just jinx it!



Heading to church and Target today (so sad that we need to hit a target within 48 hours of landing but I just can't get away from that place!) Hoping to explore Mossman (the area of Sydney next to us) if nap schedules permit.



Every morning at about 5:30 or 6 we can hear the cookaburra (sp?) birds outside. They make a crazy noise! Kind of a cool way to wake up.



Brooke can say, "Thank you" now. So cute!



Found milk duds yesterday. I can hang out here for another month! :-)



Going to go have breakfast now. Love and miss you all.



Kristin

First Update

We made it to Sydney safely at about 6 am today. Our fligths were smooth and on-time. The wonderful woman who was working the United counter at the San Fran airport was kind enough to bump us to premium economy at no charge for our long flight. She is my new best friend. This gave us more legroom and a bigger degree of recline. Kids were really well behaved but only slept about 5 of the 19 hours on the plane. Sean might have set a record for most times in the airplane bathroom. We went 5 times between Chicago and San Francisco (a 4 hour flight) and I lost track after we hit double digits between San Francisco and Sydney.

We got made by the Sydney airport food sniffing dogs and had to go a thorough customs check (due to the smell of fruit snacks which we ate on the plane but the the scent was still on the backpack and Sean's hands). Pat met us at the airport and I don't know who was happier to see who. We returned to the apartment which is pretty nice (certainly nicer than any apartment I ever rented!) and showered and then walked Pat to the Ferry wharf. Sean and Brooke checked out a nearby park and then the three of us took a nice nap.

Tonight we met Pat at the wharf and walked back home. Ate dominos for dinner and are now eating popcorn and m&m's and watching Night at the Museum (haven't found milk duds yet!) Heading to bed shortly for an early bedtime. Hoping to get on their schedule soon. We will be exploring Sydney and possibly Mossman this weekend.

Royal Botanic Garden

Kristin and the kids went to the Royal Botanic Gardens today. It is a pretty interesting place that is right at the base of Sydney Harbour. Besides the typical plant life, there are several gardens, fountains, lakes and parks. My favorite part is the Flying Fox (bats) that are hanging from the trees by the thousands. They are pretty large in size and are very active even during the day time. Also, there are large flocks of wild Cockatoo's and parrots throught the garden.