Carter's New Lego City Set

We are sitting around our apartment today as Carter is not feeling very well.  He either has a cold that is making him not feel very well, or he is "chucking a sickie" per Australian lingo for taking the day off school when you are healthy.  I have not really determined which it is since he magically felt much better once he found out he didn't have to go.  Either way, he is home with me while Aubrey is at preschool.  So, he and I are spending a little time together.  

He recently got a new Lego set and wished to write about it today.  He wanted to actually write it out on paper instead of typing it though, so I took a picture of his writing.  He took the pictures of the garbage truck.  He is pretty proud of it. :-) 

Sunny skies ahead

Ahhh......The past few days Sydney has been showing us the weather she is famous for.  The winter weather to this point has been fine, but I wouldn't say that it has been outstanding.  The sun does shine part of the time, but it has also had its fair share of clouds with quite a few rainy days in June.  Most days make it into the 60's (Fahrenheit), but that temperature is relative as it only feels warm when the sun is out.  If the sun goes under some clouds and the wind picks up, the temperature feels like it drops at least 10 degrees in an instant.

We are very excited that Springtime is right around the corner.  Here in Australia they consider that the change of the season occurs on the first day of the month.  So, the news will be reporting about the first day of Spring on Sept 1st.  That sentence sounds crazy to most North Hemispherians for multiple reasons.  It just seems to go against everything we know to be true since learning the seasons of the year in preschool/kindergarten.  I know we have been in Australia for 5 months now, but I just cannot get used to this.  I will apologize right now if I have been late to acknowledge any birthdays/anniversaries.  I am always shocked to see these dates on the calendar when I happen to look at it.  I am aware that the calendar says August, but deep down inside, I can't fully wrap my brain around it.  Nothing that I associate with the middle of August is happening in my life right now.  The weather is wrong and the kids are in the middle of their third term at school.  No dog days of summer or school shopping happening here.

I did miss the blog post last week.  We really didn't get out and do too much the weekend before and then last week was really busy for me.  I thought I would have all this spare time on my hands when I was no longer working.  I guess time is a little like money, there never seems to be quite enough.  

The weekend before last (August 11th) we went down into the city to the Australian Museum to see the Deep Oceans exhibit.  We have already been to the Australian Museum and got annual memberships (see post from June 14th).  The museum is very nice and has some interesting artifacts.  The Deep Oceans exhibit was really good.  It is really creepy to think of the creatures that live at the very bottom of the ocean and there is still so much we don't know.  We didn't get many good pictures in the exhibit though; the rooms were all darkened as if at twilight to give it an eerie feeling.  It didn't take long to feel a little scared when seeing specimens of things like the viperfish and fangtooth fish.  

A large model of a deep sea angler fish.  This is something that nightmares are made of.

This is probably Carter's favorite thing at the Australian Museum.  He is in a fuzzy suit jumping up at velcro.  It was hilarious to watch and he loved it.

Then, this Sunday, August 19th, we took a ferry to go the Cockatoo Island to see the 18th Annual Biennale.  Cockatoo Island is an island in Sydney Harbour that used to house convicts that worked on building and repairing ships.  Present day, you can go there and tour the island to see where the convicts were housed and to see all the industrial buildings where they worked. There are also some private historic houses on the island where you can take a holiday as well as a campground where you can spend the night.  Right now, the Biennale is happening on Cockatoo Island, which is where various artists create exhibits throughout the island.  So, we got to check out the spooky island while also enjoying some art.  Some of the exhibits were really cool and some of them kind of went over my head.  But, we had a great day; the weather was perfect and it is always a lot of fun to ride the ferries. 

A map to give you and idea where Cockatoo Island is located (the red pin)

The view when getting off the ferry

View of one of the old cranes and boat ramp, as well as the smokestack from the power plant that was located on the island

One of the walkways along the silos on the island.  We walked on it earlier in the day.  I was scared to death and could not even peek down at the ground though.  The smoke below the walkway is one of the artist exhibits.

This was so amazing; this was made with sand on the ground.  It was called "sand lace."

The sand lace led up to this - a shipping crate that had been cut up into this lacy pattern.  Aubrey is standing inside the crate.

This was one of my favorite exhibits.  It is hard to see, but it is made of lights and plastic feathers.  It is interactive and some of the lights are powered by human touch.

Aubrey and Carter walking through the exhibit

A different take on the meaning of a 3-D painting

Igloo coolers and lightbulbs to represent miners down in a tunnel

Panoramic view from one of the higher points on the island

It was a gorgeous day to just take a deep breath, relax, and take in the sights.

I always have to add a picture of the kids posing!

I think the ferries are one of my favorite things of living in Sydney.  Yes, it is just another mode of public transportation, but it feels a little bit like a vacation when the weather allows us to sit on one of the outdoor seats.  Plus, on Sundays you can get a Family Fun pass for public transportation.  With that ticket you can use any public transportation all day for just $2.50/person.  It makes it so much easier to get out and explore Sydney on those days.  We had great ferry rides this Sunday, but the best was the final ferry home from Circular Quay to Mosman at dusk.  It was a great way to end the weekend. 

This is one of Sean's favorites; he was really trying to get the moon and the bridge into the same shot.

Carter fishing with his Australian mates

I'm a bit behind on my blog post this week.  The past week's weather here in Sydney has been absolutely beautiful.  We have been getting out and enjoying the gorgeous sunny days.  I usually do the blog posts at night after the kids go to bed.  However, this week I haven't been able to keep my eyes open long enough at night to get a post written.  It was a good kind of tired though; a tiredness that comes from full, active days.

Unfortunately, the weather took a downward turn today and it is now horribly rainy and windy.  The wind is so strong that it even ruined my umbrella when I ran to the grocery store for a few items this evening.  The weather application on my phone says we've had wind gusts up to 93 km/hr (57 mph).  The news has been showing stories of roofs being ripped off of buildings.  It was a good day to hibernate inside.  So, that is pretty much what we did.   So, I still have a little energy left to write tonight.  

The biggest event in the past week has been a fishing class that Carter took last Sunday with several of his friends from school.  It was a 3 hour class on Sunday morning at Clifton Gardens Reserve (located in our suburb).  The weather was perfect for this event.  The sun was shining and it felt very warm.  To top it off, there was very little wind, so the water was calm and clear.  Have I mentioned how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place?  

Carter and some of the boys practicing while the mums (and Aubrey) watch.

These are the targets the boys were aiming for when learning how to cast.

While the boys fished, Aubrey entertained herself at the playground nearby.

The boys moved onto the pier to put their fish hooks into the water.

Boats and houses in the distance looking towards Middle Head in Mosman

Getting started fishing.  It was a miracle that the boys did not get their lines hopelessly tangled up with each other.

Carter and Maurits posing for a picture

Aubrey getting her feet wet in the crystal clear water while the boys were fishing out on the pier in the distance.

I figured the boys would all get bored with fishing for this long of time.  After all, 3 hours is a looooong time to a 7 year old boy.  Some boys got nibbles, but no one actually caught a fish.  Even so, the boys really seemed to enjoy it.  Carter spent the rest of the day asking for his own fishing rod.  We will probably have to look into that.....

The pity party is over

The last post got a little sad at the end.  That wasn't really my intent and we really do like being in Sydney.  We are just having the normal ups and downs.  What can I say, life is not perfect.  

The past week has been a bit better.  The weather has been pretty darn chilly at times (it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit when we left for Carter's soccer at 8:00 this morning), but the days have been generally sunny.  One of my mottos since we moved here has been "it is hard to stay in a bad mood on a sunny day in Sydney".  We are now over halfway through our second winter of 2012 (one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere).  The days are slowly, but surely, getting longer, which is a good thing.  One of the things I dislike the most about winter are the early sunsets.  

Over this past weekend, Sean and I decided to head into the city to remind ourselves of how awesome it is to live in Sydney.  Saturday we took a bus down to the Queen Victoria Building.  I forgot to take pictures at this point, but imagine a grand 19th century brick building in an ornate Romanesque Revival style as a shopping mall.  We didn't stay there very long since we don't really shop for anything in Sydney besides necessities; it is much too expensive!  Instead, we are planning on bringing empty suitcases and a large shopping list with us when we go back to the US for a visit. 

We then rode the monorail over to Darling Harbour, a popular area near downtown that has tons of restaurants, bars, museums, parks, and more.  We had been to Darling Harbour a couple of months ago to go to the Sydney Aquarium, but we did not walk around much that day because it was cold and rainy.  We made up for it on this trip.  We walked and walked and walked. 

Waiting for the monorail

When we went to the Sydney Aquarium in June, we bought a pass to get into various attractions in Sydney and Melbourne.  On this trip to Darling Harbour, we decided to check out Wildlife Sydney, which was part of our pass.  We had a great time exploring the attraction.  

We have been to many different animal parks in the past few months.  We have gotten pretty good at finding the reptile in the enclosure (it is a little like a Where's Waldo picture with less color).

This is a Cunningham's Skink with her babies

This is a Southern Cassowary (which I had never heard of prior to Saturday) is the 2nd largest bird in the world by weight.  It was hard to get a good picture because the bird was constantly moving.

Aubrey getting a close up view of the Southern Cassoway

An underwater view of a real salt water crocodile.  It was huge.  

There can never be too many pictures of the cuddly koala!

You can't forget the kangaroos.  :-)

There is a butterfly pavilion at the park where butterflies are flying everywhere.  This little guy landed on my shirt.  

Water view from Darling Harbour

After going through Wildlife Sydney, we got to go to Starbucks for a coffee.  We enjoy the coffee here and have ordered our fair share of flat whites (latte with more milk and less foam), but I still enjoy a caramel macchiato if we pass a Starbucks.  Unfortunately, there are not many Starbucks here as the Aussies did not take much of a liking to the company when it came and most have closed.  There are just a handful of Starbucks left and they are located downtown in touristy spots. 

We also went to Adriano Zumbo's shop.  I have tried a few different macarons since moving to Australia.  Adriano Zumbo's macarons are hands down the absolute best I have ever had.  The salted butter caramel macaron is out of this world.  I have been raving about these macarons to Sean since I first tried them back at the end of April.  He finally got a taste this weekend.  Now, he understands my obsession.

We were exhausted after our excursion on Saturday, but it was a great day that was well needed.  Sunday was pretty quiet.  Sean went to an All Ford car show by himself.  Carter attended his first birthday party in Australia.  It was a Nerf gun theme.  What 7 year old boy does not love that?  

The week so far has been good as well.  Carter had his Athletics Carnival today at the local Allen Border Oval.  I guess I should explain what all that means.....  When Carter entered Middle Harbour Public School, he was put into one of 4 houses (think of Harry Potter being sorted into Gryffindor House, but much less dramatic).  Carter was put into Fraser House (blue).  The Athletic's Carnival is basically a field day where the kids compete in races (800 m, 200 m, 100m, and relay) to win points for their house.  As far as the Oval, it is just a large community field managed by Mosman Council.  There are different ovals located around the area and they are the oval shape to make them appropriate for various sports.  

Picture of the oval with the kids split up in their 4 houses.

Action shot of Carter racing (he is front and a little to the left with the blue shirt on).

Aubrey ready to begin her race (for the younger kids that are not in school yet).  She was probably the tallest kid in this race.

Anyway, it was a bright, sunny winter day.  Even though the day did have a brisk start, it warmed up to 63 degrees Fahrenheit.  In the sun, it felt much warmer than that.  Carter had a good time running, but he did get a little tired of waiting around (we were there 5 hours and the kids only ran 4 races and had one game of tug-of-war).  Aubrey ran one 100 m toddler race and did great.  She had a great time playing with all the younger brothers and sisters while we hung out at the oval.  Then, we got to stop and have ice cream with friends on the walk home.  Once again, we are all thoroughly exhausted.  Sean was even tired tonight, even though all he did was work all day. ;-)  Aubrey was so tired that she may have literally fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.  

I guess the lesson learned is that we just have to keep getting out and living life to its fullest.  Then, you don't have the time or the energy to throw a pity party.