Summer Break

Ahhh.... the long days of summer.  I admit that I really yearned for winter back in December, but not now.  I normally really dislike January in the Northern Hemisphere.  I miss the excitement of the holidays and I'm left with months of cold before any prospect of spring.  Not only am I now enjoying a warm, sunny January, but I am also kind of glad to have the holidays over.  Our life here in Australia is awesome, but some days we really feel the distance.  That is part of the reason we try to stay busy.  When we stay busy, we feel like we are taking full advantage of our opportunity to be in this beautiful country.  As an added bonus, we also don't have as much time to dwell on what we are missing back in the Midwest.

We have already done quite a bit during the past 3 weeks and we have not even left Sydney yet.  We have been enjoying a bit of a "stay-cation".  We have a list of everything we want to see and do while in Sydney, so we are trying to get all the boxes ticked.  One of the first things we did back on the break was walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The views are amazing.  Both Sean and I are afraid of heights, so even this is a little scary for us.  Sean is still trying to decide if he could handle doing the climb over the top of the Sydney bridge in our time here.  I have already decided and there is NO WAY I am going up there.  I will stay down on the main section with guardrails almost completely covering me, thank you.  And I do not see this as a revocation of my previous resolution to be more adventurous.  It is just that everyone must know their own limits.   

Ready to walk over the bridge

Sydney Opera House from the bridge

 

Panoramic shot from the middle of the bridge

After we walked over the bridge, we enjoyed some street food at The Rocks Market and then continued onto the Royal Botanic Gardens.  We will have to come back another day to do the gardens properly as the kids were pretty tired by that point and the Botanic Gardens are massive.  So, we just hit a small section.  Located within the Botanic Gardens is the Government House.  This house was built for the Governor of New South Wales between the years of 1837 to 1843.  

The grounds of the Government House looking out on Sydney Harbour

A sneak peak of the Sydney Opera House from the grounds of the Botanic Gardens

The area of the Royal Botanic Gardens; the red pin is the Sydney Opera House

Panoramic view of the bridge from the Sydney Opera House

Later in the week we went to The Powerhouse Museum of Science and Design near Darling Harbour.  Carter went to this museum once with school and has been dying to go back again.  It was a very cool museum with something for everyone.  

Posing in front of one the first trains to run in Sydney

The Strasbourg clock model

Aubrey on a penny farthing bicycle

Sean was trying to pedal the bike fast enough to power the fire engine lights and siren.  Aubrey already had her ears covered in anticipation that the siren would be too loud for her.

Sean was very impressed that the museum had one of the few Apple I computers in the world.  It was sold in 1976.  People bought the fully assembled circuit board, and then had to add all the other parts (tape recorder, keyboard, case, etc.) to make it a functioning computer.  Isn't it amazing how far we have come in less than 40 years?

The museum even had a Wiggles Exhibit!

Aubrey began throwing tea parties in Dorothy the Dinosaur's house in the Wiggles Exhibit.

Even Dad got to join in!

When Sean had to go back to work at the beginning of January, the kids and I ventured up to the Manly Sea Life Sanctuary by Manly Wharf.  It is a nice little aquarium.  It didn't take us very long to go through it, but then we enjoyed a little time hanging out in Manly. 

Carter being silly inside the shark jaws

Aubrey, surprisingly, is always the first to be willing to touch things (for example, reptiles).  In this picture she is holding the shell of a shark egg.

The views from Manly Wharf are fantastic.

The kids and I had such a good time at Manly Wharf during the week, we decided to bring Dad along on the weekend and hang out at the beach for the day.  It was so relaxing.

Brunch at a cafe along the shore

Carter loved burying his sister in the sand.

Aubrey holding a non-stinging jellyfish (I think they are called comb jellies).  

Over the past week we have done a lot of activities with Aubrey's playgroup friends.  It was a lot of last hurrahs leading up to one of our playgroup friends moving out of the Sydney area.  We had a great week of the zoo, going to a movie and Macca's (Aussie slang for McDonalds), the beach, and picnicing at a park.  We are already learning the lessons of how transient it is living in a high expat area.  Friend groups are constantly changing and evolving as old people move out and new people move in.  It is a good reminder of why it is so important to live in the moment.

  

Aubrey and our friend Henry posing at Taronga Zoo

Part of the group that went to see a film at the cool movie theater on a steamy day that was 43 degrees Celsius.  (That is about 109 degrees Fahrenheit.)

So, that is the recap on the first half of our summer break.  We have had loads of fun.  And we still have another 2 1/2 weeks of freedom left!  We will have to see what adventures still await us......