Welcome 2013!!

I can't believe how time is flying by.  Last year at this time Sean and I were contemplating if we could really make the move to Australia.  It seemed so big that we could not even wrap our heads around it.  We have now been here for 9 months.  The past year has had its fair share of ups and downs.  I'm still happy that we stepped off the path of living our "normal" lives.  We have learned that you can't completely escape the day-to-day grind when you have two kids and you have to make all the ends meet.  We have seen a vast amount of breathtaking beauty and we haven't even traveled within Australia that much yet.  I have learned that as much as I have already learned about myself and life, I still have a lot left to learn. 

My New Year's resolution is to quit playing it so safe in life.  That may sound odd to say the year after we moved half a world away.  But, once I got here, I settled into my little niche and got comfortable.  I tried really hard at first to branch out and try new things and meet people.  I quit trying once I got comfortable.  We would still explore some on the weekends.  But, I lost that adventuresome spirit otherwise.  I cannot do this when Aubrey goes to school at the end of January.  I have to decide the next chapter in this adventure for me.  Of course, I would be happy to be hotelier/tour guide to anyone willing to come down to see us.  Just let me know and we can book it!

I kind of wish my New Year's Eve story involved us going to one of the lookouts early and hanging out there all day in anticipation for the midnight fireworks.  That is not our story though.  We decided not to deal with the hassle of the crowds, cranky kids, and a late night.  So, we had the day free and planned to go to a local street in Mosman to view the 9:00 pm fireworks where we could just show up at 8:30 pm, watch them, and be home by 9:30 pm.  This is one example of how we played it safe instead of just biting the bullet and going in for the full experience.  It was fine, but after seeing the pictures of the midnight fireworks, I regretted not seeing them in person.  The 9:00 fireworks were nothing compared to the midnight show.  Thank goodness we will have another chance here in Sydney!

I did do something pretty cool on New Year's Eve though.  I finally did the Spit to Manly walk.  It is a coastal walk that I have been wanting to do since we moved here, but it just never worked out to do it with anyone else.  After being home with the kids for the past week and a half, I was ready for some alone time.  So, I decided to do it by myself. Luckily, my wonderful husband offered to take the kids for the day so that I could do this.  Actually, it was even longer than just the Spit to Manly walk, because I decided to walk to the Spit instead of taking a bus.  So, I walked from our apartment to Manly Beach.  It was absolutely amazing.  It mainly followed the coastline.  It was definitely a challenge.  Altogether, I walked almost 9 miles (14 km) with a change of elevation (down, up, then down) of about 350 feet (107 m).  It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes.  I then treated myself to some well-deserved Ben and Jerry's ice cream and ate it while I watched the waves roll onto the beach. I debated jumping into the water to cool down until I heard a lifeguard come over the loud speaker to warn us that a lot of people were getting stung by bluebottle jellyfish that day.  So, I opted to stay out of the water.  Sean then even came and picked me up from Manly in the car.  It was a great day.  Unfortunately though, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at 11:00 pm, so I couldn't even watch the fireworks on television at midnight. 

The map of my bush walk.  It started near The Spit Reserve on the left.  I crossed the bridge and then followed the coastline by Clontarf, Balgowlah Heights, and Wellings Reserve all the way to Manly Cove.  

This little guy was in my path at the beginning of the walk.  I took a picture of him and then saw several more.  It made me really question if I could do this by myself, but luckily, this was my only run in with "wildlife"  during the walk.  Thank goodness it wasn't a snake!!

Just one of the amazing views from the trail

There were quite a few secluded rock beaches like this along the path.  Quite a few people were out since it was a sunny, warm day.  I captured this photo with no people in it, but there were people on either side of my shot swimming or laying out on the rocks. 

This shot is looking down at Middle Head and the city beyond.

This is the North Head on the left and Watson's Bay on the right (the opening of the harbour) with the open ocean beyond.  It just happened that a ferry was headed across the harbour opening when I took the photo.

My first glimpse of Manly during the walk.  Manly has a fairly thin strip of land in the middle separating the harbour from the ocean.  In this picture you can see the ocean peeking out on the other side of that strip on the upper left corner.

Manly Wharf

Another view of Manly Cove as I was get closer to the end.

Delwood Beach (almost to Manly), which is the home for the a colony of Little Penguins.  There are signs all around that state "Look Out, Penguins About".  I tried to look for them, but they were nowhere to be seen.  I should have taken a picture of Manly Beach at the end of the walk, but I did not.  I really just had Ben and Jerry's on my mind at that point.

Even though I was a party pooper, Sean did stay awake for the midnight fireworks.  Since I was asleep on the couch, it was a no brainer who would be at home with the kids.  He left the apartment shortly after 11:00 and walked around the streets of Mosman to find a high spot to watch the fireworks and take a few photos.  I think he did a pretty good job:-)

Happy New Year!!  Hoping everyone has a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2013!!

Two Stories by Carter

Hi every one! Today I,m going to talk about Christmas. It all happened on Christmas morning that the presents were all under the Christmas tree. After a while every one was awake and we all opened our gifts.  One of my gifts was an i Pad mini and one of Aubrey's was an i Pod Touch - the new kind in green. After we opened all of our gifts from Santa, me and Aubrey went straight to getting Aubrey's password for her i Pod Touch right, until we found what it is. Straight after that we started to play with our devices! After a little bit it began to rain. A little before it began to rain we ate breakfast. Me and Aubrey began to play on our device until it was lunch. We all had a great feast for lunch and how yummy it was! After the great feast we were stuffed! After me and Aubrey got stuffed me and Aubrey got straight to playing on our devices until it was night and Aubrey went to bed and I stayed up for a little bit until Aubrey was asleep and so me and mom read the 39 clues till I was asleep.

                                                   Next story every one!

Hi every one! Today I am going to talk about my RC car. It all happened on one normal day like today. Me, Aubrey and dad went to a store where there is every RC toy you would want! We looked around for a little bit and found some RC Ferrari's, some RC helicopter's, and some radio control buggies' with hydraulics. Then we looked for a while and dad showed me a Ferrari Enzo at the apple store that you can control with your i Pad, i Pad mini, i Phone, and i Pod Touch. I didn't want it, I wanted a radio control Ferrari 458 Italia from the store we were in and so I carried it to a man working in the shop and bought it with my allowance that I had saved. Then we went home and tested it out.

Happy Christmas!

We have just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas.  As I said in the last post, I had mixed emotions during the month of December, but we were all excited by the time Christmas actually rolled around.  It really was nice to have the holiday all to ourselves.  We did not have to hustle and bustle to make it from one family to another and organize it around my work schedule (it is very difficult to get time off around the holidays when you work at a hospital).  This is definitely the most relaxed Christmas I have ever experienced.  

We will start off on Christmas Eve when we went biking at Narrabeen Lakes.  Well, Sean and the kids went biking.  I have not gotten a bike since we moved. So, I attempted to keep up with them on foot.  Long story short, they left me in the dust.  But, we all had a great time and everyone got a good workout so we didn't feel so bad when we laid around and gorged on food the next day.

View across Narrabeen Lakes

One of my last glimpses of the trio on their bikes

The red dot is on the Narrabeen Lakes

After cleaning up, the kids and I also made a quick trip into the city to the Queen Victoria Building to pick up a last minute gift for Sean.

The kids are standing in front of the Swarovski crystal Christmas tree at the QVB.

Carter and Aubrey on Christmas Eve when they were asking to open a present early.  Can't you see the excitement radiating from their eyes?

It was odd not to go to a Christmas Eve church service.  This is the first time in my life that I have missed one.  But, the church we have started going to did not offer a Christmas Eve service.  So many small differences. 

On Christmas morning, the kids woke us up at 5:00 am.  Sean and I reluctantly rolled out of bed.  We were all happy and fully awake once the coffee started flowing and presents were being unwrapped.  Thankfully, we did not have our hearts set on going to the beach on Christmas as it rained buckets all day.  It was the wettest Christmas in Sydney in 70 years.  It actually suited us better that the day was grey and rainy; we did not feel guilty that we stayed inside and hibernated for the day.  Sean had to bring up the fact that if the temperature was below freezing, we could have had a white Christmas.  We were a long way from freezing though (I think the temperature that day was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit).  

Carter on Christmas morning when he opened a very special present from Santa.

Carter and Aubrey showing off their favorite gifts.

What a mess!!

We had a great day of playing with our new toys, taking naps, watching movies, reading, and eating the turkey meal we bought the day before at Fourth Village Providore.  Sean and I both agreed that we couldn't do this everyday, but it was a perfectly beautiful, lazy Christmas.  We did make it out of the house to drive to Davidson (by Frenchs Forest) to look at Christmas lights.

A highlight of our Christmas light tour

The next day, Boxing Day, is a celebrated holiday here in Australia.  I  remember seeing that on calendars in the US, but I never really knew what it was all about.  It is observed in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.  It was traditionally when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts from their employers, known as a "Christmas box".  It is nice to have an official extension of the Christmas holiday.  In general, I've noticed that they like to extend holidays out in Australia.  In fact, many small businesses have signs on their doors stating that they will not be reopening until January 7th.  

On Boxing Day we took the opportunity to get the house back in order and then go biking once again.  This time we went to the Sydney Olympic Park.  As the name implies, this is the park that Sydney built for the 2000 Summer Olympics.  It has a huge entertainment district, sporting venues, and extensive parklands with over 35 kilometers of off-road bicycle paths.  This is now our favorite place to bike because the bike paths are paved and well maintained.  It is nice to find proper bike paths away from traffic with young kids.  Aubrey is getting pretty good, but she still tips her bike from time to time.  
  

The red arrow is Sydney Olympic Park

View of the Parramatta River from the bike trail

Overall, we had a great Christmas.  I am a little sad that this marks our last Christmas when both kids believed in Santa for all the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning traditions.  Carter kept a keen eye out this year and waited for us to slip up.  He believed in Santa, but at the same time, he was looking for clues.  All it took was some misplaced name tags.  He found the Santa name tags in Sean's desk drawer Christmas afternoon.  He came to talk to me and he asked a lot of questions.  I was honest with him once I realized he wouldn't just accept my traditional answers about Santa leaving them with us, etc., etc.  It was the right time and he is pretty proud of himself for figuring it out.  But, sometimes it is hard to see my little boy growing up.

December in the sun

I am trying to get back at writing again after taking a little time off.  December has been a month of a lot of ups and downs.  We have experienced some great times in the last month and it has been busy with holiday festivities.  But, it is not quite like a Northern Hemisphere Christmas.  I have been trying to go with the flow and enjoy the holiday season here.  And, I have appreciated many things about an Aussie Christmas.  However, there is still that little kid buried deep in my subconscious that is yelling "This is NOT right and I want MY Christmas traditions!".  So, I have kind of been at battle with myself.  I think my torn feelings are actually getting a bit better now that Christmas is upon us.  I have come to terms with a few things:  1. It is a beautiful holiday no matter where in the world we are.  2. Our family is still close to us in our hearts.  3.  It is hard not to feel happy when you have two kids that are so excited it is almost oozing out of their pores.  Excitement like that is contagious.  

Since I am so behind in my blogging, I am going to play catch-up a little bit. I'll give you a quick tour of our month.  Sean caught a nasty flu for the first weekend of the month and Taronga Zoo has a dinosaur exhibit up for the summer that Carter had been dying to go to.  So, Carter, Aubrey, and I set off for the zoo on a hot December day and left Sean at home to rest.  It was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  We did get a little sweaty, but we had a great day. 

Carter and Aubrey posing in front of one of the dinosaurs.  Throughout the zoo there are life-size dinosaurs that are automated and make sounds.  

Carter and Aubrey in front of yet another amazing view from the zoo.

Can you find the kids?

Since we didn't ship very many Christmas decorations, we had to get a new tree and ornaments here.  The kids and I decorated the apartment during the middle of the next week.  It is really nice that the kids are now getting old enough to be a big help in the decorating process.  

Carter and Aubrey decorating the tree

The end result!!

My favorite Aussie Christmas decoration; a koala nativity set

On December 9th, Aubrey and Carter got up in front of church with all the kids and gave a little Christmas concert.  

During the following week, my friend, Diane, taught a class on chocolate making.  In the picture below we were learning how to temper chocolate.  It was a fun evening and we got to come home with lots of treats to share with family and friends.

   

We had a few holiday parties to attend.  One of which was Aubrey's playgroup Christmas party on the 13th.  It was an awesome time of festive food, music, face painting, a gift exchange, and a visit from Santa. 

We also had to get some exploring in for the month.  So, on the 16th, we went driving on the south side of Sydney.  We did not have a specific destination in mind when we went driving in that direction.  So, we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered we were near the original landing place of Captain Cook when he discovered Australia for England in 1770.  

The blue dot is where we live and the red dot is Captain Cook's landing place on the south side of Botany Bay.

An obelisk erected in Captain Cook's honor

Closeup of the plaque

This is a photo of Botany Bay when standing in front of the obelisk.  

Carter finished Year 2 at Middle Harbour Public School on December 19th.  All reports were good and he has had a great time at Middle Harbour.  We are looking forward to 6 weeks off and then Year 3 will begin on January 30th. Carter is anticipating his sister joining him at school next year.  

We went down to Balmoral Beach after school.  There is a tradition of the Year 6 "graduates" from the local primary schools to jump off the dock in their school uniforms.  We got down there to catch the end of the excitement as the kids were jumping in.  It was a great afternoon to relax at the beach on the official start of summer vacation.  

The kids in the yellow shirts and black shorts on the dock are from Middle Harbour.

Aubrey after playing in the water.  She absolutely loves the beach.

This is the kids' photo with Santa.  As usual, Carter got on Santa's lap with no qualms whatsoever.  Aubrey, on the other hand, is forcing herself to stand next to him.  She could only get that close by having a tight grip on Carter's hand.  We are making progress.  At least she isn't crying.

  

Merry Christmas!!!

                      The Thoe Family