We Are 3 (almost)

Today was a big day for our family as the boys celebrated their 3rd birthday with friends at Wizzy World. This was the best party ever, in my humble and completely unbiased opinion! To be serious, it was the best because the boys had so much fun with their friends. Watching them have fun is priceless. It was also the best because my one and only job was to bring the cake. The nice people at WW handle everything else, and they put on a great party!

All the hot parties require wristbands

Off to the races!

This must look like paradise to kids

It's good to be king

Ice Cream Cone cupcakes were one of my fav's as a kid,
they did not disappoint the younger generation

NO party is complete without some time in the disco

Or wacky glasses

Or cruisin' with a mouse (or as I have been corrected a KOALA) 
Totally is a koala and I can see it now! duh!

Surprisingly, he did not fall asleep on the horse

CM gave me the best thank you ever when he, unprompted, said,
"Mommy, I love you for making cupcakes." I cried. 

Their loot is patiently waiting for them
 to wake up from a much needed nap, lucky boys!!! 

Let the good times roll...

If 2 is company, then 3 is a party!

The boys had their first playdate today where the other Mommy did not stay. Their friend just became a big brother to a sweet baby sister and needed some "guy time." Shockingly, it was calmer at my house with three than it usually is with just the two usual suspects. Group dynamics are a mystery.

Downing a coldie with the fellas after a hard day scootering and cozy couping

This sweet little girl is the newest edition to the club

Showing their friend "the ropes" 

Ace in the Hole or Stupid Stupid Mermaids!

He won't let us get near his face so there is a bit of
"chockit" on the right and chin

It turns out a baby with a bloody lip is the ace in the hole that trumps all other patients waiting at the only medical practice within 15km that is still open at 1:30pm on a Sunday on a holiday weekend.

We were getting ready to leave the very boring and very small so glad I did not pay $50 for my family to get in Manly Aquarium when the boys insisted on going upstairs where the Mermaid Show had just ended. Apparently, the mermaids like to party and were splashing around wildly as the floor was wet and slick, which we realized too late. (I will not get into how much I hate hate hate centurions, anyway) CH slipped and bumped his bottom but was no worse for the wear. Not a minute later CM slipped, fell forward and caught the corner of a wooden bench with his mouth and cheek. Blood blood and more blood cam rushing out. He was screaming, I was terrified and panicked, he fell right in front of me, I saw the whole thing happen but I could do nothing to stop it.  Plus I could not get the bleeding under control to even see where it was coming from. Some nice ladies kept handing me wipes and offering medical advice in very broken English that I could not hear over the screaming. Something about sticking toilet paper to it, I think, then they had me convinced a piece of lettuce on the ground was a tooth, not really helping me and my panic. One other lady walked by and said "holy sh*****t... can we help?" Once we saw the cut we thought stitches and were off to the car, in the rain, up 1000 slick steps, to hit the nearest hospital. Then like magic, the fountain of hemoglobin turned off. I called our Dr., they were closing and they recommend The Warringah Mall Medical Center.

We walked in and I thought Sh&^, we are going to be here until dinner. There were probably 50 people waiting, there were broken bones, black eyes, and all kinds of crazy. I had barely put my credit card away when we were told to follow/sprint behind the Dr. to the back. Even when CH broke his arm we were not back that quick. So, I said we followed the Dr back, I could not be 100% certain this man was indeed a Dr., he could have just as easily have been the curmudgeonly host/owner at your local favorite restaurant, that you put up with just because the food is so good. Same deal, we put up with him because he was the only man outside a hospital ER that had access to purple facial superglue on a Sunday afternoon. When we asked about after care, like if he could get it wet, should we use a triple antibiotic, clean it, etc? He replied..."hmm..??? maybe just no hot tea." "What? No hot tea? How will my two and a half year old wake up and start his day without a cuppa Earl Grey? This is madness, Dr.!"

He is doing great today. A little swollen and bruised, and a little grouchier at times than usual, yelling at a group of pretty ladies on the crowded monorail to not hold "his handle" and telling me to not sit on "his seat."(debatable whether we can blame the ouchy for his grouchy).

This little incident made me realize I need to toughen up and get my shiz together. I am the Mom of two very active boys and I let a fountain of blood paralyze me. I am kidding myself if I think that is the worst I am going to see, I pray it is. I pray for their safety continuously. But, I need to be prepared. A friend took a class that told her to take Saran Wrap everywhere, that would have totally not helped at all, but a little knowledge would have.

More livin'

We will go to any park or playground, anywhere, any place, anytime. What draws us in time and time again is a guarantee of a wide open space, possible play equipment and the knowledge that the use of our favorite voice the "outside voice" will always be permitted. This is an area where recreating a WWF scene with your brother or best mate or just met mate is welcome, where screaming is ok, where dirt is good, where quiet and clean are bad, this is our safe place.


So, after enjoying the fruits of 100 years of Australia at Centennial Park we decided we would be remiss by not checking out what 200 years could look like at Bicentennial Park and Blackwattle Bay Park on Glebe foreshore. The playground at Bicentennial Park is so great. It is fenced and has heaps of equipment that you don't see everywhere, like diggers, crazy bridges, roller slides, boats and some moving bench that seem to be very dangerous as kid after kid toppled off in a flourish. You can walk the foreshore forever. Eventually running into another playground with a relic from the 80's a merry go round. You won't see one of the jewels on an overly sanitized you have no grounds to sue me all the equipment here is plastic and perfect American playground This one looked like you needed a tetanus shot to jump on. And of course my kids could have gone all day, lucky for them I brought my port a tetanus kit so it was no problem. If you make it off the MGR without a trip to the ER then you can keep walking and enjoy some very special waterfront architecture and eventually the Blackwattle Cafe. This place was packed, I would think bookings would be essential, also essential, being with kids who were not as we call it, "past the point of no return." If you have to ask what the point of no return is, well, you have never been there and explaining this dark scary roller coaster place would be fruitless. If "the point of no return" peaks your interest then we are always looking for sitters. 


As a side note, 200 years was apparently really something to get excited about as there are more than 3 Bicentennial Parks in Greater Sydney. To be fair, once you see where their convict ancestors were left to "give it a go" making it at all is quite an accomplishment. 

If you were thinking he is thinking of all the ways he can say, "I love you," you don't have toddlers! 

I would buy ten of these and change the family room to a sandpit if they would love them as much as they did at the park.

Ahhh...his smile melts me!

Sydney is so full of beautiful spaces

The Harbor Bridge looks so little tucked under the Anzac at this angle. What a sight, a luxury yacht, The Anzac Bridge and the Harbor Bridge.

Even doggies can get in on the action at their own doggie beach

JOY!

You thought I was exaggerating about the tetanus thing, huh? Now your thinking where can I get  one of those port a tetanus kits?

Get busy livin'

There is so much to see in Sydney and admittedly I have been in a routine rut, you know the kind where you do the same thing all the time because it is easy and sometimes you are just too tired/lazy/apathetic to make a big adventure out of every weekend. This rut and it's drawbacks were drilled into my head this weekend when we visited Centennial Park...for the first time in 9 months of living here...how LAME are we?!? Well no more! It is time to get busy livin' and not waste another minute of life down unda! I maybe too busy to blog...naaah...how will I know it happened if I don't blog it?


So...Centennial Park! What a treasure! Seriously, The "Central Park" of Sydney and I just made it here. Again, Lame! Lame LAME OF ME! You could spend all day here or all weekend although I suspect they would frown upon you sleeping here. There is so much to see and do, we ran the FLAT grand circle a couple of times, you could take a pony ride, rent a bike, rent a crazy 4 person bike where two people do the peddling and the little ones kickback in the front basket(so when you tire of pushing their combined 75lbs in the jogger you can change torture methods), play cricket, BBQ, fish, take your dog on an off leash bush walk, play on the multiple playgrounds! I could go on all day, about the things that are available to do! It was great! Crazy Bikes and Ponies are up for our next visits! And I am adding this to my tourists must see list!

So, obviously not my pictures, they are way too good to be mine, a picture from their website, but we did see their cousins, the duck family parading around and we saw horses jumping, ponies trotting, doggies swimming and all of nature frolicking! 

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The things you do for love

Ahhh...my babies, the little men, the punkins, my reason for breathing, also the reason I look like I need to attend a good Botox and Restalyne party but nonetheless... I would do just about anything to make them happy, including driving to a flea market in F*in Flemington to see Bob The F*in Builder. I hate flea markets, I hate driving to Flemington (by Sydney Olympic Park). I've got nothing against Bob The Builder but I would rather have to organize a ride to the moon than have to drive ALL THE WAY out there. How then did I end up in this situation? I thought Bob would be gracious enough to perform at Paddys Market Haymarket, then I could stroll around our beautiful city after his 30 minute performance, maybe have a little Yum Cha and a short drive home and the whole gang is happy. Well, Bob chose Flemington and we were already committed. 

So there we were on a glorious Sunday in the car on our way to a flea market in Flemington. The funniest part about this whole awful morning(aside from the attached picture) was the boys could have cared less about their hero Bob The Builder, they said it was Bob's Dad on stage and were therefore unimpressed. CM begged to go home from the first song. To add to our travel woes, there was some kind of domestic issue(very un Australian to be engaged in conflict publicly) in the parking lot, perhaps over a coveted spot, someone gave a lady a black eye, and the police scene that ensued mucked up the whole garage. The garage itself was something to remark on as it was very very Australian. There were no elevators so all parents with prams had to walk the car ramp alongside moving cars packed with families desperate to park so they too could catch a glimpse of Bob or Dora or buy a new sexy nurse outfit or Rolex, you know, whatever floats your boat you can find at Paddys Market.    

This was the car parked beside us. We are trying to work how we can rig one of these up properly in our car. Yes, yes, it is a rooster and friends(maybe a sheep, maybe a bird) in a fancy rooster bassinet or rooster canoe. If this does not make you LOL your laugher is dead.

A Mother's Prayer by Tina Fey, Happy Mothers Day!

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,”she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

A Happy Mothers Day!

Wizzy World is Wizzy Wild and Wizzy fun

 A rainy day and Rascals being closed for a party sent us to Wizzy World. Wizzy WOW!

CH and CM in 'the helcopter' 

Daddy took both boys down the slide at the same time, they were too fast for me to snap

Daddy is such a trooper

Splashers Water Playground

A cold and overcast summers day (70'F) had us packing up the car and driving out to the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center, Splashers Water Playground. The kids had a great time. It was wildly overstimulating but crazy fun. I would highly recommend it! It was very very crowded. As I was climbing the stairs with Colin to leave, I thought hmmm...that is amazing it is so crowded and all of the kids are getting so crazy but we did not have any incidents. I make it up the stairs to see CH laying on the floor crying really really hard and another kid laying close by, my mind races through a number of possibilities none great, I say to Mike, "Whoa, what happened?" He says, "he just got tackled HARD for no reason."(Mike is not in the heavily nuanced playground scene so he was blissfully unaware it is expected that he sugarcoat the incident to avoid confrontation, which I do not think he should have) Mom of tackler says sternly and with some 'tude , "HE(meaning her son) DID NOT DO ANYTHING, he was just trying to give him a HUG!" I may have said, "HUH?" Then the other dad came up and was really nice and apologizing and trying to get his kid to apologize and "hug" CH, to which CH said "NO,NO,NO" apparently he already had enough "hugs" and then he realized his wife was not happy(hands on hips dirty looks) and we were giving her dirty looks  and then he started giving us dirty looks and then we all just walked away. I hate seeing my baby hurt, but these things happen, kids act crazy, I half thought when I saw the two kids lying there that CH may have been the aggressor. Let me tell you, if he was the aggressor he would have had a stern talkin' to and time out and I would have apologized profusely. I would have not claimed it was a hug!!! ABSURD! If your kid acts out, no biggie, they all do, OWN IT! There is no shame in it, the shame is saying it was a hug. This type of silly parenting is very common here. I wonder do they parent like that at home? Say sweet baby boy hugger throws a prize vase is he just practicing for a cricket match? Or do they go get a switch and let em have it when no one is looking? Once I make a real Aussie friend I will let you know!

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI OI OI

"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" is a cheer or chant often performed at Australian sport events. It is a variation of the Oggy Oggy Oggy chant used by both association football and Rugby union fans inGreat Britain from the 1970s onwards. It is usually performed by a crowd uniting to support a sports team or athlete. The alternate is for an individual to chant the line "Aussie, Aussie Aussie!" and the crowd to respond with "Oi! Oi! Oi!"  
It is also just really fun to say when you are happy about Australia!

Wednesday was Australia Day and we celebrated like true Aussies, with friends, barbie, and the beach. It was agreat day organized at the last minute by the unofficial American Ambassador in Mosman, Jenny. 
Think July 4 without the risk of lighting your/your neighbors house on fire with bootleg fireworks.

Check out this set up... Jenny got to the beach at 5 am to stake a prime spot for us. That tent is amazing! Makes our blue pop up look silly!

Notice the change in weather...Notice the Aussie flag flapping...Notice the big white tent on the ground...and yes that is CH in the bottom of the pic pointing and narrating the situation ala dramatic sports announcer. A huge gust of wind came and pulled the tent out of it's stakes that had been planted carefully with a HUGE wooden mallet(like the strongman kind!) The beach let out a collective GASP! Literally 1500 fun loving beachgoers gasped at once, luckily a big palm caught the tent before it ruined Aussie day. The only thing ruined was this amazing tent.  RIP amazing shelter.

Australia Day on Sydney Harbour, 2004
Also called	Foundation Day, Anniversary Day, Survival Day, Invasion Day, Day of Mourning (in 1938 & 1970)
Observed by	Australian citizens and residents
Type	National
Significance	Date of landing of First Fleet inPort Jackson in 1788
Date	26 January
Observances	Family meetings, picnics and barbecues; parades, citizenship ceremonies, Order of Australia honours, Australian of the Year presentation.