Monday, October 11, 2010
WAVE! WAVE! WAVE!
There are never enough hours in the weekend! Went down to Manly Beach and explored the area again and liked it so much more than we did the first time. Amazing how jet lag can affect you. We also explored some areas close to Manly that were all beautiful. Had a picnic style lunch and yummy ice cream.
Sunday is Family Fun Day and you can travel unlimited trips on any public transport for just $2.50/adult. We took the ferry from Double Bay to Watson's Bay and had a blast! This ferry was the "cat" kind and was superfast and had lots of cool look out points. The boys loved it! About ten minutes in they were still squealing with delight when they would see other boats...BOAT BOAT BOAT!!! Yes we are in the Harbor so there were a few boats out, I love that they are still so excited even though there are more boats than you could ever scream for. As all good and polite boaters do Carson waves to all the other seafaring passengers we pass...but he does not just wave he yells at the top of his lungs while he waves...WAVE WAVE WAVE. I can not get enough of that kid! He is hilarious! We walked up to the "gap" where you can see the Pacific stretch out for miles,. We let the boys walk the narrow stairs up and down, as Carson would pass people he would say scuse me, sorry, thank u welcome. He would just say every polite word we have every taught him and he figures that covers it! Had fish and chips and beer seaside, a sit down lunch with an adult beverage is quite the treat for me! For the beer connoisseurs the beer was Blue Tongue for Mike and Coopers for me (wheat beer). Pretty good I must say! On the return ferry trip a nice old Asian Gma gave me wet napkins to clean the boys faces, they had barbeque crackers and had messy faces(I was going to clean them when we stopped and got the stroller from the front of the ferry but...I suppose I better do it now) I think Asian Gmas maybe our "bubby" equivalent. Very "helpful and observant."
Monday just the boys and me, Daddy is back to work, went to the Powerhouse Museum for a toddlers only presentation which we lasted 4 minutes for, the robot was very scary for Col. :( No worries there were plenty of other fun things to do, including soaking the toddler bathroom by turning the faucet on the short sink on full blast and putting our hands under it while Mom changed the other guy and could not get to us hahahahaha! What fun! They are the only kids who left the museum soaked. I bet the staff couldn't figure out who soaked the bathroom
Sunday is Family Fun Day and you can travel unlimited trips on any public transport for just $2.50/adult. We took the ferry from Double Bay to Watson's Bay and had a blast! This ferry was the "cat" kind and was superfast and had lots of cool look out points. The boys loved it! About ten minutes in they were still squealing with delight when they would see other boats...BOAT BOAT BOAT!!! Yes we are in the Harbor so there were a few boats out, I love that they are still so excited even though there are more boats than you could ever scream for. As all good and polite boaters do Carson waves to all the other seafaring passengers we pass...but he does not just wave he yells at the top of his lungs while he waves...WAVE WAVE WAVE. I can not get enough of that kid! He is hilarious! We walked up to the "gap" where you can see the Pacific stretch out for miles,. We let the boys walk the narrow stairs up and down, as Carson would pass people he would say scuse me, sorry, thank u welcome. He would just say every polite word we have every taught him and he figures that covers it! Had fish and chips and beer seaside, a sit down lunch with an adult beverage is quite the treat for me! For the beer connoisseurs the beer was Blue Tongue for Mike and Coopers for me (wheat beer). Pretty good I must say! On the return ferry trip a nice old Asian Gma gave me wet napkins to clean the boys faces, they had barbeque crackers and had messy faces(I was going to clean them when we stopped and got the stroller from the front of the ferry but...I suppose I better do it now) I think Asian Gmas maybe our "bubby" equivalent. Very "helpful and observant."
Monday just the boys and me, Daddy is back to work, went to the Powerhouse Museum for a toddlers only presentation which we lasted 4 minutes for, the robot was very scary for Col. :( No worries there were plenty of other fun things to do, including soaking the toddler bathroom by turning the faucet on the short sink on full blast and putting our hands under it while Mom changed the other guy and could not get to us hahahahaha! What fun! They are the only kids who left the museum soaked. I bet the staff couldn't figure out who soaked the bathroom
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| I'M ON A BOAT! WAVE WAVE WAVE! |
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| The Gap looking towards Harbor |
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| YUM! CHIPS! |
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| View from the Gap |
Friday, October 8, 2010
THEEEEE Mall
I have been wanting to blog about this but where does the time go? THE MALL is the center of Aussie outer suburban life. I don't mean the social center like people go there to hang and look cool, it really is where everything is! EVERYTHING! Target, Grocery-Woolworths is a big one here, cell phone stores, Department stores, sporting goods stores, Electronic Store (Dick Smith...really thats the name), butcher, baker, candle stick maker, in our mall there are 19 places to get your hair did or your nails filled, you get the drift. In So you would probably assume it keeps long hours since everything every human needs is contained inside, as Colin says..NOPE!
The "Centre Trading Hours":
M, T, W F 9:00-5:30 better not have a job and work during the day and need something MTWF, better send your partner if that's the case!
TH is the big day and the place is jumpin 9-9
Sat 9-5
Sun 10-4
To their credit the grocery stays open late and keeps long hours, everyone else runs home when the street lights come on. The Aussies have yet to make shopping a sport or at the very least a national passtime, VIVA America in this department!
Your Partner: Your partner here is anyone you are romantically involved with, hetero or homosexual. This really threw both of us for a loop at first when people asked me what my partner did? I thought great, I am trying to make new friends and they think I am gay, they are probably thinking well that explains the twins, you know science mustav' been involved. great! awesome! Well, upon further investigation it just means the person you bunk up with at night, your flavor is not a factor!
The "Centre Trading Hours":
M, T, W F 9:00-5:30 better not have a job and work during the day and need something MTWF, better send your partner if that's the case!
TH is the big day and the place is jumpin 9-9
Sat 9-5
Sun 10-4
To their credit the grocery stays open late and keeps long hours, everyone else runs home when the street lights come on. The Aussies have yet to make shopping a sport or at the very least a national passtime, VIVA America in this department!
Your Partner: Your partner here is anyone you are romantically involved with, hetero or homosexual. This really threw both of us for a loop at first when people asked me what my partner did? I thought great, I am trying to make new friends and they think I am gay, they are probably thinking well that explains the twins, you know science mustav' been involved. great! awesome! Well, upon further investigation it just means the person you bunk up with at night, your flavor is not a factor!
Cat A Roo is totally a swamp wallaby and his peeps live at the Featherdale Wildlife Park
Great videos and pics to come...see last line in post "my dishwashers gone ghetto"
"WATCH OUT! My dishwashers gone ghetto"
This is what my friend Jay tells me last month when we stayed with them(the Byars). Oh no I thought, what happened did it fall in with the wrong crowd? is it packin' heat? get a grill? some 22's with spinners and a bad weave? How could this happen to such a nice dishwasher? Will I be safe alone with it in the kitchen? Well, as it turns out he shows me how it "went ghetto," the top drawer comes flying out when you open it and well it is just not working quite right but not broken enough to fix just yet. This has led me to start thinking of the appliances in my life as little people who are basically good but have a few character flaws, as to try to not get so frustrated with them. I will tell you about the "little people" in my life right now who live at the Funky Cold Medina Serviced (in the abstract sense apparently) Apartments. My dishwasher has gone narcoleptic, it just stops, until you realize it has stopped and you go in and give it a little bump, say wake up little guy, and away it goes! How do you know it has stopped? you can actually hear the 757's that fly over our home on their way to the airport. The dryer is on speed, meth, crack whatever your generation calls the bad stuff, well it has a nasty $300 dollar a day habit. You can not leave this one unattended or it will fall off the wagon and go forever, i.e one day while we were out for 8 hours or while we slept last night. The toilets are apparently toddlers because you have to tell them to stop doing what they are doing like 20 times before they actually stop, in the states this would be jiggling the handle, here it is hitting the flush button on top of the lid like it is a whack a mole game. The heat, well, it is like the mob, or the dreaded love em and leave em guy, you are in or you are out, it is either pumping the heat all over you or you are freezing, depending on which square inch you are residing. The shower, well the shower in our room is a bright spot it is like your favorite team in their heyday, all fun and good times, you can get the temp just right, pressure for days, perfection! Oh, what, you are dying to know about the famous rangehood that won the Aussie Design Excellence Award in '88. It is soooo 80's, way too loud and obnoxious!
Pics on the above mentioned cuties will have to wait as we are trying to download Mad Men, Biggest Loser and the Soup, and the internet here is a bit like the government(sorry Julie) wastes money, (they charge $190/month for it), slow and unwilling to multi-task!
Pics on the above mentioned cuties will have to wait as we are trying to download Mad Men, Biggest Loser and the Soup, and the internet here is a bit like the government(sorry Julie) wastes money, (they charge $190/month for it), slow and unwilling to multi-task!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Your never too young for rum cake! Don't let the division of child welfare tell you any different!
I felt like we had just moved here when I realized the boy's second birthday was quickly approaching. I had barely gotten my Aussie sealegs when I realized I better get organized if this is going to be a respectable 2 y.o bday! So one of the makings of a great 2 y.o bday is a fun cake with their favorite character...THOMAS! So I asked around in the mall who makes kid's bday cakes, I was referred to Michel's (say Michelle). I enquired with the nice young girl at Michel's about cakes, she informed me in English as a second language that my options were a sponge cake with fresh cream and jam or a blah blah blah cake. Well, how yummy does fresh cream and jam sound? ick not at all to me! Sounds old and tea roomish or baby showerish. I am of the camp it is not dessert unless it has chocolate! Also blah blah blah cake was more expensive so it must be better, right? I asked her to say it again and again but I still could not understand her so I said fine lets get that blah blah blah cake. I want it to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARSON AND COLIN, ohhhh she says huh? you better write down, apparently my accent was too much too bear. So I write it down, order my blah blah blah cake, bribe the kids with some flaky cheesy bread, buy 2 #2 candles, pay and off we go (to pump coins in the ride on Thomas on the first floor!) Later on that night I am reading the brochure and I notice they have a specialty cake with rum a GATEUX, naaahhh that sounds nothing like what she was saying, and besides who would let me order a kids cake with rum, how dumb! October 3 rolls around we light candles, say happy to you dig into to our cake and Mike looks at me somewhat disapprovingly, but to his credit more confused than disapproving and asks.."does this cake have alcohol in it?" NO! Of course not what kind of Mother do you think....take a bite...why yes it does! I believe this is the Gateux Cake with rum complete with Thomas the Train Decoration! This is the only instance where I have ever been glad I had no friends or family around to celebrate/be horrified that I fed their kids rum at my kids 2 y.o happy to you party. The shame! What did the cake maker think of me? What does my husband think of me? Colin loved it, but since he was driving we held him to one piece. I keep telling myself it must have been baked in so the alcohol burned off, right?
Anyway, despite the major parenting misstep, I am sure the Gmas are horrified right now, and have both booked tickets to come over here and make sure I don't mess the kids up too much, it was a great 2 y.o happy to you! The boys first boat/ferry ride ever and it was across Sydney Harbor to Taronga Zoo where we rode the Sky Safari 3 times! Colin would have ridden all day, he loved it and tried to stay on despite being pulled off by Mommy and the nice man operating the Sky Safari. He has asked every time we have been previously to ride but it never worked out...I ride I ride I ride he says and points adamantly, finally little man got to ride! The zoo was empty b/c of a light on and off rain and the footy finals so it was perfect we could see everything. I think the animals also like it when there are not as many looky loos, they were all out and frolicking, except the koalas, they are always snoozing!
We got the boys a Thomas The Tank Engine Rail set and they love it! ( we also got each one of them their own prezzy that they did not have to share, a tow truck, we should have saved our $ for more Thomas) They wake up talking about it and go to bed talking about it. They talk about it at the park, in the car, whatever they are doing, they are talking about Thomas and wishing they were back with Thomas. Especially Carson, he is completely and totally obsessed! This is the first gift occasion where they have been really cognisant of getting presents. Aunts and Uncles have sent presents and that is so fun for the boys to get stuff in the mail, they know it is for them and they scream "what is it open dis open dis open dis."
Anyway, despite the major parenting misstep, I am sure the Gmas are horrified right now, and have both booked tickets to come over here and make sure I don't mess the kids up too much, it was a great 2 y.o happy to you! The boys first boat/ferry ride ever and it was across Sydney Harbor to Taronga Zoo where we rode the Sky Safari 3 times! Colin would have ridden all day, he loved it and tried to stay on despite being pulled off by Mommy and the nice man operating the Sky Safari. He has asked every time we have been previously to ride but it never worked out...I ride I ride I ride he says and points adamantly, finally little man got to ride! The zoo was empty b/c of a light on and off rain and the footy finals so it was perfect we could see everything. I think the animals also like it when there are not as many looky loos, they were all out and frolicking, except the koalas, they are always snoozing!
We got the boys a Thomas The Tank Engine Rail set and they love it! ( we also got each one of them their own prezzy that they did not have to share, a tow truck, we should have saved our $ for more Thomas) They wake up talking about it and go to bed talking about it. They talk about it at the park, in the car, whatever they are doing, they are talking about Thomas and wishing they were back with Thomas. Especially Carson, he is completely and totally obsessed! This is the first gift occasion where they have been really cognisant of getting presents. Aunts and Uncles have sent presents and that is so fun for the boys to get stuff in the mail, they know it is for them and they scream "what is it open dis open dis open dis."
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| Add caption |
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| Sky Safari |
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| Car is almost as tall as the world's tallest penguin! |
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Powerhouse Museum, Meat Pies and lucky to be alive meal
Theeee best museum ever! It is a pretty tough task to create a museum where EVERYONE has a great time. The Powerhouse Museum delivered. It is officially a science and design museum, but unofficially it is AWESOME! I get a bad rap from my family of not liking museums, well yeah I do not like boring museums, where you walk around with your hands behind your back nodding in quiet appreciation, those have their place but I can only do about an hour. At The Powerhouse the kids could touch just about anything although it is not specifically a kids museum. It was only $10 for each adult, kids under 4 free, a bargain for Sydney attractions. We stayed 5 hours and shut the place down at 5!
A few highlights:
1. 80's exhibit. Oh yeah! Take me back to the glory days of BIG HAIR, spandex, hammer pants and Z Cavaricci's baby! They had all kinds of treasures, pink boom boxes, Nintendo's, Teddy Ruxpins, Cabbage Patch kids, Barbie and the Rockers-"their dressing up their totally in the groooove," shoulder pads galore. Medor's, Montaigne's and all other parents stuck with their kids junk, call the Smithsonian you have an exhibit just waiting in your attic to be displayed at a museum somewhere! The boys favorite was a big giant white room where they had club style lights and very loud music...when we were in there it was Salt n Peppa Push It...ohh baby baby! If it was just me and that white box I would have ripped it up! I coulda showed the boys what dancin was all 'bout. They had a giant digital Rubics cube which the boys liked touching and trying to move the colors. A nine y.o girl came by and corrected me and said "oh, they only move on that side" what? Girl, puhlease, doncha know I invented peeling the stickers of my rubics cube and putting them back on to make it look like I am smart?
2. Zoe's House A "house" under construction for kids 3-6, this is where having kids who rock the growth chart is really great, we just sailed right in like we were 3! They have a track with rail cars they could fill up with "bricks" and move around. They have cranes, pulleys all kinds of fun. The boys played great with all the big kids, you would never know they used a fake id to get in.
3. Climb on full size train which Carson was convinced was the REAL THOMAS!
4. A kid music area, kid virtual techie area, playground, toy train area, I could go on but you must come visit so I can show you!
This place is great!
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/
Meat Pies- Must be an acquired taste. They are decidedly Aussie, I see them everywhere and was curious. So, I tried a meat pie at a place where people were lined up to get them, I thought that was a good first step. I was not sure what kind to get but I was certain I would not like the 10-12 varieties of pies with the term "mushy peas" in the description. Seriously, mushy peas. Is this their best selling feature. I got a lean beef curry pie and threw it away as soon as I was out of sight of the nice ladies who sold it to me. Don't want em saying told ya so ya shulda gotten the mushy pea one, those are the good ones! Doncha know?
ChinaTown- Great fun bustling part of town with wild markets and wildly fresh and diverse treats. We walked around the same block 4 times looking for the lace in our book Xic Lan, which is now a Chinese version of Dungeons and Dragons or Warcraft "fantasy gaming" palace of dork. So we went to a place that was packed with locals, Pho Pasteur. This should have been an alert to me, any restaurant referencing the great Louis Pasteur in their name can not be good for your health. We forged ahead anyway, we knew the kids would not be up for an exotic dining experience so on the way we picked them up a few Bondi Nuggets at OPorto (our beachy version on chik fil a) the nice man at the restaurant informed us that they usually do not allow food to be brought in, but it is OK as long as we clean up our trash. Yes, yes, let me just order up some piping hot Pho soup for the boys, chopsticks too please, that would be hilarious. Colin would make him wish he had chicken nuggets at the ready.
In case you were not obsessed with LP, as I was as a kid, here is a blurb:
The French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur is famous for his germ theory and for the development of vaccines. He made major contributions to chemistry, medicine, and industry. His discovery that diseases are spread by microbes, which are living organisms—bacteria and viruses—that are invisible to the eye, saved countless lives all over the world.
Ah yes bacteria that you can not see! A key factor when dining. It did not seem bad until the end of the meal when I got up to go to the potty and saw the kitchen. The food was OK. I have had better in Denver I have to say. But the experience was one in a million, and it keeps you on your toes wondering if/when food poisoning will set in and 72 hours later we are still alive, no Delhi Belly as they call it here.
Zoe's house!
Twingenuity. Col threw a fit b/c he did not want to wear the vest. Carson was worried that they would be kicked out without the vest, so he made him wear his vest. Truly he tracked him down with his vest and told him to wear it. He succeeded where Mike and I failed. I understand costuming concerns. I quit Brownies at age 6 b/c I hated the uniforms, the brown socks with orange tassels specifically. 
Carson really enjoys getting his picture taken and asked us to take it with the "Thomas." again and again and "gain, gain gain gain daddy" In this particular shot after I took his pic, he continued to pose for the cute young Asian couple on a date who happened to be taking a pic of the train, not Carson. Carson was pretty sure they wanted him in the shot so he continued to pose and would not move when we encouraged him to step away, NO CHEESE he said and pointed to them, they were polite enough just to laugh and not demand he get out of their pic. To his defense, the boys have been photographed and videotaped by strangers about 8-10 times since we have been here and the paparazzi are usually Asian. So, he figured he would just get on with it and pose to not make it awkward for anyone.
Paddy's Market Chinatown, we did not brave it
A few highlights:
1. 80's exhibit. Oh yeah! Take me back to the glory days of BIG HAIR, spandex, hammer pants and Z Cavaricci's baby! They had all kinds of treasures, pink boom boxes, Nintendo's, Teddy Ruxpins, Cabbage Patch kids, Barbie and the Rockers-"their dressing up their totally in the groooove," shoulder pads galore. Medor's, Montaigne's and all other parents stuck with their kids junk, call the Smithsonian you have an exhibit just waiting in your attic to be displayed at a museum somewhere! The boys favorite was a big giant white room where they had club style lights and very loud music...when we were in there it was Salt n Peppa Push It...ohh baby baby! If it was just me and that white box I would have ripped it up! I coulda showed the boys what dancin was all 'bout. They had a giant digital Rubics cube which the boys liked touching and trying to move the colors. A nine y.o girl came by and corrected me and said "oh, they only move on that side" what? Girl, puhlease, doncha know I invented peeling the stickers of my rubics cube and putting them back on to make it look like I am smart?
2. Zoe's House A "house" under construction for kids 3-6, this is where having kids who rock the growth chart is really great, we just sailed right in like we were 3! They have a track with rail cars they could fill up with "bricks" and move around. They have cranes, pulleys all kinds of fun. The boys played great with all the big kids, you would never know they used a fake id to get in.
3. Climb on full size train which Carson was convinced was the REAL THOMAS!
4. A kid music area, kid virtual techie area, playground, toy train area, I could go on but you must come visit so I can show you!
This place is great!
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/
Meat Pies- Must be an acquired taste. They are decidedly Aussie, I see them everywhere and was curious. So, I tried a meat pie at a place where people were lined up to get them, I thought that was a good first step. I was not sure what kind to get but I was certain I would not like the 10-12 varieties of pies with the term "mushy peas" in the description. Seriously, mushy peas. Is this their best selling feature. I got a lean beef curry pie and threw it away as soon as I was out of sight of the nice ladies who sold it to me. Don't want em saying told ya so ya shulda gotten the mushy pea one, those are the good ones! Doncha know?
ChinaTown- Great fun bustling part of town with wild markets and wildly fresh and diverse treats. We walked around the same block 4 times looking for the lace in our book Xic Lan, which is now a Chinese version of Dungeons and Dragons or Warcraft "fantasy gaming" palace of dork. So we went to a place that was packed with locals, Pho Pasteur. This should have been an alert to me, any restaurant referencing the great Louis Pasteur in their name can not be good for your health. We forged ahead anyway, we knew the kids would not be up for an exotic dining experience so on the way we picked them up a few Bondi Nuggets at OPorto (our beachy version on chik fil a) the nice man at the restaurant informed us that they usually do not allow food to be brought in, but it is OK as long as we clean up our trash. Yes, yes, let me just order up some piping hot Pho soup for the boys, chopsticks too please, that would be hilarious. Colin would make him wish he had chicken nuggets at the ready.
In case you were not obsessed with LP, as I was as a kid, here is a blurb:
The French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur is famous for his germ theory and for the development of vaccines. He made major contributions to chemistry, medicine, and industry. His discovery that diseases are spread by microbes, which are living organisms—bacteria and viruses—that are invisible to the eye, saved countless lives all over the world.
Ah yes bacteria that you can not see! A key factor when dining. It did not seem bad until the end of the meal when I got up to go to the potty and saw the kitchen. The food was OK. I have had better in Denver I have to say. But the experience was one in a million, and it keeps you on your toes wondering if/when food poisoning will set in and 72 hours later we are still alive, no Delhi Belly as they call it here.
Zoe's house!
Twingenuity. Col threw a fit b/c he did not want to wear the vest. Carson was worried that they would be kicked out without the vest, so he made him wear his vest. Truly he tracked him down with his vest and told him to wear it. He succeeded where Mike and I failed. I understand costuming concerns. I quit Brownies at age 6 b/c I hated the uniforms, the brown socks with orange tassels specifically. 
Carson really enjoys getting his picture taken and asked us to take it with the "Thomas." again and again and "gain, gain gain gain daddy" In this particular shot after I took his pic, he continued to pose for the cute young Asian couple on a date who happened to be taking a pic of the train, not Carson. Carson was pretty sure they wanted him in the shot so he continued to pose and would not move when we encouraged him to step away, NO CHEESE he said and pointed to them, they were polite enough just to laugh and not demand he get out of their pic. To his defense, the boys have been photographed and videotaped by strangers about 8-10 times since we have been here and the paparazzi are usually Asian. So, he figured he would just get on with it and pose to not make it awkward for anyone.
Paddy's Market Chinatown, we did not brave it
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