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Davis rocks
11 years ago
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
"I'n an Angel"
Yesterday Ethne had her arms stretched out and was running around the house in circles saying "i'n an angel. Look mom I'n a flying angel see" over and over. She has a thing for angels. She is always being a "flying" angel too.
Sleep Deprived
Yup that is currently me. I bet I got less sleep last night than my sisters with new born babies. That isn't right! I am so tired right now I am cooky.
Night before last I was able to sleep but my husband was not and so his tossing and turning and getting up etc...kept me awake over and over and over. It was so hot he couldn't sleep and then he kept waking me up and then I was hot and it took a while to go back to sleep and then he woke me up again. At 6am the birds and the children and the sun all got up and I got up with them. There is a specific kind of bird that is horrible to wake up to. There are many pleasant ones too, but this one is so aweful I wanted to kill it. It makes the most horribly irritating sound. Louder and worse than a smoke alarm that needs the batteries changed and beeps at you all night. At 6 am my daughter from the other room heard the bird and began to mimic it saying "MOM! Did you hear dat bird? It's says Ahhwek! Ahhwek!...." we'll you get the picture.
So let me ask you this..what is more irritating than a bird waking your whole family up at 6am after you have hardly slept all night?? You guessed it...having that bird have an echo in the next room. Everytime the bird would make that sound there was an Ethne echo from the next room.
Garrett added this to his brain book "the quotable Ashley"-"oh my gosh there is nothing worse than the bird you want to kill having an echo".
Then last night I woke up at 2 or 2:30 and never went back to sleep :( when that same horrible bird woke up the rest of the family at 5:45-6 ish I told G I was not getting up yet and would he please keep the kids quiet (ha- pipe dream!). Anyway I did get a little bit of sleep from 6:30-8:00 and at least I was laying in bed even when I wasn't sleeping until that point.
So then today I want to take a nap and I decide to hang all the stuff that has to be done and lay down. The man next door mows the lawn, Ezra plays a super irritating bar of music with the nose flute over and over and over. And it was particularly painful when he would lean out his open window and the sound came right in my open widow next to his :) pure joy I tell ya! Then every once in a while Enoch's feet of lead would tramp down the hallway (all of the floors are wood and it is particularly loud as we do not have any furniture in here right now to tone down the noise)pretending he is going to the bathroom, but really scoping out whether or not mom is asleep and he can make contact with Ezra.
Grrrrrrr........... This momma was grumpy :(
But it's ok because despite the obsticles I fell asleep for a half hour and that will alow me to be just a tad nicer than I would have been :)I hope!
Night before last I was able to sleep but my husband was not and so his tossing and turning and getting up etc...kept me awake over and over and over. It was so hot he couldn't sleep and then he kept waking me up and then I was hot and it took a while to go back to sleep and then he woke me up again. At 6am the birds and the children and the sun all got up and I got up with them. There is a specific kind of bird that is horrible to wake up to. There are many pleasant ones too, but this one is so aweful I wanted to kill it. It makes the most horribly irritating sound. Louder and worse than a smoke alarm that needs the batteries changed and beeps at you all night. At 6 am my daughter from the other room heard the bird and began to mimic it saying "MOM! Did you hear dat bird? It's says Ahhwek! Ahhwek!...." we'll you get the picture.
So let me ask you this..what is more irritating than a bird waking your whole family up at 6am after you have hardly slept all night?? You guessed it...having that bird have an echo in the next room. Everytime the bird would make that sound there was an Ethne echo from the next room.
Garrett added this to his brain book "the quotable Ashley"-"oh my gosh there is nothing worse than the bird you want to kill having an echo".
Then last night I woke up at 2 or 2:30 and never went back to sleep :( when that same horrible bird woke up the rest of the family at 5:45-6 ish I told G I was not getting up yet and would he please keep the kids quiet (ha- pipe dream!). Anyway I did get a little bit of sleep from 6:30-8:00 and at least I was laying in bed even when I wasn't sleeping until that point.
So then today I want to take a nap and I decide to hang all the stuff that has to be done and lay down. The man next door mows the lawn, Ezra plays a super irritating bar of music with the nose flute over and over and over. And it was particularly painful when he would lean out his open window and the sound came right in my open widow next to his :) pure joy I tell ya! Then every once in a while Enoch's feet of lead would tramp down the hallway (all of the floors are wood and it is particularly loud as we do not have any furniture in here right now to tone down the noise)pretending he is going to the bathroom, but really scoping out whether or not mom is asleep and he can make contact with Ezra.
Grrrrrrr........... This momma was grumpy :(
But it's ok because despite the obsticles I fell asleep for a half hour and that will alow me to be just a tad nicer than I would have been :)I hope!
Australia Day
Today was Australia day. It is the day the country celebrates itself. Locals have compared it to the 4th of July except that to us foreigners it is hard to see the comparison. The forth is to celebrate the Declaration of Independence. It has a purpose other than to say hey we like our country so much that we want a whole day to celebrate it. I don't mean to take away from their holiday I am just saying I don't really see the connection. I should google it and get the whole story. I'll let you know what I find.
Anyway we spent AU day doing some fun things to learn more about AU and enjoy ourselves. We went to Hyde park and it was packed with people. we took a tour of the war memorial there which is a beautiful art deco style building. There are statues carved all around the building depicting men and a few women serving in WWI in their different capacities. On the inside when you look up at the ceiling there is a star for every soldier,serving from AU, who died in the war. It is amazing. It is Definately worth the free tour to learn about the building and a few tidbits about service men and women from AU. In AU and NZ they celebrate ANZAC day and although I knew that it was like our memorial day I didn't know that it stood for AU and NZ soldiers. I thought it was just a kiwi thing until we were enlightened by the retired soldier who gave us our tour. Who by the was was actually a decorated Kiwi not AU soldier. An Aussie stopped him and asked for the meaning of his stripes and pins because he didn't recognize them.
After this we walked through the rest of Hyde park and looked at all the people and trees and activities. There was a food stand where a bunch of Italian women were hand rolling homemade gnocchi and cooking and selling it with a meat or plain sauce. Garrett is a big lover of gnocchi and so he ordered a plate to share with everyone as part of our lunch. It was really good. Nothing like the dense gnocchi I am used to though. It was light and soft and almost fluffy I think. I liked it a lot. One of the older women making it fell in love with Ethne, who was watching her, and she pulled off a bunch of the dough and gave it to her. She said she has a granddaughter Ethne's age who loves to eat the dough when she makes it. Ethne wasn't wild about the taste and neither was Ezra but Enoch liked it that way.
Another exhibit was an AU Aboriginal Art Exhibit. Each painting has a photo of the artist by it and a description of what the simbolisim in the painting is. All of the paintings were about the land and more importantly water locations in the land. They use a lot of dots and lines and circles. Very basic shapes and very bright colors. There were a few I wished I could buy but none of them were for sale :) I do intend to find myself a nice painting before I leave here though :) there are lots of art galleries in Sydney. I hope you are ready to go with me Camilla cause its you and me taking on the city.
We saw the car show and the kids tents and activities. We were given free hats, crayons, coloring pages, AU flags etc...it was a day for collecting junk that I didn't want and didn't want being brought into my home. That kind of stuff is useless and just makes a mess, but more on that later :)
When we finished at the museum we went looking for some food but all the venders were shutting down and going home. But something wild happened while we we're walking around. We were standing by a closing booth and this guy walked by me on my right side. Enoch was standing right in front of me facing forward so his back was to me. The guy who walked by did a double take at Enoch and then kind of moved to the side keeping his eye on him. It made me a little uncomfortable and I unconsciously put my hands on Enoch's shoulders. The girl that this guy was with did the same thing when she walked by Enoch as well. They walked over to the left of us and sat quietly talking to each other. I leaned over and whispered in Garrett's ear that they were staring at Enoch. Garrett said "they were probably just looking at Ethne.". I said no they we're deffinately staring at Enoch. He then said "well he must look like someone they know". That seemed reasonable but still weird that they were hanging out next to us and whispering. After a couple minutes the guy walked up to us and said "I see your son is wearing a BYU shirt. My wife and I went to BYU..." AH!! If I had remembered he was wearing that shirt I would have known why they were staring. We have met a lot of LDS people in different places from my kids or others wearing BYU gear :)
Anyway they are from the USA. They moved here a few months ago from NY and they are here indefinitely. They are looking for a place to live and could end up in our ward OR we could never see them again. We should have thought to exchange info with them :( they seemed like fun people.
I told them what had transpired between myself and Garrett when I noticed them looking at Enoch and we had a good laugh. Lol
We ended up talking for quite a while before parting ways. They told us that the $2.50 all day bus tickets on Sundays also extend to using the train or the ferry even. So for 2.50$ each we can go see beautiful beaches and parks and have picnics any Sunday we are free :) unfortunately church is at 1pm so that doesn't make for much time to go see anything. I wish we had church at 9 am.
So after that we walked to our bus stop and rode home to enjoy some dinner and put the kids to bed. What a fun and full day. It was the day after my birthday too which was nice because G had the whole day off and we spent time together as a family.
Next we walked to the AU Museum and it was 1/2 price in honor of the day. I was excited because they had two exhibits I really wanted to see. One of them was the wildlife photography competition winners. It was wonderful. I loved looking at all the photos and reading the stories behind them. These people are crazy and often do things to endanger their lives to get the photos that will win. They are patient often waiting for hours to get just the right shot. One photo was a split shot of a polar bear and it didn't look real. By split shot I mean that the head of the polar bear was above the water and the rest was under the water. The photographer was in the water with the bear and was close enough that the bear reached out and touched the camera before turning and swimming away. SCARY!!!
Several photographers were charged by wild animals in different countries. One by a rare white rhino :)Another exhibit was an AU Aboriginal Art Exhibit. Each painting has a photo of the artist by it and a description of what the simbolisim in the painting is. All of the paintings were about the land and more importantly water locations in the land. They use a lot of dots and lines and circles. Very basic shapes and very bright colors. There were a few I wished I could buy but none of them were for sale :) I do intend to find myself a nice painting before I leave here though :) there are lots of art galleries in Sydney. I hope you are ready to go with me Camilla cause its you and me taking on the city.
We saw the car show and the kids tents and activities. We were given free hats, crayons, coloring pages, AU flags etc...it was a day for collecting junk that I didn't want and didn't want being brought into my home. That kind of stuff is useless and just makes a mess, but more on that later :)
Anyway they are from the USA. They moved here a few months ago from NY and they are here indefinitely. They are looking for a place to live and could end up in our ward OR we could never see them again. We should have thought to exchange info with them :( they seemed like fun people.
I told them what had transpired between myself and Garrett when I noticed them looking at Enoch and we had a good laugh. Lol
We ended up talking for quite a while before parting ways. They told us that the $2.50 all day bus tickets on Sundays also extend to using the train or the ferry even. So for 2.50$ each we can go see beautiful beaches and parks and have picnics any Sunday we are free :) unfortunately church is at 1pm so that doesn't make for much time to go see anything. I wish we had church at 9 am.
So after that we walked to our bus stop and rode home to enjoy some dinner and put the kids to bed. What a fun and full day. It was the day after my birthday too which was nice because G had the whole day off and we spent time together as a family.
Monday, January 23, 2012
She's a Genius- I am convinced
Ethne was eating breakfast this morning and I gave her some yoghurt to go with her English muffin. She loves yoghurt and she left the muffin to eat the yoghurt. Later on the boys were finished with theirs and off working on something. Ethne wanted to be done but she hadn't finished her food yet and knew I would object to her running off and leaving it. She looked up at me and said "I didn't axe for some ogrit" meaning I didn't ask for any yoghurt so do I have to eat it before I can get down? The adult like thoughts that were going through her mind were astonishing to me. I could see the inner workings of her mind and it was truly amazing coming from a 2 1/2 year old child. WOW!!!
Then about an hour later she went poo and I said Ethne, you should have told me you needed to poo in the potty and you could have had a treat. She thought about it a second and cocked her head and said "but it's the same poo mommy. It's the same poo."
Seriously, there she goes again. That is a complex thought for a child her age. She thought if she was going to get a treat for going poo in the potty why not for going in he diaper. Both means had the same end so why not the same reward. I was able to explain to her the difference but I was in awe of her thought process.
Then about an hour later she went poo and I said Ethne, you should have told me you needed to poo in the potty and you could have had a treat. She thought about it a second and cocked her head and said "but it's the same poo mommy. It's the same poo."
Seriously, there she goes again. That is a complex thought for a child her age. She thought if she was going to get a treat for going poo in the potty why not for going in he diaper. Both means had the same end so why not the same reward. I was able to explain to her the difference but I was in awe of her thought process.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Well these photos aren't the best quality or worthy of my blog :) BUT I just had to say I am taking hotel cooking to the next level. I have been making some REAL FOOD despite the severe limitations in the kitchen. That being said this kitchen, while just as small, isn't as bare as the others we have stayed in.
My Enoch Man!
My Ethne Girl
My Master Ezra
Jamie's crispy pancetta and sea bass with sweet potato mash. Recipe on my food blog jamies30minutemeals-ashley.blogspot.com
Ethne Eating Her Easy Veggie quiche
This is veggie quiche I made, but since I couldn't make a pastry crust I used puff pastry which was wonderful. And can I just say- I am SO GLAD I CAN GET NZ CHEESE HERE! It's so good!
handsome dude happy about his food.
Jamie's crispy pancetta and sea bass with sweet potato mash. Recipe on my food blog jamies30minutemeals-ashley.blogspot.com
"Bechtables"
The kids are eating sandwiches for lunch right now and Ezra is upsetting Ethne by calling the beet root slices "blood". Ethne keeps yelling "no it's not blood it's betchtables(vegetables)".
Friday, January 20, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A New Past Time
I think I just don't have enough to do here in the hotel. So when I am feeling bord and the kids are sleeping and the hotel is clean I get into Garrett's email account and send him "note to self" messages from HIM to HIM :)
They are usually about things he is supposed to do and hasn't or things I want him to do that he hasn't and they are often inside jokes between the two of us.
It just seems less like me bugging him if the emails come from him instead of me :)
They are usually about things he is supposed to do and hasn't or things I want him to do that he hasn't and they are often inside jokes between the two of us.
It just seems less like me bugging him if the emails come from him instead of me :)
Shark attack
Tonights news: 44 yr. old man surfing was attacked by a shark. He was hurt pretty badly. :(
Also here in Sydney there have been 9 shootings in 8 days and 15 shootings in the last 16 days. They are all on the west side and let me just say we are really glad that we didn't find a place on the west side.
That is all-
Also here in Sydney there have been 9 shootings in 8 days and 15 shootings in the last 16 days. They are all on the west side and let me just say we are really glad that we didn't find a place on the west side.
That is all-
Second Week in Sydney- Wednesday
Today we walked over to The Entetainment Quarter at Fox Studios to check it out. It was not too long of a walk but it was so hot and so humid that we were sweating so much. We all kind of felt miserable by the time we got there. The kids were excited though about all of the fun things going on there.
The market was there today and was full of people shopping and eating. There were lots of breads, fruits and veggies, pastries, fresh juices, Ethiopian, Turkish, Chinese and Indonesian food stands all with unique foods and aromas that permiated the air. There was a French air-dried meat stand and the lady and gent that were running the booth had such strong French accents I could barly understand them. I loved their accecnts though and enjoyed talking with them. It made me wish I could speak French.
We got a ciabatta loaf and some Turkish-carrot dip for lunch and shared a Turkish flat-bread type quesadilla. It had feta, spinach and some kind of meat. The kids really liked it but the spinach seemed a little bitter to me.
Garrett took us onto the Fox Studio private lot and we saw the Stages they film on and all the office buildings etc... It was pretty cool. Before we left Ezra discovered a paint your own potery shop and he really really wants to do it. I will try to take him sometime for a mommy date.
I was surprised at how many shops were there. It was like an outdoor mall. I hadn't expected that.
On the walk back we all felt like we might sweat to death :) if that is possible. We drank a lot of water but it felt like a long miserable walk back to the hotel. We came inside and changed as quick as we could and went swimming at the aquatic center around the corner. We get to use it for free and it is a fun place. I blogged and emailed yesterday while the kids swam in the kiddie pool. But today I spent the whole time cooling off in the water as well. Ezra was really sad that Enoch was old enough to get in the hot tub but he was too young. Ethne was bummed about that too but the kiddie pool was already pretty warm so it was ok.
Each of the kids made a friend at the pool. Enoch enjoyed talking with a girl who was five but looked 6-7. She had lost almost as many teeth as he had and she was an excellent swimmer. Enoch was jealous that she could swim so well and wished he could join her in her freedom around the pool. I told him as soon as we move into our new place we will find a place to get him swim lessons.
Ezra made friends with an 18 month old Korean boy who was adorable. Ezra fetched and carried for him. He talked to his mother, who was in the kiddie pool with him, for two hours. She was so grateful. She told me several times that he was a wonderful, friendly, and sweet boy. She said he made their time there most enjoyable and that they would have been bord without him. That really made Ezra feel special :)
Ethne made friends with several people but she was mostly interested in playing with me and dropping things into the deep water for me to go get- stinker.
We came home, showered, went grocery shopping and came home to make dinner and have ice cream bars.
At about 6 pm I realized why I had felt so yucky all day. I had been running on only a little bread and carrot dip. I forgot that was all I had eaten all day. It is hard to feel hungry in this heat and humidity, but my body was feeling the effects of lack of food. I guess I better start paying closer attention in the future. :)
The market was there today and was full of people shopping and eating. There were lots of breads, fruits and veggies, pastries, fresh juices, Ethiopian, Turkish, Chinese and Indonesian food stands all with unique foods and aromas that permiated the air. There was a French air-dried meat stand and the lady and gent that were running the booth had such strong French accents I could barly understand them. I loved their accecnts though and enjoyed talking with them. It made me wish I could speak French.
We got a ciabatta loaf and some Turkish-carrot dip for lunch and shared a Turkish flat-bread type quesadilla. It had feta, spinach and some kind of meat. The kids really liked it but the spinach seemed a little bitter to me.
Garrett took us onto the Fox Studio private lot and we saw the Stages they film on and all the office buildings etc... It was pretty cool. Before we left Ezra discovered a paint your own potery shop and he really really wants to do it. I will try to take him sometime for a mommy date.
I was surprised at how many shops were there. It was like an outdoor mall. I hadn't expected that.
On the walk back we all felt like we might sweat to death :) if that is possible. We drank a lot of water but it felt like a long miserable walk back to the hotel. We came inside and changed as quick as we could and went swimming at the aquatic center around the corner. We get to use it for free and it is a fun place. I blogged and emailed yesterday while the kids swam in the kiddie pool. But today I spent the whole time cooling off in the water as well. Ezra was really sad that Enoch was old enough to get in the hot tub but he was too young. Ethne was bummed about that too but the kiddie pool was already pretty warm so it was ok.
Each of the kids made a friend at the pool. Enoch enjoyed talking with a girl who was five but looked 6-7. She had lost almost as many teeth as he had and she was an excellent swimmer. Enoch was jealous that she could swim so well and wished he could join her in her freedom around the pool. I told him as soon as we move into our new place we will find a place to get him swim lessons.
Ezra made friends with an 18 month old Korean boy who was adorable. Ezra fetched and carried for him. He talked to his mother, who was in the kiddie pool with him, for two hours. She was so grateful. She told me several times that he was a wonderful, friendly, and sweet boy. She said he made their time there most enjoyable and that they would have been bord without him. That really made Ezra feel special :)
Ethne made friends with several people but she was mostly interested in playing with me and dropping things into the deep water for me to go get- stinker.
We came home, showered, went grocery shopping and came home to make dinner and have ice cream bars.
At about 6 pm I realized why I had felt so yucky all day. I had been running on only a little bread and carrot dip. I forgot that was all I had eaten all day. It is hard to feel hungry in this heat and humidity, but my body was feeling the effects of lack of food. I guess I better start paying closer attention in the future. :)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Second week in Sydney-Monday taking it easy
Today we just had a relaxing day at the hotel. We were lazy and played and cleaned and blogged and read other blogs. I made pad Thai and cauliflower for dinner with a pitcher of Turkish apple tea with mint and lime. None of it went together but man did it taste good. I love pad Thai and I don't like steamed cauliflower but this was actually really good. I took some Gouda and really good cheddar and melted it in a tiny bit of warm milk and cream and made just a little drizzle of cheese sauce for the cauliflower. It was so good that everyone asked for seconds. The tea was so refreshing on a hot day too that after Garrett walked home from work it hit the spot.
This was Garrett's first day of work and I think the butterflies must have left right away because he had a great first day. He works on the Fox Studio Lot so he walks between all the stages etc... Which in other studios he has worked at we placed out of the way. He may be walking into work one day and meet Leonardo or who knows who else. Kinda cool!
He said there is a public side where anyone can come on and they have a cinema and a market every week and shops and fun things to do for families. The kids and I are excited to go and see it. Should be loads of fun. I will be sure to take pictures.
This was Garrett's first day of work and I think the butterflies must have left right away because he had a great first day. He works on the Fox Studio Lot so he walks between all the stages etc... Which in other studios he has worked at we placed out of the way. He may be walking into work one day and meet Leonardo or who knows who else. Kinda cool!
He said there is a public side where anyone can come on and they have a cinema and a market every week and shops and fun things to do for families. The kids and I are excited to go and see it. Should be loads of fun. I will be sure to take pictures.
A little Late For Christmas
I know it is a little late but I just realized that I never really talked about the kids favorite Christmas toys. As usual their favorite things were from their relatives. They got a gift cirtificate to the app store, iron-on make your own monster t-shirt designs (oh CA grandparents Ethne left hers there somewhere and is sad about it. If you find it will you save it for her?), Playmobile, Legos, animals from the "Cleland" Wildlife park and more. So fun!
Ethne loves her Playmobile as you read in the last post. She has so much fun with it and feels so grown up and more a part of her brothers life since she got it.
She also got a tea set that she loves and has had a lot of fun playing with her brothers with that although they never play long or in quite the way she wants them too.
The boys spend hours with their Playmobile and Legos and build and rebuild everything over and over. They also LOVE to take them apart and make other things out of the sets. I think I might be a little OCD about their toys though and i'll tell you why. It is hard for me to watch them take apart the Legos after working so hard to build the set. They spend a lot of time building the pirates of the carribean toy, or whatever it happens to be, and then by the next day it is in pieces all over the floor and they have made 5 different things out of the pieces. I have to fight the urge to snatch them all up and put it back together :) silly I know but it drives me crazy.
The thing is too, it is GOOD for them to do this because that is the thing I love about Legos- they can be creative, inventive and imaginative. So why then do I freak out when they take them all apart? I guess because I worry that they will loose a lot of the pieces and will never be able to build the original design again :) oh well. At least I keep these thoughts mostly hidden from the kids and alow them to be creative.
In their stockings they each got a chocolate Bilby, which we at first thought was a rabbit, :) it was from Haighs Chocolate store in Adelaide. Then we found out from our friends that they don't have the Easter Bunny in AU, they have the Easter Bilby and that is what they were. I don't know why but we all thought that was super cool. Maybe it is because the Bilby is my new favorite animal :)
Another thing the kids got in their stockings this year were exotic fruits. Between us all there were Fresh figs, kiwis, a pomegranate, pears, AU apples and three different types of Lychees. There was a spiky one, one that looked like a tiny round Asian pear and one that looked like a large hairy raspberry. Each was exactly the same on the inside though. How is that possible? Three fruits so different on the outside but exactly the same on the inside. Santa truly does bring things from the country you are residing in I guess because this year there were all things Australian. He even brought smoked macadamia nuts and spicy macadamia nuts. The kids and Garrett loved those. I didn't eat them. Because although I love a good macadamia nut, I like them roasted and salted or covered in chocolate best. Mine came in Dark chocolate :)
Garrett got two exotic chocolate bars from Haighs as well for us to try. They have this series of chocolate where the cocoa beans come from only one location. Usually when you buy chocolate it is made from beans from many places. These bars are each exclusive to one place. He got one from Equador where they are floral and woody and he got another one from Puru where the beans have more of a fruity taste. It was amazing to taste the difference. I liked the one from Peru best even though it wasn't the darkest one. The fruity notes were tastier to me than the floral/woody ones. It was fun though to see the difference between them. I used to get bar chocolate for baking in NZ that came from beans in Ghana and was really dark. It had a totally different flavor from these two kinds.
I wonder if most people know that chocolate is a lot like coffe, wine and cheese. The place it starts from and the manner and care with which it is prepared makes a huge difference in the flavor, texture and price of the chocolate. One day I want to go to one of the chocolate shops in Europe where all they sell is chocolate- not confections but just the pure unadulterated chocolate for baking, melting, and cooking. I have seen them in cooking shows before but never been near one. They look just like a cheese shop but with bars and chunks of chocolate instead of cheese. I will add that to my bucket list I think.
Ethne loves her Playmobile as you read in the last post. She has so much fun with it and feels so grown up and more a part of her brothers life since she got it.
She also got a tea set that she loves and has had a lot of fun playing with her brothers with that although they never play long or in quite the way she wants them too.
The boys spend hours with their Playmobile and Legos and build and rebuild everything over and over. They also LOVE to take them apart and make other things out of the sets. I think I might be a little OCD about their toys though and i'll tell you why. It is hard for me to watch them take apart the Legos after working so hard to build the set. They spend a lot of time building the pirates of the carribean toy, or whatever it happens to be, and then by the next day it is in pieces all over the floor and they have made 5 different things out of the pieces. I have to fight the urge to snatch them all up and put it back together :) silly I know but it drives me crazy.
The thing is too, it is GOOD for them to do this because that is the thing I love about Legos- they can be creative, inventive and imaginative. So why then do I freak out when they take them all apart? I guess because I worry that they will loose a lot of the pieces and will never be able to build the original design again :) oh well. At least I keep these thoughts mostly hidden from the kids and alow them to be creative.
In their stockings they each got a chocolate Bilby, which we at first thought was a rabbit, :) it was from Haighs Chocolate store in Adelaide. Then we found out from our friends that they don't have the Easter Bunny in AU, they have the Easter Bilby and that is what they were. I don't know why but we all thought that was super cool. Maybe it is because the Bilby is my new favorite animal :)
Another thing the kids got in their stockings this year were exotic fruits. Between us all there were Fresh figs, kiwis, a pomegranate, pears, AU apples and three different types of Lychees. There was a spiky one, one that looked like a tiny round Asian pear and one that looked like a large hairy raspberry. Each was exactly the same on the inside though. How is that possible? Three fruits so different on the outside but exactly the same on the inside. Santa truly does bring things from the country you are residing in I guess because this year there were all things Australian. He even brought smoked macadamia nuts and spicy macadamia nuts. The kids and Garrett loved those. I didn't eat them. Because although I love a good macadamia nut, I like them roasted and salted or covered in chocolate best. Mine came in Dark chocolate :)
Garrett got two exotic chocolate bars from Haighs as well for us to try. They have this series of chocolate where the cocoa beans come from only one location. Usually when you buy chocolate it is made from beans from many places. These bars are each exclusive to one place. He got one from Equador where they are floral and woody and he got another one from Puru where the beans have more of a fruity taste. It was amazing to taste the difference. I liked the one from Peru best even though it wasn't the darkest one. The fruity notes were tastier to me than the floral/woody ones. It was fun though to see the difference between them. I used to get bar chocolate for baking in NZ that came from beans in Ghana and was really dark. It had a totally different flavor from these two kinds.
I wonder if most people know that chocolate is a lot like coffe, wine and cheese. The place it starts from and the manner and care with which it is prepared makes a huge difference in the flavor, texture and price of the chocolate. One day I want to go to one of the chocolate shops in Europe where all they sell is chocolate- not confections but just the pure unadulterated chocolate for baking, melting, and cooking. I have seen them in cooking shows before but never been near one. They look just like a cheese shop but with bars and chunks of chocolate instead of cheese. I will add that to my bucket list I think.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Our Second Week in Sydney- Day One Sunday
Today we spent the entire morning preparing for church. Showering, getting ready, eating breakfast together, watching a documentary on President Monson ect...our day was spiritually focused and we talked to the kids about being in a new ward again for the first time, meeting new people and allaying each others fears and discomfiture. We got in the car and headed to church. We found the building in a dumpy neighborhood that looked really rough. We were early and eager, but there was one little problem. The gate around the parking lot was locked. The gate to the front door was locked as well. The parking lot and the building were completely empty. There wasn't a single person in site. Hmmmmm.....
We double checked the time, called the bishop, called the other three branch presidents for the Tongan, Mandarin, and YSA branches listed, and we got NO ONE!!! We tried everything we could but ended up just going home. It was too late for any other ward in another suburb and if there had been a stake meeting of some kind it would have been over by 1pm which was when our ward said it started. We still have no idea what was up but hopefully next week will be different.
Everyone was disappointed. We were all geared up to meet new people and be friendly and outgoing. Everyone was dressed up with no where to go. We kind of felt like we had been stood up :) to top it all of we didn't even have enough petrol left in the rental car to go to the botanic garden and walk around. We came home and had a quiet rest of the day and Garrett did a few things to be ready for his first day of work at his new job Monday morning. He had butterflies in his stomach and was dreading orientation. He sounded like a kid starting his first semester of college. He said every company he has worked for has the most boring orientations. He said everything they tell you is out of context so you don't remember it anyway and when you need the information you have to ask someone again so what is the point.
Like a good mother, I mean wife, I told him not to be nervous and to pay close attention so that he wouldn't have to ask again :) I'm so helpful. Hopefully all goes well and he gets some good shots to work on. And hopefully he doesn't have to spend too much time looking at Leonardo Dicaprio's face :p
We double checked the time, called the bishop, called the other three branch presidents for the Tongan, Mandarin, and YSA branches listed, and we got NO ONE!!! We tried everything we could but ended up just going home. It was too late for any other ward in another suburb and if there had been a stake meeting of some kind it would have been over by 1pm which was when our ward said it started. We still have no idea what was up but hopefully next week will be different.
Everyone was disappointed. We were all geared up to meet new people and be friendly and outgoing. Everyone was dressed up with no where to go. We kind of felt like we had been stood up :) to top it all of we didn't even have enough petrol left in the rental car to go to the botanic garden and walk around. We came home and had a quiet rest of the day and Garrett did a few things to be ready for his first day of work at his new job Monday morning. He had butterflies in his stomach and was dreading orientation. He sounded like a kid starting his first semester of college. He said every company he has worked for has the most boring orientations. He said everything they tell you is out of context so you don't remember it anyway and when you need the information you have to ask someone again so what is the point.
Like a good mother, I mean wife, I told him not to be nervous and to pay close attention so that he wouldn't have to ask again :) I'm so helpful. Hopefully all goes well and he gets some good shots to work on. And hopefully he doesn't have to spend too much time looking at Leonardo Dicaprio's face :p
Our First Week in Sydney-Saturday
Today was a crazy day. We got up and I got the kids ready to go into the city to have more fun while G went to find a bank to get a bank check for the deposit on our house. The realty company was only open for two hours today 9-11am so we thought we would get the check to them and then go have a little fun. BUT, things didn't really go the way we were hoping. G came back and said we needed to quickly load everyone up and drive to the airport- WHAT? OK.
When we're loaded up he told me that in all of Sydney the only branch of our bank that was open on Sat. was the one inside the airport. Seriously? How do working people ever make it to the bank? They open late, they close early and they aren't open on Sat. PLEASE!
So we drove to the airport and Garrett intended for me to drive around while he ran in and got the check BUT there was no place to circle that we could find so we parked for $7 a HALF HOUR. Yup you read that right $7 for a 1/2 hour- wow! Garrett was gone a while and I kept the kids happy in the car with a "Fruit Ninja" tournament. When he came back he hadn't found the bank at all. He got online and found out that the bank was actually NOT in the airport but near the airport. So we went to find it. We never did! So Garrett got back online and he found that no actually a different website said that it WAS IN THE AIRPORT, but not in the domestic terminal. It was in the international terminal. So back to the airport but this time to the international terminal. Once again we couldn't figure out the loop so we parked and the first 15 min. Here were free but the next 15 after that would be $7.
It took him a long time so this time I let the kids take turns playing games on the iPad. When he finally came out he was SUCCESSFUL!!! He had the $1100 bank check (that he had to pay $10 for) in hand and he paid the $7 parking and we headed out.
Maybe I am just cheep, but I think we should have told the Realty company we would bring them a check Monday morning. It cost us $14 parking, $10 for the bank check, airport tolls we paid three times going into the airport over and over(I still don't know how much those cost us), and money for petrol. What a waste. And our bank in USA doesn't charge us for bank checks-lame bank. Of course it is questionable weather we could have done it all Monday morning before returning the rental car and Garrett going to work.
In NZ no one really uses bank or personal checks. They have a great system of transferring money from one bank account to the next even between banks, so we just did everything by automatic transfer. We even paid our tything and fast offerings that way. It was awesome! They don't do that here. I guess we will have to go back to personal checks if we can get them.
When we're loaded up he told me that in all of Sydney the only branch of our bank that was open on Sat. was the one inside the airport. Seriously? How do working people ever make it to the bank? They open late, they close early and they aren't open on Sat. PLEASE!
So we drove to the airport and Garrett intended for me to drive around while he ran in and got the check BUT there was no place to circle that we could find so we parked for $7 a HALF HOUR. Yup you read that right $7 for a 1/2 hour- wow! Garrett was gone a while and I kept the kids happy in the car with a "Fruit Ninja" tournament. When he came back he hadn't found the bank at all. He got online and found out that the bank was actually NOT in the airport but near the airport. So we went to find it. We never did! So Garrett got back online and he found that no actually a different website said that it WAS IN THE AIRPORT, but not in the domestic terminal. It was in the international terminal. So back to the airport but this time to the international terminal. Once again we couldn't figure out the loop so we parked and the first 15 min. Here were free but the next 15 after that would be $7.
It took him a long time so this time I let the kids take turns playing games on the iPad. When he finally came out he was SUCCESSFUL!!! He had the $1100 bank check (that he had to pay $10 for) in hand and he paid the $7 parking and we headed out.
Maybe I am just cheep, but I think we should have told the Realty company we would bring them a check Monday morning. It cost us $14 parking, $10 for the bank check, airport tolls we paid three times going into the airport over and over(I still don't know how much those cost us), and money for petrol. What a waste. And our bank in USA doesn't charge us for bank checks-lame bank. Of course it is questionable weather we could have done it all Monday morning before returning the rental car and Garrett going to work.
In NZ no one really uses bank or personal checks. They have a great system of transferring money from one bank account to the next even between banks, so we just did everything by automatic transfer. We even paid our tything and fast offerings that way. It was awesome! They don't do that here. I guess we will have to go back to personal checks if we can get them.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
She's Sharp As A Tack
I was busy dong something when I tuned into a conversation too funny to not stop and blog.
Ethne: "It's not MY job"
Enoch: "yes it is"
Ethne: "No it's not"
Enoch: "It IS your job. It's your Playmobile so it's YOUR job to tak care of it"
Ethne: "No it's not. It's Mommy's job"
Lol, she sure pays close attention. I AM the one who takes care of her Playmobile. Ethne got her first ever Playmobile for Christmas. She LOVES IT! She is so happy to have her VERY OWN Playmobile that brothers can't take away from her. She has played with it every day since Christmas and I am the one who keeps up with all the tiny pieces. :) this girl sure has a racket going on over here.
Ethne: "It's not MY job"
Enoch: "yes it is"
Ethne: "No it's not"
Enoch: "It IS your job. It's your Playmobile so it's YOUR job to tak care of it"
Ethne: "No it's not. It's Mommy's job"
Lol, she sure pays close attention. I AM the one who takes care of her Playmobile. Ethne got her first ever Playmobile for Christmas. She LOVES IT! She is so happy to have her VERY OWN Playmobile that brothers can't take away from her. She has played with it every day since Christmas and I am the one who keeps up with all the tiny pieces. :) this girl sure has a racket going on over here.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Our First Week In Sydney-Friday
Today was awesome. I slept in really late and G tried but couldn't so he was up early poor guy. We only had one house to see and it wasn't until the evening so we went to Circular Quay in downtown Sydney. We were also waiting to hear from three realtors we had applications in with. We took a bus into the city and watched a street show in which Garrett was sucked into participating. Don't worry I got photos and when we move into our house they will go up on the blog.
Next we walked around to see some shops and the boats and the street performers etc...we went to Cadmans cottage which has some history of the first English settlers in Sydney. Cadman (I don't remember his first name) stole a horse in England and was sentenced to death. Later because King George III was keen to send people to the colony in Sydney his sentence was changed to 14 years transportation. In sydney he married a woman with two children who had been sentenced to (7?) years transportation for stealing two hair brushes and some knives from the house she was a servant in. He became a pretty important man in Sydney over the years.
We went to the rocks and enjoyed the view, had bagguette sandwhiches in a patisserie and a beautiful desert from Guylian-the Belgian chocolate cafe. It was chocolate cake surrounded by hazelnut something, covered in a thin chocolate ganache, covered again in a thin caramel ganache and garnished by three candied hazelnuts and a tiny piece of honeycomb. It was divine BUT it was not as good as my favorite desert ever "The Little Dutchess" at "Moore Willsons" in Wellington, NZ.
After that we walked around the bridge and through the park and took pictures by the water. We walked around to the rocks again and then all the way around to the opera house. I sat down and emailed Camilla to let her know I was feeling nostalgic about the four days we spent together in Sydney May of 2011. Garrett put his arm around me and said "I bet it must have been so fun for you and Camilla to be here alone when you could do anything you wanted to". I sighed and thought about how great it was to not have little ones and strollers and people whining and saying they were tired and hungry all day long :) But on the flip side I wouldn't trade in my little ones for all the freedom in the world. They are the light of my life and they bring far more joy than I could ever have without them. I love you guys!
Lastly we went to the Botanic Gardens and that was lovely as always. So peaceful and beautiful. I could spend some time there everyday if only we lived closer. The kids(and Garrett)loved seeing the flying foxes which really are amazing. And I loved the beautiful and truly magnificent Fig trees. They aren't fruit fig trees they are different and I wish I could remember all of the full names of them. They are my favorites and I would Love to have one in my back yard but unfortunately the ones I love are probably 75-100+ years old.
After the gardens it was getting late so we walked back to the bus. The kids were starving for dinner but we just got them some OJ to tide them over until we got home. Garrett was doing all this work to figure out the bus system and I felt so irritated because I already knew where there was a bus stop to take us home. He thought if we walked in the opposite direction we would find one closer to home blah blah blah. In the mean time it was getting later and later and later and the kids were getting more hungy and tired and melty. When G wasn't coming through on the bus thing I started pushing the stroller in the direction I knew how to get home. He took us so far out of our way, unintentionally, and I was begining to feel annoyed. Then I realized something. I like easy and secure. I like SURE things. I used to be more free and wing it but since having kids and irronically since marrying Garett I just want SURRITY. And that is why often I miss things or I don't figure out better ways of doing things or going places. To me it was just easier to go where I knew to go and ask the bus drivers. Garrett on the other hand makes a lot more mistakes but he figures things out and he learns the proper way of doing it in the future with other busses, other trips and other places. We got to the bus stop and were headed home by the time he figured it all out so I was glad I had led us to the other bus stop. But after thinking it over on the long walk back, I was also grateful for his willingness to make mistakes and learn for our bennifit. The public transit here is VERY complicated and he is starting to get it figured out due to his perserverence and trying lots of things.
Thanks honey for being my other half and for helping me to exit out of mommy brain and look at things in the long term instead of the short term. Thank you for doing the hard work of figuring it all out since I HATE doing that sort of thing. You are my hero :)
Next we walked around to see some shops and the boats and the street performers etc...we went to Cadmans cottage which has some history of the first English settlers in Sydney. Cadman (I don't remember his first name) stole a horse in England and was sentenced to death. Later because King George III was keen to send people to the colony in Sydney his sentence was changed to 14 years transportation. In sydney he married a woman with two children who had been sentenced to (7?) years transportation for stealing two hair brushes and some knives from the house she was a servant in. He became a pretty important man in Sydney over the years.
We went to the rocks and enjoyed the view, had bagguette sandwhiches in a patisserie and a beautiful desert from Guylian-the Belgian chocolate cafe. It was chocolate cake surrounded by hazelnut something, covered in a thin chocolate ganache, covered again in a thin caramel ganache and garnished by three candied hazelnuts and a tiny piece of honeycomb. It was divine BUT it was not as good as my favorite desert ever "The Little Dutchess" at "Moore Willsons" in Wellington, NZ.
After that we walked around the bridge and through the park and took pictures by the water. We walked around to the rocks again and then all the way around to the opera house. I sat down and emailed Camilla to let her know I was feeling nostalgic about the four days we spent together in Sydney May of 2011. Garrett put his arm around me and said "I bet it must have been so fun for you and Camilla to be here alone when you could do anything you wanted to". I sighed and thought about how great it was to not have little ones and strollers and people whining and saying they were tired and hungry all day long :) But on the flip side I wouldn't trade in my little ones for all the freedom in the world. They are the light of my life and they bring far more joy than I could ever have without them. I love you guys!
Lastly we went to the Botanic Gardens and that was lovely as always. So peaceful and beautiful. I could spend some time there everyday if only we lived closer. The kids(and Garrett)loved seeing the flying foxes which really are amazing. And I loved the beautiful and truly magnificent Fig trees. They aren't fruit fig trees they are different and I wish I could remember all of the full names of them. They are my favorites and I would Love to have one in my back yard but unfortunately the ones I love are probably 75-100+ years old.
After the gardens it was getting late so we walked back to the bus. The kids were starving for dinner but we just got them some OJ to tide them over until we got home. Garrett was doing all this work to figure out the bus system and I felt so irritated because I already knew where there was a bus stop to take us home. He thought if we walked in the opposite direction we would find one closer to home blah blah blah. In the mean time it was getting later and later and later and the kids were getting more hungy and tired and melty. When G wasn't coming through on the bus thing I started pushing the stroller in the direction I knew how to get home. He took us so far out of our way, unintentionally, and I was begining to feel annoyed. Then I realized something. I like easy and secure. I like SURE things. I used to be more free and wing it but since having kids and irronically since marrying Garett I just want SURRITY. And that is why often I miss things or I don't figure out better ways of doing things or going places. To me it was just easier to go where I knew to go and ask the bus drivers. Garrett on the other hand makes a lot more mistakes but he figures things out and he learns the proper way of doing it in the future with other busses, other trips and other places. We got to the bus stop and were headed home by the time he figured it all out so I was glad I had led us to the other bus stop. But after thinking it over on the long walk back, I was also grateful for his willingness to make mistakes and learn for our bennifit. The public transit here is VERY complicated and he is starting to get it figured out due to his perserverence and trying lots of things.
Thanks honey for being my other half and for helping me to exit out of mommy brain and look at things in the long term instead of the short term. Thank you for doing the hard work of figuring it all out since I HATE doing that sort of thing. You are my hero :)
First week in Sydney-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
These four days we spent the entire day each day looking at houses. We used this app called Domain and it was so easy to find housing to go see. You just look up a suburb and it gives you all these listings then you star ones that fit what you are looking for and it gives you the numbered to call you can send emails to the agent of each house and often it tells you what time they are showing the house.
The really horrible thing about finding housing here is that they have times they show the house and if you can't make it you are often out of luck. They won't show it again. AND GET THIS the window you have to see it is 15 min. So we had appointments that were doubled up and every fifteen minutes. We would have to choose which houses to see that we're doubled on the times and hope we picked the better ones from the description and pictures. Often our schedule looked like this:
9:30-9:45
10:00-10:15
10:30-10:45
11:00-11:15
11:30:11:45
12:00-12:15
And each appt. was at a different suburb in a different end of town and so there was no time to eat or go to the bathroom for hours sometimes. It was rough. But... We found a place in the first week and we are so glad. That left us most of Friday to play which was nice.
The really horrible thing about finding housing here is that they have times they show the house and if you can't make it you are often out of luck. They won't show it again. AND GET THIS the window you have to see it is 15 min. So we had appointments that were doubled up and every fifteen minutes. We would have to choose which houses to see that we're doubled on the times and hope we picked the better ones from the description and pictures. Often our schedule looked like this:
9:30-9:45
10:00-10:15
10:30-10:45
11:00-11:15
11:30:11:45
12:00-12:15
And each appt. was at a different suburb in a different end of town and so there was no time to eat or go to the bathroom for hours sometimes. It was rough. But... We found a place in the first week and we are so glad. That left us most of Friday to play which was nice.
First Week in Sydney-Sunday
Well I would have loved to write a daily post on what we have been up to our first week in Sydney but we have been so busy I haven't had a chance. I will try to remembere a basic summary.
Sunday- got here by Virgin Astralia airlines, weren't wild about them since they didn't even give us complimentary water on the flight. They were full of surprises at the airport as well. When you fly with them the give you 23 Kg's each for luggage and it isn't per bag it is total. So we had 5 people which means we get a total of 115Kgs'. BUT, that included the three car seats and the stroller-WHAT?? Since when?? Lame! You can't purchase extra bags you pay per Kg that you go over. What a racket. We were really really blessed though that the lady swept it under the rug and just gave us a warning for next time otherwise it would have cost us a fortune. We had 6 bags all a little under 23 Kg's and then three car seats and a stroller on top of that. Wow! In my experience flying around with children we have never been charged extra for the car seats and stroller and if we have brought another bag we just paid $50 for it because it was cheaper than shipping around the world.
This was Ethne's first flight, since she was one, where she wasn't sitting in her carseat on the plane. She was free and wiggly and wanting to get down and climb around. Makes me nervous to fly overnight with a child like that. When they are strapped into a carseat it is easier for them to fall asleep and stay put. She will be three by the time we fly overseas again and they won't let her sit in the car seat anymore I am sure. Plus she is practically too big for it already.
We took a cab to our new hotel/appartment in the suburb of Waterloo and we love it. It is so nice and they come and make our beds and wipe down the bathrooms everyday :) can't we just stay here?
We have a grocery store at the end of our block so fetching groceries is so much easier than in Adelaide. It is clean and spacious and even has a cheese grater :) oh and get this. There is a pan big enough to boil water and cook pasta in. Imagine that.
And the stove is gas and not so ancient that I have to turn the heat up and down up and down while cooking to keep it from burning or going cold. That last stovetop was horrible.
Overall I am really happy with this place and don't have many complaints. If only the filter on the dryer didn't fall off every 5 min when drying clothes and if only the air conditioner didn't leak for two days and if only the boys sink wasn't plugged. :) see not too many. They fixed the air conditioner already though.
Sunday- got here by Virgin Astralia airlines, weren't wild about them since they didn't even give us complimentary water on the flight. They were full of surprises at the airport as well. When you fly with them the give you 23 Kg's each for luggage and it isn't per bag it is total. So we had 5 people which means we get a total of 115Kgs'. BUT, that included the three car seats and the stroller-WHAT?? Since when?? Lame! You can't purchase extra bags you pay per Kg that you go over. What a racket. We were really really blessed though that the lady swept it under the rug and just gave us a warning for next time otherwise it would have cost us a fortune. We had 6 bags all a little under 23 Kg's and then three car seats and a stroller on top of that. Wow! In my experience flying around with children we have never been charged extra for the car seats and stroller and if we have brought another bag we just paid $50 for it because it was cheaper than shipping around the world.
This was Ethne's first flight, since she was one, where she wasn't sitting in her carseat on the plane. She was free and wiggly and wanting to get down and climb around. Makes me nervous to fly overnight with a child like that. When they are strapped into a carseat it is easier for them to fall asleep and stay put. She will be three by the time we fly overseas again and they won't let her sit in the car seat anymore I am sure. Plus she is practically too big for it already.
We took a cab to our new hotel/appartment in the suburb of Waterloo and we love it. It is so nice and they come and make our beds and wipe down the bathrooms everyday :) can't we just stay here?
We have a grocery store at the end of our block so fetching groceries is so much easier than in Adelaide. It is clean and spacious and even has a cheese grater :) oh and get this. There is a pan big enough to boil water and cook pasta in. Imagine that.
And the stove is gas and not so ancient that I have to turn the heat up and down up and down while cooking to keep it from burning or going cold. That last stovetop was horrible.
Overall I am really happy with this place and don't have many complaints. If only the filter on the dryer didn't fall off every 5 min when drying clothes and if only the air conditioner didn't leak for two days and if only the boys sink wasn't plugged. :) see not too many. They fixed the air conditioner already though.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Last Day in Adelaide Sat. January 7th
Last day in Adelaide Sat. Jan. 7th
Today we went to the zoo with a family who we have been working on becoming friends with here in Adelaide. Unfortunately with all the sickness and being out of town on Kangaroo Island we haven't seen as much of them as we would like but they are fun people and we were really glad to get to hang out with them our last day there.
Katheryn, Joe, and Shadrack are from the USA and are in the middle of their 'International Orphan'Film Career just like we are. They were in London first, then Adelaide, and at the end of this month they head to Canada to a company that has been asking for Garrett to come and work for them for sometime now. SO, we could end up living by them again sometime which is a fun thought.
At the zoo we saw the only pandas in the southern hemisphere, we saw that dinosaur bird that we saw on Kangaroo island who's name escapes me at the moment, we saw the funniest Gibbons I have ever seen. One had a baby and she had to hold on tight to not fall off while the mother was swinging around and around a tree limb. They were so loud and so wild and they were drawing a huge crowd. People all over the zoo were coming to find it what all the fuss was about. We saw beautiful parrots and other birds, we watched the hippos come out of the water to eat their dinner. You know it never ceases to amaze me that hippos can walk around. The are so huge and have the shortest stubbiest legs. It's amazing they can do what they do.
A little side note too about the gibbons. When they are born they are brown like the mom then at about 6 months they all turn black like the fathers. Then when they hit their age of puberty(18-24 months??) the females turn brown like the mother and the males stay black. Wild!
We had a great time looking at everything and then when it was time to go we realized that one of Ethne's really cute owl Barrett's, she got for Christmas, was missing. She only had one left in her hair. Sad. We went all over the whole zoo again looking for it and never found it. We were disappointed but there was nothing to be done but head out since we had a long walk home from the zoo.
We were intending to take the bus to the zoo and walk home but we missed our bus and had to walk both ways. It was hard to motivate the kids when they were starving and tired from a long day so we promised them ice cream at the end of the long hot sweaty journey. We had to take care of a few important things before going home sincere next morning we were flying out to Moe to Sydney.
We made it to the cell phone place an hour before they closed and the kids were struggling. Then we found out we couldn't get the account without Garrett's passport so we got the kids their ice cream and Garrett ran all the way home to get the passport. I took the kids to Toys-R-Us, that was going out of business, and walked them back to the meeting spot about the time I expected G would be back. He didn't show up for a while and I had a panic when I realized that he wouldn't be able to find his passport because I had packed everything and it was in the secret pocket of one of my bags :(
The cell phone place was closing in 15 min when he showed up panting. Poor guy ran all the way there and back after a LOT of walking the entire day. He HAD found the passport(after a lot of searching) thank goodness and we were able to get the phone and set the whole thing up. We took care of mo business and then went to get some dinner since we ate all of our food in the hotel minus what we needed for breakfast the next morning. While we we're eating it started dumping rain. We couldn't believe how hard it was.
Today we went to the zoo with a family who we have been working on becoming friends with here in Adelaide. Unfortunately with all the sickness and being out of town on Kangaroo Island we haven't seen as much of them as we would like but they are fun people and we were really glad to get to hang out with them our last day there.
Katheryn, Joe, and Shadrack are from the USA and are in the middle of their 'International Orphan'Film Career just like we are. They were in London first, then Adelaide, and at the end of this month they head to Canada to a company that has been asking for Garrett to come and work for them for sometime now. SO, we could end up living by them again sometime which is a fun thought.
At the zoo we saw the only pandas in the southern hemisphere, we saw that dinosaur bird that we saw on Kangaroo island who's name escapes me at the moment, we saw the funniest Gibbons I have ever seen. One had a baby and she had to hold on tight to not fall off while the mother was swinging around and around a tree limb. They were so loud and so wild and they were drawing a huge crowd. People all over the zoo were coming to find it what all the fuss was about. We saw beautiful parrots and other birds, we watched the hippos come out of the water to eat their dinner. You know it never ceases to amaze me that hippos can walk around. The are so huge and have the shortest stubbiest legs. It's amazing they can do what they do.
A little side note too about the gibbons. When they are born they are brown like the mom then at about 6 months they all turn black like the fathers. Then when they hit their age of puberty(18-24 months??) the females turn brown like the mother and the males stay black. Wild!
We had a great time looking at everything and then when it was time to go we realized that one of Ethne's really cute owl Barrett's, she got for Christmas, was missing. She only had one left in her hair. Sad. We went all over the whole zoo again looking for it and never found it. We were disappointed but there was nothing to be done but head out since we had a long walk home from the zoo.
We were intending to take the bus to the zoo and walk home but we missed our bus and had to walk both ways. It was hard to motivate the kids when they were starving and tired from a long day so we promised them ice cream at the end of the long hot sweaty journey. We had to take care of a few important things before going home sincere next morning we were flying out to Moe to Sydney.
We made it to the cell phone place an hour before they closed and the kids were struggling. Then we found out we couldn't get the account without Garrett's passport so we got the kids their ice cream and Garrett ran all the way home to get the passport. I took the kids to Toys-R-Us, that was going out of business, and walked them back to the meeting spot about the time I expected G would be back. He didn't show up for a while and I had a panic when I realized that he wouldn't be able to find his passport because I had packed everything and it was in the secret pocket of one of my bags :(
The cell phone place was closing in 15 min when he showed up panting. Poor guy ran all the way there and back after a LOT of walking the entire day. He HAD found the passport(after a lot of searching) thank goodness and we were able to get the phone and set the whole thing up. We took care of mo business and then went to get some dinner since we ate all of our food in the hotel minus what we needed for breakfast the next morning. While we we're eating it started dumping rain. We couldn't believe how hard it was.
"... Making My Tummy Grow"
Ethne was wiping water on her tummy at lunch and when G questioned her about it she said, in a very sing song voice, "I'n making my tummy doe(grow), doe,doe"
Made us all laugh. She has been saying the funniest things all day every day. I wish I could remember them all. Such a comedian just like Ezra.
Made us all laugh. She has been saying the funniest things all day every day. I wish I could remember them all. Such a comedian just like Ezra.
Very Distraught Ethne Girl
Last night we came home from circular key and as per our usual araingement, when G is home, he showered and bathed the kids while I made dinner. Ethne was downstairs in our tub and the boys were taking man showers upstairs in their bathroom. Ethne was enjoying her bath so much that she didn't want to get out so G would check on her then run upstairs and check on the boys, giving them directions like hang up your towel etc...once when he came into Ethne's bathroom again she was at one end of the tub barely touching her finger tips on the top of the water and waving it away from her. She was clearly distraught and trying to get something in the tub at the other end away from her. G asked "what are you doing?" She had a big lower lip sticking out and she said "I pooped in da bath"
G was a little amused at her reaction and said "i will rinse you off in the shower stay in the tub and i will get the poo out." she started crying big crocodile tears and said "no showa (shower) now". Garrett tried to comfort her and said "I will rinse you off in the shower, but first let me get the poo out". She wanted out of the tub right away, but she said "ok".
When he got her out of the tub and in the shower she mumbled to herself through her tears "Neva Neva take a bath again. It wuined(ruined)it"
This was really sad and funny at the same time. Before the poo she had been swimming and floating on her back in the tub and didn't want to get out. She was having so much fun. Hopefully it didn't ruin her baths forever.
G was a little amused at her reaction and said "i will rinse you off in the shower stay in the tub and i will get the poo out." she started crying big crocodile tears and said "no showa (shower) now". Garrett tried to comfort her and said "I will rinse you off in the shower, but first let me get the poo out". She wanted out of the tub right away, but she said "ok".
When he got her out of the tub and in the shower she mumbled to herself through her tears "Neva Neva take a bath again. It wuined(ruined)it"
This was really sad and funny at the same time. Before the poo she had been swimming and floating on her back in the tub and didn't want to get out. She was having so much fun. Hopefully it didn't ruin her baths forever.
"come look at this"
So in the hotel we have quite a bit of room but Ethne is sleeping in a roll away port a crib bed since we only have two bedrooms. Every night we put her to bed in our room and every night we roll her out into the hallway and partially close the door so that she doesn't keep us up and so that we don't wake her up getting ready for bed etc... The second night here we woke up at 1:30am to this "Mom, dad, come look at dis" repeated by a wide awake 2 year old in the hallway. Garrett responded to the call and she said "look, Ders a light above my bed".
She woke up and noticed the smoke alarm light above her bed and she was anxious for us not to miss it. Funny girl. She ended up not falling back asleep so I had to get up and feed her a piece of bread so she could fill her tummy and sleep again.
Love that girl!
She woke up and noticed the smoke alarm light above her bed and she was anxious for us not to miss it. Funny girl. She ended up not falling back asleep so I had to get up and feed her a piece of bread so she could fill her tummy and sleep again.
Love that girl!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ethne Girl Loves to sing
This morning as we were leaving the hotel to look at housing Ethne girl said "wait! I need to sing in my microphone" she went to grab it and pushed play and started singin twinkle twinkle little star to the music. She sand all the way down in the elevator and then to the car park where she got buckled into her seat and continued to sing.
This made me realize I forgot to put up what the kids favorite Christmas gifts were this year.
Ethne got a microphone that plays the music to five or six songs like Old MacDonald, London Bridges and head shoulders knees and toes. She LOVES IT and she loves to sing in it.
Another of her favorite gifts were the clothes she got for her baby Camilla. She got a swimsuit, a swim skirt, swim sandles and a hat for baby Camilla and she got a matching outfit minus the shoes. She put them on and danced around Christmas morning wearing her outfit and singing in her. Icrophone. I have video I will put up as soon as I get good Internet to do it. So stay tuned you will love it!
This made me realize I forgot to put up what the kids favorite Christmas gifts were this year.
Ethne got a microphone that plays the music to five or six songs like Old MacDonald, London Bridges and head shoulders knees and toes. She LOVES IT and she loves to sing in it.
Another of her favorite gifts were the clothes she got for her baby Camilla. She got a swimsuit, a swim skirt, swim sandles and a hat for baby Camilla and she got a matching outfit minus the shoes. She put them on and danced around Christmas morning wearing her outfit and singing in her. Icrophone. I have video I will put up as soon as I get good Internet to do it. So stay tuned you will love it!
"I'n An Angel"
Tonight at dinner Ethne's sunburn was itching where the skin was peeling and she turned to Enoch and asked him to scratch her back. When he got tired of it she asked Garrett and then finally she climbed down from the table and walked over to me and said "mommy, can yoos scatch mine sunburn?" I looked at it and it was turning all rashy where people had been scratching so I got her some cortisone cream to bring the reaction down. She was snuggling up in dads lap and she pointed to me and said "I have a mom and lots of kids" then she pointed to everyone else. Garrett said what am I am I a kid? And Ethne got a frownny face and looked at him and said "NO! You's a daddy". I said Ethne what are you? Are you a kid? She gave me the same look and said "no! I not a kid. I'n an Angel"
Such a sweet kid. She says the funniest things too.
Such a sweet kid. She says the funniest things too.
"You Better Look Down Before You Sit Down"
So tonight while we we're walking back to our car after looking at a terrace apartment Ethne was quietly singing to herself. Garrett happened to be holding her hand and could hear what she was singing and he started giggling while he put her in the car.
When he got in he told me what Ethne was singing to herself. She was singing "you better look down, you better look down, you better look down, there might be a maniac under your bottom" LOL, we were cracking up! She was mixing two songs her dad has been singing to her. One that he made up and the other was "Maniac" by Michael Simbello which I asked him not to sing to her. I don't like her singing about maniacs but it's too late. She picked it up the first time and as you can see she is incorporating it into other songs as well :)
The first song has a history as well as a catchy tune. When Enoch was almost three and just out of diapers he would sit down on hard toys and other things around the house and come to us crying that he hurt his bottom. He often tumbled over them rather than just sitting on them and since he didn't have a diaper any longer it hurt more than normal. Because it happened so often Garrett wrote a little song called "you bettere look down before you sit down" and it goes like this-
"you better look down before you sit down. It would be rotten to hurt your bottom".
The purpose of the song was two fold. One to make Enoch laugh and feel better and two to teach Enoch to look what he was doing so he didn't keep getting hurt. It worked and it has been sung a lot around our house as a joke over the years.
Ethne's version was really funny and now unfortunately the boys are singing it too.
When he got in he told me what Ethne was singing to herself. She was singing "you better look down, you better look down, you better look down, there might be a maniac under your bottom" LOL, we were cracking up! She was mixing two songs her dad has been singing to her. One that he made up and the other was "Maniac" by Michael Simbello which I asked him not to sing to her. I don't like her singing about maniacs but it's too late. She picked it up the first time and as you can see she is incorporating it into other songs as well :)
The first song has a history as well as a catchy tune. When Enoch was almost three and just out of diapers he would sit down on hard toys and other things around the house and come to us crying that he hurt his bottom. He often tumbled over them rather than just sitting on them and since he didn't have a diaper any longer it hurt more than normal. Because it happened so often Garrett wrote a little song called "you bettere look down before you sit down" and it goes like this-
"you better look down before you sit down. It would be rotten to hurt your bottom".
The purpose of the song was two fold. One to make Enoch laugh and feel better and two to teach Enoch to look what he was doing so he didn't keep getting hurt. It worked and it has been sung a lot around our house as a joke over the years.
Ethne's version was really funny and now unfortunately the boys are singing it too.
Monday, January 9, 2012
New Years Monday-Glenelg
Today we hopped a train and went to the beach in Glenelg. It was a hot and beautiful day. We had lunch at a Portuguese restaurant and Ethne and Ezra kept calling it a POOR CHEESE restaurant wHich was really comical. We went to a small museum while we were still dry and then headed down to the beach to swim. We caked on the sunscreen, but at the end of the day Ethne and Ezra's backs were burned :( but not too badly.
We had so much fun swimming and thinking about sharks didn't keep me from swimming out and enjoying the water. The water here's so much warmer than in NZ it was awesome. I didn't have to get numb before I enjoyed it :) we built sandcastles in the sand and collected shells as well as riding waves and swimming.
When I was starting to look pink I decided we better go and we headed up the beach to the water for rinsing. Lol, the sand was so hot we were hopping along the whole way hoping to get to the water before the pain was too intense.
Glenelg is a really touristy beach and so there is a boardwalk full of shops and restaurants and ice cream places. Everyone was walking around with cones and cups and Ice cream sundays. So, we got ice cream cones and enjoyed them while waiting for the train back into the city.
The ride was uncomfortable as we were all wet and tired but the walk back and having to stop and buy groceries on the way home was the worst. It turned out that I was by far the most burned and My skin just kept cooking and cooking. I was so burned by the time we went to bed that I couldn't lay down without being in pain. That is what's get for not wearing my rash guard instead of the swim suit :( AND not being able to wear sunscreen either I guess. I had just recovered from the rash I had gotten last time I covered myself in sunscreen so I wasn't wearing any.
Fun fun day! We enjoyed the people we sat by on the tram as we rode to glenelg and they told us some interesting tidbits about AU and themselves.
Oh I forgot to mention that as soon as Ezra got up this morning he was talking about becoming a baker. Garrett's talk yesterday sunk in and he decided he wanted me to teach them all there is to know about making bread (he has no idea that I am unqualified for the task). He is anxious to get started and made a list of all the kinds of bread a baker would need to learn to make. He even put naan and tortillas on the list. Smart, well rounded boy!
We had so much fun swimming and thinking about sharks didn't keep me from swimming out and enjoying the water. The water here's so much warmer than in NZ it was awesome. I didn't have to get numb before I enjoyed it :) we built sandcastles in the sand and collected shells as well as riding waves and swimming.
When I was starting to look pink I decided we better go and we headed up the beach to the water for rinsing. Lol, the sand was so hot we were hopping along the whole way hoping to get to the water before the pain was too intense.
Glenelg is a really touristy beach and so there is a boardwalk full of shops and restaurants and ice cream places. Everyone was walking around with cones and cups and Ice cream sundays. So, we got ice cream cones and enjoyed them while waiting for the train back into the city.
The ride was uncomfortable as we were all wet and tired but the walk back and having to stop and buy groceries on the way home was the worst. It turned out that I was by far the most burned and My skin just kept cooking and cooking. I was so burned by the time we went to bed that I couldn't lay down without being in pain. That is what's get for not wearing my rash guard instead of the swim suit :( AND not being able to wear sunscreen either I guess. I had just recovered from the rash I had gotten last time I covered myself in sunscreen so I wasn't wearing any.
Fun fun day! We enjoyed the people we sat by on the tram as we rode to glenelg and they told us some interesting tidbits about AU and themselves.
Oh I forgot to mention that as soon as Ezra got up this morning he was talking about becoming a baker. Garrett's talk yesterday sunk in and he decided he wanted me to teach them all there is to know about making bread (he has no idea that I am unqualified for the task). He is anxious to get started and made a list of all the kinds of bread a baker would need to learn to make. He even put naan and tortillas on the list. Smart, well rounded boy!
New Years Celebrations or Lack Thereof
So our New Years Eve and New Years Day activities were pretty simple and plain. We didn't do much until Monday but we did have a great day then.
Sat. Garrett had to work so we didn't do all that much. The kids and I met Garreett for an hour to go get gelato cones durring the hottest part of the day since it was a scorcher! We were so hot all day.
Then we walked him back to work and the kids and I sweated all the way home walking in the heat so we changed quickly and jumped in the pool to cool off. That was really fun as we got to chat with with some other people here On Holliday staying in our complex.
Kids went to bed at the same time as usual and G and I had some chips and salsa and sarsaparilla and went to bed just before midnight listening to the fireworks and crazy drunkards outside in the pool.
Sunday we made it to the bus stop just on time but the bus was late so we were so hot by the time we finally got to church. At church I was very unexpectedly asked to come up and bear my testimony in front of a ward where I know five people and have met a handful more but oddly enough I felt comfortable doing it. When the bishop got up and announced he was changing the program to call up someone I looked up and knew it was going to be me. It was a great opportunity for me since I rarely get up and do it on my own.
We came home and had a cheese, baguette, fruit and curred meat dinner (or maybe that was Sat. I can't totally remember now). We had a nice quiet day in preparation for our really big day on Monday. It was fun to be together and play. Garrett and I had some great times with the kids this day and good conversations. I am always so impressed with how much Garrettis able to teach the boys. They really listen to him and ask great questions. They talked about how important it's to find your passion in life and do what you love.
He talked to them about how you have to know what you want and then be passionate enough about it to work hard enough to get it. He not only talks the talk though he also walks the walk so I think it really got through to them. Cheesey, but true and The next day proved me right as you will see in a later post.
Sat. Garrett had to work so we didn't do all that much. The kids and I met Garreett for an hour to go get gelato cones durring the hottest part of the day since it was a scorcher! We were so hot all day.
Then we walked him back to work and the kids and I sweated all the way home walking in the heat so we changed quickly and jumped in the pool to cool off. That was really fun as we got to chat with with some other people here On Holliday staying in our complex.
Kids went to bed at the same time as usual and G and I had some chips and salsa and sarsaparilla and went to bed just before midnight listening to the fireworks and crazy drunkards outside in the pool.
Sunday we made it to the bus stop just on time but the bus was late so we were so hot by the time we finally got to church. At church I was very unexpectedly asked to come up and bear my testimony in front of a ward where I know five people and have met a handful more but oddly enough I felt comfortable doing it. When the bishop got up and announced he was changing the program to call up someone I looked up and knew it was going to be me. It was a great opportunity for me since I rarely get up and do it on my own.
We came home and had a cheese, baguette, fruit and curred meat dinner (or maybe that was Sat. I can't totally remember now). We had a nice quiet day in preparation for our really big day on Monday. It was fun to be together and play. Garrett and I had some great times with the kids this day and good conversations. I am always so impressed with how much Garrettis able to teach the boys. They really listen to him and ask great questions. They talked about how important it's to find your passion in life and do what you love.
He talked to them about how you have to know what you want and then be passionate enough about it to work hard enough to get it. He not only talks the talk though he also walks the walk so I think it really got through to them. Cheesey, but true and The next day proved me right as you will see in a later post.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
"No I Not!"
Mom: hears familiar noise in Ethne's bedroom and calls out "Ethne are you taking off your diaper?"
Ethne: calls from her room back to mom, "No I not! I taking off my diaper"
Mom and brothers laugh in the kitchen and brothers repeat over and over :)
Ethne: calls from her room back to mom, "No I not! I taking off my diaper"
Mom and brothers laugh in the kitchen and brothers repeat over and over :)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
"I Not A Naughty Gu-al!"
This is becoming a regular saying for our Ethne Girl. The pattern is like this: Ethne does something naughty to the boys, the boys get upset and say "No! Naughty Girl?", Ethne says "no! I not a naughty gual(girl)". Then Ethne comes to find me and looks up into my eyes sweetly and shakes her head no and says "I not a naughty gual(girl)". I say no you are not a naughty girl. She says "E-knock, and Ev-ra say I'n a naughty gual". I say you are not a naughty girl. What did you do? The boys call out all her transgressions from the other room and there is the ocasional she scratched me, she hit me, she took my toy, she pulled my hair, but most commonly I hear she broke our...
I say Ethne you are NOT a naughty girl but what you DID was naughty. We don't hit, scratch, grab...you fill in the blank...All she can think of is "no I not a naughty gual".
I think we will just have to take "naughty" out of our vocabulary because she can't grasp the difference between DOING and BEING. Now that I think about it, neither can a lot of adults. Hmmm....
I say Ethne you are NOT a naughty girl but what you DID was naughty. We don't hit, scratch, grab...you fill in the blank...All she can think of is "no I not a naughty gual".
I think we will just have to take "naughty" out of our vocabulary because she can't grasp the difference between DOING and BEING. Now that I think about it, neither can a lot of adults. Hmmm....
"Happy New In Here!"
When I went in to get Ethne up this morning the first thing she said to me was "mom, happy new in he-uh?(here)"
I thought she said happy new year and I said yes it's a happy new year. She was excited, grabbed my finger and walked me into the living room asking "Happy New in He-uh?"
It wasn't until after breakfast that she got up in my face and I realized what she was asking. She had been confused by all the Happy New Year talk a few days ago and she wanted to know just exactly what was happy and new in here? I haven't been able to get her to understand what I am saying and what it means :)
I thought she said happy new year and I said yes it's a happy new year. She was excited, grabbed my finger and walked me into the living room asking "Happy New in He-uh?"
It wasn't until after breakfast that she got up in my face and I realized what she was asking. She had been confused by all the Happy New Year talk a few days ago and she wanted to know just exactly what was happy and new in here? I haven't been able to get her to understand what I am saying and what it means :)
Another Shark Attack
Last night on the news I heard there was another shark attack and the person attacked was badly injured. Sheesh!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
" I Not Naughty. I Not Hitting Chudder"
When Ethne woke up from her nap today and the boys got out of quiet time they all wanted to know if they had earned their popsicles and their lollies. I told the boys they already knew they hadn't earned theirs and shouldn't bother asking as I gave Ethne hers. Ethne is apparently aware of what keeps her brothers from earning their special things on a regular basis. She gasped, as she licked her lolly and said: "Brothers being naughty? Hitting chudder? I not naughty. I not in my room hitting chudder."
In case you are wondering what chudder means it's EACH OTHER.
In case you are wondering what chudder means it's EACH OTHER.
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