Sunburned Feet

North Narra Pool

2012-02-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

Sydney has had it's wettest summer for many years so we have become opportunists with our outdoor adventures as well as regular weather checkers. We got a bit of a break in the weather last weekend which unfortunately coincided with both Luca and Scout having colds so while we couldn't do any swimming we could investigate a new swimming hole (beach rock pool) for future adventure.

The North Narrabeen rock pool is quite fancy as rock pools go around these parts. It is very big and has a wooden walkway around the part that represents a normal Olympic size 50 metre pool. That was only of small interest to Luca and Scout who were way more impressed with what we could see in the tide pools and of course by throwing rocks in the water.

We'll be back and we will get in the water next time.

Lost tooth

2012-02-04T01:15:00.000-08:00

Capping off a crazy week, Luca lost his first tooth tonight. It's been loose for weeks and the new adult tooth is almost fully grown in already. Unfortunately, it seems as though he swallowed the tooth while enjoying his pizza dinner. We are certain the tooth fairy will understand and we've written her a note asking her to use her "magic" to retrieve the tooth from Luca's belly! -kel

Kindergarten

2012-02-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

Luca started Kindergarten on Friday. He was totally excited to be going back to school. Last year he attended the cottage (pre-school) program at the same school, so wasn't a big deal at all to be starting school. The main excitement surrounded his tie, he was sooooo thrilled to be wearing his very own tie. He looked absolutely adorable in his uniform and so tiny and grown up all at the same time. I did get a bit misty as he stood for a photo with his best friend, Sean, thinking about them both as little babies, friends since they were only a few weeks old now starting such an amazing adventure together. Our little man, really is turning into a man! -kel

The Assassin

2012-02-04T00:34:00.000-08:00

Family and friends, meet Jasmine/Kitty/Lucy/Pussy the newest member of our family. For those of you who haven't heard about our year long battle with the rabbits, here is the quick run down. There are hundreds (I am not exaggerating at all) wild/feral rabbits roaming the streets of our neighbourhood. Not ideal in our beachside location. The local council had done little to help. The rabbits are slowly destroying our garden.

After a year long battle, including half eaten plants, dead lawn, destroyed cucumbers and many a funny time chasing rabbits (they are seriously quick little buggers) around the yard with little to no success, we've decided to fight nature with nature. We've employed an assassin. Well really, she is a fully grown kitty that we have adopted from a family moving to the US. She has made a great addition to our family. The kids love having a pet, she is an outside cat and pretty much keeps to herself coming around for a good pet every night after dinner. The best news of all...we've had the assassin for a week and we haven't seen a rabbit in the yard once since she's arrived. Success! -kel

Luca and Scout's Wild Reptile Birthday Party

2012-02-03T23:56:00.000-08:00

Sunday we hosted 35 of Luca and Scout's closest friends for a Reptile Birthday Party! We were fortunate once again to host the parties together in a combined event. Still not sure how many more years we can do this, but I am going to run with it while I can!

The kids had an absolute blast. We kicked off the party with a Reptile Show in the front yard, complete with an olive python, turtles, various lizards, fossils, eggs and a baby crocodile. By baby I mean it was still over 4 feet long!

Post show, it was time for cake and happy birthday followed by a crocodile pinata and a cool down in the pool (for the kids, not the reptiles). The whole extravaganza lasted about 3 hours with both Luca and Scout thrilled with the entire event. Amazing to think Luca is now 5 and Scout is now 3, they are growing up fast! -kel

Three

2012-01-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

Scout turned three on Monday, she is a "big girl" and don't even consider calling her little or anything she might touch/eat/play with/sit on/be around or even like little. At three she loves pink and all things girly. She is currently refusing to wear anything but dresses and man does she have an opinion when it comes to clothes. She is incredibly affectionate and generally isn't the list bit shy. Looking back on the last three years I can hardly even remember before she was born. Scout has made our little family complete with her very big personality.

Celebrations were at home with Mark's parents, her favourite dinner of butter chicken and cup cakes. The official party isn't until this weekend...stay tuned for more photos and stories. -kel

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T22:27:00.000-08:00

The lead up to Christmas was it's usual madness. Here is a quick run down of all the fun and festivities. Mark was away in Singapore for work (and a little fun) for the 3 days before his birthday, touching down for present opening at the airport on the 23rd. Loved that Luca thought daddy defiantly looked older when we picked him up! Family and the usual Fried Chicken Feast was at our place as the weather was a bit iffy for our traditional birthday picnic.

Christmas Eve was fabulous with a big group including friends and family, turkey and blue cheese burgers. The weather was beautiful, everyone had a swim and amazingly the kids were in bed before 8:30. Mark and I performed our official Santa's Helpers duties (Mark drank Santa's beer (yes, our kids left Santa a beer, Coopers green, only the best for Santa) I put ribbons on all of the already wrapped gifts) and then it was off to bed for us as well.

Christmas morning kids were up at 6, I heard Luca say "It's Christmas" then "Scout, Scout, Scout, Santa's been here, quick it's Christmas" the excitement was adorable. They were both very good kids this year and Santa brought them what they asked for, after lots of present unwrapping and a whole lot of playing with new toys we were off for a seafood feast at Mark's parents. An amazing heap of prawns were consumed, followed by a leisurely naps in the lounge room and swims in the pool.

It was a very hectic few days and I for one was thrilled to get a nap on Christmas afternoon after barely sitting down for a week prior. That being said, there is something magical about Christmas, the kids just love it, give me another 300 days and I'll be ready again. -kel

Twinkle Twinkle Ballet Recital

2011-12-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

Once again, Scout dominated the ballet recital, at the end of the entire event refusing to leave the stage because “she wasn’t done yet”. She and her class mates wore the most adorable and quintessentially ballerina white dresses. They performed a short “dance” to twinkle twinkle little star. She's improved heaps and as per usual demonstrated extreme enthusiasm. She was totally adorable and she loves her ballet, next year she will be moving up to a new class at a new school…she can hardly wait. -kel

5 Totally Awesome Years

2011-12-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

Luca turned five with a bang. My mom and step dad flew in from the states for the occasion (oh and for Christmas but we didn’t tell him that). We celebrated with ice cream and dinner out at his favourite Thai restaurant. He is a wiz with chop sticks! Luca was stoked with his new bike and I am in utter disbelief that he is 5! My little man...seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. – kel

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - pt II

2011-12-26T00:12:00.000-08:00

We returned to the big city for a day before we headed home. A few food appointments awaited us and a couple more museums to visit. We swapped hotels and stayed at the Duxton. Although it was only two blocks away from where we stayed initially in Saigon it was a world away as far as charm, certainly nice enough but really just a standard business type hotel.

No hotel breakfasts this time around, our first stop was Pho 24, a local chain restaurant that had come highly recommended. It didn't disappoint, it was really, really good.

We spent a large chunk of the day at the Vietnam History Museum which was memorable for things other than what we should remember it for. As soon as we entered the museum we noticed a English language guided tour had just started so we discreetly followed thinking we would get some deeper insight into the exhibits. How wrong were we! The tour guide was so bad, he spent about two minutes in each room and actually contradicted what was written on the exhibits. The classic instance was in relation to a six hundred year old mummy that was on display in a special room. By this time Kelly and I had ditched the guide realising he was useless and we had already been in the mummy room when we saw the tour approaching. The guide didn't even lead the group in the room and simply said "there is some old mummy in that room" and kept the tour moving.

The other funny thing at the museum were the diorama's that were used to illustrate how an ancient war strategy was executed on the battle field. These things looked as though they were a first grade art project - they were so bad. And they were used extensively throughout the entire museum.

The Museum was in a very cool old building and did have some good exhibits but it was two stars out of five at best. I had worked up enough courage by this time to try the street food, in particular there was a local variation of Chinese steamed pork buns that I kept seeing that I had to try. I can't believe I left it until the last day these things (char siu bao they are called) were beautiful.

A few hours chilling in the pool to end the vacation and we were off home and by this time incredibly excited to see Luca and Scout. Awesome holiday and there is so much more to do in Vietnam than what we managed to fit in, having said that I was happy to leave that for another holiday as I wouldn't have changed a thing about this trip.

Vietnam - Hoi An

2011-12-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

The next part of the vacation started with a flight from Saigon to DaNang on the way to Hoi An. After a grilling from us to ensure he knew where he was going we jumped in a cab from the airport. DaNang and the entire tip south to Hoi An really showed how much the country was growing. In DaNang there were a lot of new very unusually designed buildings, pretty funky, and then the on entire trip down the coast there were either completed or semicompleted resorts on a massive scale. Hard to accept that this is a good move–it becomes just like any other Asian beach resort and price will be the differentiator.It is definitely selling out some of it’s character. I’m glad we were not staying in that area.

Anyway, after 40 minutes the cab driver pulls over to ask directions. Kelly was not happy given the guy swore he knew where he was going. Following this the driver sheepishly got back in the car and drove on. Luckily we weren't really off track and after crossing from the coast through rice fields and across a couple of rivers we made it to Hoi An.

The hotel was awesome, the Life Heritage Resort, a colonial feel, although it was only recently built, very funky rooms with day beds out front , we definitely made a good decision. It had a very strange pool though, nice when you were in but a major pain in the rear to get in, walking across rocks and then an awkward step up and over the side into the water.So as ordinary as the buffet in Saigon was the breakfast buffet at the hotel in Hoi An was great. The chocolate crepes won Kelly over. She doubled down a few of the mornings we were there much to the suprise of the chefs.Hoi An is a Unesco World Heritage listed town that is a good five hundred years old. Lots of little wooden French and Chinese influenced homes. The area has become very tourist focussed(without being overrun with tourists)and nearly every home has become either a shop or restaurant. Even with the tourists it is extremely laid back, very interesting and beautiful – also very romantic according to Kelly.

The first afternoon we were in Hoi An we ate basically out of somebody’s kitchen. The food was nice but something didn’t agree with Kel and she got a bit of an upset stomach. Really the only slightly negative food experience of our time in Hoi An and Vietnam.

The next day we did a walking tour of the historical sites. We started with a house tour from a guy whose family had been in the same house for seven generations. The houses are so simple, just a few open rooms with wooden slat beds for sleeping. The house tour was great, it was just Kelly and I, the guy brought out his old photos and spoke to us about the funeral of his father, how the area had changed with tourists coming and out of towners buying the old buildings to start businesses – we were there for ages and enjoyed every minute of it.

The rest of the day involved checking out a few Pagodas (m

uch better than the one in Saigon), some local singing and dancing, walking across a three hundred year old Japanese covered bridge and visiting a place called ‘The Department of Managing and Gathering Swallows Nests'. A lot of the day really involved cruising around checking out the old buildings and alley ways, going to the market and of course a little shopping (always involving haggling over price which Kelly loved).

One of the things that the area is known for is producing fabric and tailoring. Kelly brought a few dresses over to have copied. I couldn’t believe the quality based on the time it took to make and cost. The place Kelly went to was a well oiled machine with seamstresses sewing away all day and most of the night. The assistant who looked after Kelly called herself ‘Fairy’, she was really nice an even brought Kel flowers on her birthday.

We found a lunch place we liked on the first day and ate at the same table everyday - first floor balcony overlooking the river. From the table you could see the boats coming and going and not surprisingly we saw some very sketchy practices. These relatively small two level boats were packed with motorcycles on the top deck and then absolutely crammed with people below. If any of those things went down or capsized there was no escaping.

It was Kelly’s birthday while we were there so we did a few special things that day. We borrowed bikes from the hotel and hit the streets which was an adventure in itself. Although the traffic in Hoi An is nothing like Saigon it is still crazy and has the same anything goes mentality. Early on our ride I realised this was no birthday treat for Kelly as she was passed by a semi trailer and nearly collected by a motorcycle coming up from the rear as she moved over to give the truck some space. We decided to cut the ride short and head back through the old part of town where there are restrictions on motorised vehicles. This new route involved a major left turn (driving is sort of on the right hand side of the road in Vietnam). This was a pretty major intersection so we gradually made our way to the centre of the road and stopped, waiting for a break in the oncoming traffic to make the turn. It was intimidating sitting in the middle of the road while trucks and thousands of motorcycles are going around you. So we finally get a break in the traffic and I start to turn only for some guy on a motorcycle behind to try and over take me on the side that I am turning to. Kelly got the view from behind and said she couldn’t believe I didn’t get taken out. I guess I was pretty oblivious but Kelly had had enough and it took a while for her to calm down after the ride.

At least the next part of Kel’s birthday went well with a massage back at the spa at our hotel a few early evening cocktails a beautiful dinner and some ice cream. It was a magical night with my magical wife. We missed the kids a lot by this time and wished they were there.

Our last days in Hoi An were spent much like the others, wandering the streets, going to the markets, grabbing something to eat, a few beers at fourty cents a pop and stopping by the hotel for a swim when we got hot. I did get Kelly on the bike again for a ride along the waterfront where there was virtually no traffic. This ride was a lot more fun, watching the fishing boats in the river as we rode.

The last story from Hoi An is much funnier when you hear Kelly tell it but I will give it a go. While we were walking around town Kelly noticed the local women wearing these shoes that she liked and had asked where she could get a pair. We were directed to a market that was not meant for tourists, it was where the local Vietnamese brought household cleaning items, bits and pieces for their businesses and also where they brought clothes. The place is packed and you are lucky to see more than five inches in front of you. Finally we find a stall selling these shoes. Kelly explains what she wants and in broken English the stall owner starts to ask Kelly what size she needs, by this time we are close enough to the stall that the women can see all of Kelly so she looks down at Kelly’s feet and begins to laugh out loudly and speaking in Vietnamese, while Kel had doesn't speak Vietnamese, it was pretty clear she was saying ‘’Ohhhh, you have HUGE feet” – it was very funny.

We both highly recommend Hoi An, we had a great time, ate so well and found it really interesting and beautiful. Having great weather the entire time also helped.

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - pt I

2011-12-21T02:11:00.000-08:00

A Vietnam trip has been on our radar for some time so we were both really excited to finally make it over there– relatively soon after Thailand and travelling without Luca and Scout it seemed likea real treat. In late November we headed on our first Vietnam adventure. We arrived around 10:30pm and on the drive from the airport to the hotel the chaos that are the roads in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) held our attention the whole way – four and five people on a scooter, really young children standing on their parents laps with no helmet, lots of crazy helmets but really it was the sheer volume of motorcycles and scooters and the almost anything goes attitude that was the real eye opener.

Our hotel, the Rex, was a large colonial looking building on a really beautiful square and to make Kelly feel at ease the street level of the hotel had stores for all of the big luxury brand labels. We arrived late and were looking for a bite but the concierge put us off going out of the restaurant telling us how dangerous it was. We went up to the rooftop bar instead, good view although mostly of a massive intersection (roundabout) that took the crazinesson the road to a new level – I could have watched for hours (I eventally did as we had breakfast up there every day we were in Saigon and I made sure I could see the road).Breakfasts at the hotel were ordinary, not bad, just not great. They were the only meals I can say that about on the entire trip. Overall the food was magnificent.After breakfast we hit the streets and the first task was to cross the crazy intersection we got so much amusement out of watching while at breakfast. No stop lights you just have to get thecourage up and go for it, all the while motorcycles honking at you and missing your legs by half inches.Things on the street are very different, lots of people sitting around making food and eating, a few beggars, lots of little stores but even in this tourist friendly part of town no US/Euro chain stores. I can only imagine what it was like just ten years ago, seems like a lot of development has taken place in Saigon and a lot more is underway. Lots of interesting street food but at this stage I wasn’t up for the challenge.

On our walk we came across a street market (Ton That Dam) aimed more at the locals than tourists. The market primarily sold produce and meat, the meat not being in refrigerated storage had a strong smell – not for the last time I thought Kelly would keel over.

We got out of the local market and headed for the Ben Thanh Market. For the first time we saw a lot of tourists but still the markets were pretty crazy. The aisle’s between thestores are tiny, there were stalls that had t-shirts, others that had bags, some that had women’s hair accessories, wine made with cobras or scorpions still inside the bottle, belts , seafood - almost anything but each stall had it’s speciality, there were probably 1000 stalls and none were general. Kelly started to get her bargaining grooveon from this moment and she saved us a lot of the entire trip. She is brutal. At one stage Kelly made an offer on a dress for Scout that was about 10% of what the vendor started at, the vendor started to laugh so Kelly started to walk, all of sudden the other womenatthe stall jumps up and blocks the way and the first lady blocks Kelly on the other side (literally made it impossible for Kelly to move without shoving them into their stall). Even with this pressure selling Kelly wouldn’t budge and the ladies eventually gave up and agreed to Kelly’s price. The first of many victories.

We spent the rest of the day cruising the streets and seeing the sights. The river that runs through the city is another eye opener. It was running fast and was carrying a lot of debris, definitely a bitofpollution but mainly full trees and foliage a real hazard for small boats I would think but still there were plenty of small boats out there. It was cool to see the large propaganda posters still have their place even though the country appears to have embraced a capitalist economy with as much passion as Australia or the U.S. One thing that we did not see was anything to be worried about – seems like the concierge from the hotel was more concerned about drumming up business for their restaurant than telling us the truth when we asked about going out on ourfirst night.

As I said earlier the food was amazing and the first day set a trend for our time in Saigon, we stopped for lunch twice on top of dinner and breakfast. Kelly made the arrangements for dinner and we ate at this beautiful old place (The Temple Club) that had really cool tiles on the floor and again great food. I was thinking nice to have at least one expensive dinner while we are in Saigon – three courses and cocktails cost us less than $20 between us. We also found a great ice cream place on our travels so after dinner we did it up nice and enjoyed some ice cream at Fanny.We had done a lot of walking and were in bed early.

Having covered off a lot of the Lonely Planet ‘must see’s’ on the first day we had to go a little further into the bustling burbs to see the things on our list for day two. We legged it again (have to work all of this food off somehow).

First stop was the War Remnants Museum. Our first reaction was Luca would love this place. There were at least 50 actual U.S. tanks, planes, helicopters, mounted grenade launchers and flame throwers from the “American War’ as it is called over here. I’ve got to say the museum was generally a let down, lots about the brutality of the US and how agent orange is impacting people in Vietnam even today, a really great area dedicated to war photographers from all sides with some amazing photo’s – but nothing that would given an insight into the day to day life in the jungle for the VC or NVA or how much ingenuity went into building the underground tunnels. The war ended nearly 40 years ago and the Vietnamese people don’t seem to think anything of it, it is ancient history, they are more concerned with making a buck, so the blatant anti-US sentiment at the museum definitely seemed out of place.
Now for the clanger of the day. I had read somewhere that there was a really cool Chinese Pagoda (The Jade Pagoda) that we should see. It was a long, long, long walk in 95 degree weather. For the first time we doubted ourselves while crossing the road on the way there and nearly got mowed down. When we finally made it to the Pagoda, what a disappointment! It was really sketchy, there were old people selling these nasty looking turtles for people to throw into this pond (more like a well) that had four fold more turtles in it than it should hold, there didn’t appear to be any moving water in/out of the pond so it was really smelly.

The only saving grace was that on the long walk back we ran into the lunch place that only had two things on the menu and was full of locals. We sat down ordered the two things on the menu and immediately wanted more. When we made it back to the hotel, we did a little relaxing by the pool with a Singapore Sling (I know, another country but they are nice). Kelly ended the day with a foot massage.

Halloween

2011-11-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a blast, the kids loved every second. Luca was Captain America, I am using my influence while I still have some, and Scout was a pink Bat Girl. As the kids are a bit older we decided we would do Jack-O-Lanterns this year. The two pumpkins were a bit hard to find, but ended up being a huge hit. We were the only house with pumpkins and the kids enjoyed showing them off and handing out candy to the trick-o-treaters as much as their own trick-o-treating. Pics of the kids in their costumes, Scout's funny face is on account of her "punching the bad guys". -kel

16 Years Later

2011-11-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Mark had his first row in 16 years. Back in the olden days...I mean before Mark moved to the US, he was a member of the Collaroy Surf Club where he rowed and competed in Surf Boats. This was a huge part of Mark's life, the teams, the winning, the loosing, the friends. I've seen the boats, met the friends and heard soooo many stories.

Last week Collaroy Surf Club celebrated their 100th year as a club. As part of the celebrations the kids and I got to see Mark in action for the first time in 16 years. The kids LOVED seeing daddy rowing the boat (Scout is still telling everyone) and I enjoyed seeing Mark with the "old timers" win a few races. Luca is already talking about when he will be rowing. Mark had a blast and was beaming all day, even if he was so sore he had a hard time walking! -kel

Sunday - by Luca

2011-10-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo. We saw a peacock bigger than a Cockatoo, it had a blue head and really big feathers at the back. We saw two elephants, a big elephant & a little elephant and they were holding hands by the tail and trunk. I wanted to see an echidna, we saw four of them, outside and in the dark, the one in the dark had a long yucky nose and was sticking it in a hole to eat. We floated in the sky in the sky train.

After, we went to Clifton Gardens to play on the toys and mommy made a nice lunch. We saw a beach and another beach across the water. We watched a big ferry drive past and another boat that looked like a ferry but was a tug boat. There were cool climbing toys and we were like Spiderman.

After lunch we took dad home and went to the shops and had ice cream.

It was a very good day.

The next Croc Hunter!

2011-10-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

Luca had a couple of days away with Grandma and Grandpa at their van on the beach about 90 minutes north of Sydney. Building on his Python exploits in Thailand he was keen to show his flexibility in animal handling.

Luca sporting an old school Pittsburgh Pirates lid (a la Chuck D) and a lizard

Father's Day

2011-09-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

No raincheck required this year, I got the full treatment for Father's Day.

It all started with our traditional present giving in bed before I'd even gotten up (actually I was pretty close to still being asleep). Luca was super excited about the day this year and started very early. He got to buy me a present of his choice at his school (a red lunch cooler with "Super Dad" written in yellow on the side), and he made chocolate rocky road which he said was a present that I could share with him. Kelly always gives the best fathers day presents because they usually involve something I can share with Luca and Scout, this year we all got "pantone" expresso coffee cups in different colours ("blue" for me, "red" for Luca and "pink" for Scout).

After we tried out the new cups with coffee and baby cino's I headed off to swimming with my dad. After the races we had a beer and then met my mum, Kelly and the kids at the local hamburger place "Curly's on the corner" - the only decent burgers around these parts.

Luca was also looking forward to leading my dad and I on a walk through the "jungle" around the headland from North Curl Curl beach to Dee Why beach. Luca and I did the same walk about six months earlier and it was cool to see how much he had grown, the last time I had to lift him up the improvised rock stairs at least twenty times, this time he did it all by himself.

Luca in the "jungle"

An awesome day that should happen at least half a dozen times a year! (Although there are probably some in our house who would argue that it already does).

Yum Cha

2011-09-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

On the platform waiting for the train.

Almost six years in Australia and this weekend reminded me once again how amazing the weather is down under! Spring has only just begun and Saturday morning it was 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky with a slight breeze. Some good friends invited us to Yum Cha in the city, so taking advantage of the beautiful Sydney weather and wanting a bit more adventure for the kids we took the train. The ride from the station to the city is only about 15 min, crosses the Harbor Bridge and stops at a few stations. Luca and Scout were glued to the windows and very excited on the way there and back.

Checking out one of the stations.

Yum Cha was delicious, the kids were very well behaved at the restaurant (maybe this is a benefit of our time in Thailand) our friends were doing well and we enjoyed catching up. Lovely weekend, with warm weather and tons of time outside. It's not quite beach weather yet, but my bet is we'll be in the ocean in the next few weeks. -kel

Thailand - Khao Lak pt.III

2011-08-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

It might not sound like it from the earlier blogs but we did get out of the resort, and not just to ride elephants.

The main town Bang La On (which most people refer to as Khao Lak) was about 20 minutes drive from where we were staying. The roads are pretty crazy even though this area is not massively developed, there seems to be a skinny outside lane closest to the curb where all the motorcycles/scooters ride (and there are a lot of those, often with two or three people on them, sometimes with a baby up front on the drivers lap) and then all of the cars, trucks and buses use the other lane and are prone to high risk over taking. 95% of the cars on the road are pickups and that seems to be so they can double as cabs. The local cabs have a welded steel riding section with canopy screwed to the back of the pickup, so we were hanging on to the kids each time we rode in them for fear of losing them overboard - definitely a different experience.

If Scout moves to Thailand she wants a scooter in pink!

The town had some really great restaurants, a couple of 7Eleven's (where we picked up beer and snacks), a lot of shops that sold knock-off surfwear and a number of tailors and optometrists. It was really hot cruising around in the shops and after the first trip into town we decided that it was no fun for the kids so we got a sitter the next time we went in.

The second time we went in we had two objectives 1) find a tailor to copy a favourite pair of trousers of mine and a jacket of Kelly's, and 2) visit the local markets.

When the cab driver found out we were after a tailor he went on about the best tailor in the area and insisted we go there. The place was a mile and a half out of town and the driver promised that once finished someone at the tailors would give us a ride into town. Undoubtedly the driver got some form of kick back from the tailor for bringing in business and although we were aware of this we chanced it and it was a mistake. The tailor did not have great fabric so we decided to check the multiple tailor options in the town proper, but with no business there was no ride into town. With limited time and 32 degrees C temp the mile and a half walk into town was something we didn't want to face so we started walking in the opposite direction toward the local markets where we had seen some cabs (this was a bit less than a mile away). We had only just started walking along the side of the road, watching out for the scooters buzzing by us (no sidewalks here), when we saw a cobra and a cat in a stand off about 10 feet from the side of the road. We didn't care too much about the scooters at that point and found the next taxi in record time.

When we finally made it to the local markets we had a good time, again a lot of knock-off stuff but also all sorts of fruit and veg and some interesting stall food. It was a lot of fun and I guess our luck turned while we were there because no sooner had we finished with the market and were sitting down in a restaurant across the street enjoying a beverage then the heavens opened up.

Local markets

One of the highlights of our last couple of days was letting off paper lanterns on the beach at night and watching them fly off into the sky until you couldn't see them any more. All up there were probably one hundred lanterns let off in the space of 20 minutes so they made a continuous line of fire in the sky as far up as the eye could see. The kids stayed up late to do this and they loved it.

Kel & Luca waiting for the hot air to fill their lantern before release

The journey home was overnight so it was much easier on the kids who slept most of the way. It was a magic family holiday making it hard to snap out of holiday mode and get back to work. We are already planning our next Thailand visit, probably in 2013, and we are hoping that some of the family and friends in the US can join us!

Thailand - Khao Lak pt.II

2011-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Le Meridien was awesome for more than just pools and food, there was a great activity schedule for kids and adults. There was a special kids indoor play centre called the Penguin Club that had everything from Playstation competitions through to crafts like t-shirt printing. Both Luca and Scout did a number of the craft classes but the stand out activity was the Thai boxing (Muay Thai) classes that Luca took. The kids dressed in the special Muay Thai boxing pants and boxing gloves and had lessons in a real boxing ring. There was no holding back as you can see from the photo's of Luca below.

Mosquito weight champion Luca Ferguson

For Kelly the favourite "activity" was the spa, which from her description sounded pretty decadent and awesome, and for me I enjoyed the garden tour. The guy who led the garden tour, Karn, became a bit of friend for me while we were there and whenever he saw us he would invite the kids to feed the Koi with him. There were some awesome ponds with pagodas built over them and all had masses of well fed, huge Koi in them.

There may have been a lot of Thai/Buddhist ornaments to choose from on the grounds of the resort but Scouty's favourite was a small statue of a Thai women that was outside of our room who was nicknamed the "booby lady" by Scout.

Scout and the "booby lady"

Thailand - Khao Lak pt.I

2011-08-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting on this one for a while - a well earned break in the tropics in the middle of the Australian winter. There was the not insignificant hump of getting there with Luca and Scout to deal with but once that was done it was automatic switch-off.

We stayed at the Le Meridien Khao Lak which was great, we had been going back and forwards with a place in Phuket as an alternative but both the facility and the region were the right choice in the end. We had adjoining rooms with a door between the two rooms which meant the kids had the own room and they treated it as there own , I was asked to leave and go back to my "holiday house" by Scout on more than one occasion.

Luca eating Dragon Fruit at breakfast

First morning we headed down to the buffet breakfast which really set the scene for the food on the entire trip. The buffet breakfast which catered for Asian customers, Europeans, healthy eaters and the egg and bacon crowd (me!) was the way to get things started right everyday. After that we didn't need lunch, so we were on a two meal a day plan with dinner alternating between one of the restaurants at the resort (Italian, Indian, Thai, Korean, Seafood) and a trip into the local town to eat awesome Thai food for next to nothing. As my lead off topic you can tell the food was a big hit, in retrospect my enthusiasm for the food experience was not even dampened by dealing with 20 sit down restaurant meals with Luca and Scout - which is more than they have had to deal with for all of the non-Thailand part of their lives.

Kelly and Scout on a waterslide - but who is having the most fun?

The other day one activity that was high on the list were the water slides. Before we arrived, Thailand was the land of water slides and elephant rides in Luca and Scout's eyes. Day one we spent a good six hours in the pool and went up and down the water slides roughly 50 times. As well as having our "own" pool virtually outside our apartment the resort had three other massive pools with two of them having partial accommodation for children. Most days we did between 4 and 6 hours in the pools over two stints.

The other week one activity we got straight onto was the elephant riding. Luca got a big kick out of it and got to ride up front with the jockey(?), Scout didn't let her reputation down for instant sleep in any moving vehicle and was asleep before we even hit the jungle. Post the elephant rides we saw a snake show where this crazy guy was kissing massive cobras and getting them to spit venom at him and then he put an 8 foot long Burmese Python's down his pants. At one stage he got Luca out of the audience (which was just the Ferguson family) and was just about to put a python down Luca's pants when we put a halt to that (we told the guy Luca already had one down there and it didn't like competition). These guys were persistent and when we were not paying attention for a second they had Luca holding another large python with no assistance from them while they were taking pics that they later sold to us. A bit of reality on this, at one point on the elephant walk through the jungle we passed where these guys lived, it was primitive, third world so a couple of bucks for a photo didn't seem like much to part with.

Elephant jockey and snake charmer - Luca Ferguson

We were only a couple of days in and had the two big ticket items for the kids well and truly covered. I married a (beautiful) well organised, over achiever - as if anyone who knows Kel had any doubts!

Cool Cats and Longy Headland

2011-07-17T01:42:00.000-07:00

As much as the upcoming family holiday to Thailand is on our minds we have still been making the most of our weekends in Sydney, inclement weather and all.

I swim early each winter Sunday morning in an ocean swimming club, the Cool Cats. Last night our club invaded the local fish and chip shop for a family social event. As you can imagine swimming in the ocean in the dead of winter attracts some strange characters and Kelly and the kids got to meet them all last night. The kids came along and were well looked after with copious amounts of seafood and a few unexpected presents, I enjoyed a few beers and a bit of banter and Kelly (apart from looking after the kids) recognised one of the guys as the bus driver that often drives her to work and so spent quality time talking about her morning commute. Given Kelly is also not a big seafood fan you can understand who got the best of that deal. I did try and make up for it by taking Kelly to breakfast on Saturday and having grandma look after Luca and Scout for a couple of hours.

With a break in the weather today Kelly got us all moving for a walk up Long Reef headland. The kids enjoyed getting out of the house and running up and down the grass hills and climbing rocks and we all enjoyed the view.

School Photo

2011-07-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Luca's 2011 School Photo. I can't believe how big he is growing, how clever he is and how much fun he is every single day. His teacher gave him great marks in his report and we couldn't be happier with how he is going at his "big boy" school. -kel

Taronga & Clifton Gardens

2011-07-09T00:51:00.000-07:00

Luca is on school holidays and has been living the life. In the space of a couple of days he has gone to sports camp with five of his friends from school, had his first sleepover at a friends house, went on a play date at another friends house and today we went the zoo and had a picnic lunch as a treat for both Luca and Scout.

It was a little cold when we first got to the zoo but it warmed into a beautiful winter day without a cloud in the sky. The highlight of todays zoo visit, apart from Grandma and Grandpa coming with us, was a gorilla fight with both protagonists put in their place at the end of it by a huge silverback.

Scouty riding a leopard seal

After the zoo we went down to a beautiful park by Sydney Harbour called Clifton Gardens, had a picnic lunch and the kids played in the playground and along the waters edge. Awesome day.

Luca at Clifton Gardens

Ballet Recital

2011-07-03T02:41:00.000-07:00

Pre-Recital

On stage

Scout had her first ballet recital today. She was adorable and loved every moment from the chit chat with her ballet friends, to being on stage. No tears, only big smiles from Scout. She was very enthusiastic and had a great time. The entire program was a bit like organised chaos. Luca was a super big brother, watching the entire performance and congratulating Scout on her performance by giving her flowers he had bought for her.

Mid performance

Mark and I were camera crazy, between the two videos and the 80+ photos we took, this event was well documented. On the ride home as we told Scout she was a wonderful ballerina, she said "I know...I am". What she lacks in skills she certainly makes up for in confidence! -kel

Cold and Rainy

2011-06-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a cold and rainy June - not too much has been going on - a few painting projects, hanging new pictures in the house and watching our peas and broccoli grow.

Kung Fuuuuuuuuuuuu!

2011-06-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

The most eagerly awaited movie of the year in the Ferguson household.

The Lilac Swim

2011-05-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday Mark participated in a charity ocean swim at Bondi Beach in the ocean pool. It was a freezing rainy day (water 20 C, air 17 C) and although his team made it to the second round they didn’t make the final. "The Lilac Swim" raises funds for the Nelune foundation which supports cancer patients, finals or not, he had a great time supporting a very good cause.

That’s Mark in the middle, looks like he’s saying a prayer? What was Mark praying for anyway…that his picture wouldn’t be published in The Telegraph wearing a speedo, or that I wouldn’t post the pic on our blog so all of our friends who don’t read the Sydney papers wouldn’t miss out? -kel

Autumn

2011-05-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

Autumn in Sydney is so fantastic, the weather is chilly, but not cold and for the most part the sun is shinning. We've always found this a great time of year to explore Sydney, since most of the summer we are at the beach. Saturday we took a trip to the Inner West. First up we checked out the Orange Grove Public schools markets. Particularly cool, as Mark's parents were with us, and Mark's dad actually went to school at Orange Grove. He started Kindergarden there in 1944, by his account the school hadn't changed much.

The kids were interested in Grandpa's reminiscing, but they were ecstatic about the pony rides. Scout was crazy after the pony ride, she was running and jumping up and down, she absolutely loved it. She is proving to be such a girly girl, ballet, ponies and refuses to leave the house unless she is wearing pink!

After the markets we played in a huge pile of leaves, there aren't many places in Sydney with traditional autumn leaves, this was a great treat for the kids who loved every second of the running, jumping and falling around.

Of course a day in the Inner West wouldn't be complete without a trip to The Three Weeds, our favorite pub. All in all a terrific Autumn day. Something tells me we'll be back at Orange Grove Markets for pony rides within the next month! -kel

Ballet

2011-05-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Ballet classes have started again. Scout is still loving every second of her class. Her classes are in a Girl Scout hall, and typical of all such halls in Australia, they are not heated. So yep, Scout is now rocking the 80's style leg warmers for ballet, seriously she LOVES them, not to mention her new ballet dress. Let's just hope all of her enthusiasm is helping her with her gracefulness and flexibility. -kel

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T03:42:00.000-07:00

Fabulous weather, beautiful kidos, the most amazing husband ever. Mothers day was perfect. Luca was particularly adorable, excited all week for Mothers day, and thrilled to bits that I liked the coffee cup he bought for me at the school's Mother's Day shop and that I wore the bangle he made me all day.

I feel like I joined a very special club today, I officially became one of the moms sporting the very, very obviously kid made jewelry on Mother's day. As seriously gaudy as the bangle is (bright purple with various butterfly stickers stuck on at random) I wore it with pride and was actually thinking I'll make a point of wearing it around him as much as possible, I loved it.

We had donuts, very yummy coffee, tons of cuddles, nachos, smoothies, a play in the park, and and adventure to Avalon. We bought a new painting (totally unexpected, but for those who have visited our house, the big blank wall will be blank no more!), played at the park and had a very yummy brisket for dinner. A wonderful Mother's day.

Here are a few pics, including my most favorite photo of my mom and I, not from today, taken in the spring if 1978. Happy Mother's day. -kel

Taronga & Gunners

2011-04-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

A visit to the zoo has been on our list for a while but we haven't been able to go the last few weeks because of various other things we had on - finally we got a clear day so we were off.

The zoo has some of the best views of Sydney and is generally a nice place to walk around and being ten minutes from our house it is a real winer with Kelly and I. The highlights this time were two baby elephants who were playing a game of trying to push each other into the water and a very large tiger who was walking back and forward across it's enclosure literally a couple of inches from us (separated by glass).

After the zoo we headed to our favourite picnic spot and the food Kelly made was so good that this crazy Kookaburra dive bombed Luca trying to get his sandwich. It was definitely hungry, when we finally threw it some bread it nearly ripped the leg off a crow who got a bit too close. All this and home in time for Scout's nap - a great Saturday morning.

Easter Eggs and Local Views

2011-04-05T11:49:00.001-07:00

Action packed weekend just gone, as well as bowling, we took in a lookout a few minutes up the road from us (scouting out a future bushwalking path to take Luca on) and spent a beautiful Sunday picnicing and hunting for Easter eggs with families from Luca's school.

A priceless moment when, while trying unsuccessfully to calm Scout, who was chucking a wobbly for not getting a pink basket to collect eggs in, the Easter bunny showed up and she instantly went from scrunched up mad/sad face to wide eyed amazement.

Bowling

2011-04-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon we took the kids bowling for the first time. Luca loved it, after his first go he said to me "this is sooooo fun mom". For the kids there were bumpers and ramps not to mention the shoes which accounted for a lot of dancing by both. I've never seen the ramps in the US, but they were fantastic and really made the game fun for the kids. Scout was winning for the first half of the game, she didn't love bowling as much as Luca but I am attributing that to some lingering tonsillitis she's been battling all week. Luca's been asking to go back again, so we'll see how Scout fairs in round two. Here are some pics from our adventure. Oh, and I lost, yes a 2 year old beat me at bowling! -kel

7 Mile Beach

2011-03-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights away down on the NSW mid-south coast (about 2 hours south of where we live) at a place called 7 Mile Beach - which is located on a seven mile beach strangely enough. We went with eight other families from the "mother's group" that Kelly joined when Luca was born. So lots of adults and even more kids. Kelly's first experience of caravan park holidays Australian style - although we stayed in beach side cabins rather than trailers.

The weather was lousy so we didn't get to spend much time at the beach, more time spent keeping an eye on the kids who were running around everywhere having a great time. We had communal dinners for almost all meals and sat around chewing the fat and enjoying a few drinks ... for the most part pretty cruisy.

The cabins had a double bed and bunks, the bunks didn't work too well for Luca and Scout so they shared the double bed while Kel and I bunked it. Kelly being on the bottom was up and down all night trying to stop Luca and Scout sleeping on each other and ended up sharing her bottom bunk with the both of them. I snored away on the top bunk and didn't sleep too badly.

There was a Ferguson family side trip in Berry where we had a nice lunch and discovered the source of all that is good at the "Treat Factory". I enjoyed getting away with Kelly and the kids even if it was for a couple of nights. Kelly will sleep well tonight!

Rainy Autumn Day

2011-03-20T02:21:00.001-07:00

Scout's First Movie

2011-03-20T01:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a rainy and blustery weekend in Sydney. Saturday morning we headed straight to the movies to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was Scout's first trip to the movies. Both her and Luca had a blast, she watched the entire movie. The two of them are already talking about what movies we are going to see next...it's a long list at the moment. Looks like I know where we'll be spending some of the upcoming winter weekends. Here she is before the movie started complete with a HUGE lemonade and smile. -kel

Princess, Ballerina, Fairy

2011-03-11T16:09:00.001-08:00

Scout wearing all of her princess, ballerina and fairy gear at once! -kel

We love our mommy!

2011-03-07T01:53:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than seeing the kids after a day at work ... except when they are even more excited to see us.

Loungin' with mommy!

Last morning in Penang

2011-02-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

Heading home this afternoon. I can't wait to see the kids and Mark! This is a pic of the sunrise from my hotel room this morning. -kel

Dinner and the Market

2011-02-23T15:50:00.001-08:00

Last night after a long day in the office we headed out for dinner at a Hawkers Market. This was in a fairly touristy area but full of locals having their dinner. The food on offer was pretty varied and mostly Chinese as Penang is a mostly Chinese area of Malaysia. After dinner we headed to Batu Ferringhi market, it was pretty lame, stall after stall of knock off purses, watches and nick knacks. Not my thing at all, interesting, but no purchases for me. Tonight is another shopping adventure after work...-kel

Penang Malysia

2011-02-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

This week I am in Penang Malysia for work. Tonight we had dinner in an open air cafe with a tin roof. This "resturant" was pretty much street food with a roof. It was pretty crazy, especially when asked to go "choose" my dinner from the seafood tanks! The lighting wasn't that great so it was difficult to get pictures inside, but here is a pic of me and my dinner to be...it was soooo good! Tomorrow after work we are heading to the night markets at Batu Ferringhi should be another fun adventure. Missing the kids and Mark heaps, but hoping I can find them each a cool present at the markets tomorrow.-kel

Ice Cream You Scream we all Scream for Ice Cream

2011-02-17T04:17:00.000-08:00

Mark was at a work function tonight, so as soon as I got home we headed down to Manly for a special treat, ice creams and some good old fashioned sea gull chasing! We had a blast, the ice cream was super messy, Luca had chocolate and managed to get it in his arm pit in about 5 seconds. After ice cream we took a stroll down towards Shelly Beach, the kids ran after the sea gulls on the walk the entire way there and back. Poor sea gulls were just trying to get some dinner snacks from some of the many people enjoying early evening picnics and fish and chips, only to be harassed by my two! We pulled into the driveway at home at 7:45, kids were washed up and in bed by 8, sound asleep by about 8:01! So simple yet so fun. -kel

Happy Fathers Day

2011-02-15T04:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is the second holiday I have moved to a more convenient date in the last six months. To be honest, it's a total pain, but at the same time completely necessary. Australia celebrates Fathers day in September, normally cool not an issue, however last year we were in the States on holiday and amongst the fun times I totally forgot. The day passed, we didn't even call Mark's amazing dad, to wish him a happy Father's Day. Sooo....after being reminded once by Mark that I basically skipped the one holiday totally dedicated to him I decided to make good ASAP (certainly before Mother's day).

Marks Mom and I planned a surprise day at the beach complete with picnic and presents on Saturday...then Luca got an ear infection (no swimming for a week), ok picnic at the park, play on the toys lots of yummy food....then Saturday morning we woke up to rain, lots of rain (yes, just like halloween)...so we had a surprise Fathers Day picnic in Mark's parents living room.

Mark and his dad were very surprised. It was a totally fun afternoon, not at all what we had planned but fun none the less. Not to worry, this won't happen again, we'll never ever miss fathers day again.

None of this really sounds like high drama, but in reality, it was. Planning a surprise for them was really hard, trying to keep the kids quiet, quickly changing our plans every few days, and even at the last min when Mark's dad showed up at our house about an hour before I was supposed to get the whole family in the car under false pretenses and drive to his house to surprise him!

Every min of drama was totally worth it, when I look back a the last year and the amazing dad Mark has been as well as grandpa and father Mark's dad has been there are no two more deserving dad's out there. From fixing our leaking taps and endless hours of babysitting, building pirate ships and reading princess bedtime stories these two are the absolute best.

Happy Fathers Day Mark and Graham. -kel

Cottage

2011-02-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

Today was Luca's first day of Cottage at his new school. Cottage is the pre-school (3 days per week) program at the school where he will attend Kindergarden through year 12. Luca was pretty relaxed, happy that he was wearing a school uniform (all "big" kids wear uniforms to school in Australia), happy with his new big boy backpack and that he got a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls. Scout on the other hand was not so happy, she was insisting on going to big boy school too and having her own special breakfast. She even refused to say goodbye to Luca, to think we have another two years before she starts!

Luca and his best friend Sean both started "big boy" school today.

As we walked into the big school, I was a little misty, he is growing up so fast. With his hair cut and his total confidence I couldn't help but think how fast the last four years have gone. He is growing up into such a fantastic little man, we couldn't be more proud of him. -kel

Australia Day

2011-01-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

A 30+ degree day so it was the pool, followed by the pool, followed by a BBQ at our fiends Dieter & Katie's house where we spent time in the pool and then a quick dip in the pool when we got home.

Great to have a day off in the middle of the week and no better way to spend it than with close friends and family.

Luca & Scout eating sausage sambo's with their friends on Australia Day

Scout at 2

2011-01-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

She loves tomatos and 'ollies' (candy), Finding Nemo, climbing on ropes at the playground, turkey, her big brother, Tinkerbell, playing "What's the time Mr. Wolf" and doing "motorboat, motorboat" in the pool. She is beautiful and we love her like no other (except Luca of course).

Definitely more of a handful than Luca was at the same age, our little girl turns 2.

Arrrrrrrrggggg Matey

2011-01-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

Pirates invaded yesterday for Luca and Scout's birthday party. Figuring this maybe the only year I could ever swing a combined party we went all out with a great 4th and 2nd pirate themed birthday party. The kids had a blast.

Cupcakes, balloon swords, a treasure hunt, swimming in the Lagoon (our pool), lolly bags, tug of war and best of all a huge pirate ship in the backyard the kids and their 35 little guests + parents had a great time. Here are a few pics

from the big event.

A huge thank you to Mark's dad, once again he has surpassed all expectations with his craftiness this year. He made this pirate ship for the kids to play in, it was made entirely of cardboard, he even painted the floors to look like wood grain! The ship is still in the garden today, held up amazingly considering the "sailing" it did yesterday. Needless to say, the pirate ship was a huge hit! -kel

Emus vs. Lion-Tigers

2011-01-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

We are lucky to have Mark on holidays for the last two weeks. Our days have been filled with trips to the beach, park and the pool. Lots of small jobs around the house have been done, friends have been visited, wine has been drunk for lunch.

Today, with no real plans, we decided to go to one of our favorite parks (amazing views of the harbor, great kids toys, huge open fields) for a game of soccer and a play on the toys. The pre-game discussions were priceless, with Luca, Scout and I taking on Mark.

Here are a few comments:

Kelly: Sniff, Sniff, is that the smell of defeat in the air?

Luca: Daddy, Sniff, Sniff, I smell your feet.

Kelly: Tell daddy his hopes of winning are pipe dreams.

Luca: Daddy you dream of pipes.

Luca: GOAL!!!!!!!

I can't remember any of the other comments exactly, but I will say that I almost didn't want to play, because the comments from Luca were so much fun!

Oh and for the record the Lion-Tigers (Luca's team) won 7-1, Mark's team the Emus are calling for a rematch asap! -kel

Bubble-O

2010-12-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

A bubble machine for Xmas and some great weather

- boxing day in Curl Curl.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve swim in the pool.

The build up this year has been big, barely a day has gone by in December without Scout singing "jinga bells" or Luca asking how many more days until Christmas. The photo with Santa this year did not have to include Kelly or I, Luca asked for a scooter and Scout wanted "ollies" (lollies, candy) and there has been some extraordinary toy putting-away at bed time knowing that Santa is watching.

The big day arrives...

Luca and Scout just before they see the tree and presents.

Luca with the tree.

After seven "get-ups" between us during the night to get Scouty back to sleep, (this is a problem unrelated to Christmas), Kelly and I were dreading Luca's anticipation driven early wake up - but it came at something past 5 in the morning. Somehow Kelly convinced him to wait another 20 minutes in which time he fell back to sleep and we were able to delay the start of festivities until 7:15am.

Scout unwrapping "Snow White" her first "girl" movie.

There was zombie like wide eyes for a few seconds looking at the tree with all the presents, we somehow delayed Luca enough to read Santa's thank you note for the beer, cake and apples we left. The kids loved the present opening, as you would expect, and Luca took great pride when Scout and I opened the presents he had actually chosen for us.

Luca's present for Mark "Tiger Beer"

It was just us this year and it was nice as a change. We took our time opening the presents knowing we were on no schedule to get anywhere else, lunch was mostly leftovers from the delicious Christmas eve turkey dinner that Kelly had made and the afternoon was spent enjoying some nice Sydney, December weather in the pool.

Scout making lunch in the new kitchen Santa brought to her and Luca.

It was as chilled out a Christmas as I've ever had and I have a trail of chilled out Christmas's behind me. We did spend a fare bit of time on the phone to family in Perth and the U.S. and next year we will definitely be spending Christmas with family and we will enjoy it just the same if not more.

Scout and her new baby having a post unwrapping drink.

Our Christmas best wishes to all of our family and friends. Joy to the world.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T03:17:00.001-08:00

Soccer

2010-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Luca has been taking a soccer skills class for the last few months. Today was the last class before the holiday break, not only did Mark make it to the class to watch him score 3 goals (top scorer on his team (to be fair, some of the girls were sitting in the goal on the other side of the field)), he also was told he gets to move up a level next term. He loves his soccer and I couldn't be more proud of the little man!

Of course, he is all decked out in his Chelsea gear, this makes him a big favorite with the coaches! -kel

Summer afternoon

2010-12-10T18:25:00.001-08:00

Scout in our garden this afternoon. She is growing up fast and she is cheekier than ever! -kb

School Concert

2010-12-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Mark and I attended Luca's "End of the Year School Concert", Luca didn't sing a note, didn't even open his lips once! We aren't so sure if it was stage fright or distraction, he was totally not in to it. Mark and I had a few good laughs and the kids were really cute. He is growing up quickly, sitting in the seats with all of the parents it made me feel so grown up. Luca had a great year at school, Mark and I could not be more proud, seems like just yesterday we were taking him to his first day. The party afterward was great fun, and Luca had no hesitation participating in the cake eating! Here he is with his good friend Millie after the concert. -kel

The Big Guy hits four

2010-12-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

Present opening in bed, cinnamon scrolls for breakfast, a day at "his" beach, more presents in the afternoon and finally fish and chips with Grandma an Grandpa for dinner - a birthday any four year old would be happy with. To celebrate his dual nationality it didn't end there with phone calls and web cam's to family in the U.S. on his "American" birthday the next day.

He is getting bigger and more independent but still Luca is really very little trouble, he is a good, happy, fun kid ... happy birthday mate, we love you.

33

2010-11-29T00:38:00.000-08:00

These days it's pretty much impossible to get a family photo with all three of us smiling. For my birthday, Mark and more importantly Luca and Scout indulged me in a few picture taking attempts. Here is the one and only that we are all smiling in. I had a wonderful birthday, enjoyed the beach the fantastic weather, some great pressies and a night out in the city with Mark. This summer birthday stuff is the best, so beats the rainy November nights of the past!

33 sounds old when I say it out loud, but as you all know, Mark makes me feel much younger every time I say his age out loud! -kel

Summer pt I

2010-11-28T00:24:00.001-08:00

Ballerina

2010-11-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Scout started Ballet lessons a few weeks ago. While certainly not the most talented ballerina...yet....she loves it, absolutely loves it. I love it too, it's pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen, she is all thumpy and loud and her attempts at "gracefulness" turn out pretty much exactly the opposite. All of that being said, she has such a great time, is one of the most attentive students and keeps all of the mom's well and truly entertained. -kel

Agapanthus

2010-11-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Some Aussies consider Agapanthus weeds, I however love the flowers. Carefully cultivated in our front garden, they are about to start blooming. -kel

Halloween...A day late

2010-11-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treating on November 1st, yup! No it's not some Aussie thing. Luca was so excited for Halloween, all day yesterday talking about trick or treating, planning his route and singing Halloween songs (he made them up). About 3 PM, the flu hit big time, all over the bathroom and all over daddy. Luca had a fever and was not going anywhere. He was seriously bummed as all of the kids were knocking on our door (that he had decorated with jack-o-lanterns and bats).

So....I made a few arrangements with the neighbors, good friends and grandma and grandpa to do a little Trick or Treating today....everyone knows you can Trick or Treat on two days right??? Little did I know it was going to be pouring, and I mean pouring down rain all afternoon today. Would this hold my little Halloweeners back...no way! We went out, in wellies, rain coats, umbrella and we trick or treated. (close your eyes imagine seeing us on the street, a very very funny site, it was raining so hard it was like standing in front of a fire hose) Thank you to all of our lovely friends who made today so special for Luca. As we were walking home, Luca was gripping my hand for dear life as we crossed a raging river that formed on our street, he looked at me and said "this was the best mom, my treats are going to be so yummy." Soaked and all, we had a great time, it will certainly be a story I tell for at least the next 20 years...-kel

Since I don't have an underwater camera...this was the best pic I could get when we were finally home!

The Three Weeds - been down this road before

2010-10-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

The food and atmosphere are great and the kids can't cause too much havoc - we love the Three Weeds. The forecast was for rain, it was sunny but we went anyway and had a great time. A good reward for a Saturday of hard work for Kelly and I getting our raised garden beds to the brink of planting.

Rocket Launching is Serious Business

2010-10-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Mad Scientist

2010-10-24T20:06:00.001-07:00

Luca and I spent a day at the Powerhouse Museum with a few of his friends. The exhibits were fantastic, best of all Luca got to make slime. -kel

Da da da da da da da da Batman

2010-10-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

Things have been feeling pretty safe around here lately with frequent visits from a couple of super heroes.

After a month of hard work Luca filled up his reward chart and the "real" Batman called him to congratulate him and spent the night in our cabana where he left Luca his new Batman suit and few empty beer bottles he took from daddy's beer fridge. Holy Borracho Batman!

More Pacific North West

2010-09-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

We dropped in on Kelly’s grandma, Luca and Scout’s great grandma – Grandma Pitt – outside Olympia on the way from Seattle to Portland. Grandma Pitt always puts a good feed on and we get to catch up with Kelly’s cousin’s, uncle’s and aunt’s – I love visiting and always leave very full.

I played navigator for the trip into Portland with Kelly driving and between us we made it to Kelly’s mum’s new place without a hitch. Typical Portland weather though – just like a Sydney winter. We ate well on the entire trip but nowhere better than at Kelly’s mum’s. It’s unusual for me to say something trumps good food and beer but those things were not the highlight in Portland - Phil, Kelly’s step dad was the MVP getting us into the Adidas Co. store with a 50% off coupon. We left with five massive bags of stuff, including 9 pairs of shoes – it was like Christmas or a good dream and I must admit I was a bit dazed and confused walking around the store, slightly overcome with excitement.

We knew Luca and Scout were in great hands, again there would be no missing mum and dad, they weren’t even excited or sad to see us leave – seeya and a wave over the shoulder. We headed off to Steven and Renaun’s wedding in Sisters, Oregon.

I love road trips and although it wasn’t a long drive it was pretty cool going through mountains of central Oregon to get there. We stayed in a house with seven other people for the wedding, it was awesome fun and great catching up with a whole bunch of my Seattle friends. We were there Thursday through Sunday with events every night (one leading to a crazy pitch black walk home across a golf course, which at night seemed like some type of Lewis and Clark adventure but in daylight was all of 200 meters). During the day we did some swimming (horse riding for Kel), lots of sitting around reading, shooting the breeze, watching college football, drinking and eating. The wedding itself was amazing, the backdrop was probably the most spectacular I’ve seen with a lake and twin snow topped peaks (The Sisters) behind it. Lots and lots of dancing and drinking.

The next days was a rush but all for a good reason. Up early and out before the rest of the house was awake, lunch in Portland with Kel’s mum (great take-out burgers), pick up the kids, a quick stop to say “hi” to Gram Pitt on the way through and back to Seattle. That night we went to see Ray Lamontagne in concert – a favourite of Kelly’s, she had been tracking his movements around the world trying to line up a concert and it all worked for us in Seattle. It was superb, totally won me over – it was definitely worth the mad day.

The final adventure, a few nights up in the San Juan’s with Tiff, Jeff and Abe. We stayed on the beach on Decatur Island in a massive beach house. This part was probably the most fun for the kids, they had the run of the place inside and out, we went crabbing which Luca loved (the crab fights between the “keepers” as we threw them down in hole of the boat were his favourite), picked blackberries, went kayaking, rode bikes, saw deer and seal lions and generally chilled out.

A final hurrah a breakfast with a bunch of friends at Pat and Katie Perkin’s beautiful house and then a much more successful and rather uneventful trip home. Sydney is home but Seattle is my second home – I miss it.

New York

2010-09-30T12:43:00.003-07:00

We flew into town behind the remnants of a hurricane which left awesome weather for the entire time we were in NY - the only time we complained was on the morning of our arrival when after the red-eye from Seattle we couldn't get into our room for about five hours after our arrival. But all good, we didn't waste a second. We were staying at the "W" on Lex and 50th so while we were waiting for the room we did some exploring around mid town and Kelly even managed a bit of shopping.

The first night we ate at P.J.Clarke's - more of a local place and they do a great burger. A few beers some great pub food - a blast.

Beyond any allowance for time difference we were just happy to sleep in while we were in NY and my mate Matt Malloy caught us on the second morning still in bed at 10am - the funny thing is he called at 11:00 the next day and we were just sitting down for breakfast and he wasn't shy in giving us a hard time.

After our less than early wake up on Sat morning we headed down to Soho and had breakfast at Balthazar. Kelly loves this place, it is a really cool NY bistro in a French style, it is massive. We ate at the bar, which I always enjoy - the food lived up to the hype. The rest of the day we went our separate ways, Kelly to do some intensive shopping while I went to a few galleries and flee markets but I also couldn't resist the shops.

Sunday morning was fun, we headed uptown to Central Park East, great breakfast at this small bistri Viand, a real NY experience. Further north, we were headed to the Whitney and some other shop that Kelly really wanted to go to (I think I have a mental block on the name because it was a bit too much for me). Anyway "the" shop was not open when we got there so we went and listened to the buskers in Central Park for a bit and did some people watching, given the beautiful weather I stayed there while Kelly did some shopping. We then went to the Whitney for a Lee Friedlander photography exhibition - very cool.

My friend Matt had his driver come pick us up and we headed out to his place in New Jersey for the afternoon. Matt and Lacey are awesome, lots of good times with them, so it was a real pleasure to see them. It was Labor Day and we went to a BBQ at some of their friends place. Their friends were really nice and very hospitable, I got a little hammered as did the host and so sometime after the sun had disappeared he took Matt and I on a quad bike ride through the woods that back onto their property. Anyway, at some point we came out of the woods and onto a public road, so you have three drunk guys without helmets and insurance coming face to face with a police car. Long story short - we get a ride back to the party in the police car and lucky the hostess of the party is a local public defender who specialises in representing police - a slap on the wrist and off we went, very lucky. Back to Manhattan that night - but a fun time, although too short, with the Malloys.

Our last day! No wasting time, back downtown on the subway and another beautiful day. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with a hoarde of other people. Brought some lunch in a deli in Dumbo and ate by the East River in a cool park. Something a little different and great fun.

By the end of the day we were both looking forward to getting back to see Luca and Scout. We had spoken to them and knew we were hardly missed, Luca getting to sleep in a fort (aka cardboard white goods box) in the lounge room the entire time we were away. Don't know if we can top that one.

Seattle

2010-09-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

It was hard to look too far ahead to the great time I knew we all were going to have when we had about twenty hours of flying and layovers ahead of us with Luca and Scout. Luca was great on the long haul from Sydney to San Fran but Scouty was a bigger issue, she didn't sleep for the first 10 hours of the trip and it was with significant creativity and patience that Kelly and I somehow kept her occupied enough not to disrupt anyone else. We had a four hour layover in San Fran which was too much for Luca, we now had two tired, bored and disoriented kids to get across the line. Thank goodness we were flying Virgin America to Seattle, the super gloss white interior with blue neon lighting allowed Luca to convince himself he was on a space ship and Scouty finally just crashed. Seattle! We made it.. all luggage and people in tact.

We invaded Kelly's sister's place and now we were in town things just kept getting better with Tiff and Jeff having a case of cold Pacifico ready followed by dinner from Red Mill. Ohh yeaah!

Thinking back I am confused about the exact shopping order but I know Kelly hit the trifector of U.Village, The Rack and the Marysville outlets all in the first two days. We were already eyeing a new suitcase to carry the stuff home and we had only been in the U.S three days.

On Saturday afternoon I caught up with some good mates Bret Anderson and Chris DiRe, with Bret arranging tickets to the Sounders game. Football (soccer) in Seattle has become a huge deal, I enjoyed the game but better still was the chance to catch up with a bunch of friends. A quick stop into Cowgirls Inc. after the game was amusing. The next day we spent the afternoon with Chris DiRe and his wife Barb - I miss my friends in Seattle even more than the food and beer, some quality, quality people.

The following week saw us hit some of our favourite food options, some more than once (Dick's), go to the aquarium, do even more shopping but mostly hang out with Kelly's family and get to know Luca and Scout's new cousin Abe. Uncle Jeff worked a miracle with Luca who was totally fearful of dogs, getting him to become great friends with their dog Gus. Scouty took great delight in using the sternest voice she could muster to tell Gus to "sit" or "vacuum" (clean the floor) - as much as I can imagine Tiff and Jeff were happy to get their house back when we left I bet Gus was even more relieved to be rid of Scout.

Seattle is full of great memories and some even more special than others. Part of the reason for coming to the US at this time of year was so that we could make it to our friends Steven and Renaun's wedding and we had a fun night out with them at La Carta Oaxaca in Ballard. An awesome restaurant (the food was even better than I remember), but even more important to Kel and I it was venue for our first ever date.

We visited some cool playgrounds and I took Luca to see my old house and to Gasworks Park. It was great to show the kids around and have time to spend with them, the only downside is it gets harder to catch up with people at night.

The end of the week and we headed north to Burlington where Kelly did much of her growing up. I know Kel enjoyed showing the kids around a little bit to add a bit of balance given we live in the middle of where I grew up and see every school I went to on a weekly basis.

While Scouty and Luca bonded with their grandparents Kelly and I relaxed on shuttle back to Seattle on our way to four kid free days in Manhattan.

Kangaroo

2010-08-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny Sunday morning, about as warm as a hot summer day in Seattle, so we headed out to the zoo. The kids had a blast petting the kangaroo and sheep, touring the new Tasmanian Devil exhibit and having a picnic with amazing harbor views. Just as Mark and I commented on the amazing weather, the sky darkened, the temp dropped by 3 degrees C and a big thunder/hail storm ensued! A quick dash through the zoo and we got to the car just in time, a bit wet but giggling none the less. -kel

Fashionista Pt.II

2010-08-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

As Kelly said in "Fashionista" our girl is developing a style all of her own, and god help you if you try and change the clothes she wants to wear! Winter Parkwear 2010.

Bordeaux

2010-07-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Some times you just have to be happy with a small win - I got to spend a week in Bordeaux for work swapping the middle of winter for the middle of summer. I missed Kel and the kids the whole time, but rather than missing home I was wishing they were with me, they all would have had a blast.

Bordeaux is basically all UNESCO World Heritage listed, it is beautiful (see a few of the snaps). We stayed in the centre of town so it was a week of cafes and pastries, seafood rather than snails and some OK Bordeaux red. A small side trip out to the beach in Arcachon, which was significantly different to the Sydney beach experience.

In all a long way to go for the week but I'd take again next winter without any complaints, I'd just take Kelly along.

Builders

2010-06-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

After reading this blog post today, Luca and Scout thought they better get to work practicing their building skills for our upcoming visit to casa de Christianson. You just never know when the "newly accredited LEED professional" will put them to work. -kel

A day on the train

2010-06-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Luca and Scout don't get to ride public transport that often and we know from the few times we have done it that Luca, probably like most little boys, loves riding the bus, train and ferry. We had a couple of errands to run in the city so for something different we caught the train in across the Harbour Bridge. We don't live on the train line so it is a little out of the way but any small inconvenience was well worth it to watch Luca's reaction - he hasn't stopped telling us how "SUPERFAST" the train travelled and he was absolutely enthralled the whole way there.

Stinky Feet

2010-06-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Luca has taught Scout all kinds of things...how to ask for more, how to give hugs, how to smell her feet. Yep that's right super handy and useful, Luca has her smelling her stinky feet on daily basis. I can only imagine the tricks he will be teaching her in the future. -kel

Rainy weekends

2010-06-04T04:45:00.001-07:00

It's been nothing but rain, rain, rain here for the last three weeks. When I say rain, I mean pouring down soaked to the bone rain the second you step outside rain. Rain in Sydney, nothing like rain in Seattle!

The rain stopped last Sunday for all of an hour, Mark and Luca took advantage and headed out for some exploring. They came home full of smiles, a bit wet and faces covered in chocolate "whiskers".

Forecast for this weekend....rain! -kel

Fashionista

2010-05-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

She is developing a style all her own!

Auckland, New Zealand

2010-05-26T15:33:00.001-07:00

May has been a busy month. We've been up to all sorts of craziness, the weather has changed to non-stop constant pouring rain making getting two kids in and out of the car a serious challenge, Mark's started winter swimming and I've been traveling for work.

Last week I was in Auckland, New Zealand for business. Coincidentally one of the girls who works for me was also there the same week conducting our annual stock count at DHL. I extended my trip by one day to experience the stock take first hand. In the past I've had the pleasure of sitting in the office and signing off the final figures, not this time. I was harnessed up to a forklift and sent to count on the highest shelf, about 3.5 stories high in the warehouse. It was pretty amazing, the DHL team thought we were crazy with all of the photos I took, but here are a few. Seriously we were really really high and it was a bit scary. The stocktake was successful, we practiced our New Zealand accents ate pineapple lumps and even had enough time for a quick shopping trip before crossing the Tasman to come home! -kel

Mothers Day

2010-05-08T22:52:00.001-07:00

A beautiful day, casual lunch, play at the park and two adorable kids. I was even spoiled with a lovely new necklace. We had a fantastic Mothers Day. -kel

Hanging on the Porch

2010-04-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday while Mark mowed the lawn the kids watched from the porch. They had a snack and were playing so happily together. I tried to capture this moment on film...I have so becoming the annoying Mommy saying "smile...smmmmiiiiilllleee...Luca, Scout look at mommy, over here...smile." I gave up after about 50 shots, thank goodness for digital cameras! -kel

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T02:57:00.000-07:00

After a casual Easter morning at home, a walk to the park and a beautiful day in Sydney we headed to a friends house for the mothers group Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Bunny left foot prints marking the way, Luca and Scout both filled their baskets and had a blast. Happy Easter wishing you and your family all the best! -kel

Pearl Beach

2010-04-01T11:54:00.001-07:00

It's been ages since we have had a weekend getaway. Kelly and her friend Katie found a great place at Pearl Beach on the Central Coast of NSW about 90 minutes from where we live. The Central Coast has grown with a lot of people commuting to Sydney however Pearl Beach has somehow remained largely immune to these changes and is an isolated area, very leafy, with no shops other than the local cafe and filled with weekenders.

The weather was superb for this time of year, 29 degrees C (I think that equates to the high 80's F) so we spent a lot of time walking to grab coffee's and checking out the neighborhood, playing in the yard of the place we rented and swimming at the beach.

Our friends Dieter and Katie have two boys who are a couple of years older than Luca but who are great at including him so he had a blast and got to sleep in the room with them. Scouty just had a lot of new exploring to do and was racing everywhere. Great food (thanks Kel) and great company, a relaxing way to spend a weekend while not being so far from home.

Breaking in the new picnic blanket

2010-03-22T02:54:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of years Kelly has made some awesome quilts and it pains me each time she gives one away. We get to keep the newest one and on Sunday we gave it a run with a picnic at our favourite Harbour spot.

Although we are now well into fall, summer really hasn't left and we are still getting days (weeks) in the 90's. Great weather for an early morning visit to the zoo before heading off for our picnic. The kids love the zoo and because we only see a small amount each time they get to see new things quite often. One place we always visit is the farm animals and petting zoo - this week they both got to pat rabbits and blue tounge lizards.

The blanket got a good workout, ants and all, and mummy and daddy got an even better workout keeping Scout out of mischief.

Scout

2010-03-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

She is so much fun...and I get to dress in her pink! -kel

Scout Lingo Lesson #1

2010-03-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

I haven’t done a lingo lesson in a long time. We’ve recently had a friend visiting from the states who pointed out all sorts of my funny slang. I hardly seem to notice anymore…

Scout is starting to talk , while there is no discernible Aussie accent it might be because her vocabulary is fairly limited:

Mamma –
Please give me that object right in front of me, no not that one the other one.
or
Please give me whatever Luca has NOW.
or
I am hungry.
or
Please pick me up.
or
Don’t put me down.
or
Luca pushed/kicked/bumped/wrestled/grabbed or took something from me.
or
I want to go outside even if it is night/rainy/blazing hot.
or
I want to climb the cement stairs even if I am hardly able and basically look as though I am going to fall and crack my tiny head right open at any moment.
or
Please give me the remote control for anything, I am not picky, the stereo, tv, computer, hard drive etc as long as there are lots of buttons to push.
or
Look at me I am jumping on the bed/couch/foot stool and at any moment I will fall off.

Occasionally we get a bye, night night, daddy or papa out of her, but mostly it’s just mamma for everything all the time at various volumes and speeds!

Photo of Mark and Scout in the doorway to the kids room, one would think, being the daddy's girl she is, her word of choice would be dadda not mamma! -kel

A Step Toward Independence

2010-02-08T02:52:00.000-08:00

A momentous day for all of us. Luca started pre-school today and he did it in style. To ease him into it he only had to go for an hour today. We had been building school up for the past week but deep inside I think Kel and I had expected a hard separation... but how wrong we were. Luca had a bit of a death grip on my hand as we approached the school but as soon as the gate was opened and the teacher invited him in, he walked in turned around once and said "bye" to Kel and I and walked off into the classroom like he'd been doing it for years. We picked him up after an hour and he told us he had a great time. Mum and dad were proud, relieved, happy and sad all in five mins ... our boy is growing up.

Toy Story in 3D

2010-01-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Luca really hasn't been to the movies at the cinema before so it was with a lot of ambition that I took him to the Toy Story double feature. Added complexity in that it was the 3D version so he had to wear glasses the entire time. But with a monster tub of popcorn for help he did exceptionally well to make it through about three hours of movies without a single complaint, he just said about 3/4's the way through the second movie we can watch the rest at home dad and he got up to leave.... and so we were off.

Bad light, no flash and a phone camera but you get the idea from the photo... we had a lot of fun, as did Luca's Buzz Lightyear and Woody action figures who came with us.

Zoo

2010-01-25T14:14:00.001-08:00

As one of Scout's Birthday presents we got an annual family pass to the Sydney Zoo. The zoo is only about 20 min. from our house, has fantastic exhibits and amazing views over the Sydney Harbor. It was a cool and cloudy day when we went, but the kids had a blast. Here are a few pics from our trip. I am sure with an annual pass we'll have many more pics to share! -kel

One

2010-01-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

Today Scout turned one. My how quickly this last year has gone. Here she is this morning enjoying a yummy breakfast. She is cheeky and adorable, super cuddly and one of the happiest kids I know. Her curls are turning a redish blond and growing so long that barrettes or piggy tails are now a daily must. We love you Scouty, here is to another fantastic year! -kel

Super Mark

2010-01-18T02:43:00.001-08:00

9:30 PM last night, kids in bed, washing up finished, time for a Sunday night movie, that was until we were interrupted by a visitor…

Mark pulled off a minor miracle, proved his true and unwavering love for me and fought off a lizard running around our house with a toy reindeer. Seriously people this was funny stuff, the lizard was like a speed demon at one point running all over our ceiling.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Mark lately? He is funny, really funny fighting a lizard with a toy reindeer, and super handy to have around when it comes to reptile repellent.

I didn't capture last night on film, but with skills like these I felt this photo did Mark's super awesome-ness justice!–kel

(ps neither the reindeer nor the lizard were harmed)

Swing

2010-01-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Scout loves the swings, here she is today having a blast. Below with Luca on the slide, looking at that sibling love. -kel

North Curly Park

2010-01-11T08:56:00.001-08:00

We are lucky to have a number of awesome playgrounds within walking distance of the house. While the park at North Curl Curl Beach is not the one we get to most often we have been making our stops there over the years.

from our garden

2010-01-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

This year we've tried a few veggies in the garden.

We've had great success with lemons and oranges and have now branched out to spring onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli and jalapenos. So far everything has been fantastic, we are now harvesting the tomatoes and have just pickled the last of the cucumbers. We are loving every moment of summer and our new veggies are keeping both Luca and Scout gowing like weeds. -kel

Scouty's First Christmas

2009-12-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

Santa feasted on a chocolate and caramel candy Koala, peaches and a kids take-out coffee cup as he stacked presents under the tree. The reindeers, or more likely the 12 white boomers (Kangaroos), that carry Santa's sleigh across Australia were heard in the front yard during the night; and there was great anticipation from Luca at what Santa would bring.

Definitely an awesome Christmas mainly because Luca is at the age that it all comes together. Luca even made a big effort to speak with Santa at our annual pre-Christmas trip into the city to meet the man in red and white this year whereas last year there were only tears (Scouty more than made up for things in the tear dept. however and mummy and daddy ended up in the Santa photo again!).

We had a leisurely opening of presents at our place in the morning. Leisurely because Luca wants to take everything out of the box that he gets and play with it immediately and because we try and get Scout to show as much interest in the presents as in the wrapping paper (which if we are not careful ends up in her mouth).

After opening presents we headed up to my parents house for lunch and a swim before heading home for some left over Turkey and crash.

A great day to reflect on how lucky I am and what a great family I have.

- M

Christmas Eve

2009-12-30T21:55:00.000-08:00

Since we moved into our new house three years ago we have been inviting friends and family over to kick off Christmas celebrations with an amazing dinner that Kelly spends days getting ready. The highlight is always the turkey, people don't cook turkey's so much over here (they are expensive and also there is no Thanksgiving) and everybody at dinner always marvels at how big the bird is.

This year we were joined by family from both sides we had a great time and ate and drank till we dropped (almost). Post-dinner clean up there is always just enough energy to get things all ready for the kids big day.

Mark & Kelly with Mark's sister Susie and her husband Clayton

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all.

- Mark & Kelly

sprinkler

2009-12-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

We ignored the water restrictions, had some very funny laughs, threw off Luca's clothes and turned on the back yard sprinkler...fantastic!

Luca had a blast!

2009-12-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday we hosted Luca’s Intergalatic Space 3rd Birthday Party. I can’t believe Luca is 3, he is growing up so fast, seems like just the other day we were taking him home from the hospital!

Luca had a blast at his party. There were cakes, lollie bags, rocket painting and a rocket landed in the back yard just for the party (homemade by Mark’s dad). The weather was perfect, warm but not hot, we served egg and bacon rolls and everyone had a swim. Luca really enjoyed having all of his friends over and on Sunday asked Mark if he could have his party again today. Here are a few photos from the big adventure. -kel

Noosa photo's

2009-11-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

Noosa Heads

2009-11-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

Luca at main beach Noosa

As a joint birthday gift to ourselves we took a five day holiday to Noosa on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with kids in tow. The plan was to stay near the beach and not get a car so that there was little organising required, just a ton of time to relax at the beach and the pool with the kids. The holiday was everything we had hoped for, and with all that mum & dad time in the pool, Luca's swimming has come on enormously.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T02:49:00.000-08:00

This week we took a family holiday to Noosa, QLD. (More on the trip with photos later.) A highlight of the week for Luca were the wild turkeys wandering all over Noosa. We had no real Thanksgiving celebration here in Australia, apparently it was beach time, not feast time, for the Turkeys. -kel

There is a (new) New Fish in the sea

2009-11-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

Summer is here in a big way with a few 100 degree days lately and more coming this week. The pool is getting lots of use. Luca's swimming and enjoyment in the water is night and day versus last summer and Scout has a perma-grin whenever she goes in the water. Scouty's first swimsuit issue audition below (and as you can see she is still waiting for her two top front teeth... maybe she will get them for Christmas).