June already!

We've well and truly hit winter in Sydney this week. After a very mild fall things have gotten cold and rainy. Luca and I experienced the worst of it last Sunday morning while taking a dip with the Cool Cats. We swim in an open rock pool on North Curl Curl headland which is not the warmest place in winter whenever there is any sort of wind. Last Sunday we were standing waiting for our races to start watching as the two beaches south of us disappeared from view behind torrential sideways rain. Luca took shelter in a cave while I raced and then we had to make the climb back to the beach - I have no doubt it was the worst rain that Luca has been out and about in and it definitely rattled him a little bit. 

Luca - Orca's player of the week with his hype girl Scout

Luca made his debut at the Cool Cats this year (he is the youngest member by 20 years). He loves it and everybody loves having him down there. He is a celebrity. As the weather gets colder he wont swim but there is no way I will be able to stop him coming down to watch the swimming and wait for his chance to draw the raffle tickets each week. 

In addition to Cool Cats, Luca is also back playing football (soccer) with Seaforth - his team this year is called the Orca's - he is definitely having more of a go this year, doing well and having fun. Scout and Luca both do swimming lessons once a week and Scout also takes a ballet lesson.

We have also been making time to get out and explore around Sydney regularly with some fun trips to Avalon, Bondi and Paddington over the past couple of weeks.

So while no blogs for a while  we have been busy! 

Luca at Gelato Messina (our favourite) in Surry Hills

Road trip to Dubbo - Western Plans Zoo

Click on the following link to watch the video of our road trip to the Western Plains Zoo

http://youtu.be/L27bqYW3OlM

Scouty's very first day of school

Click on the following link to watch the video of Scout's first day at school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u1Ko-7Re9U

Rainy Australia Day long weekend

The kids are away with my parents and are having the time of their lives  - beach, pool, reptile park, fishing, fish and chips... all on day one. A great chance for Kelly and I to chill out in Sydney over the long weekend.

We went to a party on Saturday night on the other side of the city, lots of fun, good music, good beer and good pizza. Today, with a tropical cyclone off of the north coast of NSW dumping buckets on Sydney, we had a day of exploring around the southern fringe of the city. Great lunch at Koskela in Rosebery, a few furniture and design stores around Botany and then on the way home stopped in for some gelato at Messina on Crown St, Surry Hills. 

Scout's Birthday

Scouty Scout at 4

Our baby turns 4 tomorrow and starts at school (cottage) three days a week in less than two weeks. She is definitely ready for more adventure!

Scout never walks - always runs or skips everywhere, although by far her favourite mode of transport is on my shoulders. She is very loud at home and is generally not shy, although she definitely can have her moments. She gets a lot of joy out of everyday activities that she attacks with abandon like ... playing 'whats the time mister wolf', jumping waves at the beach, doing 'motorboat' in the pool and generally acting silly with Luca. She is very affectionate to Kelly and I and a big cuddle from Scout can set me on my way to a good day or take away any tiredness at the end of the work day. She likes music and her favourites are anything by Nicki Minaj, Georgia Brown by Kasey Chambers and she went through a big Gangnam Style phase this year often asking to watch the video so she could sing and dance with it. She likes her girly things, her jewellery and getting Kelly to put the tiniest bit of make-up on her will make her day. She is very competitive and not a good loser at anything from running races to snap (fairy snap). If you get her mad she will march off to her room or outside the house and sit and sulk for a few minutes then come back, announce that you are 'mean' and then forget the whole episode and play happily. She loves sneaking into our bed in the morning, although sneaking may be an exaggeration as she loves smacking her hand next to my pillow and yelling 'wake up' if she gets the chance - always fun when you are sound asleep at 5:30am. She has a sweet tooth and believes it is her birthright to have one piece (minimum) of candy a day. She has also taken to referring to herself as 'Scouto' lately.

I know she will always make me happy and I hope I can help her keep getting so much life out of life. We love our beautiful little girl and all of the energy and joy she brings to our lives. Happy 4th birthday Scouto!

Our first day back at work

To ease the pain of re-entry into work for 2013 Kelly and I both started with a half day Friday and then met up for some lunch and exploring.

We had lunch at a classic old Australian pub in Newtown called the Courthouse which has an excellent outdoor beer garden, perfect for an 85 degree summer day. Burgers, beer battered fish and chips and a few drinks down we were off exploring the streets of Sydney's inner west.

North Curly to Dee Why track

A bit of an off-day with the weather so we headed up to Luca's favourite hike - the cliff top walk from North Curl Curl to Dee Why.

When we were passing the cave in the picture above, Scout said - "Dad, did you know, when I was a baby we used to live in this cave". You learn something new every day! 

The wool cap Luca is wearing isn't a reaction to any sudden cold snap in Sydney, rather he was very self conscious of a large mozzy bite he had in the middle of his forehead and he didn't leave the house without the hat for two days.

Skating through the holidays

Our post-Christmas to New Year period has been cruisey to say the least. The weather has been mostly great, so lots of beach and pool time but also lots of downtime hanging around playing games with kids (Kelly has assumed ownership of Luca's Nintendo 3DS during the period), eating and drinking.

New years day was spent by the pool to avoid the craziness of the beach - as many people as I have ever seen at the local beaches and right through to 6pm. In the afternoon we all took turns of riding Luca's new skateboard at the park, well, all of us except Luca who was content on his scooter.

To our friends and family a happy new year and we hope the next 12 months brings you much happiness and of course we hope to see as many of you as often as we can!

Best wishes Mark, Kelly, Luca and Scout.

Christmas Eve

In our annual Christmas Eve tradition, the turkey is in the oven so we are in the pool! Party starts in a few hours! Happy Christmas!

Luca Jack Ferguson - 6 y.o.

The scheduling gremlins got it right for us this year so Kelly and I got to spend a load of time with Luca on his birthday.

We had the Ferguson family traditional morning bed present opening - plenty of Skylanders on the wish list this year. Kelly and I then took Luca to his favourite cafe, Pilu on Freshwater beach, for breakfast and a baby cino. We then did the school drop-off and Kelly brought in cupcakes for Luca's class so they could celebrate his birthday. We then went back to the school mid-way through the day for Luca's class graduation ceremony where he sang (as part of the class) three songs.

Just watching him enthusiastically singing was great and a testament to his growing confidence. It was only two years ago that we went to his concert and he wouldn't sing a thing, just sat there and looked at all the people looking at him. Luca is still a really mild mannered kid, he has a number of close friends and is conscientious and enthusiastic about school and is doing well. He loves his Nintendo 3DS and especially the games Skylanders and Skylander Giants, and he has a whole bunch of figurines that go with it. He is still a big fan of Pitbull, but he will sing a long to most songs Kelly and I like (except when Scout also shows interest in a song), he often cracks himself up by acting 'crazy' and saying silly things. He is still into his superheroes with The Avengers movie being a favourite of his this year.

We love the big guy so much he is a champion and the source of so much joy for Kelly and I. Happy birthday mate.

November - Gone in a Flash

Scout, Abe and Luca in Seattle

Luca, Scout, Harper and Drew at my Grandmas House

Luca and Scout riding a Dinosaur at the Sydney Zoo

Luca at Freshwater Nippers

Scout enjoying her first day at the beach this summer

Bondi beach chocolate mo

November was a crazy busy month with the kids and I taking a quick trip to the States, birthdays, summer soccer and Luca starting nippers. The month flew by in a flash; December is looking just as jam packed with sunny weekends spent at the beach, Luca and Mark's birthdays, Luca finishing Kindy and of course Christmas. Here are a few pics of our November adventures. -kel

Halloween 2012 - American Style

The kids and I were lucky enough to take a very quick trip to the states a few weeks ago, thinking ahead and to some of our past Halloweens in Australia, we landed on the 30th of October just in time for Halloween the next night.  To say Luca and Scout LOVED Halloween in the states was a slight understatement.  They had an absolute blast.  It was raining and freezing cold, but the adrenaline was running strong (they were also running from house to house).  

Quote of the night came from Scout "Halloween in American is so much more funner"!  We were lucky enough to be hosted by their Aunt Amanada and Nanna, who ensured a great route for the trick-o-treating as well as good old fashioned fried chicken to warm us up when we were finished.  They are still talking about how much fun they had and talking about next year when we go back to the US for Halloween! -kel

Bushwalks with grandpa

Although my parents live only 5 miles from the coast they live in an area that is surrounded by miles and miles of bushland - the 'bush' as we call it in Australia. I can remember going on bush walks in the area with my dad as a kid, and after me my nephew Corey used to go regularly with my dad. Now it is Luca's turn and he loves it. He is forever telling me about going on bush walks with Granpa and seeing animals and aboriginal carvings in the caves up there, throwing rocks at a rusty old car that was abandoned years ago, all this like he is the first person in the world to see this stuff.

Luca has been begging me to go on a bush walk with Grandpa and him so he can show me all of this, so last weekend while Kelly and Scout were at a birthday party Luca and I collected my dad and we went on our bush walk. First stop was under the tree where Luca hides all of the special 'walking' sticks he finds in the bush - I was privileged to be allowed to use his favourite stick. Then we were off throwing rocks at the wrecks and trees I used to throw them at, there are a million other memories up there for me as well.

Luca had a ball, he was our 'leader' and he didn't stop talking the entire time, telling me about different paths he has been down, caves he has been in, where he saw snakes, pointing out where kids had made fires and telling me the animals the aborioginal carving represent. We saw an eight foot long diamond python and a five foot water monitor on this walk - allways adds some excitement! A great few hours hanging out with Luca and my dad and we even managed to bring home a bunch of wild flowers for Kelly and Scout.

diamond python

water monitor on the walking trail

Khao Lak - Thailand

We had such a good time last year that we returned to the Le Meridien in Khao Lak, Thailand,  for another 10 days this year. Because everything was such a known it was really easy to organise.

Luca and Scout are getting better with the travel and Kelly is super organised:- new sticker books, movies loaded on the iPads and lots of snacks the kids love - still 9 hours on the plane with next to no sleep still takes plenty of creative entertaining to avoid a meltdown.

We arrived in Phuket later at night this year, so what was close to a 2 hour drive last year to get to Khao Lak was exactly an hour this year. We had Popa and Nana waiting at the resort this year so the kids were more excited rather than tired when we arrived. 

With a three hour time difference compared with Sydney we were all up early the next day and I was barely able to contain myself knowing the buffet breakfast was waiting - it didn't disappoint! I didn't eat lunch a single day we were there after big, big breakfasts.

A new addition this year at the resort was the baby elephant. The elephant came out around breakfast time and then again in the afternoon when the kids could feed it. Luca and Scout didn't get sick of going to see the elephant and it was slightly surreal lying half asleep on a sun lounge by the beach and the next thing you have an elephant standing next to you.

Although the weather was a little more unpredictable than last year and we had a couple of rainy days we still managed to get into the pool everyday and for most days we spent six hours splashing about which was exactly the plan for holiday.

Kelly and I also logged plenty of hours chilling in the kids club while the kids did different art projects, watched movies or played with the other kids. Luca was able to fit in a couple more Muay Thai kickboxing lessons and had a 'bout' against the instructor on the last day - he loves it and was happy to practice on me whenever he got the chance.

We tried a number of new restaurants around the Khao Lak area this year and without exception the food was unbelievable. A highlight for me was a restaurant called Chong Fah which was right on the water near the main town. The afternoon had been rainy but cleared in time for dinner, because it was monsoon season there aren't too many tourists so we had the place to ourselves, we got a beautiful sunset with lots of pictures and a great dinner.

 In all a very cruisy but very fun holiday with tons of time spent together as a family - it was awesome.

Olympic Tribute - Ferguson Style

For most today was just another Thursday, but not for us.  I took the day off work and accompanied Luca and Scout in what was a serious round of sport.  Now both were very inspired by the Olympics and loved watching the various events, today was our Olympics day.

First up Gymnastics with Scout and her lovely nanny Sam.  Gymnastics was a blast, it's fully interactive, so basically like a class for all three of us.  One jump on the trampoline and I realised I was maybe not in as good of shape as I should be.  A few more jumps and I forgot all about it, something tells me I will be remembering tomorrow.  Scout loved every second of it, we jumped, swung, climbed, balanced, crawled, rolled and yes I even did a cartwheel.

After the Gym it was off to the local Oval (track or really a big field that they made into a track) for Luca's Athletics Carnival.  Luca placed 5th in the hundred meter dash, and was thrilled.  I had been coaching him all week to pull a lightening bolt (Usain style) at the end, he "forgot".  Clearly I need to work on my coaching skills.

Two more events, the sack race (have you seen some of the Olympic sports, sack racing may have a chance by the time Luca is old enough to participate in the Olympics) and the Tug-O-War.  Unfortunately the wind picked up to gale force and the Carnival was cut short before the Luca's class got their go at the egg and spoon race.  I was, and it was noted by a few parents, the loudest cheerer in the crowd, again just practicing for the Olympics, you know for the most enthusiastic mom gold medal.

Home for a quick refill (thinking triathlon future) and Luca and I were off to swimming.  This was the first time I have been to Luca's swimming lessons since he screamed the entire time (clearly we have the same lungs, see cheering above).  Luca did fantastic, he is making fantastic progress, he didn't scream once and loved swimming. The Aussies are really in need of some swimming talent, if Luca stops jumping around when the instructor is talking, maybe there is hope?

All up a totally fun day full of some fun sports.  I don't know about the kids, but I am exhausted! -kel

No Training Wheels

Big, big milestone for Luca last week. He learned to ride his bike with no training wheels. Mark was super Dad running all over with him while he gained confidence. Now he is learning stopping, turning and starting on his own. Luca of course is stoked! - Kelly

Big Pancake News

Part of kindergarten is doing "news" every week.  Last term Luca was able to bring whatever item from around the house in for news and tell his class all about it.  This term, they've stepped it up a notch with each week having a theme or some suggested content. 

This week, Luca has been asked to give instructions for a task around the house.  With Mark and Scout's help, Luca made this video.  Instructions on how to make his favourite breakfast, big pancakes.  He will also bring some into class on Tuesday to share with everyone.  He is pretty thrilled with the video. I should say, this is the first video he has made, normally news is really just your good old fashioned show and tell.-kel

Pancake Parlour

One clear highlight from our weekend trip to Canberra was the Pancake Parlour. Recommended by one of Mark's work mates as a perfect dinning experience with kids.  We all had pancakes and ice cream for dinner, I can't say this is the type of restaurant we would normally visit, but hey we were on holiday!  As you might have guessed, it was a hit. -kel

Two days in Canberra

We all needed a few days out of town and I am always happy for a road trip so to tick another state/territory off of Kelly's tour of Australia we headed down to the ACT (Canberra) for a long weekend.

Luca & Scout at the Big Merino

It takes just over three hours door to door but with the kids there is no way that this is a non-stop drive. We were not even close to being out of Sydney when the inevitable when are we going to get there questions started. We had planned well with a stop scheduled for Goulburn, home of the world's biggest Merino sheep. We had sewn the seed with Luca and he was expecting to see a very large, live sheep (not concrete), his disappointment was tempered by a chance to get out of the car and have something to eat. It was also possibly the coldest weather either of them had experienced at around 4 degrees C.

The journey to Canberra from Goulburn was easy, helped by high rotation of Pitbull (Luca's favourite musician) on the stereo. We had our day planned well, as soon as we reached Canberra we headed to the National War Museum. I could spend two full days in the place easily, it is such an interesting place and so well done. Except for Scouty we were all pretty enthralled in the exhibits and video, it lasted about 90 mins for Luca before he also hit the wall. It was at that point that we rolled into the children's interactive section where kids can play in an actual helicopter from the Vietnam War and reproductions of World War I trenches, among other things - they both found some new energy and all up we were in the museum about three hours.

A quick stop for lunch - Canberra on a Sunday arvo is dead, dead. There is no one around so driving around is painless. After lunch we headed over to the National Portrait Gallery which was amazing, the art was great and the back stories on the people added another element. Kelly and I loved the whole place but keeping quiet for more than 5 mins was too much to ask of Luca and Scout so we cut things short and played chasing outside for as long as we were inside.

By this time the kids were so excited to get to the hotel and as soon as we got into the room they were bouncing on the beds and rearranging furniture to build cubby houses. Staying in a hotel was possibly the highlight of the trip for them.

That night we ate at the Pancake Parlour, another thing the kids were excited about. It had been recommended to me by a friend from work who has a daughter Luca's age, but we will not be recommending it. The kids had pancakes and ice cream for dinner, so although Kelly and I were underwhelmed it met the high expectations the kids had held for it.

Kelly & I with the kids at the Portrait Gallery

Some family Olympics viewing time that night, up early to watch Luca's new heroes Usain Bolt and 'The Beast' (the other Jamaican runner, I can't remember his name) and a buffet breakfast made things different in a good way from our normal weekend schedule. Monday was all about a visit to Questacon- 'Australia's National Science and Technology Centre' - which has floors of cool interactive science stuff for kids  and some great presentations on seemingly boring subjects like 'collisions' which were far from boring for the kids - they loved the place.

An uneventful drive home with a stop off in Bowral for lunch. All up a great couple of days away that seemed more like a week.