Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve we hosted a dinner with Mark's family, some friends and our guests from the US. A big turkey, tons of food and lots of laughs. Happy to hear about the white Christmas for my family in the states, but even happier to take a dip in the ocean yesterday afternoon! We both have the next two weeks off, our plans currently consist of more food, more friends, lots of cricket and time at the beach! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Here are some photos from the festivities! -kel

Party Animal

Yesterday we hosted a 2nd birthday party for Luca complete with baby animal farm. At first we thought we might have been going over the top a bit, but after an hour and a half and 12 kids thoroughly entertained we knew we had made the right choice. The baby animals (guinea pigs, ducks, chickens and bunnies) were a huge hit. Luca and his friends enjoyed the party and after a week of solid rain, we were lucky enough to have a bright sunny 100 degree day to enjoy the festivities. It was an exciting day yesterday, Luca said thank you in many ways, but the best thank you of all came this morning when Mark, Luca and I all slept until 8 AM, a first in two years! Our little man is growing up. Six weeks until his life is turned upside down and he becomes a big brother. Somehow I think this might mean another two years until we sleep in again!-kel

Santa 2008

Our annual Santa visit in the city turned out to be a great day with a few unexpected twists! After a morning of talking about Santa, looking at last years photo and saying Ho Ho Ho we were all looking forward to the visit. Neither Mark nor I ever thought we would have our photo taken with Santa again however, after we saw the total and complete look of fear in Luca's eyes when we got to see Santa the only photo option was a family shot. The team at David Jones was amazing, an although he looks happy as can be in this shot the real Christmas miracle was that we didn't leave with a tear stained photo! He was clinging to Mark and I like his life depended on it but after a little coaxing and some funny antics from Santa's Elves we got one smiling photo! After we left Santa was still on his mind and he hasn't stopped mentioning it since. While it was a bit hectic, he actually seemed to enjoy the experience. Now we'll see how he goes next year! -kelly

Deuce

We've been trying to get Luca to understand that it's his special day all week and not his mate Sean's whose birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I think he finally understood today, well I know he did, when I came home from work the first thing he said to me was "happy birthday Luca".

We love the little guy so much it is so great to see him a bit puzzled by getting gifts but generally being so happy with each one that we have to ply it away before he will open another one.

Our boy is nearly 2!

This year has gone very quickly. I was playing with Luca this morning and he was entertaining me with a duck hand puppet, this time last year that was one of his favourite things, the difference being I was doing the entertaining and he was the audience. Luca at North Curly

Apple Cup! Winless Season!

Do I really need to say more? Not really but without overdoing it I did like the start to this news story and thought it deserving of mention on Sunburned Feet...

"PULLMAN -- Outside Martin Stadium, where Cougars fans were still frolicking Saturday afternoon as if they'd just clinched a Rose Bowl berth, one Washington State student jumped into another's arms and yelled, "This is the greatest day of my life!"

Happy frolicking Coug fans!

Have a great day.

- M

Northern Rivers - wrapping up (days 3 & 4)

We could get used to this sleeping-in thing, especially when followed by a swim and a walk to get pancakes and coffee. The only energetic thing we did on day three was to get a couple of bikes from the hotel and cruise around the beaches and drop in on a few open houses. A super chilled day. The highlight was our only fancy meal of the trip at Finns - Kelly's friend from work had raved about this place and it was good.

Day 4. Our last hurrah! After a swim we checked out of the hotel and as we had some time to kill before flying home we decided to get on the road to Bangalow again - it was market day in the town. We really had expected a small farmers type market. No, no, wrong! This thing was big and it was hopping. The hippies had come into town from their mud huts and there were some crusties to be seen, there were also some pretty high fashion couples, bikies, in all a bit of a miss-mash but great people watching. The markets were also superb.

We were gone for four days but it seemed like a lot longer. We will be back up to this part of the country again for sure. We missed Luca a ton and as soon as we got on the Rockstar to fly back to Sydney we were both impatient to see him.

Northern Rivers - small townin' (day 2)

We were sort of excited about getting to sleep-in these holidays so we rolled out of bed at 9:30. Kel headed off to the Spa for some pampering and I went for a waddle on the beach - I definitely bit off more than I could chew and ended up nearly keeling over and had a forty minute walk back along the beach to where we were staying.
Some funky big houses in the area around the hotel so we did a bit of exploring and after lunch decided to chance it with a trip out to the hinterland to visit a small town called Bangalow. Jackpot! Bangalow was great, what Byron should be. Lot's of original small town character, unbelievably cool shops and some nice art work. We ended up spending hours wandering around.

It was pretty warm out in Bangalow although not one word of complaint from my heavily pregnant wife, she is definitely a trooper. It was time to get back to the beach and the pool. I needed to cool off and give myself some time to think about what to put on the line with this years Apple Cup bet - I was feeling confident!

Northern Rivers - beachin' (day 1)

It's bittersweet leaving the little guy for 4 days but after a short trip on Rockstar we we're feeling the warmth. The sun is out, the skies are blue, Kelly is hitting her fourth Australian state (Queensland) and turning 31 all at once.

We jump into the rental and wave good bye to the Gold Coast as quickly as we can, heading for the NSW border and a slower pace. We make a quick stop to view the Miamiesque skyline of Surfers Paradise and are more than happy with our decision not to hang around.

We spent the morning checking out the northern NSW coast culminating in a lunch time stop in Byron Bay. Some beautiful beaches and disconcerting warning signs "brown snakes are prevelent in this area" are the highlights. Byron has only gotten bigger and more bustling since I was here in 1998, the beach is still beautiful however and the view from the lighthouse headland spectacular. After a quick bite we headed back north along the coast to find our hotel and for once it lived up to the promise of the brochures. We took a dip in the massive pool and spent some time lounging around and reading (these activities were repeated numerous times over the next three days). We drove to a nearby small town (Kingscliffe) for dinner and ran into the gnarliest looking line of black clouds I have ever seen. By the time we had our food and were in the car the storm had let loose. We had about 5 miles to drive but it was pretty scary with the sky pitch black except when interupted by crazy lighting and thunder all the while it was raining sideways. Glad to be back in the hotel that night.

The Race That Stops A Nation

A public holiday in half the country and it may as well be in the rest of the country. The Melbourne Cup is a BIG deal down here.

For Luca just a chance to hang out with his friends an extra time this week and get an ice cream cone as a special treat. Almost as good as winning the trifecta!

My name is Luca and I live at Curl Curl

We've had a few hectic weekends in a row getting the driveway/front fence project close to completion and it seems like everything else has stopped. We made sure we took a little time out last Sunday to explore the headland at the local beach and have some fun togther. It was a fun time even though the weather turned a bit sour just as we were leaving (after a weekend of sunshine and hot weather - always the way).

Last week was also eventful for Luca who made us proud by confidently saying his name at art & moves. He gets invited to do this every week by the teacher and after about eight months of invitations he finally told the lady that he was Luca Ferguson. Our little boy is growing up.

progress

We are slowly making progress on the front yard. The new wall is in, the driveway has been laid, the gates will be here this week and this weekend Mark and his dad built two new raised beds inside the wall. Luca was right into the action loving every second of the construction, lending a "helpful" hand wherever he could! -kel

Fishy Weekend

It was a three day weekend in Australia and it rained almost the entire time. Needing a little out of the house adventure we headed to the Sydney Aquarium on Sunday morning. We enjoyed all of the fish the Great Barrier Reef exibit was our favorite. As per usual Luca kept us laughing...in the shark encounter (underwater walkway with HUGE sharks and sting rays swimming all around us) Luca saw another visitor through the glass and started shouting and pointing "man, man, man" here we had taken him to the Aquarium all we apparently needed to do was take him to anywhere he could point at people and yell for entertainment. Needless to say we got a few funny looks! When we got home Luca had to practice his swimming like the fish, the pool being too cold he headed for the bath. -kel

Summer (almost)

We are not there yet but when you get spring days in the 30'sC it seems like summer. We spent our first few hours this morning at Curly beach pool, a place we are going to get to know well this summer! Luca is loving the water much more than last year already.

Wobbegong Sharks

Yesterday Luca's nanny took him and his friend to a local beach where the Sydney Aquarium was releasing Wobbegong Sharks into the wild for the first time. When we got home from work there was lots of fish talk and some grubby boys who had spent the morning at the beach on a windy spring day. Australian news covered the shark release and the boys are pictured in their double stroller for about 3 seconds during the story. http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/ (Search for Success for Shark Breeding Program to view the story.)

buba

As my belly is quickly growing we’ve been talking to Luca about the new buba (buba in Aussie lingo is an endearing term for baby). This morning Mark caught this photo of Luca giving the new buba a kiss. In reality the poor little man has no idea what the new buba is going to mean to him, let’s hope the terrible two’s don’t hit at the same time! -kel

Baby Cino

We were up early this morning (5:30 AM alarm from Luca...UP....UP...UP) out the door and running errands. After a stop at my favorite French bakery and quick chat with a few cows in a local pasture we were off for coffee, juice and Luca's first baby cino (steamed milk with a dusting of chocolate). A cold and wet Saturday in Sydney, this afternoon we're cuddled up in our trackies watching the Olympics splitting the cheers between the US and Australia. Wishing you all well. -kel

bye bye ugly hedge

It's been a busy winter around 45 Bennett. Last weekend we took out the hedge/noxious weed in the front of our house. This weekend it was all about trench digging to pour the fittings for our new rendered wall with gate! Mark, his dad and Luca's godfather (the master builder who built our house) did most of the work. Mark's mom and I "helped" Luca help daddy (we kept him out of the way) as these days whatever daddy is doing Luca is doing. The highlight of Luca's day was the concrete truck in our yard, you should have seen his smile, ear to ear! Had to put a stop to the help yesterday when Luca got distracted and started eating the concrete! Only a few more weeks and we'll be finished. I'll be sure to post some "after" photos, here is a shot of my boys hard at work. -kel

3 + 1 = 4

Mark, Luca and I are excited to announce we are expecting a new addition to the family arriving in late January. Here is the first photo shoot, legs were kicking like crazy during the ultra-sound.