Happy Birthday Mary!

Happy Birthday Mary! We are so excited to have you in our family! Below is Mary's 4 year old photo shoot, Stan decided it was a waste of money to take the kids in to a professional so I do it now. I tried to edit the pictures (it was such a sunny day and we needed all the pictures a little darker) but my computer screen keeps going on and off...when it is on it is barely visible so I hope these look Ok. Sorry! These are my favorites~enjoy!

The one and only "REAL" smile from the hour we spent...she has a really cheesy "fake" smile that she uses all the time now.

Her curly hair!

She is always picking flowers for me!

Showing me her seashells

Looking at the sea!

and getting ready to walk home

Rock Climbing at Diamond Bay

This weekend Stan took some co-workers rock climbing for their very first time. They found a beautiful ledge right over the ocean in a place called Diamond Bay off Vancluse. This area is known for great climbing with things for all different levels. Although this run was supposed to be for beginners the group had a hard time getting past the first section. As a back up they did some repelling and the views were amazing! Here are some pictures!

The cliffs

Getting ready to start the climb

Calling it good and repelling the rest of the afternoon ;-)

This is a good vertical shot

and more cliffs...see the shark at the bottom? (J/K)

Before we had kids Stan would rock climb a lot, in fact he would ask for rock climbing gear for his Christmas/ birthday/ graduation presents. He didn't climb once in England (although Dover would have been cool, and when he brought his gear out to Australia I thought it was a waste of space. Either way, he went and he was so excited before and after the run that I am glad he was able to go.

Sydney Dust Storm

So this morning I woke up to Thomas crying at 5:30 am. I figured it was just an early morning compared to his 6:00am wake ups. I opened the blinds and saw this thick bright red fog everywhere--I could not see more than 20 feet outside our window. I thought it was fog and the sunset was reflecting off the clouds in a way I had never experienced before....but then when I came out to the main living room (where we had slept with the window open) I realized it was more than fog. It was SAND and it was all over the carpet, couch, walls and even into the kitchen. Apparently we had been hit by a sand storm--think of Wall-e (but the wind wasn't as strong)!

I went through the house and opened the blinds, and the color outside just reflected inside off the walls--so everything was red/ orange. Even with the lights on in the inside, the light in the house did not change much--it was just dark red.

Everyone just stayed inside and went to work/ school late. It was kind of peaceful in an weird way. By 8:00am it had subsided to an orange cloud and by 10:00am to a yellow cloud and the winds had died down. It was blue skies again by the afternoon. Crazy hu?!?

Above is a picture of the Sydney Opera house, and at the top is the Harbour Bridge!

Sydney Fish Market

So this weekend we went to the Sydney Fish Market. It is right on the outskirts of the city in Pyrmont once you cross over the Anzac Bridge. In Sydney there are two big bridges, the Anzac and the Harbor bridge, and they pretty much get you in and out of the business district of Sydney. Anyway, I was expecting fish throwing and a Seattle fishy experience...I have to say I was a little disappointed. It was not meant for tourists, but for people who really want to buy fresh fish. It was more like a indoor market place with a fish stench. There were a ton of fresh HUGE ocean trout and lots of restaurants you could eat at. Since I took one look and thought I wouldn't be coming back we went in and out of all the stores and sampled some of the seafood. (I have no idea why this is underlined!)

Little baby octopus!

This picture doesn't do the fish justice--these are about the length of my arm!

Thomas checking out the lobster tanks...there were about 8

The discarded fish heads and tails....GROOOOSE

and me holding up a shrimp the length of my hand! As far as seafood goes Stan can eat it all (even uncooked) and I can eat Salmon, lobster, crab and usually shrimp...but nothing else and it has to be cooked and seasoned. For some reason I gaged on this shrimp--the little legs just got to me!

Note: I am pretty sure the people who wrote NEMO got their Seagull idea (mine? mine?) from the Sydney Fish Market. They were everywhere and would attack people who were eating by the hoards. Stan went to take the girls to the bathroom and the birds noticed some people leaving and came for our table (where Thomas and I were) and I just grabbed the stroller and ran. It is like nothing I have ever seen before!