Happy Birthday

This year my birthday was extra special. My birthday was on Monday and Friday afternoon I got an email from Stan telling me to "pick an option" from the options below. Each option was a different adventures near Sydney AND each option was for an overnight/weekend out...Stan even got the babysitter. I was so excited I didn't know what to choose; here were some of the options: Rock climbing, horseback riding or hiking through the blue mountains just 45 minutes west of Sydney (it looks like Yellowstone national park) and the overnight option was either camping or a bed and breakfast. Another option was going two hours north to some of the more pristine beaches and swim, shop and kayak. Another option was to go down south two hours to Kangaroo Valley where there are mountain rainforest's and rivers and waterfalls and obviously Australia's natural wildlife (wallabies and wombats). The last option was a night in the city in a fancy hotel and dinner at a nice restaurant.

Since I had already been to the blue mountains (although we couldn't hike because we had the kids with us), and I had already been up north to some beautiful beaches (again with kids so kayaking couldn't happen) and I had already been around the city quite a bit both with and without kids I opted for Kangaroo Valley. In addition we were supposed to go down there with our USA friends the following weekend but had to cancel last minute since Olivia was due back in the hospital to get her stents out.

So our trip began. Stan still pulled out all the fancy stops along the way so it was more like a morphing of all the options. For instance he found a fancy gourmet restaurant that specializes in degustation about half way down to the valley. Stan's business partner offered to treat the dinner (especially because he knew we didn't drink) and the whole experience lasted over two hours. We drove the rest of the way down a windy mountain (I felt car sick) and then finally came to a valley that was completely covered in fog and reminded me a lot of England because it was so green. Apparently the valley is surrounded by mountains of rainforest (not the Amazonian jungle type) so it is really moist and not as dry as the rest of Australia. We stayed in a bed and breakfast and were the only guests that evening. The host was a fun and feisty old lady who was very prompt and detailed. She made the most amazing spread for breakfast and informed us it was all from the farm. We looked out the window and saw chickens, cows, rainbow lorikeets and a big lake. It reminded me a lot of Montana in a more temperate climate.

Once we checked out we headed off to the rainforest and waterfalls. The drives were beautiful. Big trees and forest everywhere. One part of the road intersected with the beginning of a waterfall and you got to drive through the water.

Just to the left you could see where the water fell off the ledge.

After seeing three waterfalls we headed back to the valley where Stan booked me a massage at this natural outdoor spa place.

It was really relaxing and while I relaxed for one hour Stan grabbed some picnic food and we headed over to the place where you rent boats. We rented a canoe and Stan paddled me for about two hours down a lazy river while I turned around and talked to him the whole time. There were some fish that would jump out of the water, it was obviously a great fishing spot but we had no gear. Here are some pictures of the boat ride.

It was mostly just peaceful and quite with nature all around, in addition we were completely secluded. The most the river offered were level 1 rapids which meant that our boat got stuck a few times on the rocks in slow current :-) Stan got out to push :-)

After canoeing we turned in our boat and headed back home. On our way back the fog came back into the valley (this was during sunset) we tried to take a picture with Stan's phone but it did not compare to how beautiful it really was.

Also, we were laughing because we never saw any Kangaroos in Kangaroo valley! Overall, it was a great weekend out and one of the few in our marriage (going on 8 years). Thanks Stan for a great birthday!

Olivia lost her tooth!

So Olivia lost her very first tooth! She is so excited because she was one of the last kids to loose a tooth in her year 1 class. The week before it came out she and I painted a tiny jewelry box to put the tooth in when it came out. She diligently wiggled it for a week straight and lucky for her the tooth fairy didn't miss a beat and gave her a $2.00 coin (smaller than the one dollar coins and easier to carry for a fairy).

Here is Olivia right before it came out (about a day). Mary (4) keeps asking me when her teeth will come out and I am sad to say it may be another two years!

After she lost her tooth she started a Ghostbusters Club at school. You can only be a member if you are a girl and have lost a tooth (which excludes boys and kindy kids). Meeting are in the bushes at lunch and to keep the club going you have to have sleepovers (with other members of the group) and play dates. During the sleep overs/ play dates you have to tell one ghost story in the dark. Although Olivia is the smallest she is the Ghostbuster club president and tells everyone what is up. Honestly, 6 year olds are the best!!

Fall weather!

So every Sunday evening we take the kids out for a walk around our apartment complex. This Sunday the fall weather has kicked in which merited the coats. We usually walk along the water and watch the boats and sunset, pet the dogs and watch the fishermen. Thomas is a pro now and knows just where to go, which only makes me super nervous since he likes to run ahead and we are always surrounded by water!

I LOVE this picture of Thomas. I couldn't get him to look at me for a picture so I asked him if I had a spider on my head and he finally looked a me--CLICK!

Yes, that is a crab...Thomas kept signing crab but when the fisherman would pick it up he would start screaming "YUCK"

Running to see the fisherman and the fish in the buckets! This is where Stan takes the ferry to work.

Olivia holding a fish!

Thomas looking at the fish...or should I say throwing rocks at the fish!

Pointing to a helicopter!

watching the sunset

The girls riding their scooter and jumping rope along the water, everything is so beautiful right now

Stan and Thomas with the mangroves in the background and the little paddle boats that the locals use to get to their big boats (docks aren't that popular out here--most people just anchor in the middle of the marina and then row back to shore and lock up to a mangrove)!

Royal Easter Show

The Royal Easter show is hosted over the Easter break in Sydney's Olympic park. This was my first year attending (last year I stayed with Thomas and this year we left him with a babysitter). Olivia was quite fragile and would get tired easily...however she was so excited to be out of the house and riding the rides! Basically it is a giant fair (multiply by 10 any fair you have ever been too and you have it). I didn't even walk to the adult part of the fair grounds it was so big, and we were here all day long. In addition to rides you have the rows and rows of petting zoo animals and farming competitions. Then you have random display acts going on like cooking and fishing demo's and then stalls of goods to buy like crocks or swimsuits or fair bags etc... it is really fun and I was excited to be part of the festivities!

Some of the rides!
I don't think Olivia liked this dropping ride as much as Mary!

Olivia's favorite ride, she was so tiny I thought she was going to fall out! Olivia was just tall enough to go (Mary didn't make the cut)

I was pretty wet after this ride. I wanted to ride in the back but the guide made me take the front...I should have had Stan do this one!

Olivia wanted to be a witch
Mary's flower face paint...

Corn on the cob!

and feeding the animals

and last but not least the car ride home and Mary with her fair bag driving home in the car!

Manly Beach and the Bennions

So it is Easter Holiday in Australia right now. The kids get two weeks off of school and my husband even got a long weekend (4 days, Good Friday and Easter Monday.) It has been so fun to just relax post operation. Olivia has been doing great and is back to normal. This week we went to visit out expat friends the Bennions. they live in Manly...right on the beach. Manly is one of Sydney's most famous and beautiful beaches. Parking is difficult so having a friend nearby is a awesome because you can just grab your boogie board and walk on over to the beach. It was great fun and Olivia did fantastic in the water.

William (4), Burk (3), Olivia (6), Mary (4), Thomas (1), Soren (1)

Thomas and I enjoying one of the last hot days left as fall is creeping in!

Miss Mary!

The girls playing in the water

and William saving Mary...they have decided they are going to get married!

Easter 2010

Easter morning

Australia's national religion is Christianity so Easter is very big out here. We kicked the Holidays off with a school assembly (Easter hat parade, singing and morning tea with the parents) at Olivia's school. Olivia had just been discharged from the hospital a day before from her kidney infection so I brought her to school just for the assembly so she could see her friends. The school was so excited to see her after she had been absent for nearly a month. It really is a wonderful school. Olivia has over 100 get well cards from this little Kindy- year 2 infant school. The principal sent her gifts while she was in the hospital and also called weekly. Several of the parents also helped me out with my kids so I was excited to see some of the parents as well. Here are some clips of the assembly...

Thursday was the last day of school and then Good Friday through Easter Monday are public holidays (4 day weekend), So Stan has been home!! We have been able to catch up from all the chaos and get a lot of R&R. We were also able to see "How to train a dragon" on the opening day and spent some time on the beach! Easter weekend is a lot like American Thanksgiving, everyone spends it with family if they can so there is quite a bit of travelling.

Thomas

Thomas likes yogurt and he is getting better with the spoon...if only he wouldn't throw things when he is done!!!

Mary's preschool photos!

Since I have not put many pictures up for a while, here is a sneak peak of Mary's preschool photo's. After they take the class photo's they take a lot of the kids individually, which I like. She did okay, but we are still working on not doing the "fake smile"

A few things about Mary: The other day she told me she did not like her name and she would rather be called Lilly Claireese, I said ok and called her that for the whole day! Mary is 4 years old, and this is her last year of preschool as she will be starting kindy next year!

hummm- she must have scratched her head right before this picture. Mary goes to preschool from 9:00-3:00 M-W, it is great! I get Thomas all to myself for three whole days while the girls are at school.

Sandwiches are hard this year. Mary can't have peanut butter at preschool due to other kids allergies, she can't stand Vegemite (an Aussie staple) and she pulls out the turkey/ cheese and skips the bread if I do that kind of a sandwich; therefore she gets the same thing everyday...tuna fish! Going on 10 weeks (hahahaha) and no complaints so far!!

Mary loves her class and she is extremely LOYAL to her friends. If I could think of one word to describe her that would be it.

In Australia you break for morning and afternoon tea. I have to pack a little sack for her tea time each day. Since we don't break for tea in the USA I have no idea what to pack. So far fruit and cookies work but yogurt merited a note from the teacher (oops).

Daddy is still Mary's favorite! She prefers him to almost anything else!

And the whole class, she is one of the tall kids In Australia the short kids always get the back row. I think she is the tallest girl in her class.

A glitch!

So after two weeks of craziness (first week was the operation and the second one was Olivia recovering at home with my family visiting for spring break). My church group came to help me out. They sent someone to help me with Thomas in the mornings for four days. The first day (Monday) Olivia woke up from a good nights rest and told me "I feel all better now" I was (1) happy and (2) embarrassed; because I had someone in my living room expecting Olivia to be resting in bed so she could help me around the house. I decided to swallow the embarrassment and told my helper Olivia was doing much better and that I was going to run some errands since I hadn't been out of the house for two weeks. I ran every errand I could think of only to have my new (used) car break down at the end. I dropped it off at a repair place and got a ride back home only to find Olivia pretty much doing cartwheels in the living room with every possible toy out on the floor (including the dress up, which Olivia told me she had climbed to the top of the closet to get by stacking chairs....what?) I asked my bbser/ helper how it was (She is an elderly Indian woman who was reading glamor magazines) and she said "I thought Olivia was supposed to be sick" :-) Me: trying to stammer a summary of the last two weeks while thinking 'It is going to take me until the late evening to clean up this mess from her bbsing these past two hours' Mmmmmmmmmm..........

The next three days I had helpers who were young college kids and that was fantastic for two reasons. (1) They drove me around to get groceries since I didn't have my car. (2) I got to see them hands on with my kids (for future bbsing purposes) and my house was clean and I even got some exercise in. I felt kind of like I was "abusing the privilege" and after Thursday called to cancel any more help because Olivia was doing just fine and so was I!

SO as Murphy's law would have it, Friday rolled in and I had no help on the way and Olivia woke up pale and with a fever and very lethargic. I got her into see a gp by 11:15am and the gp sent me to the emergency room ASAP. I dropped off my kids with a neighbor and spent from 2:00-8:00pm in the ER. We were seen right away (within 15 minutes) but then we were waiting for a bed in the public hospital to become available (I just learned the public hospital is the only hospital with Emergency facilities in Australia). This was my first time in Australian public facilities and lets just say "it is NOT like England (which I loved)".

We got up to our room by 10:00 pm. Olivia spent the night with a fever of 103; she had a kidney infection (right side this time), and YES even post operation (which was supposed to prevent infections) she will continue to have a higher chance of getting infections so long as her stints are in. (Those come out in May...) We shared a room with a 6 day old baby who had the flu, the mother was just sobbing from exhaustion and I didn't quite know what to tell her even though I had three kids and this was her first! The baby was later moved since she was contagious and by the morning they moved us again to a bigger room with 6 other people. I was kind of sad because after the baby was gone I had the previous room to myself... even though the light wouldn't turn off (O-what a night!)

Anyway, in our new room the nurse kept asking me if "Olivia was a princess" (note: I HATE princesses) so I of course was like NO and What exactly are you getting at? :-) .....In hindsight, maybe she was trying to be nice to me! Hahahaha! Well, Olivia wasn't doing well. She wasn't sleeping (partly, due to all the noise from the other patients) or eating (but I can't blame her as the public hospital food looks like dog food) and her fever was not going away even on fever reducers. She had a really hard time getting to the bathroom (in the public hospital there is only one in each wing) and so I kindly asked if we could go over to the private side since we were going to be here indefinitely. OK--maybe I am the princess! Our insurance covers 100% inpatient so to me we were covered public or private and so why not get your own room with a bathroom and good meals which are also given to the parents right? Think of Australian private hospitals like mini hotel rooms because that is what they look like (even with the toilet paper folded down!) We moved again and it was SO NICE! I love private hospitals and both Olivia and I got a good nights rest and she is doing so much better! Just this morning we took a walk alone through the private hospitals botanical gardens :-) Our goal is to be back home by Tuesday, we will see how she goes. I must admit thought, I am starting to prefer the hospital to my own house, I don't have to clean or cook and it is indefinite sleep and TV-Aaaaahhhh :-)

Stan took over for tonight so I am back home for now (yes, checking my email) but all is well. Ummm- I have to go, Mary has just lined up all our shampoo bottles onto our couch and is jumping on them to see how far they will squirt onto the carpet...no wonder Stan wanted a night out of the house (just kidding Stan!)