Java

To keep up with the celebs, my family has come up of a combo name for Justin and Ava...JAVA! So this is a post about JAva since I haven't shared any updates about them in a long time. 

Currently, Justin is 3 years and 10 months old. He's been busy busy busy going to daycare, swimming lessons, play dates and most exciting, being ring bearer at my brother's wedding. Our stream of visitors has also kept Justin entertained, amused and very busy and to some extent, out of routine. He's been to Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium with his paternal grandparents, not to mention the playgrounds. They also took him to Hyde Park to celebrate Australia Day where he was able to see various cartoon characters such as Skippy the Aussie kangaroo and Dorothy the Dinosaur and the star attraction, Rah Rah the Noisy Lion. Justin's godmother came to visit and they spent some quality bonding time together at Circular Quay and Watsons Bay. And then some of my family and my parents came out for Bg's wedding so Justin has had an endless supply of playmates and getting re-acquainted with family. Today Justin went to his weekly swimming lesson which he has missed for the past 3 weeks due to being sick and we were told that he's been promoted to the next level; he's a now a goldfish! 

Ava is 8 months old and hitting her milestones much to quickly for my liking. At exactly 6 months old, she sat up all by herself with no support. At 6.5 months old, she started crawling... all in an effort to keep up with her big brother. At just over 7 months, her bottom tooth cut and she now has 2 bottom teeth. She also started pulling herself up to standing and this week she has started trying to cruise along the furniture. Ava is extremely verbal and loves the sound of her voice...she'll have to fight hard to get talking time with her brother being such a chatterbox. Justin and Ava have that same "fake" smile, it's too precious! I have yet to capture it on camera as I'm never quick enough. She also loves playing peek-a-boo and has started trying to wave and blow kisses. We've taken her to the beach a few times and she absolutely loves the sand, sitting with her legs stretched out and moving her legs around in the sand.  

Enjoy the pictures!

Sitting by herself for the first time

Playing tour guide

Water Baby 1

Water Baby 2

Ava pulling herself up to standing

Exploring the gardens

Relaxing in Gerringong

There are many little towns along the coast which makes it easy for short get-aways out of Sydney. With family visiting from Canada and South Africa, we decided to take them to Gerringong, a little town south of Sydney. For the locals, being Bg, Louise, Row and I, it was nice to get away and for the visitors, it was nice to see someplace else besides Sydney but also not too far that it felt rushed. 

Bg, my mom and dad, Popo, uncle Raymond, Anthony and Jeff left on Tuesday. Louise was still in Hunter Valley and Justin had daycare. So with his routine already being disrupted, I opted to drive down on Wednesday after Justin had spent the morning at daycare, and Louise trained it back to the city and kept me company on our drive to Gerringong. We had rented a massive house that had a spectacular infinity pool, a games room/ lounge with a huge projector screen tv and it even came with a resident emu. Luckily, they made use of the pool that afternoon as the weather turned on Thursday. Row wasn't able to take any leave but thankfully he could work in Wollongong and then train it out to Gerringong to spend a night with us (that was probably the only time he was grateful that he had to work in Wollongong :)  There was nothing on the agenda except eat, sleep, read, relax and play mah jong. But with miserable weather preventing us from enjoying the pool, we took a leisurely drive even further south to another town called Berry. All these towns are quaint towns that only have 1 main street filled with a couple of shops. Berry was done and dusted in about an hour. That evening, Row joined us and we had a delicious lamb pie and a hilarious game of Pictionary. The weather was a bit miserable on Friday but it was okay cos we left to come back to Sydney making a quick stop at the Kiama Blowhole.

Food food food....we ate so well while in Gerringong. I missed the braai (BBQ) on the first night but there were lamb chops, spicy chicken, pap (maize porridge). The second night we had chicken wings, salad and more pap. Louise made crumpets, aka pikelets, aka flap jacks with strawberries and bacon for breakfast one morning. We made a lamb pie using a leg of lamb and potatoes and carrots. Popo made us her delicious special pancakes aka crepes. 

Justin and Kau-Mo enjoying the infinity pool

Ava enjoying the infiinty pool

The pool and house

The resident emu

Justin enjoying the wide open space 

Popo's delicious pancakes

Family dinner in Gerringong 

Checking out the Kiama Blowhole

Wedding Weekend in Hunter Valley

After months of planning, Bg and Louise's wedding was suddenly around the corner. The reality of how close the wedding was set in when overseas guests started arriving in Sydney. My parents arrived the week before the wedding and some of the family arrived the same day and the week leading up to the wedding day. My poor gran was really given the run around by the Australian Embassy, not saying whether her visa had been granted so we were all quite disappointed when she cancelled her ticket. Finally, 4 days before the wedding, the Embassy finally confirmed her visa; my gran had to re-book her ticket and then jump on the plane but thankfully she made it in time.

Bg and Louise's wedding was in Hunter Valley, the wine region of NSW. Most of the family travelled down on Thursday as the wedding was on Friday. As per Chinese tradition, the groom had to send representatives bearing gifts to the bride's family and they in turn would "test" the representatives to determine if the groom was good enough for their daughter. Thankfully, the representatives did an excellent job as the wedding went ahead ;)

The groom's representatives with the gifts

The wedding day started off bright and early for the bridal party, starting off with some photos at the venue, The Hunter Valley Gardens. Justin was the ring bearer and looked oh so dapper in his little outfit. It was a hot sunny day so thankfully Bg and Louise chose a casual and comfortable outfit for Justin. Overall, the whole wedding had a casual feel to it which was great. The ceremony started at 2:30pm and the as the bride walked down the aisle on her dad's arm, she took many people's breath away. Louise looked radiant and her dress was a good choice, she really looked stunning. The celebrant that the chose spoke about their relationship as well as about them individually; it was quite clear that he had spent some time with them and got to know them which gave the ceremony that intimate feeling and not merely a stranger doing his job. After the ceremony it was the tea serving ceremony where the bridal couple have to serve tea to their elders and receive gifts in return. This was a first for me because we didn't do this at out wedding and I was being served tea and sweets. After some drinks and snacks, the reception kicked off. Louise worked hard making sure the finer details were perfect and it came through when you walked into the reception. With the formalities and dinner out the way, it was time to party. Their first dance was a mash-up of different dances and songs; it was awesome and very unexpected and so much fun. We had such a brilliant time at the wedding.

Congratulations to my brother, Bg and my new sister, Louise! Wishing you a happy and loving marriage.

The ring bearer and flower girl 

Beautiful bride walking down the aisle 

The ceremony 

Being served tea

The celebrations continued the following day as most of the guests were staying in the area for the weekend. Louise's parents very kindly organised a BBQ for all the family and friends. It was very low key and chilled, I think everyone was a bit tired or jet lagged and just happy to relax. 

The happy couple

Chillaxing at the BBQ