Happy Australia Day!

Australia Day is the national day of Australia and is celebrated on the 26 January as it marks the arrival of the first fleet of British ships (I had to look that up! Hopefully I shall be more knowledgeable about the history of Australia before I write my citizenship test, now that we are finally eligible!) 

In true Aussie spirit, we had a barbie at a friend's house and really threw some shrimp on the barbie. But as Australia is such a diverse country, it was only fair to add some boerewors to represent the Saffas, who outnumbered the Aussies anyway. Lucky our hosts were very gracious and allowed us to braai some wors right next to skippy and the shrimp. Other dishes that represented authentic Aussie food (which I didn't really know) was a beetroot salad and lamingtons. Some not so Aussie dishes were rusks, lemon meringue, apple pie and a hummingbird cake. The food was so good and we really ate a lot. The afternoon was filled with laughter, jokes and coldies (beer), all amongst good friends. Our kids were running wild having heaps of fun with each other, enjoying the Aussie sunshine!

Summer time fun

It seemed like summer was late as we were still wearing winter pajamas in November but once it started, it hit us full on. So we decided to embrace the heat and enjoy our summer by making the most of our beaches. We are quite lucky because there are four really good beaches, all within 5 kms of our house. It's a good thing our kids love the beach too! Since Row started ocean swimming in preparation for his sprint triathlon, we've also been visiting the beaches on the north shore. So that's an extra 2 beaches only 20kms away from us. We love living in Sydney!!!!

Here are some photos of us enjoying our beaches with our friends.

Balmoral Beach 

Balmoral Beach

Coogee Beach

Manly

Manly

Manly

We've also been visiting playgrounds even though it is so hot. But it's always fun to run around with friends. A particular favourite in this heat is the Darling Quarter water play park, Ava's first time with her gang while Justin was at daycare.

Horsing around

Playing 'Pirates'

Pumping for water at the water play park

Looks so refreshing but not drinkable

Testing the fountain with my toes 

Hanging with my posse at Centennial Park

Riding my buddy's bike

Hanging out at the local playground 

Wanting to give the bike a test ride

A last minute summer treat while daddy was between jobs, was a trip to Taronga Zoo. It was Ava's first time and while I don't think she quite understood what it was all about, she was very excited to be walking around. Both kids were really good troopers, we arrived at 11:30am and only left at 4:30pm, we just walked and walked and didn't even see everything. Thankfully it was an overcast day so even though it was humid, it wasn't unbearably hot. Needless to say, as soon as we got in the car, all the passengers fell asleep.

Justin is still shorter than the shortest bear

Visiting the farm animals

Look at my monkeys!!!!

Daddy and his girl

Daddy and his boy

Ava is as tall as an agile wallaby

Justin is as tall as an Eastern grey kangaroo

Checking out the turtles

Happy anniversary!

Seven years ago today, I married my best friend. Happy anniversary Row, it's been quite a journey and I'm thankful that I have you as my partner. Cheers to many more happy years together!

The end of 2013 and the start of 2014

It feels like we were just building up to Christmas and getting ready for it...and now it's over. And we're 2 days into the new year already. This is a 'summary' of our lead up to Christmas and the start of 2014. 

2nd December 2013 - we put our Christmas tree up and Justin decorated it and hung up our stockings. He also started his Advent calendar which actually didn't last long. I think the novelty wore off after a week so there's still lots of chocolates left inside. 

12th December: Justin had his end of year concert. He was so good practising his singing every day. His favourite was 'Jingle Bells'. Row and I really enjoyed the concert and Justin and the rest of his class were so good. They all remembered the words, actions and little dance. 

Getting ready to go to daycare for the concert

Justin and his classmates singing 'Jingle Bells'

15th December: Ava's godmother belongs to Hillsong Church and every year they have a Christmas Spectacular so she invited us along this year. The singing was amazing and it really got us excited for Christmas just hearing all the Christmas carols. Prior to the show they had lots of entertainment for the kids so Justin had an absolute ball on the bouncing castles. 

20th December: Row and I decided to brave the streets of downtown and take Justin and Ava into the city to see the Christmas lights. We started off in Martin Place to see the massive Christmas tree. Justin was in awe of how big this tree was and him and Ava enjoyed jumping on the elevated stage seeing all the lights. We then walked up to the David Jones department store because they decorate their windows every Christmas with puppets. Last year they focused on the Nativity story but this year the theme was people getting ready for Christmas at David Jones so they showed people selling hams in the deli, Santa seeing all the children, people wrapping the gifts. The final stop was St Mary's Cathedral where they were reflecting Christmas lights and the Nativity Story off the front facade of the cathedral. Justin was a bit tired by that time and getting a bit naggy but even he enjoyed the Cathedral lights. He was even narrating parts of the story by saying, there's the 3 wise men...baby Jesus is born...there's the star. It was very cute! 

Christmas Eve: this year we hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house. It was an intimate family and friends dinner with just 6 adults and 3 kids. Having said that, it was a good evening with roast leg of lamb, gnocchi, salad and trifle on the menu. It was also a laid back casual evening as some of our visitors including the host, were working that day. Justin was super-excited because we said he could open a few presents that evening because he'd only spent the last 2 weeks counting how many presents he had under the tree. He also got to put out biscuits and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. We had to force him to go to bed because he was just so excited and we eventually had to remind him that Santa doesn't bring presents unless you're sleeping (thanks to Richard Scarry's 'The night before the night before Christmas'.)  

Christmas Day: Even though Justin went to bed late the previous night, he woke up at 6am on Christmas morning. His eyes opened wide as he realised it was finally Christmas morning. But because Row and Ava were still sleeping, I told him he had to wait for them to wake up before he could open his presents. He was really good and just wanted to see if Santa had come. He checked his stocking and there were no additional presents in there and his face just fell. Then he perked up when he saw this huge present under the tree which wasn't there the night before and then he got so excited when he saw the biscuits and milk were gone and the reindeers had eaten some of the carrots. But he got most excited when he saw Santa's footsteps on our balcony ;)  I managed to convince Justin to get back into bed and we read about 4 books and finally Row and Ava woke up. Justin tore into this presents and poor Ava was still trying to wake up and take all this in. She finally perked up when she got some food in her tummy. After breakfast we went to church for Christmas mass and then we got ready for Christmas lunch with our good friends, the Songs. Another intimate gathering but the company was good and the food was delicious. 

Justin in disguise

Ava still trying to wake up and also trying to get into the spirit of opening presents

The awesome tent from Santa

Christmas lunch at the Songs

Boxing Day: Our friends Jono and Chants came up from Melbourne and it was also Jono's birthday. He wanted to celebrate by going to Balmoral Beach bright and early. The day started off with very miserable weather but actually cleared up and turned out to be a hot day. We finally got to the beach at midday and spent the afternoon splashing around, playing in the sand and picnicking. Justin got to try out his new body board, a great present from Popo and Kung-Kung. 

Ava prancing around at Centennial Park

Justin trying out his new body board

Ava and Aunty Chants 

New Year's Eve: it was a quiet end to a very busy year. We went to Bg and Louise for dinner and then walked down to Coogee beach for the fireworks at 9pm. Justin and I missed the start as he needed the toilet and the queue was so long. After the fireworks display, we walked back to have dessert. The kids were so tired so we didn't stay till midnight but Row and I did manage to stay awake when we got home to see the new year in. 

1 January 2014: The kids actually allowed us to sleep in a little bit so only woke up at 8am. Although Row was up much earlier to go train for his tri-athlon (more about that in another post). Even though Ava woke up so late, the poor girl was so tired and went down for a 2hr nap at 11:30. She woke up in time for us to have lunch and then head up to Balmoral Beach for another fun afternoon in the sand and surf. 

Happy 2014!

We've had a really good festive season, so grateful for the family we have and the friends we've made. We hope all our family and friends had a joyous and blessed Christmas and may 2014 be a good year bringing you all health, happiness and prosperity and filled with love, laughter and friends.