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

Weekend in Melbourne

At the end of January, we had a break in visitors and so decided to go to Melbourne for a long weekend. We've lived in Sydney now for 3 years and I still had not been to Melbourne and now we had the perfect excuse to make a trip, our good friend, Robin was celebrating his 40th birthday and his son was celebrating his moon yuet (1 month old celebration). 

We left on Thursday evening after running around like a mad thing packing, taking Justin to his swimming lesson, preparing lunch and making sure Ava had food and Justin had snacks. We flew Tiger Airways, a budget airline, so definitely needed snacks for the 1h 15min flight. Sydney was hot and humid with the sun beating down on us; Melbourne, however, greeted us with a slight chill and heavy rain. We had to lug 2 pull alongs, 2 car seats, a pram, a baby and a little boy from the terminal which resembled a chicken shed to the rental cars, about 1km away....all in the rain. Finally, all buckled up, luggage in, GPS programmed, we made our way to our friends, Jono and Chants, who lived about 45mins away from the airport. Our amazing hosts had dinner waiting, a porta cot for Ava and Cocoa Puffs for breakfast for Justin. The poor kids were exhausted and slept right through, Justin didn't even have dinner. It was good seeing Jono and Chants and catching up, the first late night of the entire weekend. Jono kept telling us that the rain would stop and we would be able to explore the city and he could even tell us what time the rain would stop thanks to his weather app. We were a little apprehensive as our app said differently....

Thankfully, the rain did stop and although the sun was fighting through the clouds, it was still chilly. Not knowing what to expect weather wise, we dressed warmly and even had fleece jackets for the day. Justin, feeling so refreshed, woke up around 7am and ever so ravenous after not eating dinner, made for the kitchen and immediately spied the Cocoa Puffs. I could not change his mind to having a slice of toast and was too tired to put up much of a fight so gave Justin a teeny tiny helping of the sweet chocolate cereal...one mouth full and his face lit up. I asked Justin if the cereal was yummy and he said, "It's good....really really good!" We eventually made our way into the city and started exploring, only having a rough idea of what we wanted to see which isn't good planning with 2 small children. However, we did manage to go on the tram, see Federation Square, have lunch in the laneways and see Queen Victoria's Market. As the day progressed, the weather warmed up until we eventually felt silly wearing jeans and fleece. Exhausted by 5pm, we made our way to Rob and Mel for dinner and Justin was only too glad to finally have a playmate and heaps of toys to play with. We didn't leave too late as Rob and Mel also have 2 kids to put to bed but it was another late night as we stayed up chatting with Jono and Chants again.

I'm happy to say that the weather did improve so on Saturday morning, Row and Jono took Justin to a playground to give him an outlet for all that pent up energy. I'm not sure who had more fun that morning, the big boys or Justin ;) It was another busy day visiting friends, Jenny and Paul and their 2 girls for lunch and Brandon, Sally, Terrence and Nan and families for dinner. Justin was in his element, enjoying having so many children to play with, we didn't have to worry about him for a minute. And so at ease and confident is our little boy that he spoke to everyone and made himself quite at home wherever he went. 

Sunday morning was a leisurely morning spent with Jono and Chants as they had not seen much of the kids awake, especially Ava. Jono whipped up some delicious omeletes and then it was play time for the boys and shopping for the girls. That evening was the party celebrations where Justin had all his playmates to keep him entertained and we could just relax and mingle and enjoy the party. 

We spent our last day at Science Works, a science museum where our friend Vera, works. We explored the museum and Justin had so much fun running "against" Cathy Freeman, trying to block penalty shots and using an excavator. Poor kid was just so exhausted from the hectic weekend though that we had to keep the visit short which was a good thing as we had to rush back to the airport to come home. 

Melbourne is a beautiful city and my first visit there was so enjoyable especially because of all the friends we met up with. Our hosts were awesome, welcoming us into their home and making it feel like our home too.  We definitely want to go back and for a longer stay to really explore and enjoy the city and meet up with friends that we weren't able to see on this trip.

At Federation Square

Queen Victoria Markets

Lunch in the laneways

All grown up...the boys with their kids 

Justin with his new buddies

Ava and uncle Jono

Uncle Jono the human jungle gym

Working the excavator at Science Works 

Do you see what I see?

Happy 2013!

As you can see I'm rushing to update my blog before the news gets old. What a busy, exhausting, happy and fun year 2012 was. There were some lows but a lot more highs. 

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary of arriving in Sydney and it's been a good three years. Sydney feels like home and the sight of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House never gets old. We're still exploring the city and finding new things to do and see, learning our way around and sometimes still feeling like tourists. 

Our life as a family of four has finally found some rhythm and we're in somewhat of a routine. Justin is still keeping us on our toes, keeping us entertained with his antics and  astounding us with all that he learns. We're all enjoying Ava very much so and it feels like she's growing so much quicker than Justin did so we're really trying to savour each minute with her. Every time she learns something or does something, we're still amazed by how babies grow and develop, even being the second child....I think we've just forgotten these early milestones because Justin is also reaching new ones. So life with two has been good and it can only get better.

Row has also settled into his new job and has made peace (kind of) with having to commute once or twice a week. I'm getting use to being a stay-at-home mom of 2 and will admit that I am thankful that Justin goes to daycare twice a week. It just gives me and Ava some bonding time and also for me to run errands and only having to worry about one child. This year will see me juggling even more balls as I'll be going back to studying....hmmm, will see how that pans out. 

We had a rather quiet end to a very busy year as both Ava and I were sick. So the girls stayed home and the boys went to Coogee beach for the family fireworks which they really enjoyed. But they were home early enough for Row and I to see the new year in together. 

Wishing all our family and friends, all around the world, a happy and blessed 2013! 

Christmas in Perth

After our last trip to Perth, we weren't in a hurry to go back but this Christmas, there were two good reasons to go back for another visit. The first reason was that Row's parents would be visiting Australia and second, it was Row's cousin's 21st birthday so we decided to meet up in Perth and then spend Christmas there. It was time to make better, fonder memories of Perth!

Packing for two children is no light matter, hahaha! In addition to packing the normal holiday things like swimsuits, hats, sunblock...we now had to pack nappies, Christmas presents, two car seats, an Ergo baby carrier and a pram. Luckily we fitted everything and didn't go over our luggage allowance plus Qantas are quite flexible (lucky for us) when traveling with children and all their necessities. It was a very early start to the day but Justin was so excited about going on the plane and watching "Jake and the Neverland Pirates' and of course, seeing Ma-Ma and Yeh-Yeh. The flight to Perth is 5 hours and I didn't know what to expect from Ava because she had a bit of a cold...I was hoping and praying that she would be as good a traveler as Justin....she didn't disappoint...both our kids were so good on the plane. It helps when they have their own entertainment unit (for Justin) and food is on tap (for Ava). I would like to say that the 5 hour flight went by quickly but that would be a lie....thankfully both kids were good.

Landing in Perth was like landing in an oven...hot hot hot! We had to push all our luggage, plus pram, 2 car seats and 2 kids to the car rental parking, load everything up, put in the car seats and then we were off. Driving to Row's aunt, there was an air of excitement...this would be Ava's first time meeting the family and Justin was just excited about seeing everyone. The grandparents were over the moon about seeing Justin and meeting Ava, so far, the holiday was off to a good start. No sooner had Justin walked into the house, then he made a dash for the pool...although I couldn't blame him, it was sooo hot.

The following day we took Justin to Scitech which is the science museum...a definite must for any visitor even if you don't have kids. We spent about 3.5 hrs in there and all the adults and Justin had so much fun. There is one section designed for toddlers and Justin spent a good 2 hrs in that section, playing with the wheelbarrow, loading bricks, putting it in the basket and using the pulley to pull the bricks up onto the platform. Even Ava got to enjoy a bit of the science museum.

Row's cousin's 21st birthday party was on Christmas Eve so there was lots of cleaning and prepping and cooking. It was a small intimate party with lots to eat, so much to eat in fact that we didn't have to cook for the rest of the week, although after the second day of eating the same food for lunch and dinner, we were sick of Thai curry, bak chit gai and noodles. We're glad that we made the trip out to be part of this milestone birthday party. Before bedtime, Justin put out some cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.

Justin didn't wake up too early considering the 3 hour time difference between Perth and Sydney. As soon as his eyes opened and he realised what day it was, he jumped out of bed eager to see if Santa had come and also to wake up the rest of the house. He was so chuffed when he went outside and saw that Santa had indeed visited and eaten his snack. We all got super spoilt...so many presents! A big thank you to all our family and friends in SA who sent presents, we truly appreciate it.

Christmas, Boxing Day and the day after was so hot, the thermometer hovering around 40 degrees, that we spent the days sleeping and swimming.

It was a good holiday and Christmas...definitely made some very good memories this time around.

Our little fish

Playing in the fishbowl at Scitech

Making different coloured bubbles

Bob Justin the Builder

Fascinated by the mechanics of using levers

Ava enjoying Scitech

Carols by candlelight

Christmas morning

Merry Christmas!

Our annual Christmas card

Pre-Christmas

The end of the year seems to have approached us at a very rapid pace. Knowing our Christmas was going to be spent in Perth, we tried to prepare earlier in advance by doing most of our shopping online but somehow I still ended up making multiple trips to the mall. Justin was so eager to put up the Christmas tree now that he knows more about this special holiday so he decorated it all by himself...and then OCD mommy just had to fix it up. We added our own personalised Christmas balls and hung up our stockings, all ready for Santa's visit.  

Justin decorating the tree

A good effort

Hanging up the stockings

OCD mommy fixed up the tree

With us going away, as well as Bg and Louise (my brother and his fiancee) and Barry and Candice (Row's cousin and her husband) not being here, we decided to celebrate Christmas a week early. Bg and Louise graciously hosted us and we all enjoyed a delicious spread. It really felt like Christmas cos we pulled crackers, opened presents and ate way too much food. 

Ava's first Christmas

Our delicious Christmas lunch

Our very good family friends, aunty Glor and uncle Colin, are in town visiting from South Africa so we got to see them a few times. It's always nice to see familiar faces from SA, especially family. 

Justin also had his end of year concert at daycare. He was so good, practising at home and teaching us the words and actions, always sure to count us in and also correct us! We were worried about his reaction on the day of the concert because he doesn't go to daycare on that day, so we had to take him in before the start of the concert. I was worried that he wouldn't want to go to the classroom, or sit with the other kids or start crying when he saw us in the audience. But our boy was a star! He sat nicely, listened to his teacher and sang, he even waved to us :)

  

Paying more attention to ringing the bell than singing "Jingle Bells"