Surprise!!!!!!!!!

The Mingdom is expecting a new addition to the family in November. So far all is going well, no morning sickness nor food cravings or aversions. Justin is super excited and hoping for a little brother. Ava is carrying on with life as usual but likes to give my bump a kiss or a rub every now and then. Row and I were in shock but we have now embraced this little blessing and looking forward to being a family of 5.

Happy Occasions and Special Memories

Our trip to South Africa has come and gone and we're back to routine. We've been back for a month and the holiday feels like it happened ages ago. But at least we have the photos and the memories to reminisce.

Some highlights:

• This was Ava's 1st long haul flight and we were all pleasantly surprised. She traveled so well and was so well behaved given that it was a 13 hour flight and she's a pretty active toddler. Justin is a pro at traveling now and had so much fun showing his little sister how to use the remote control and opening and closing the tray table. 

• Meeting Rebecca, Yong and Nicole's little girl. She just turned one and we finally got to meet her.

• Ava meeting the extended family and our friends. 

• Reunited after 5 long years with my best friend Anthea and meeting her adorable little girls, Emma and Addi. 

• Shannon and Byan's wedding in George.

• Spending time with the Golden Family in George and Sedgefield.

• Ava meeting Row's extended family in Port Elizabeth.

• Meeting little Naeve.

• And of course spending time with family and friends. 

• And going to Easter tournament for the first time in 13 years.

Shoo, there are too many photos to add but we had a really good time back in South Africa. 

Triathlon done and dusted!

Just before Christmas last year, Row went over to my brother to drop something off and when he came home, he said, I think I've just agreed to do a triathlon with your brother! My first thought was this is madness and then my second thought was, this will never happen...they'll talk about it now and then the interest will die down and peter out. Then I found out they recruited two more guys to participate with them and the training started. Just to clear things up, this is a sprint triathlon so the distances are not as long as a normal triathlon, which still includes a lot of physical exertion. It includes a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. Most people start off with these and then progress to full triathlons and triathletes use these as extra training. So hats off to the guys for taking on this challenge!

They started off with ocean swimming - the first time they went to Balmoral Beach mid- December to do a short swim. Anybody who knows my brother knows that water is not his friend...neither my brother nor I are comfortable in the ocean. I attempted to do my Padi open water and opted out after our first dive even though it was spectacular. I couldn't just relax and enjoy the dive and appreciate the beauty of the underwater. Anyhoo....I digress....so BG's first swim didn't go as planned and he got a lot of flak from Row, Vern and Claude (the other two participants). I am proud to say that BG practiced and pursued it and is a lot more comfortable and stronger in the ocean now. Ocean swims were a weekly thing after they joined a squad at Manley Beach that went out at 7am every morning.  The wives and kids joined these early morning swims on Sunday in support of the guys. After a few weeks of swimming they added running to their training and then cycling. They trained weekly and trained hard...most weeks. 

The triathlon was on Sunday and the guys were ready. They had trained and prepped and were quite excited about the whole thing. The wives and kids made it out in time to see the guys cross the finish line. They did so well and we really are so proud of them. Well done Row, Bg, Vernon and Claude, you guys did us proud!

Squad training at Manley

After a training session of swimming and running

Running for the finish line

The triathletes

Super proud of Row

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