The Big City

Sydney never disappoints. It's such a cool place. We made the drive up with GramB and had an eventful trip, as always. (You Facebookers will already know why - read on.)

Visited this beautiful place, of course.

Then proceeded to enjoy some serious sightseeing 'round the harbor.

Will was very enthused about this charming harbor

no, they've never seen icecream before

 Never get tired of this view.

They just put in this awesome new addition to Darling Harbour - a huge playground, city-centre, right by the water, with an adjacent waterworks play area and sand pits. Beautifully designed, a major improvement on an already lovely spot (and pretty sure the McDonald's next door has gotta be one of the highest grossing worldwide.)

best part: kids feel ownership on keeping the pumps primed and the water flowing

 The big kids and I had a grand time at the Wildlife Museum while Dad, Summer and GramB explored the Botanical Gardens by the Operahouse. We sat and soaked in the sights at the waterside for a while.

 Then my daughter proceeded to fall into the Sydney Harbour.

 And was rescued by this guy:

 You might notice the white boards around the boardwalk. Well, the kids were playing a game where those were rocks and the rest was lava and of course Annie is pretty hardcore so she was using the white edge line. You know, the "do not cross" line.

I saw the whole thing. Her foot slipped, she windmilled her arms like a cartoon and fell about 8 feet down with a quiet splash. Of course it felt like a dream and time slowed down as I watched in total disbelief. Seeing her clawing at the post with nothing to hold, I instinctively knew it wasn't smart to try to fish her out in my pregnant state. (I can only imagine that scene: both of us flailing around, waiting for rescue, kids screaming.) Fortunately, there was an asian tour group nearby so when I saw no stairs/ledges/ladders and turned around to yell "Can somebody help me?!" their guide rushed over, looked in and jumped!

Total hero.

Pictures were flashing, people bought towels, hankerchiefs were donated. It was surreal and hilarious and completely humiliating to poor Annie Belles. She probably would've laughed it off were it not for the crowds of concerned onlookers. She said later she was mostly freaked out by the jellyfish we'd seen in there previously. The guy had to sorta dunk and catapult her out to another stranger laying with outstretched hands on the pier and it got to be a bit of a scene.

I admit to feeling sorta useless. Hated that part. Wished Dad had been there to save the day instead. Bless that tour guide though - I gave him a huge wet hug. Hopefully they noticed my belly 'cause I think the guy behind him in the picture is thinking, "What kind of punk mom is this that wouldn't jump in after her child!?" 

 Seeing as she ended up in the ER with this doozy on our last visit, we considered ourselves lucky...

The girl has a thing for Sydney adventures, I guess. Man alive, she's got some stories to tell. Good thing she got all confident in her swimming abilities this summer or things coulda been ugly.

(We proceeded to get locked inside the carpark and trapped downtown due to the bridge closure, so it was a memorable trip overall.)

MIA Much?

Usually this is the doldrums of the year, so I'm not accustomed to such action-packed-adventure in January, but it's our first summer in 18 months so we are officially LIVING IT UP. We left for Tas the day after school ended, had visitors a week later until today- only one week from back-to-school. Time flies.

the suitcase of sugar loot

waiting stealthily at baggage claim

Finally, a year in, we got our first visitor to Australia!!! My mum spent the last 2.5 weeks with us and we absolutely ate her up, (hence my bloglessness.) So much fun to have GramB alllllll to ourselves every day and every night (like, seriously, the first week she slept in a different kids' bed each night.) Quite a special sort of "quality time" that you surprisingly don't get living just 5 minutes from each other. What a treat!

Didn't take much begging from these cherubs to get GramB on board with just about anything, too. She has been a super sport constantly teaching, cuddling, helping, cleaning, paying, laughing, swimming, reading and enjoying these kids - they are truly "spoilt." And we are now in serious attention withdrawals (or in my case, dishes/laundry/mess/meal-help withdrawals!)

Here's the "mother load" of highlights for the fam...
(since you took maybe 2 pictures the entire time, right Mom? :)



 At Home:

rockin' the chocolate fountain in celebration of her arrival

one of many impromptu "sleepover" set ups

look closely, they blend in behind her

walking down the street to see her first wild kangaroos

 Kids coercing her into picking up the largest insect they'd found yet... ha ha. 

She's way too jumpy. Threw it immediately and said the thing felt like it was all spongy and full of air.

She fell in love with the views and roos on the walk up in the hills above our house. 

(As have we.)

making caramels - as if the suitcase of lollies she brought wasn't enough

a few dance and jam sessions (yes, that's money in the case)

  I don't think she ever said "no" - there were movies/swimming most days, extra sugar on cereal,  TimTams for breakfast, eating out, wrestling and snuggling and games galore. Lucky ducks!

 

In the City:

It was fun to be reminded of all this capitol city has to offer. From museums and memorials to art and activities.

Of course, first on the list was Questacon, our extremely engaging children's science museum. She was a total trooper and gave a good couple tries hanging at the top of Free Fall before opting to climb back down and watch the kids do it instead. :)

And then there was Summer's disturbing obsession with the freaky clowns...

National Botanical Gardens rainforest tree walk

She took us to see my friend, Kiki, as the Velveteen Rabbit then coaxed the kids into entering the drawing contest for free family tickets to the Angelina Ballerina ballet next month...

which Annie WON 

(woohoo at $40 a seat!!)

paddle-boating on Lake Burley-Griffin

Old Parliament House - way more fun than it sounds

 I love when historical places include fun, hands-on activities for the kids. We were there 3+ hours!

Running the lawns at New Parliament House. Always a good way to exhaust those chillens.

Loved discovering the Canberra Glassworks. Just sit there and watch world-renowned glass artists work their magic in those kilns for hours on end. What a cool art form and great way to spend an afternoon.

  (the ever impressive Australian War Memorial - at which Summer threw the world's most obnoxious fit)
 

Out & About:

saw our first Brown Snake (!!) right by the trail on this hike

the windy view from Telstra Tower

rounded the bend at the bottom to find this dramatic scene

took a fun train ride with friends to Bungendore - cute country town 40 minutes out

hit many a park

 

human slide tunnel

Out at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, GramB was our good luck charm for wildlife. We spotted our largest mob of kangaroos yet (55 - see above), a giant pelican, long neck turtle, tons of lizards, 2 emus and a few podaroos (sort of like a humungous rat.)

 doing The Flying Fox 

wheeeee!

still no wild sightings on the Koala Walk, darn it

GramB was treated to a fantastic Australia Day celebration our friends hosted with lamb kebabs, pumpkin dip, sausage rolls and the like, but I unfortunately got no photos of the people, party, (or pavlova!) Fun, nonetheless.

 At Kathryn's folks house about 10 seconds before Summer decided to walk on water and fell through the pool cover - fortunately she inherited Darren's biceps and did an Iron Cross on the corner til we fetched her.

At the Coast:

GramB might've been more of a "bad luck charm" on beach day since we saw 3 dead wombats and countless wallaby road kill driving down and only 3 roos on the sand when there are usually heaps.

However, we saw the coolest creature so far: an iguana! Just waltzing down from the trees toward the sandy beach. Of course my phone (camera) had just died, but this thing was huge - we thought it was a small croc at first!

Of course we had this nice little layout then Will decides to bury his towel in the sand.
Only a boy...

All in all, such a fantastic trip. Can't wait to have you back in 6 months, Mum! Good thing we did all this stuff, 'cause it ain't happenin' next time with a newborn in the house :)