Un-Settling In

We're still waiting for our household shipment to arrive, but otherwise feel like life is settling in. That will be a whole new whirlwind to handle... moving IN. But we've been enjoying walks around the neighborhood, new friendships and playdates, Darren, Will and Kenna have all given talks at church, the kids have each won an award at school, and we're getting to know our way around these parts. Mama's happy to have our Saturday chores in full swing. The kiddos seem to stay on task longer when we pump up the music and work side by side, so we had some vacuuming races then enjoyed the sunshine together detailing the car, mowing the lawn and spraying the house (after finding friends pictured below.)

Exhibit A & B (Huntsman) is admittedly awful looking but we keep them around because they eat Exhibit C (Red-back) whose bite can be fatal. Found 5 of those on the back patio. Not exactly a happy discovery when you've got a little one starting to crawl and eat anything she can grab. The variety of dangerous specimens that call Australia home is a post of its own...

Followed chores up with a dip in the pool and a fun work party that evening. With Canberra Day being tomorrow, we might hit some festivities to finish off the long weekend. Feeling good.

Brindabella

Some video from our drive through Brindabella National Park last Saturday.


Started off with an unfortunate 30 minute wrong turn detour of windy vomit-inducing roads, did some off roading to take in the view, drove through a stream, discovered Will inherited his mother's love of skinny-dipping, chatted with local man and his braided beard, pumped some good tunes, got kicked off some private property, enjoyed the countryside, talked mom into getting wet this time, ran over a 3 foot snake, made some memories.

When Dad's Left in Charge

In my defense, I didn't know McKenna had put the humus next to Summer in the Dining room. Summer has a thing for humus. Plus, her playing quietly for 15 minutes was so convenient as I was glued to the news about the Tsunami in Japan. Another disaster was lurking. As the pictures illustrate, Summer had her way with the humus. As an added bonus, I found a gigantic blow-out hiding as I removed her onesie ahead of the bath. Unfortunately, humus is not what is displayed in the last photo. A proud moment for father.

Wonky Talk

I've had to smile with embarrassment and ask, "What does that mean?" quite a few times here. Thick accents and special pronunciation make even common words literally unrecognizable to the untrained ear at times. Add that to the variety of great vocab we're getting used to and daily conversations can be an excellent brain exercise. Beyond the expected "G'day mate" (which truly is the normal greeting here - no lie):

jumper (sweater)
boot (trunk of car)
bonnet (hood of car)
nappies (diapers)
chooks (chickens)
canteen (cafeteria)
lollies (candies)
biscuits/bikkies (cookies/crackers)
brekkie (breakfast)
people mover (minivan)
crook (ill)
fortnight (two weeks)
ute (truck)
rubbish bin (garbage can)
trolley (shopping cart)
heaps (lots)
cross (angry)
capsicum (sweet peppers)
sultanas (raisins)
lemonade (sprite)
squash (flavored soda)
rubber (eraser)
cordial (punch concentrate)
spare (extra)
"haytch" (h)
surgery (doctor's clinic)
theatre (surgery)
tea (snack)
have a go (try)
mum (mom)
barbie (grill)

Of course, many of those have a British background, and spelling is often different too (this actually works to Will's advantage, but not Kenna's) ie: colour, reflexion, learnt, aeroplane, tyre, mould, pyjamas, kerb, licence, maths, chequer, aluminium, centre

The kids are even starting to correct me like when I ask if they want some "cookies." Kenna in particular is really picking up the accent especially when I catch her chatting with her friends at school. It's pretty sweet.

Happy Ash Wednesday

We're learning all sorts of interesting things about Catholicism and the accompanying beliefs and sacraments. While we don't have the kids do the sign of the cross or recited prayers at home like they do at school, we do encourage them to appreciate all the different ways both religions worship and to recognize the symbolic value in each.

I attended the kids' Ash Wednesday liturgy where Will did an excellent reading from the Bible about how we're not to show off our good deeds. Then all the students received ash crosses on their foreheads. Definitely a new one for us. But I appreciated the introduction to Lent and that the ash cross was to remind them that nobody's perfect and encourage each child to use this opportunity to abandon a bad habit or find new resolve to improve oneself in some way.

Being at this school has led to some great dinner discussions already and I'd say that's a good thing.

A Cup of Sugar

You ever had to run over to the neighbors for a missing ingredient (or in my case, tin foil to keep your roo from burning)? Well, I think kind neighbors are priceless. And we got pretty lucky with ours. We were assigned housing on a cul-de-sac in a nice part of town surrounded by lots of embassies. I was worried there wouldn't be much social interaction, but after introducing ourselves one couple invited us over for "afternoon tea and drinks" with the three other families in our circle, all of which have been here since they bought the lots 20+ years ago. Extremely nice gesture.

The neighbors on one side have a couple kids just older than ours (who incidentally don't use the trampoline much anymore and invited us to come and go as we please.) They also have guinea pigs who roam the backyard which has helped ease the pain of leaving our pet rats at home.

Neighbors on the other side were very hospitable empty-nesters who opened their pool to our crazy kids with an invitation to use it when they wanted. (Wow.) Our kids ran their dog ragged, playing fetch with him in the pool while we sat and visited. They've had a kangaroo fall in the pool and blue tongued lizards sitting at their back door. We learned of the other international families that had stayed in our house - and many other juicy neighborhood tidbits. We were introduced to turnip cake and candied licorice and warned to be careful at night because the kangaroos come down to our yards in the dark. And despite being asked if we were from some new cult in Utah (you know, the whole "we don't drink tea, coffee, OR alcohol" bit) it was a lovely, lovely time and we were grateful for such a warm welcome.

We've found the people, children included, to be super friendly. Kenna had no less than three girls volunteer to "look after her" within 5 minutes on her first day of school. And complete strangers almost jump to help this struggling mama daily. (I've had people load my groceries, jump my car, push my cart, & hold my baby, entirely unsolicited.) Good on ya, Australians!

Did You Know?

that over here on the opposite side of the world...

autumn just began.
we use the metric system. (I'm getting good at liters and grams.)
we use Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.
water flushes down the toilet counterclockwise.
our paper size is different. (8.3 x 11.7 in)
the outlets and voltage are different.

We also drive on the left side of the road. 

 (!!!)

I never remember which side of the road to check first. I have yet to crash, knock on wood, but still have to really concentrate. It's exciting! Being in a giant SUV is a switch too. Sometimes, especially in parking lots, I miss my good old minivan...