Downs and Ups

After a 4AM start for 4/5 of us (Thank you Mike, maybe I'll get tomorrow :-)) and a run along the ocean for the one who slept in until sunrise (starting to sense an imbalance...), we headed out to take care of business. Mike mapped out a plan, which began with Target, Bank, Cell Phones and Grocery Shopping. 4 1/2 hours later, which was not in the plan, we sort of had most of those items crossed off the list. It took 4 visits to the bank to complete everything, but the real headache was the the cell phones, for which we only needed SIM cards thanks to the endless generosity of Steven and and Jen, who came before us. Don't ever get the new guy! Mike entertained the kids on the escalators that take grocery carts.

Anyway, Mike needed a bit of time to himself and still had a very long list of errands to do, so he headed into our new offices where saw Jay Pil Choi, a colleague of ours @ MSU and here, who warned him of making a bad first impression by showing up to the office @ 2:30 PM. Jay also advised Mike to buy a fancy new bike and give it to him when we left... Mike found 2 preschools for Charlie and one right next door that will have an opening in 3 weeks. HUGE relief, we just have to figure out which one to choose. I hope he enjoyed his quiet time!

The kids and I wandered back down to Coogee Beach, to the playground Ted and Clara told us about.



We took our "beach" toys, which are not in season because everyone knows it is winter. We improvised with cleaning buckets and garden shovels from KMart.

Here they are savoring some water they managed to capture behind the line they weren't allowed to cross.

Sadly, their mother is a nervous Nellie so they were not allowed to fully enjoy the HUGE waves crashing in on the beach. I really know how to take the fun out of everything... Sorry about the opening scene on this one, I always forget you cannot turn a video from portrait to landscape!

After a good's night sleep..

Today, we encountered bucketfuls of kindness towards tourists. The kind employees in the convenience store, let us in on the secret of Funday Sundays - for $2.50 (A), you can ride all the public transportation you want all day long. That includes busses, ferries, and trains. We hopped on the 376 and headed to Circular Quay.

A general look of confusion, combined with a too heavy pile of guide books, led a fellow bus rider to ask us if he could help us find something. In the end, we had his card (he's a news presenter, whatever that is), and met his wife from Elk Grove, IL and had a pile of tips of things to do. After he got off the bus another woman, who couldn't help but overhear, suggested we take a ferry to Cockatoo Island, for an art festival "The Underground Belly". Why not?

Cockatoo Island used to be a major jail back in the 1800s- only one guy brave enough to swim to freedom through the shark infested waters. We didn't really take in the art, except for participating in a performance piece by playing spiced up versions of Rock Paper Scissors and Cops and Robbers (Mike particularly enjoyed that one).



Next, back to Circular Quay and another ferry to the other side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, that we walked back across, with sweet views of the Opera House and lots of barbed wired to prevent you-know-what.




The littlest man put himself to bed tonight, that's how you know tired we all are!

Happy Birthday Libby - we sang happy birthday 14 hours before it was even your birthday in the States!!

Next Funday Sunday...? We're taking suggestions! If we get none, we'll adopt the same clueless look on the bus that worked so well for us today.

Neighborhood Walk

So, we set out to check out the neighborhood after a nightmarish grocery shopping trip with three seriously jetlagged children and their equally jetlagged parents...

Here's the big picture, a walk that goes for 6+km from one beach to another to another - the Eastern Beach Walkway (this will be my morning run, maybe a marathon doesn't sound so bad :-)):

Upon arriving at Coogee Beach, the waves beckoned, rather vigorously. In this shot, only Charlie is soaked to the bone in Australian winter weather (62 degrees F), but eventually all three fall to the mighty Pacific. It's a 20 minute walk home passing many snickering walkers, at least one who muttered, "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Looks like we made it!

We left our house at 11AM on the 7th, completely missed the 8th by crossing the dateline and arrived @ 6AM on the 9th. We've arrived at our home (yep, that's the ocean in the background!) and learned that we say Molly like "Marley". I cannot figure out how to type the phonetics for how to say it properly in Australian "Mool-ee?"

Sabbatical!

"I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich."

I said, we're going to the land down under...

The Christmas Card Factory

"Now Charlie, you just make a 'C' like this right here. Then you do 120 more and you're done."

The Elusive Christmas Card Picture...

My sister Kim says personalities are obvious in this photo shoot. You make the call - what do you see?