Surry Hills

Story “hour” at Surry Hills Library – I’d heard from a couple of people that this was good.  Every Thursday at 11am.  We get there at literally ten minutes past the hour, and the lady was just closing the book.  Um, okay, that was fast!  Glad we trucked in from CBD for that.

They were breaking out the art project as we got there, which was coloring Xeroxed handouts, cutting and glue sticking.  Not the most creative craft ever, but the kids actually did have fun, and as luck would have it, Julia happened to sit next to another 5 year old girl who was here on holiday from Brisbane.  It was cute listening to them chat and compliment each other’s coloring work.  Graham seemed to have fun too coloring and running around with the other kids.

Lunch in the so-called trendy part of town – Italian, downtown feel.  So lovely to have a semi-civilized lunch with them.  They’re getting old enough where I’m not spending the entirety wiping, cutting, mopping up spills, feeding, breaking up fights, wiping, mopping up spills etc, it’s only part of the time now.  And they even ate “grown-up” food – margherita thin-crust pizza sans basil (“Mommy, this is really tasty!” exclaimed Julia.)

Nearby playground – They both found friends (Graham, someone to run around with sticks with, Julia, a cocker spaniel).  Why is the common stick so maddeningly appealing to little boys?  Every day Graham searches the grounds for a perfect stick, walks around with one for a while, poking and whacking and shooting, runs with it until Mommy notices and yells at him to stop, and then begs me to take it home with him (no, again).  And if he drops it, he will search a playground for that stick.  What about this one?  No.  How about this one, it looks very similar!  No, no that’s not the one Mommy!

Bus home – Bus driver lets us on free as I struggle with the stroller -- Can you imagine a New York City bus driver doing that?!  Ha ha!

No word from lady on 66th floor with the two boys. L  Was asking for the following day too needy?? :\

Ultimate Rainbow Day

In the morning we saw this out our window...

Funny but just this week one of the kids had been asking me if the rainbows you see in books are real, the fully arched rainbow.  It was a great question given all the rainbows we've been seeing were just bits and pieces.  And then later in the day....  VOILA!!  A real whole rainbow appeared before our eyes!!  Even at my old age, I had never seen one before in my life!  Not the best photos, but it was really cool...

Desperate Times

Today there was a 50ish man who came into the pool with two young boys.  I asked if he was the father (well in New York he would have been!) but he was the grandfather.  Turns out one boy was 6 and the other 4 – perfect!!  Especially because both of my kids love playing with boys.  The older boy dove into the big pool, so all of a sudden Julia wanted to go swim in the big pool.  When he took a break and sat on the edge, she went and sat right next to him, arm to arm.  It was very cute, and made me feel terrible how desperate she was for a playmate.  Graham also had fun playing squirt guns in the hot tub with the younger boy.  I learned from their grandfather that the parents were staying in the hotel for another two weeks.  I took the mother’s name and room number.  I’m throwing shame to the wind, I don’t care if I look as desperate as a single 40 year old stalking genetically suitable mates, I am going after this family like nobody’s business!  I hope they will be into us!

I don't know if these are boring to post in a blog, but rainbows make me feel like a little girl who's just seen a unicorn.  I LOVE THEM!!  So I will share, in case you do, too...

Feeding the birds in Hyde Park.

Back at the Australian Museum

Uh, wow, very realistic display!

Walking home through Hyde Park. 

Bowling

Visitor Information, Darling Harbour

Loved this place, wish I'd stopped in sooner.  I don't think I've ever actually gone into a tourist info establishment before, but this had been recommended by a few people to me.  It was like having a travel concierge.  One woman helped me with kiddy activities around Sydney, another advised me on weekend trips.  And then they gave the kids Sydney calendars off their clearance rack as we left (or “schedules,” as Graham calls them), which Julia and Graham thought was awesome.

I include this photo because it's the last one taken of Julia's stuffed animal terrier, 

lost sometime between now and five minutes later.  Sigh.

Darling Harbour on our way to bowling.

Kingpin Bowling

Apparently Graham had gotten it into his mind that Australia was the Land of Bowling.  Thus, he has been asking to go bowling on a regular basis since we arrived.  Fortunately I was able to locate a nearby bowling alley at the Harbourside Shopping Centre in Darling Harbour.

But first we go out clubbing.

OK, joking, but they do look like they’re scoping the scene out on a happening Saturday night, don’t they?

The place was loungy with good dance tunes thumping.  I quite enjoyed it myself.

 Assume classic bowling waiting stance while ball rolls down the lane...

 ... and, a high five!  (it must be in the human genome, you don't teach people these things)

That's right, Mommy won, oh yeah....

(is it wrong to gloat that you beat your 3 & 5 yr olds?)

Spare!

Shoe Challenged

One thing I have noticed here is that Australian men have really bad shoes.  Some examples I’ve managed to stealthily obtain:

The problem is, my husband seems to be absorbing a bit of their aesthetic.  I don’t know how else to explain his recent purchase:

He doesn't like that I keep calling him The Skipper.

I mean they’re not terrible, and maybe I'm wrong about this, but he’s neither a sailor nor gay, so I just do not feel they are working for him!

The Tooth Fairy will Cometh

Julia loses her first tooth!!  While we’d all been very excited about it yesterday and she seemed proud to be such a Big Girl, when it happened she stomped into the living room with the news.

“It happened,” she said grumpily.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It came out,” she declared, showing me the little white seed sticking between her two fingers.

“Wowwwww!!!!!” I shrieked.

“Mommy!” she yelled, “You’re being too loud!  Stop it!” and threw the tooth on the ground.

“I’m sorry Sweetie, what’s wrong?  You seem upset.  Aren’t you excited?”

“No!” she said, and promptly burst into tears.  “I wanna put it back in!!!  Waaaaa…”

Turns out it was her “favorite tooth” – who knew! – and she did not like it being out, Big Girl or not.  Guess I can’t blame her, I wouldn’t be so keen to lose a tooth out of my mouth, either.  Hopefully some cash from the Tooth Fairy will improve her mood!

Hmm, now does the Tooth Fairy deliver in American or Australian currency??