Playdate in Longueville

Luckily, except for some lingering “diaweeah,” as Graham is constantly reminding us he has, he is better.  We have brunch playdate plans with friends of friends in Longueville, so we pack him up in a pull-up and off we go.  Such a fun day, great couple, nice smart and funny, really sweet kids, so much fun.  Would a cool American couple welcome foreign strangers into their home to take up half their Sunday?  Not sure, but I love Australians for that.

Another beautiful house with pretty landscaped view out big sunny windows, pool and tramp in the backyard, playrooms and lots of room to run around and play.  A little depressing to think of my much more cramped and dimly lit New York City life.  I don’t know, maybe most people in America outside of New York City are living this way.  I mean, people just live in houses in the movies, right??  Don’t answer that.

Peter says goodbye to his mom as she heads back to New York.  Am a little nervous as he’s never been away from her for this long, and I have vivid memories of him as a little boy having to go back home in the middle of a long weekend away because he missed her.  Of course it’s many years later and he’s matured into a strong, confident boy of eleven now.  Plus we have Skype.  But going back home means an awful lot of arrangements for everyone, not to mention how much we would miss him all over again, so I hope it goes OK!!

Dinner at Assiette celebrating our Anniversary!  It’s a lovely, chic restaurant in Surry Hills, and it doesn’t mean “little ass” as I know you were thinking.  It means an assortment of plates, as in one thing served many ways.  Very yummy food and you can’t go wrong decorating with Fornasetti.

Who would’ve thunk, seven years ago today, that this is where we’d be celebrating our anniversary!!!!

A happy anniversary!

Homebodies

Friday

I'd planned on bringing Peter around to show him the sights, but unfortunately Graham’s running a fever so we stay in most of the day.  Late afternoon Peter’s mom comes by and saves the day -- she picks Peter and Julia up and brings them to Sydney Tower, Dymock’s books, Strand Atrium and a chocolate store, and they come home loaded with books and chocolates.  Not a bad introduction to Sydney if you ask me!

We introduce Peter to our favorite store Hot Dollar in the underground mall and

he found some items to amuse himself.  I'm sure it made Hair Salon Game go faster at any rate.

Saturday

Graham was throwing up all night, so Peter Julia and hubby backtrack our steps to Taronga Zoo for Peter and then to Phillip’s Foote for dinner.  While I was very sorry we couldn't join them, I was glad that we had at least gone the first time around, as you wouldn't want to leave Sydney without a trip to that zoo.  And this is coming from a person who is not a big animal person unless they are transporting me somewhere, rescuing me from an avalanche with a flask, or just bringing me a flask.

Peter Arrives!!!!

At last, my stepson Peter joins us in Sydney!!  It was a very merry reunion, I think it was a really long two months apart for all of us.  (His mother flew over with him and then went to her own hotel and will stay in Sydney through the weekend.)  I can hardly believe we get to be a family of five for a whole month in a row!

The kids and I took the free green tourist shuttle around town to give Peter a little feel of the city and to keep him from falling asleep on his old clock.  We get off at the stop nearest the Australian Museum.  We walk through Hyde Park, the Australian Museum and then take our time walking back home to World Tower.  A very slow, uneventful day, but so wonderful just taking a leisurely stroll in the park in the sunshine, with all the kids together again.  One of my favorite times here, and doing almost nothing.

Free Sydney CBD Shuttle

Hyde Park

Holding up Sydney Tower.

At the Australian Museum you got to put on birds of paradise costumes, then dance electro dance tunes to an actual bird of paradise, with your image on the split screen so you could mimic their dance!  In nature the birds of paradise who try to attract mates with jewelry and fancy cars are apparently far less successful…

 Peter was hilarious, he did expert birds of paradise imitations, and made up a few moves of his own, I was crying...

 Playing in the Kidspace at the museum.

Peter's a great big brother -- he has always amused and entertained J&G better than anyone.

There was an epic dinosaur versus dragon battle!  Guess who won!

I always tell Peter, as I force him to pose for yet another photo, that some day he will thank me.  

I hope I'm right about this.

TV in Australia

My TV viewing habits have changed dramatically since living here, and not by choice.  It’s practically all documentaries and world news on the hotel TV stations.

By definition, all the documentaries are covering some horrific unhumanitarian saga going on somewhere in the world.  I mean, nobody ever made a documentary on how they make cotton candy taste so good, right?  But if the person making the cotton candy had a horrible disease that made his head grow to eight times its natural size and blurt obscenities and was making the cotton candy out of sugar laced with toxic petrochemicals and was working 140 hours a week for 30 cents a day and was 3-and-a-half, then there you would have yourself an award-winning documentary suitable for Australian television.

I hate to say it, but my head’s going to explode if I see another documentary on refugees!  Okay I am sympathetic to them and all and to be fair I have learned a lot about their plights since living here, but after a long day of childcare sometimes I need to lighten up and not think and watch some hoarders and try to figure out why Bethenny is living in that crappy apartment if she is supposedly sooooo successful, you know what I mean?  What I would I give to just come across a Real Housewives of Fill-in-the-Blank show airing!  Any Housewives, even the New Jersey ones!  (Okay, still not New Jersey.)

And also, I have no:

·       DVR L

·       Info button L

·       Menu button L

It’s basically back to the stone ages when the cave people had to turn on the television and just watch what was on!!  Including the commercials!!  So you continually click around trying to avoid the commercials, thereby forgetting any show that you were previously watching, until the middle of the night when you suddenly sit bolt upright in bed – OMG!  How did that show end!  Did they ever catch that guy??!!??

In case you were wondering, the line-up is heavy with American shows.  Also British shows, and foreign films with English subtitles.  While all the announcers have those fetching Aussie accents, there don’t seem to be too many Australian shows other than an LA Law knock-off but with wigs in the court room (“Crownies”, which isn’t half bad), a few kiddy shows my kids have discovered (mixed reviews), and some cable-access-looking shows populated by people who haven’t seen a fashion magazine since the eighties.

When you watch the news from other countries you tend to feel sort of embarrassed for America.  They actually listen to stories about places other than what’s happening in their own backyard.  Even in New York City, such a city of the world, “broad coverage” generally means they will be including news of the tri-state area in their broadcast; and let’s be real about the three states, they mean only the parts that can be seen from the Empire State Building.  And then they’ll throw in some footage of Obama playing basketball and call that keeping an eye on Washington.  Sure it may be tangentially related to power, proximity and necessity, and I think we probably have the U.S. blinders on a little less than we used to, but still, it’s pretty dismal how near-sighted we are.  When Australia has the weather report woven into their news, they literally include the temperature for New York City, among a long list of other major metropolitan cities all over the world.

Although I have to say I don’t know what TV news broadcasts are doing since I’ve been away.  Did you guys know that your credit rating’s going to be downgraded and the U.S. is going down the crapper??

Entertainment Quarter Farmer's Market

The Entertainment Quarter is a large complex not far out of town with entertainment venues like sports arenas, cinemas, function centers and Fox Studios Australia.  There is also a collection of shops, restaurants, and bars filling it out, as well as an outdoor playground and indoor playspots for kids like a rec area where you pay by the hour and a hands-on arts & crafts shop.

On a beautiful sunny Wednesday morning, we head to the EQ outdoor farmer's market where I’m told it’s essentially a crack den for little kids replete with bouncy castles, fairy floss and pony rides.  We were hoping to meet up with my literary agent friend and her clan, but unfortunately they didn’t end up making it.  No worries, as they say here.  It was a lovely day and they did have lots of fun activities for the kids (if not pony rides, unfortunately that wasn’t running).  There was a small village of bouncy castles that were a little pricey and timed by the 10 minutes, but since there was hardly anyone in it the guy never made us leave and I think the kids played for an hour, at least it felt that way.  You have to admit looking at these pictures, you’d like to try it yourself, wouldn’t you???  [I’ve realized that one of the main differences between adults and little kids is the lack of boredom on their part – many of the things they do is actually entertaining for about 5 minutes, but while you are ready to move on to the next thing, they will feel deeply as if they want to continue to do that one thing for the rest of their natural lives.]

After that Julia rode the amusement park ride while Graham and I watched, as we decided “it was a liddo scawy.”  

After that a Real Australian Pirate charmed the kids with balloon sculptures.  Who knew they were so good natured.

Then to lunch, a delightful Bavarian restaurant on the edge of the market.  We had a spot in the sun where the kids colored and Mommy chatted with her friend, New Zealand Zinfandel.  Lunch was delicious, I was quite enjoying myself.

Luckily they had a crack system to prevent overpouring. 

Then it was time for the caged petting zoo on our way out.  It was the mangiest collection of farm animals I’d ever seen, so of course the kids were completely enthralled and wanted to stay forEVer.  

Trying to chew the Choos.