Hats, you say?

We wear hats for the Royal Wedding!

Emily: Ethan, lets practice wearing our hats for the Royal wedding!
Ethan: Okay Em!


Ethan: How's this look?


Em: I think I like this one better - it coordinates with mine!


We're ready!

Tim Tams

Friends and family - I am pleased to introduce you to Tim Tams.



These delicious little Australian cookies are my favorite sweet out here so far.



There are two crunchy chocolate cookies with a chocolate filling in the middle. Think: rectangular Oreo, but with crunchier cookies, chocolate filling and dipped in chocolate. (is it any wonder why I like these so much?? all the chocolate!).



If you're really lucky, your husband brings home a package of caramel Tim Tams. :)



Look at all the other flavors I have to check out!

Monday at Tidbinbilla Park!

Since today was the last day with our rental car, we drove out to Tidbinbilla Park! The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (built by NASA) is nearby as well.

Playing with a giant satellite dish in the background. It's apparently the largest Satellite dish in the southern hemisphere. It was HUGE...these pictures don't do it justice.






I finally saw my first alive Kangaroo!! (I've seen a few as "roadkill" on the side of the road...they're like deer out here).


Hopping around!


It's hard to see, but there's a Koala in the trees just above and to the right of Emily's head


We got a annual pass so that we can go back when we eventually get a car. The park was really cool and we have so much more to explore!

Easter in Sydney

One of Chris' coworkers recommended the Royal Easter Show. It's a large fair set up in the Sydney Olympic Park. We figured that would be a fun way to spend Easter...however...there was nothing Easter about the show at all. It was a very large version of the Puyallup Fair (for non-north-westerners...think county fair). It was fun - and I'm glad we went - but I was hoping they would actually be doing something Easter-related. It was fun to see the Olympic Park too!

There was one barn that had a bunch of wool samples for you to feel. Emily was very excited about this....??


Emily shows Ethan the ropes


Emily got to collect stamps from every barn we visited. Around the third stamp, she realized they would stamp her arm if she wanted...we left the Easter Show with stamps up her arm :)


There was an incredible petting barn that had goats and lambs out roaming about. You could get some feed and they would come right up to you.




You can see that the barn was a very popular place


Ethan found the barn with the cows THRILLING...can't you tell?


There were these things called "showbags". You could buy a pre-packaged bag of goodies...and there were all sorts of themed bags. There had to be at least 1000 different bags you could buy. It was very overwhelming. We found a Sesame Street themed bag that we will use for her "Easter Basket".

Here's a picture down one of the shorter aisles of the stands selling the bags. It was a huge convention hall/center full of these booths.

Saturday in Sydney

Saturday we visited Bondi Beach!


Emily wasn't a fan of the sand. She wanted desperately to go in the water, but sadly water perfect for surfing is not perfect for little kids to play in :(.


But then we found a playground and all was well in her world :)


Ethan was happy in the stroller


Then we went exploring on the north side of the Sydney Harbour


Sydney Opera House


Sydney skyline

We've gone down under!

The kids and I are finally in Australia! We flew out of Seattle Tuesday evening, flew 16 hours, and landed in Sydney on Thursday morning! Chris has been here for almost a month, so it was really nice to be reunited with him.

We spent most of Thursday hanging out around our apartment recovering from the traumatic flight. I have to say, this apartment would be an AWESOME place for us...if it had one more bedroom...or if we didn't have kids yet. The apartment has one room with a shower and sink, and a separate room with a toilet and sink. So Ethan's pack n play is set up in the shower room (which is pretty much an extension of our room), and Emily's bed is set up in the room with the toilet. It works well - as long as we don't need to shower or use the bathroom while the kids are sleeping. :). In mid-May, we will be moving to a larger place with an extra room and should be able to use our bathroom any time of the day :). (what a luxury!)

We spent Friday exploring the city we live in - Canberra. We went to "civic" which is the city center. It's a quick walk away and has lots of shopping! In the afternoon we walked down to Lake Burley Griffin and looked for parks and fed the birds. It is absolutely gorgeous by the lake, and I see many trips there in our future! Chris has done a phenomenal job of exploring the area and finding family friendly things to do. He's found so many things for us to do and see. He really has us set up to have lots of fun!

Saturday morning we left for our first trip to Sydney! It's a 3 hour drive, so we rented a car and booked a hotel room for one night. It's our first hotel trip as a family of 4. We spent Saturday checking out an awesome surfing beach called Bondi beach. It was beautiful and the sand felt like powder. We didn't go in the water because the waves were too strong. There was a fun playground for Emily there as well. We will definitely be back! Afterwards we did a little exploring through residential areas and found a few more beaches that we may want to try out someday. Who knew Sydney had so many great beaches?

After the beach we crossed the Sydney Harbour so we could take some pictures of the city skyline and the Sydney Opera House. The weather was a little dreary - but we still had a nice time. It was fun exploring a few parts of Sydney - but we have so much more to see!

Sunday will be spent at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It was recommended to us by one of Chris' coworkers. So we're checking it out. I will post more about it after we go!

I'll try to post pictures soon - we have to figure out the best way to upload them because we have limited bandwidth...so bear with me. I'll get them up as soon as I can!

:)

Go Mariners!!!!

So today is opening day for baseball season! We decided to dig out our Mariners gear to cheer on our team.

Emily: Alright Ethan, this is how it goes. We sit here and smile and act cute and mom takes a million pictures then she lets us go play


Emily: Maybe I'll give you a snuggle like this. She loves this.


Emily: C'mon Ethan smile!


Ethan: Why is she taking so many photos?
Emily: This is how she does it. If you cooperate it will go a lot faster.


Ethan: I'm so tired of this


Emily: Oh look - Grandpa T came downstairs!


Ethan: Quick - while she's distracted - it's my time to shine!


Ethan: Take my picture mom!


Ethan: I'm falling!
Emily: Don't worry E. I'll catch you!


Emily: Here's a kiss. It will help you feel better.


Emily: And a thumb...thumbs are good for sucking


Emily: Alright, I've had enough of this. Time to confiscate that camera!


*Emily falls off the chair*
Ethan: Where'd you go Em?