Davis Cup Tennis Tournament Does Sydney: Australia vs. Switzerland

All week my attempts to acquire tickets to the Davis Cup Tennis Match turned up dead ends;  I stalked Ticketek via phone and website, I called people who might know people, I even showed up at the match on Day 1, stood in line for forty-five minutes with some cranky, snotty old guys dressed up like they were going to high tea--- only to be shut out. 

And my sister said, you'll get tickets.  Don't even say that you won't.  And I was thinking that same thing, but was slowly starting to accept that it might not happen.

So I marched on, and with today being Day 2 of the three day tournament, I conceded that sometimes it doesn't all happen-- and that's okay, as Tony Robbins would say, "There are no failures, there are only results."

Then we went to the seven year old's tennis lesson this morning, during my break from ball-boy duty, I received an eBay message that Davis Cup tickets had just been listed.  Upon reaching the seller (a.k.a. "The Ticket Pimp") he says he's at a restaurant a couple minutes away from us, and he has front row seats with our name on them-- for the match that starts in 90 minutes.

Woooo freaking hoooo!  FRONT ROW, BABY!

So I'm all, "We'll be there in five minutes to get the tickets."  And he's all, "First come, first serve-- I'm sittin' here."  And I'm thinking, is this for real?  I had been willing-it to happen JUST. LIKE. THIS. all week long... and it's really going to?  Really?  YES!  That is, unless we pay, the tickets end up being fake, and we walk away sad losers... hmmm, that sure would be unfortunate.  But I am a truster, and I am willing pay the trust tax if necessary to believe this is the real deal, because I KNEW it was going to happen all along... I just knew it.

I jump into action and shout onto the tennis court to my seven year old, whose coach just told him they were going to play a "real match" for the last 15 minutes of their lesson, "Honey, we need to leave-- I got Davis Cup tickets!! I got the Davis Cup tickets!! We need to go get them before he sells them to someone else... let's go!"  And then he whines (or whinges if you're Aussie), "I can't go right now, we are about to play a real match.  Can't we go afterwards???"

At risk of becoming Crazy-Ameri-Mum in public, I think I threatened him with a week of no-ipod if he didn't, "Get in the car NOW!".

Thankfully, he shut his piehole and we rushed down the street.  As we approached the rendezvous point I saw The Ticket Pimp walking anxiously up and down the footpath (that's Aussie for "sidewalk"), he had that I'm-looking-for-someone, but-I-don't-know-what-they-look-like face on... so I was pretty sure it was him.  And.... just like that... BAM!... we had front row seats to the hottest game in town, Davis Cup Australia vs. Switzerland.

After dashing home and wolfing down some Oporto Chicken Rappas, we were on our way.

I pulled into to my favorite carpark (that's Aussie for "parking lot")-- full.  Damn.  Headed back onto the main road and BAM!  Perfect massive spot to parallel park in, directly across the street from the entrance.  Seriously, it seems obvious that our day has come.  We have arrived.

We were late enough that there was no line to enter the Royal Sydney Golf Club, and before we knew it, we were in.  Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Chris Guccione-- alive and in person-- merely feet from us, or metres if you're all metric and whatnot.

And if all of this goodness wasn't enough, we were lucky enough to be seated on the west side which was almost completely shaded from the searing Aussie sun which was as strong as it comes today.  The little sub-climate at our seats was a cool, breezy 20ish degrees Celsius- that's probably about 65 Fahrenheit?

It was absolutely gorgeous and ah-MAZ-ing day, and here's a taste of it...


The temporary seating we'd seen them put up earlier in the week-- I heard it was three or four thousand seats.


Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!  (FYI- our colors are green and yellow).


The tennis-fanatic seven year old and Roger Federer, who would clearly be unaware he is taking part in such an important photo.


Federer in deeply focused, as he should be :).


The award winners for "Most Enthusiastic Fans".  They kept the match rockin', literally... those temporary stands are pretty darn flimsy.


This was the first professional tennis match I've been to, and was quite intrigued by the umbrella-holding girls during the quick breaks.  Note:  I am totally in support of as much shade as possible.


It was such an exciting match, and the Aussie took it home!


After the match, there were mini-tennis courts set up, which was incredible considering he was harassing me that he wanted to play tennis "RIGHT. NOW."  After four hours at a tennis match, he seriously wanted me to take him to play.  Could this have been any luckier a find???


He was so hot and schweddy after playing tennis with the other kids that we decided the best way to top it all off would be by pouring the remnants of his water bottle on his head for an instant cool-down.

It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

My Little Boys are Ameri-Aussies and I'm Giving Them Tall Poppy Syndrome

Last night while he sat in the bathtub, my raspy-voiced seven year-old asked in his Ameri-Aussie accent, "Mum, have you ev-ah her-d the soong 'The Star-Strangled Banner'?" Omigod, I nearly peed in my pants-- the Star Strangled Banner???

I'm now officially quite sure, Angelina and Brad's kids would definitely put mine to shame in the "knowing-about-the-country-you-came-from" category.  Wow.

I said, "Of course I know that song honey-- it's called the 'Star Spangled Banner'; though, I did think your name for it was very awesome too."  And then, I did what any other really wacky parent would do... I busted out in an unusually loud and dramatic rendition of our national anthem.  And it wasn't pretty--- though it was quite fun.  So fun in fact, that in my tiny bathroom with tiled walls, I must have sang it eight or nine times.  Did I mention it was loud?

Anyway, we ended up googling the lyrics (which there were a few I was unsure of) and singing along to them until bedtime.  Needless to say, I'm sure my husband wanted to kill me-- and I'm guessing our neighbors would have helped.

On a completely different topic, living here in Australia has given me a new perspective on so-called bragging-rights.  I never was shy about telling people how awesome my kids were-- until I finally realized that that's not the way most people do things here.

Instead of the mentality I grew up with, which was along the lines of-- everyone is good at something and if you've got it flaunt it.

So you can take Florida Girl out of America, but you can't take America out of Florida Girl, so that being said... I feel like showing off my little guys once in a while, and I'm going to right now...

My seven year old is an amazing tennis player if I do say so myself.  Here's proof:

And my little guy is a creative sponge and plans on "being famous" when he grows up.  I figured I'd give him a head start here... can't hurt, right?

It's as if the talent in our house is seemingly endless...

So don't be hatin' or cuttin' down these poppies, mate.

Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theatre Sydney

News Flash: Mary Poppins has landed in Sydney with the help of her highly fashionable, yet mysterious, umbrella... and sporting a harness with strings barely visible to naked-eye of middle-aged mums (moms); one mum specifically (wink, wink), who clearly needs reading glasses (a sad fact made even more evident after attempting to read the $20 Mary Poppins Program book.  Hmm, is it just me, or does the print just keep getting smaller???).    

But apparently, trying to get tickets to see the nanny who puts grown men in their place, isn't easy.  To get "the good seats" at Sydney's incredibly beautiful Capitol Theatre, we had to book months ago, but lemme tell ya-- it was well worth it!

Our six and seven year old boys loved it, and so did their parents :).

And I love going to the Capital Theatre, it's an experience in itself.  We saw Wicked there, and also Tap Dogs, which was really cool since at the time the boys were taking tap dance lessons at the Tap Dogs Dance School.

When you enter the Capitol Theatre it feels as if you've stepped into the glamourous days of yesteryear, where people dressed to the nines to see a show, and said things like, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." 

Anyway, luckily for us, the the proximity of Mary Poppins was within walking distance of our regular Sunday morning church, sorry, I mean Yum Cha restaurant (it's our religious ritual so I sometimes get confused).  So we got ourselves some dumplings, salt and pepper calamari,  and Chinese broccoli, then walked in the beautiful, crisp Sydney weather about a kilometre (that's Aussie for 1/2 a mile) over to the Capitol Theatre.


The kids were hoping they'd have popcorn, they didn't.  But they did have mini-cans of Pringles and blue Mary-Poppins-flavoured (that's Aussie for "flavored" if I lost anyone there) lemonade slurpee style beverages which came in these handy-dandy souvenir cups...




We stopped by the cloak room to claim a couple booster cushions for the boys, though they only "boosted" them a couple of inches higher, which wasn't all that helpful when seated behind seemingly ginormous stranger heads.

Upon entering the theatre, we were shown our seats by a friendly usher who was oh so kind, and gently reminded us to switch off our mobile phones, and that photography was strictly prohibited.  We sat down, briefly checked-out our theatre-mates, and got some time to admire our surrondings.  Enamored once again by the Capitol Theatre's beauty, I reached for my camera-- and then I stopped, and I thought to myself-- surely he meant no photography during the show, right?  Why wouldn't you be allowed to take photos of the inside of the theatre? Duh.

And so-- snap, snap, sna...

And with a look of disappointment and disdain, the friendly usher turned on me.  "There's absolutely no photography allowed in the theatre, jackass."  Okay, well he didn't actually say "jackass", but he didn't need to-- it was implied.

Boy, my kids sure don't have a good rule-following, role-model in me...


There you have it, an illegal photo of the inside of the Capitol Theatre.  I am a very bad girl.

Anyway, each actor in this production was outstanding.  The actress who played Mary Poppins was amazing.  The guy who played "Bert" was really good, and is apparently a judge on one of the innumerable reality talent shows here-- not that that matters.  The kids who were on that day were great, and adorable, and all that good stuff.  And the supporting actors were all extremely engaging and stole many of the scenes they were in.

I also thought the adaptation of the show from screen to theatre was done in a very interesting way,  if I'm not mistaken, I believe some of the songs were in a different order than in the movie, and there were new songs also.

In my professional opinion, I would highly recommend going to see Mary Poppins while she's here.  It was an absolutely Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious show, and it looks like we're not the only ones who think so, as they took home a whole heap of Helpmann Awards last night at the Sydney Opera House, which is not at all surprising news-- because we loved it! 

The end.

Australian School Uniforms and Swearing in Australia, Bloody Hell Dammit

Pop into the shops in most Aussie suburbs between the hours of 3 and 4pm, and you will most likely be quite entertained as you see kids of all ages gussied up in their adorable Australian school uniforms.

After four years here, I am sold on the whole uniform thing.  In fact, I'll go as far as to say, the more formal the better.  Dare I declare... it sets a tone; it creates an atmosphere.  It makes boys acting naughty, still be, boys acting naughty; but they look extra adorable while doing it, haha.  In my opinion.

So you can imagine the cuteness factor a couple of years ago, when my oldest child was in Kindy (that's Aussie for Kindergarten) and I would walk into their classrooms and see all their cute little Aussie friends, with all their cute little Aussie accents, in their cute little uniforms.  And one day, whilst the kids were putting their "morning tea" (that's Aussie for "snack") in their designated spot, a little boy I was quite fond of drops his bag on the floor, exploding with an enthusiastic, "Dammit!".

My jaw probably dropped to the floor, and in my best Homer Simpson voice, I was like, "Doh???".  Did that little mister five-year old cutie-pants just shout out "dammit" and no one even blinked an eye?  Huh?  I'm no Pollyanna, and I can swear like a truck driver when necessary...  or, for no reason at all.  

Anyway, so over the last couple of years there have been many a playdate and/ or a birthday party and/ or a school drop off, where "dammit" and "what the hell" are flying out of babes mouths like it's nothin'.   So finally, I asked a friend of mine... (about 10 seconds after her son said both these words in front of all of us), "Um, hey girlfriend--  are dammit and hell bad words in Australia, or are they not?  Because in the U.S. you really wouldn't hear little kids talking like that."  (At least as far as I know, but then again, my kids were two and three years old when we moved here).

And then I stopped, and then I thought-- hmm, I wonder if the word "bloody" is actually worse than "hell" or "dammit".  So I asked the question-- who knows, could that be true?  Guess what, assuming my friend wasn't just messing with me... "bloody" is actually worse.

You'd think after all my time here, I would have picked this knowledge up along the way.  Apparently, I'm a little slow on the uptake, but now I am well-informed of what the really bad word is.

So last week, newly enlightened on the swearing front, I stood by as the boys and their classmates were slowly unpacking their morning tea bags, so I chimed in with, "Speed it up kiddos, and get the fuck out to the field."  The Aussie mums (moms) quickly turned around and glared at me (more than usual).

And I'm not really sure where this all went awry -- it's not like I said bloody field.  

I guess I'll never really fit in here.

**Update:  I didn't really swear at a bunch of seven year olds, and if my kids said "dammit" or "hell" there totally would be no ipods for who knows how long :). 

Yum Cha Restaurants in Sydney

Back in Dallas, Texas, when our oldest child was six months old, we forwent the traditional first food of rice cereal, opting for a more exotic "introductory to solids" of steamed dumplings instead.  (exaggeration)  So it's not surprising that while many spend their Sunday mornings at church, our Sunday morning religious experience is referred to as "Yum Cha"-- or "Dim Sum" as they say in America.

Back in 2003 and 2004 We used to go with our friend Auntie Abby to a Dim Sum restaurant in Dallas's Chinatown area, it was one of those massive banquet-style restaurants with over the top crystal chandeliers and seating for probably upwards of 1000 people.

Luckily for us, Sydney has no shortage of great Liberace-motif-esque Yum Cha restaurants.  And at this point, I'd say we've officially done the Yum Cha circuit in Sydney, and I'm prepared to share our findings...

So here are some Sydney Yum Cha restaurant reviews which I hope will be helpful to others in their quest for the perfect shu-mai.

I'll start with our favourite...

1.  At The Palace in the Sydney CBD's Picadilly Tower, they call our six year old "The Dumpling King."  No seriously, when we walk in-- they say, "Why helloooo Dumpling King".  And then, the child who declared himself a vegetarian about six months ago, and adamantly refused to consume any type meat, proceeds to sit down and eat at least eight-ten dumplings (some of which contain pork)-- every single weekend-- he stocks up, like a chipmunk-- fur real, haha.

We highly recommend their prawn and snow pea dumplings, shumai, and seafood shumai.  Any of the BBQ pork buns varieties are excellent; steamed, donut style, and pastry triangles.  Yum.  The kids beg us to get them chocolate mousse from the dessert cart, and if they've behaved really well, we oblige.


I'll safely assume we can call this the "fried food cart".  The fried scallops are excellent, the hubby and kids love the fried prawn dumplings.

And here is a photo of "The Dumpling King" with our most-favourite (favorite) waiter.





Did I mention we bring our own training chopsticks for the kids?  The waiters must think we are total wackos.  (Note the chandelier in background).

2.  Another Yum Cha we go to, especially when we're looking for somewhere interesting to take out-of-town visitors, is the Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant at The Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont.  It's basically a massive, brand new, sparkley clean restaurant, upstairs at the back of the fish market, with gorgeous water views over what I believe is Black Wattle Bay.

One of the maitre-d's here is extremely friendly and helpful.  And he and/ or a few others will often go out of their way to find the specific dumpling or item you are looking for if it hasn't come around yet.   The dumplings here are good, the dessert buns are possibly better, and the views and atmosphere (as Yum Cha restaurants go) is second to none.

 
The boys and BooBoo the Bunny waiting for the dumpling cart to come, at the gorgeous sun-filled Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant Yum Cha at Sydney Fish Market.

3.  Sky Phoenix, located in Sydney CBD's Pitt St. Mall, is definitely a delicious Yum Cha choice.  And if we were going solely based on food quality, this could possibly be our number one choice.  But for us, it seems less convenient to get to, and not as child-friendly as the other places.  Sky Phoenix's food and service has been excellent, but we have found this to be a smaller feeling, and more formal atmosphere.  My husband and I have also dined at Sky Phoenix for dinner-- and that was absolutely yum-tastic. Sky Phoenix also has a massive restaurant in the Rhodes Shopping Centre (or known in our house as "the IKEA mall"), would say it's still good eats, but not the same as the CBD location.

4.  Marigold Restaurant on George Street in Sydney's Chinatown is another Yum Cha we'd recommend.  In our experience, the food is good, but the service is quite lacking.  It was somewhat difficult to get the items we wanted, and with two impatient little boys, and a language barrier that seemingly could not be broken, for us, there were issues here.

Regal Restaurant on Sussex was also supposed to be on this list, but after finding that they have "merged with Marigold", it looks like they've basically shut the Regal Restaurant down.

5.  Bodhi Yum Cha in Sydney directly outside the entrance to the Cook & Phillip Pool complex is a cute little vegan Yum Cha spot.  Most of the seating is outside, with a friendly staff and good selection of obviously solely vegetarian pickings--  I'm guessing it's likely the only vegetarian/ vegan Yum Cha in town.  So if you're not a vegetarian, but hungry nonetheless and it the neighborhood, it's worth giving a try. However, if you're craving a traditional porky and prawny Yum Cha, this is probably not going to scratch that itch.

6.  And in this case we will not say "last but not least", because Kam Fook, the Yum Cha at Bondi Junction mall would definitely come in a far last in my little black Yum Cha book.  Kam Fook belongs in a mall-- at the food court.  Sorry.  This has been a restaurant often used for school-mum (that's "mom" for all y'all yanks) meetups.  And the food, combined with the dodgy service, and sweat-box area in the back under the un-tinted windows makes for a big loser in my one-woman Sydney Yum Cha competition.  But if you're in the beautiful Bondi Junction Mall and need Yum Cha-- give it a try, it's okay.  Though in the food court on level 5 there is a tiny dumpling place directly next door to Yumba (the fallafel shop)that recently opened, where they make the dumplings in front of you that is probably more delicious.

So there you have it-- we love dumplings, shumai, steamed pork buns, Chinese broccoli, soya noodles, spring rolls, fried prawn dumplings, custard buns, Chinese donuts and chopsticks.

Puppy Love

She was older, wiser-- she'd been around the block... many, many times I might add.
He was young.  Innocent.  In an unfamiliar, new place.

For several days, the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife.  They gingerly danced around each other, neither wanting to make the first move.

He tried to get close to her; she turned away, pretending not to notice him.

When he wasn't looking, she'd watch him longingly from across the room.

And in a moment of weakness, as she lightly dozed off on the lounge (that's Aussie for couch), her gorgeous blonde curls shining in the light...



he could resist her no more.  And she could feel his eyes piercing her, like the intense Australian sun on summer day.



And he couldn't stop staring, and he knew what he needed to do.



So he played hard to get, because he didn't want to seem too eager...



And he spent some time with the guys, trying to play it cool, ya know-- like it's all about bromance and stuff.








But in the end, a surprise visit (from the gardener, to re-sod the hole someone dug) brought them together-- at the window to gawk.



And that night the deal was sealed...



And so began a love that will last them their lifetimes.

Welcome to the family Baby Sam, we are so happy to have you here you little hunk of chocolate Labradoodle love.

Eczema and Alkaline Water and Epsom Salt and Cerave Cream, Oh My

We've got issues.

We've got a nut allergy.  And a rash which started as little red patches on my son's arms, but has turned into a horrific, two-year long nightmare.

It's eczema, and it's severe.  And it makes me cry every day.

And you could go crazy trying to eradicate any and every thing that could possibly be causing it.  Should we rip out the carpet?  Are the bed sheets organic cotton?  Is it the detergent?  Could it be the dye they used on the sheets?   Maybe it's the pillows, or the grass?  It seems worse after some meals-- is it the milk?  or the fruit?  or broccoli?   Could it be artificial food colors, or possibly natural food colors (or "colours" for my Aussie friends)?  Seriously, I don't want to bore you, but this kind of useless banter could go on and on for days-- or longer.

And dermatologists are crap.  Of course, if you are a dermatologist reading this and are offended, please feel free to tell me what you suggest to treat eczema.  And should your advice relieve my child's eczema I will retract this statement, and publicly, profusely apologize to all dermatologists whose feelings I may have hurt.

Back to dermatologists being crap, dermatologists seem to think it's okay to slather a young child in steroid ointments and call it a day... even if it means the condition comes back two weeks later with a vengeance.  And if you even mention fish oil or, god forbid, anything natural to them, they'll look at you and vehemently insist there is no proof that any of these things help.  I am generalizing, but I have seen several and they appear to be clones of one another.  And considering that my wonderful sister is a pediatric acupuncturist and Dr. of Chinese Medicine in San Francisco, I have an amazing advocate in my corner.

Anyway, in my search for a cure for eczema, I've recently learned about acidity and alkalinity in the body, and the not so easy balancing act required to "get alkaline". We've even purchased this contraption which, if I'm understanding this correctly, electrocutes your water with magnets and sparkles, then divides molecules and something else, and ultimately dispenses magic water that is high in alkaline, or conversely, water high in acidity.   And if you read up on this magic Kangen water, you will quickly find out that the different levels of alkaline or acidity can be used to do things you never imagined you can do with water... like sterilize things (not people) and wash fruit.  Well you can wash fruit with regular water too, but not half as well :).

And so now in our house we are drinking the Kangen water kool-aid.  A water so perfect, and delicious, and molecularly amazing, that we just cannot get enough.

This water is like crack.

And my children have even mastered using the countertop (that's "benchtop" for my Aussies) Levelux Kangen water machine, and can choose their own level of Kangen water, so they can make their own kiddie-water-crack.

The other thing we've done recently (in addition to the numerous supplements, and coconut oil slatherings, and kinesiology appointments), is that we're taking baths in Epsom Salt.

Epsom salt, like witch hazel (which I've used for about 20 years as my face cleanser), is old, tried, and true blue.  So what does Epsom salt do?  The answer is more like-- what does Epsom salt NOT do???

Epsom salt is actually Magnesium Sulfate, which according to my close friend, Google, numerous studies show that magnesium deficiency is the root of all evil, and is potentially a factor in many, many childhood epidemics-- including autism, ADHD, asthma, and last but not least, eczema.   In fact, the benefits of Epsom salt don't stop there... magnesium helps the neurological system function mo bettah.  It alleviates arthritis, can help Alzheimer's patients, and improves circulation.  Seriously, the list goes on and on and on.

Apparently, magnesium is difficult for our bodies to absorb when taken in supplement form, but interestingly enough, it is easily and best absorbed through our skin.  So needless to say, we are bathing in it, a cup of Epsom salt and a spoon of coconut oil and a lot of lukewarm water-- it's like a party in a tub.

So this is where we're at, drinking Kangen alkaline water to neutralize acidity inside, and bathing in Epsom salt to extract toxins and do other things to "fix" us.

Bottom line is, we are going to close this eczema chapter.  No seriously, we are.  I fully support the notion that eczema needs to be treated "from the inside out",  and that, my friends, is exactly what we're going to do.

As I massage lotions and ointments into the red splotches, I tell my baby again, and it's something we talk about often-- everyone's got something.  And we are lucky that our "something" is what it is.  Our conversation then often turns to whether or not we'd want to trade our problems, for someone else's, and some of the issues other children and/ or adults may face.  And even at this young age he understands, and I reassure him-- this may be hard, but it's only for now.   We are totally going to kick eczema's ass... very, very soon.  For real. 

** Update January 2012 **  Our eczema is 100% gone.  In saying that I should note we don't even allow the word to be uttered in our house.  Cerave Cream is an absolute godsend.  Please try this cream on your children or yourselves or anyone who is suffering.  Yes it will sting for about 1 minute if your skin is irritated, but after a few days there will be no stinging because your skin will be in repair mode!

Our Australia and New Zealand Cruise Adventure

We got off the plane and collected our luggage at the Sydney Airport International Terminal.   Our discombobulated family of four approached the Australian Customs x-ray area; our two-week long Australia/ New Zealand cruise holiday was really over.

The customs officer asked the usual questions.  "Are you carrying any fruit or nuts?  Any plants or meat products?".  And we confidently responded, "No, no, and no."  Then from behind me, I hear my seven-year old's little raspy voice say, "We're not going to get caught again, are we mom?"

And I could just imagine his outburst leading to the camera crew of Aussie TV show Border Security swooping down on us,  as it was only a few hours earlier (approximately 4:30am) that we had a small fiasco in the Auckland Airport.   Our seven-year old's Thomas the Train rolling carry-on bag was pulled for "additional security screening"-- you know, where they place the suspicious bag in a mysterious machine, that I'm assuming detects explosives and other really bad things.

And when they found the bottle of Little Noses saline spray stuffed in with Jack the Bunny, the thought occurred to me that I probably should have actually monitored what they put in their carry-on bags - which they were both allowed to pack without parental supervision.  This rings especially true after boarding the ship in Sydney, unzipping the luggage and finding that somehow my five year old had crammed his massively fluffy tiger costume in his carry-on, along with a wide array of blankies and stuffed animals.

Needless to say, our cruise on the Diamond Princess was awesome.


Sailing out of Sydney Harbour at sunset.



 
It wouldn't be a cruise without shuffleboard in a tiger suit, now would it?

Our first stop was Melbourne, Australia.  Within ten minutes of meeting our tour guide, we decided we'd be better off without him; what kind of tour guide asks where we want to go-- I've never been here before, how would I know? 

So we went off on our own...





And wondered around aimlessly until we finally met our friends for a lunch date.


For lunch we met up with our fabulous American friends who used to live in Sydney.  And by fabulous, we're talking the kind of mom who cuts her kids' hair all cool and funky, and at the same time with her other hand she makes stuff like this.  For weeks now I've been trying to teach my kids the proper use of "air quotes"-- here my girl Nat is helping the cause.



Hobart, Tasmania was our second stop.  I could totally live there-- loved it!



Though I would probably try and avoid these cute but not so cuddly guys...



Tasmanian Devil with a bad attitude at the Bonorong Wildlife Reserve.

I think this little wallaby friend quickly responded to the mating call sounds my five year-old animal whisperer was making... apparently she or he was looking for some action.




By the way, we took a tour with Great Expeditions-- Michael (above) was our guide for the day, and if ever in Hobart, Tasmania I'd highly recommend you hook up with him, he made Hobart one of the highlights of our trip.

Next we hit Milford Sound Fjordland.  These were taken from our cruise ship balcony.






Me and a fjord in reflection.
 
Dunedin, New Zealand was gorgeous!  Rolling hills sprinkled with sheep and bicyclists and playgrounds.  We had big, big plans for this day, first stop- The Cadbury Chocolate Factory.



Unfortunately, after we got the kids all jacked-up on sugar, it seemed the windy, mountainous roads were a little too much, and an eruption (literally) of carsickness sent us heading back to the ship.  We did however hit another playground before "the incident" and New Zealand playgrounds are so nice they're worth showing off.

Pre-vomit playground: (I'm sparing you the clothing-covered-with-vomit second playground photos... you're welcome:).

 




Christchurch, New Zealand was reminiscent of Victoria, Canada-- gorgeous flower lined streets, friendly people, and all-around nice nice nice.



My kids in front of the Harley building (incidentally our seven year-old's middle name) learning the fine art of making someone laugh to get a photo smile.



More "Dogs Around the World."  Yes my child wears Crocs with socks-- international tourist extraordinaire.

Taraunga/ Rotorua, New Zealand was like the Daytona Beach of New Zealand, party city.  One lesson I learned during this trip was that the islands of New Zealand were formed by an erupted volcano, and this was evident throughout our trip as we visited beached covered in lava rocks and black speckled sand that was hot as hell.



This is the beach that faces the Pacific Ocean, there was a rad party happening on our day there.



This is the inner harbour beach in Tauranga, with our ship, the Diamond Princess, in the background.

During the cruise we had six days at sea.  Back in the day (when my husband and I were in the cruise business) we sailed as on the QE2  from New York to London, and six days at sea meant a whole lot of "afternoon tea", bingo, and cocktails. 



 On Cunard's QE2 in about 1995, we had probably been dating about a year.

 
Sitting on the deck of the QE2 in the good ole days with my dear friend Rochelle.  Rochelle passed away last month from breast cancer, she was one of those people who everyone adored, and she will be missed by her many, many friends.

Now this may sound ridiculous, but my husband and I have each been on over 100 cruises.   And we have had lots of "days at sea"... but cruising with 5 & 7 year old boys puts a whole new dimension to the whole thing.


Pseudo- room service.  That means, Daddy goes to the buffet, loads up plates of food, and comes back to the room hoping we're happy with his chosen assortment... by the way, we always were.


Brotherly love at sea.

And did I mention there was a talent show? Warning: The Cruiseship Talent Show video below, may be absolutely hilarious-- or could potentially lead to a spontaneous narcolepsy attack; I cannot objectively determine which, you may or may not want to actually watch it.  Oh guess what, after TWO HOURS of trying to upload the video-- blogger says there's an error.  Y'all lucked out on that one.

We had New Years Eve on the open sea, an evening which for most passengers involved seeing balloons dropped from the top of the ship's atrium lobby, and lots of cocktails and champagne.

And you know you're on a cruise ship for New Years when:



For us, New Years Eve was incredibly exciting-- days earlier, we had told our seven year-old that if his tooth (which had been loose for a over a year) was out by midnight 12/31/2010 (or if you're in Australia that's 31/12/2010), then the tooth fairy would quadruple the going rate AND he'd get a sip of real champagne at midnight.




Oh yes he did!  Too funny.  We spent last year's holiday season similarly over-toothy and then, toothless.

So that was our big trip, which had been preceded by months of nonstop visitors from the U.S., including my in-laws, my wonderful friend Shelby who owns this company, and my mom.  And now here I sit, no more houseguests and vacation complete.  There are three more weeks left of school vacation here, I've begun my next project--  convincing my husband we should get another puppy this year. 

Ruby the Labradoodle, stayed at her friend Jaffa the Smokin' Hot Labradoodle's house while we were away.  She's been moping around the house for a week now that she's back to her boring life...  I'd say she really needs a friend.  But hey, it's not all bad... we did celebrate her 1st birthday last week, and she does live quite the posh doggy life-- though I am quite sure she'd be ecstatic if she had a new doggy roommate.

So that's pretty much the last few months in a nutshell-- though I do have a secret...

There's a really funny video from our cruise that's been omitted from this post, it's of my husband and I in an elevator after a couple of drinks, cracking up, and swearing at each other... but I have to leave something to your imaginations...  though I am considering adding it to this post... hmmm, should I-- or should I not?

Winter Festival at Bondi Beach & Good Food and Wine Show

As we pulled up to our house I spotted an industrial, classroom-style whiteboard across the street on the curb; it was a double-sided monstrosity on wheels, complete with a bag full of markers and accessories hanging from its side.  We rang the neighbors' doorbell, and they happily told us to take it-- which we did.  Wooo-hooo-- SCORE!   It was perfect timing,  my boys then spent most of their three and a half week school break playing school with the whiteboard.  BEST. GIFT. EVER!  I would have gladly paid the whiteboard $20/hour (going babysitting rate in Sydney) for all the entertainment it's provided, it was THAT good!  

And we did actually leave the house a few times during winter school break because there were some great things on in July around Sydney and we needed some action.

This past weekend the Winter Festival at Bondi Beach, called Bondi Bergstation began.  They've built an ice skating rink on at the beach along with an entire mini-village including a Max Brenners (famous for their hot chocolates), snacks, skate rentals, and snow, it was actually suds, but I won't tell those poor kids who've never seen snow before and now think it's foamy and smells like soap:. 

People who've never skated (I'm just assuming this by watching them) and people who clearly aspire for skating greatness, joined each other on the ice for 45 minutes sessions in which it was wall-to-wall skaters -- and lots of wiping out on the ice.

Here are some moments captured from this past weekend at the Bondi Beach Winter Festival:



The sea o' skaters.



The "snow". 



The snacks.  $6 for a stick with some spiraled potato cut into thin chips-- I think we went through six of these, probably the single most expensive one potato ever sold.




The rink at the beginning of a new skate session, before it got completely packed.  Note the aspiring skater in the pink tutu.




Hmmm, the Bondi Beach paramedic mobile?  How do they carry the stretcher on that?



Back view of the village perched up on the grassy area at Bondi Beach.

We also went to The Good Food & Wine Show at the Sydney Convention Center.  Normally we would have gotten a babysitter and left the kids at home for something like this, but the four of us are obsessed with a little television show called Masterchef Australia, it's similar to Top Chef in the U.S. (but better), and two of the Masterchef judges (Gary and George) were doing a gig at the Good Food & Wine Show. 

Unfortunately we had seats on the floor and couldn't see much.   There was a ginormous television screen above the stage so at least we had that view, but whatever, I could have stayed home for that-- especially considering that what they made was virtually identical to what they made on the TV show the same evening.    Though we couldn't see the cooking demonstration, we did however have an amazing view of a guy two rows in front of us who was plastered drunk.  He kept turning around like he was going to start acting even more belligerent, but luckily his drunk girlfriend kept him entertained by making out with him.  Family fun at its best.

So all in all, being that we were with our 5 & 6 year old boys and weren't planning on drinking an excessive amount of wine samples, the Good Food and Wine Show was a disappointment.  There were really no places to actually eat any actual Good Food, except for one small restaurant type area featuring five chefs (two of them were the Masterchef judges).  In all there were five dishes you could buy, and five starters-- it was pretty pathetic for a freaking food show.

Well I've just caught myself in a lie, there was one more place to eat, and it was packed (as there were no other options)-- the Sydney Convention Center cafe, hahaha!  It was basically hospital food-- and it was where everyone was eating!  Sorry, but that's sad- really, really sad.

So the Good Food & Wine show was a disappointment for us, and I don't think I've ever said that about any festival or event we've ever gone to in Sydney.  Maybe next time we get the babysitter and go there only for the wine tastings, I am absolutely certain that getting sloshed would have improved my experience.

Here are some of the things we saw at the Good Food and Wine Show 2010:




Welcome.




Photo from our floor seats taken with the camera hoisted in the air, our actual view wasn't this good.



Clearly I needed some of this.








Looks like my six year old thought the show would be better after a stiff drink.  We love limoncello!




The best part for us was the rides we went on in Darling Harbour after the show :).