birds in the park

Australian Museum

Saturday we had a busy day.  We started the day by going to the Australian Museum.  It is one of the best, if not the best, museum that we have ever been to.  Caleb loves museums, so we often visit them.  We honestly think it was better than all the ones in DC.  Aaron probably still prefers the Air and Space Museum by the airport in DC, but he had fun Saturday too.  Anyways, the thing that was so impressive was it was packed full of stuff.  It has a section on the Aboriginal People, skeletons, Great Barrier Reef, Australian animals, Dinosaurs, and birds.  There was a whole floor that we didn't even have time visit.  They also have a cool kids area.  We were not able to come close to reading/seeing everything, but that was probably due to having 2 little kids to keep and eye on.

Tulips in Botanical Gardens

Lydia's day in the park

Climbing on and tickling Aaron while he is trying to "rest in the grass".

Trying to keep up with Aaron while he and daddy played soccer.

Playing with sticks like Aaron does.

Picking up sticks...like Aaron.

There is a common theme here...the girl loves doing things with Aaron. They have become best buds here. The other day Aaron said he didn't want to go to his class at church because Lydia wasn't in his class. He asked if she could be in his class. At one of the churches we went to, they were in the same class and he liked that. I'm so glad they love each other so much. Don't worry, there still is the sibling rivalry. Anytime I'm holding Aaron, Lydia screams. She gets pushed out the way like another big brother I know use to do. Hopefully one day they will always get along. I just hope Lydia continues to look up to Aaron like I do my brother but hopefully is a little nicer to him than I was. I also hope it doesn't take her moving out to college to appreciate him like a stubborn little sister I know (me!). Talking about Aaron and Lydia does make me think about my relationship with my brother, Brian. I am really thankful for him. He is a great big brother, even though he sometimes makes up stories about me (I know I never came at you with a knife Brian). Can't wait till Brian and Jen (his amazing trip planning wife) and Mom and Dad come to visit in 3 weeks!!!

Aaron's day at the park

Saturday we went back to the Botanical Gardens and had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. These pictures describe what Aaron wanted to do at the park...

"Laying in the grass." He has been talking about wanting to do this all week.

Chasing birds

Running with daddy...

then a "touchdown" as we call it. With Aaron its a 50/50 chance he is going to scream and cry when he falls. This time, all fun and games.

Look who is 18 months

It's hard to believe that Lydia is already 18 months. 1.5 years old. She is growing up so much and doesn't think she is still a baby. She is definitely still a peanut, but sure is growing up. Normally in these updates, I give stats...but I don't know them. At the church we went to on Sunday there was a little scale. I think I might put her on it to see how much she weighs. She has grown while we have been here. Some pants have already had to be retired because they are too short. So, a little about Lydia at 18 months. She loves doing anything her brother does. She really wants to play with him all the time. She climbs all over him all the time trying to get close. If he is ever upset especially if he is crying because he is hurt, she HAS to give him a kiss. She gets mad if he doesn't let her. She loves giving things too him too, especially his cup. Again she gets mad if he doesn't let her. She will let you know when she is mad though. This has never really been a problem for her, to communicate she is not happy. Her language is starting to develop more. Aaron talked a lot more than she is at 18 months (not to compare). She is in the stage where she tries to repeat a lot that you stay. Words that she says (in some form) are: down, mama, dad, Aaron, ba (paci), shoe, sock (she loves putting on shoes and socks and bring them to us to put on all the time), nite nite, milk, ball, hey, bye. Its good for me to write these down, because it seems like she doesn't say anything. But its good to know she does say a little. She does so good riding around in the stroller. At home we don't use one much, but here is another story. She does great riding all around town, but if Aaron is down running around you know who is ready to get down. So far she prefers Aaron's toys, but she is starting to show interest in baby dolls. She also, says baby and says "heyyyy baby" to any baby she sees. She loves the swimming pools, baths, daddy coming home, reading (she grabs books and climbs into your lap to read them). That's all I can think of for now. She really is a complete joy and we love having her sooooo much. She was without a doubt much harder than Aaron as a baby but has gotten to be a lot of fun and much easier lately. She is our strong-willed child with out a doubt.

Pretending to take my picture as I was taking hers. She also says cheeeeese.

Playing with sticks...just like Aaron.

This is a great picture of one of her many faces, especially her "I'm not happy here" faces.

Playing with Aaron.

Which also reminds me, Aaron LOVES her so much too. Yesterday he wanted me to join him in singing a song. It goes like this..."I love you, I love you, I love you my Lydi. It was precious. He also tells us quite often: "isn't she so cute", "we love her don't we", "hey pretty lady".

We are so thankful for the two amazing blessings the Lord has given us and pray that they will grow up to be two amazing people that love him.

Powerhouse Museum

This morning the kids and I went to the Powerhouse Museum. Its a neat museum, but the best parts for us are the play areas for the kids.

Making the train go.

This was everyone's favorite part of the museum.  Its called Zoe's House and the kids work on building a house.  They loved it.  There are foam concrete pieces to be stacked into the yellow frame in the back(given I didn't see a single child do that).  The kids favorite part was loading the buckets and pushing in on the track. Lydia loved trying to help Aaron.  As he told Caleb during lunch, "he had a hard job working".

Two hard workers

I was playing with the camera and trying not to use the flash since it was so bright, but I ended up with not good pictures. I will learn, Caleb is definitely better with the camera than me. But hopefully you can see the fun they are having.

Pigtails

Lydia's hair is finally long enough for some pigtails. Well, its still to short in the front, but it works. Her hair is 100% business in the front, party in the back!!! Yes, she has a mullet. I almost cute the mullet at the beginning of the summer, then I noticed curls!!!! MY DAUGHTER HAS CURLY HAIR!!! I will never cut curls off. So, her hair is short and straight in the front, and long and curly in the back. When we wash her hair it goes down below her shoulders, but curls up to cuteness when dry. Anyways, I am so glad I finally can pull her hair up. There is no need since its so short up front, but look at that cuteness!!! I can't believe it, but she left it up all morning too!!

AllRecipes.com

I have a couple of friends that have raved about allrecipes, and now its my turn.  It is an AMAZING website.  Take a look.  www.allrecipes.com  I used it at home, and normally stuff came out well.  Mainly because I only choose things that have 4 or 5 stars.  Well, here cooking has been a little harder, mainly because it took a while to figure out the grocery store, which I have now accomplished, and stuff cost more.  And some of our staples are barely eaten here.  For example, Aaron loves Granola, don't have it here.  Its all Muesli.  Which I like, he doesn't.  I tried making some granola the other day and it wasn't too bad.  Another things is applesauce.  As you know, at home there is more applesauce choices than you ever will need.   I couldn't find any applesauce at the store.  I got a man to help me and there was 1 I say 1 small can of applesauce in a HUGE supermarket.  And it was like $4 for a small can.  WHAT?  We eat applesauce a ton.  We even love applesauce and cinnamon in our pancakes.  You should try it, its yummy.  The kids have had to learn to eat oatmeal without applesauce.  I am going to get some apples from the market and make some soon.  Anyways, that was a huge tangent.  Back to allrecipes.  We got some pancake mix, again expensive and not near as good as Aunt Jemima's, but we were less than impressed.  So, I tried making some from scratch.  Here's the recipe...delicious. Fluffy Pancakes.  If you know Caleb and I at all, we LOVE chocolate chip cookies.  We honestly love the break and bakes the best.  Once they came out with the "natural" ones, we probably put on 5 lbs.  Not that they are "natural" or better for you, but they taste better.  Anyways, I have never made cookies from scratch that came close to comparing.  Well, I finally did and we are in trouble.  Here is the AMAZING recipe.  Take them out a minute or two before they are ready and they are heavenly.  The last one I will share is brownies!!! They are soooo good too.  I have made many dinners using All recipes and love how you can list ingredients and then recipes will show up.  I honestly use it almost everyday.  So, cooking has gotten much easier and if I can say so myself, I have cooked a few good meals.  Which I know I'm not the worlds best cook so I am always very happy to find recipes that we all like.  Hopefully one day I will feel confident enough to cook without a recipe. 

Lack of post and comments

Sorry I haven't posted as much lately.  We have all be fighting a cold the past few days, well almost a week now.  So, we haven't been as active and blogging isn't my top desire.  But we are still here, all recovering from a cold.  Good things the apartment has 4 boxes of Kleenex in it.  I will get back to it ASAP. 

Also, a few people have told me they couldn't leave comments.  I have tried to fix the problem when mom told me about it a while ago, but I think I fixed it again.  I love comments so I'm really sad that it hasn't been working.  So, give it a try again and let me know if you try and it doesn't work. 

More to come soon...

more of Manly Beach

Look how many people were out and it was chilly, especially when the wind blew. If you click on the picture you can see all the surfers in the water. I can only imagine how crowded it is in the summer.

We did a 20 minute walkfrom Manly Beach over to ___ Beach. I can't remember the name and will fill it in later. It was a beautiful walk and on our way back the sun was starting to set. Being here and seeing the cliffs, ocean, harbour and all really makes me think so much about the amazing creator we have. Australia really is a beautiful country.

Wildlife World

watching the snake..can you see the side of the smile.  He thought this was so cool.

Lydia reached up for Aaron's hand and they walked up the ramp together

In front of the kangaroos who were eating lunch.  He loved finally getting to see a kangaroo.

The wood rail in the bottom right corner is the rail Aaron was leaning next too in the previous picture

A sleeping kangaroo, it was pretty funny

They had a simulation of crocodiles hatching...it was honestly a little freaky, But I did think it was real at first

Wallaby

Today the kids and I ventured out after 2 days inside due to rain and Lydia being sick.  When we went to the Aquarium the other week we decided to get a pass that lets us into 4 attractions as much as we want while we are here.  It seemed like the best value.  One of the other attractions is Wildlife World, which is right beside the Aquarium.  We were really impressed by the aquarium but I was not expecting much from Wildlife World.  I guess its because I haven't heard much about it but I have heard a lot about other zoos around.  With that said, I was actually really impressed.  The kids had a great time walking looking at all the animals, snakes, and bugs.  I put on my cool mom pants and acted really excited about all the gross bugs and snakes for Aaron.  Inside I was flipping out at a couple points.  There was one point when a snake reared up right at the glass where the kids were.  It was too close for me, even though there was a huge glass wall between us.  I think another big plus was it was not very crowded, so the kids could walk around without me stressing out.