First Outings

We are almost at the end of Luke's first week of school. I was dreading this week, but we've actually been so busy that's it's flown by.

On Tuesday, I biked to the Collingwood Children's Farm. I had no idea where I was going and had to stop to ask directions several times. I got a bit lost, but we found our way. It was only about 4.5 miles, good exercise for me:).

The farm was really cute. We arrived just in time to milk Patsy the cow. Henry did great and Oscar got scared. We held guinea pigs, chased chickens, gazed at goats, baaaa-ed at the sheep and walked with the lambs. They were so cute and not very old. They still had their wobbly legs, too cute.

After our picnic lunch we headed home. My plan was to try and stay on the bike trail all the way home and not get lost. I did both, but it look me a lot longer and it was VERY hilly. So hilly that I had to get off my bike and push us up the hills. These hills were big and steep and pulling the boys is heavy. 40 lbs(H) + 30 lbs(O) + 33 lbs (trailer)=way too heavy to ride up those hills.

I think I did this about 6 times, so by the time I got home I was pooped. At one point, I had to cross under the train tracks at a train station. The path was clearly marked with a "NO BIKES" sign, and had barricades that I had to maneuver around, but I did it anyway. Some nice man helped me up the exit ramp and then made sure I knew where I was going.

There were several times on this adventure I almost turned around, but I kept going and we survived. I'm glad we went and I'm sure we'll be back again......... hills here I come!

Today and tomorrow are filled up as well. Today we go to the library for Spot's birthday party and then a tour of a local school for Henry. Tomorrow we meet up with a mom's group at the Melbourne Museum and then I am babysitting some local kids while their mom is out.

Old Lady

Today was Oscar's birthday. We had a very full day. Headed off to the Melbourne Zoo in the morning. We live very close(closer than we were in Denver) and so it was a nice sunny walk through the Royal Park. They both were very excited to be there. Henry was running from animal to animal and Oscar would say, "WOW!", at everything. We saw 3/4 of the zoo and then we headed home. On the walk home, both boys fell asleep, so Luke and I decided to do our grocery shopping for tomorrow's party.

There were a few things that we couldn't find, one of them being canned black beans. Simple, right? None to be found in two different stores. Luke knew of a mexican grocer so when we got home we looked them up online. According to their site, the store had closed an hour earlier. We called anyway just to see and they said they were closed. Luke hung up and then we called back to see if they knew of anywhere else to buy black beans. The lady asked what we wanted and said come on down, just have exact change. So out the door we went to get our beans. We really lucked out! The lady was there with our stuff in a bag waiting for us(2 cans of black beans and big can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce). So nice of her. I can't wait to go back and actually look around.

For dinner we went to the pub on the corner of our street. It was early enough that it wasn't crowded or too loud. Dinner was nice and then we headed down the street to a gelato shop. Henry has developed a taste for chocolate(wonder where that comes from?) He had all over his face by the time he was done.

All in all a good day. Luke and I have been doing a little prep work this evening to prepare for our mexican feast tomorrow. Should be fun and nice to entertain the people who have helped us out so much since we have been here.

A side story from today. Here's how it went:

Henry: Mom, look, zebras!

Me: Yes, zebras.

A random little boy about Henry's age: No, they're ZEDbras, you old lady! (they say zed for z)

It still makes me laugh. His mom didn't quite hear what he said so I told her as I was laughing. I think she was embarrassed and then explained to her son how we both were right. Just love that he called me an old lady, too funny.

My little parrot

Oscar has started talking a lot more since we have been here. He's like a little parrot and will repeat the last word of whatever you are saying. Kind of cute.

He also has a nick name for Henry, its bum-bum. I'm not sure where this comes from, but it's pretty funny. I hear, "that's bum-bum's" or "no, bum-bum".

Another one of his favorite words right now is Carlo. Carlo is our landlord and he's been over a few time to fix things. Oscar always says it in a sweet high-pitched voice. And when we are out and he sees a ladder or tools he says, "that's Carlo's".

With him talking it's been much easier to figure out what he wants. I am hoping the fits will now die down, but he turns 2 tomorrow. We'll see..........

Boys at the Bank

We took the boys to the bank today to open an account. We went prepared: a movie and a few snacks. They were so quiet and good. I know it seems a bit silly, but we didn't take either to the mobile phone store last week and it was a complete opposite picture. Oscar and Henry destroyed the place......signs pulled down for the ceiling, floor displays smashed, sample cell phones pulled off the wall-just to mention a few.... Today was a success!

The boys even earned themselves each a bank, not a piggy bank, but a platypus bank!

Melbourne Museum

Waiting for the tram to the museum. You can see down town (CBD) in the background.
One of the exhibits at the museum. Cool interactive screens to tell you what each animal was.
Italian butch shop, with a great butch block.

Today we went to the Melbourne Museum. I would say it is very similar to the Nature and Science Museum of Denver. The boys were both free(5 and under is free) and Luke and I were each 8, so not a bad deal. I'm sure I'll be back with the boys soon.

They had dinosaurs, a room with a whole bunch of animals and interactive screens that told you what they were and a large children's area. Another bonus was that our tickets are good for 4 days, so we could go back this weekend. There is a lot more that we could have explored, but we had to leave for lunch.

We found a nice hamburger place for lunch. And then wandered through some shops on our way to the tram. We stopped in a great spice store. Tons of spices, a lot of asian ones that I had never heard of and then all the standards. We didn't bring any spices with us, so we are anxious to restock. We also stopped into an Italian butcher shop to pick up some meat for Oscar's party on Sunday. They had a really cool butcher block that had at least two guys at it while we were there, cutting away.

All in all a pretty good day.

Tour 2

Here's our back yard and our dryer/clothes line :). I really have to keep an eye on the weather so they don't get rained on! Our garage is huge and has a ton of storage cabinets. It makes it easy to just ride right in on our bikes. This is a view of our backdoor looking out to the back yard. More stained glass. The bathroom is the door on the right.
The family room/dinning area. The windows behind Luke are huge and have stained glass. They are also not clear(lets in light, but people from the street can't see in).
Kitchen window. Nice? From the outside the birds look iridescent. This glass, totally clear, I want to find some spring loaded curtain rods to put in the lower half of the window for a little bit more privacy.
Full view of the kitchen. Range is old, but works. Tons of cabinet space, most of them empty for now....
That's the house, minus the bathroom and laundry room. I'll try to post the pix of those soon.

We are enjoying exploring our neighborhood and all the shops. We live near a lot of "junk shops" as Luke calls them. I would compare them to the Dollar store, which has been very helpful for stocking the house. I've also found 2 consignment shops nearby :) One of our favorite shops is the bottle shop, we've been sampling the $5 wine selection. We've only had one so far that was un-drinkable, but is was only $3. May have to stick to the pricier $5 ones :)

Tour 1

We've been busy getting the house stocked before Luke starts school. I think we've done pretty well for being here just over a week. I do have to give Sue, Josie and Kort a lot of the credit, since they have provided us with more than I can list. We are so grateful for everything they brought to the house.

So here's a little tour for you:

Here's the front of the house. We are right on the corner of the block. We have a fenced in front, side and back. So the boy are always fenced in if they get out the front or back door. :)

As you enter the house, our bedroom is the first room on the left. Just a mattress for now. The built in robes are HUGE. Luke and I each have a space bag full of our off season clothes above our closets and that's it. I haven't even been able to open the center top because it's too high to reach.

Down the hallway, the boys room in the next room on the left. Their room is pretty much like ours. The drawers and closets are so big that I'm able to use one of the closets just for toys and books.

The hallway is long and skinny, perfect for the boys to run up and down. Luke and I are convinced that the neighbors hate us already. We've only seen them once, but I'm sure they can hear us ALL the time.

I don't know if you noticed, but ALL the windows and doors have stained glass in them (including the bedroom & bathroom doors). Some just pretty roses and others a bit odd(those pictures coming soon). I'll post pictures of the back half of the house soon.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour!

On a side note, we have been eating food from all sort of other cultures. Indian, thai, lebanese. I think my favorite and Henry's, was the lebanese pizza. Cheap and good. So proud of my boys trying new food. Luke also got Henry to eat brussel sprouts tonight. The trick? They were cooked with bacon and we told him we could see his muscles getting bigger each time he took a bite, just like Popeye the sailor man, toot-toot!

(sorry for the crazy lay-out, not sure how to fix it and I'll post of pix of our bedroom too, it keeps deleting my photos!)

Stinky

Still no gas and no fridge. My hopeful thinking did not win today :( (change: fridge showed up at 7:30!!!! Can't wait to fill it up.)

I can do w/o the heat, we have 4 space heaters, but no hot water is sad. We are all going on almost a week without a bath or shower. I think we'll all feel more human once we can get cleaned up. I may be resorting to heating water in the kettle and putting it in the sink for the boys.

If I do there will pictures to come.....

On a good note, we do have a table and a couch. Plus our wonderful friend Sue bought the boys each their own little soft chair. They love them and wish I would have had my camera ready when they showed up. We were all happy and surprised by the gift. Thank you, Sue!

Accent

The boys in their new bunk. Eating dinner.Like our table?

Watching a movie on the computer. This was the only chair we had for 3 days :)

The entertainment center came with the house. It has a ton of storage, but no handles, so we pry it open with silverware. Naughton-2-it!!!

So, still no heat....should be hooked up on Monday, but I'm not counting on it. It's been around 50-55 in the house. Not that cold for "winter" weather, but we are used to the IA/CO summer. I'm sure we get acclimated soon!

Our fridge arrives on Monday as well. I can't wait to be able to actually cook. We've been eating out and having pb & j to tide us over. Our friend Sue came over yesterday and brought us 3 more chairs, 2 space heaters and a cooler filled with ice. The boys loved her and roped her into reading them books. I think they like to hear her talk, all their stories sound a bit different when read in australian. :)

Tonight was the first night the boys are sleeping in their new bunk bed. I think they were both so tired from not napping all day that it went pretty smoothly. Oscar looks so little in his bottom bunk. :) I checked on them in the middle of the night and he was standing at the edge of his bed with his head on the mattress. Sleep standing, poor guy couldn't get back into bed.

I did a bunch of laundry yesterday and lucked out with the weather. Sunny all day, so my clothes on the line were dry by the afternoon. I don't know if a dryer is in the budget, so I hope I'm this lucky every time :)

Luke really did a great job finding this place and picking it. We are so close to the "square", which is like a small mall. It's got 2 grocery stores, a Kmart, a bakery, just to name a few. We also have access to some great food. The indian we had last night was wonderful(and cheap) and the pizza place on the corner was good the night before. They were so nice to us and our jet lagged boys. Oscar was throwing a fit and they brought out markers and paper to try to distract him. At the end of the meal the brought the boys ice cream and Luke a coffee on the house. I'm sure we will find more treasures as we do more exploring.

I am very self-conscience about my 'accent' before I speak. I know I sound different and really don't stand out until I talk. I notice people turning their heads when I'm talking to to the boys. I'm sure I'll get over it, but just never expected to be afraid to speak.

Miss you all and I hope to be able to Skype soon!

xoxo

Need gas.....

So, I ran out of the house today to open a bank account and use a little free wi-fi from McD's. I'm going to smell like hamburgers when I get home.

We have now been in the house for 2 days. Thursday am, our mattresses were arriving from IKEA, so we got to the house by 8 am. They arrived shortly after from. I spent most of the day cleaning out the rooms, while Luke ran around getting a refrigerator lined up.

The electricity came on mid-am but by 4:30, no heat. Luke made a phone call and they said that they would get it on in the next 24 hrs. Luke headed out again to buy a few space heaters to get us through the night. I'm glad I insisted! It was chilly!!!!

Today, we went to IKEA (the second time this week, I might be addicted) and picked up a few more household items and then home for a nap.

The boys are still out of it. Up at 1-2am and then back to bed an hour or so later to only sleep til 5 or so. I may have to drug them to get them on schedule. We found the Rescue Sleep in the mall by our house.

We are slowly getting settled and unpacked. The kitchen has a TON of storage, but most of it is over my head, so I'm going to need to invest in a bigger step stool :)

I think we need to have a fun family day to let the boys run and have fun. I've been relying on the DVD player to keep them out of my hair while I've been unpacking. The weather is so unpredictable. It will be sunny one min. and then next thing you know it's pouring. Makes it hard to run to the park when by the time we get out the door it's raining.

Here's hoping the gas has been turned on by the time I get home!!!!!! We need GAS.......

A funny OZ saying: How you going?
Translation: How are you doing? Luke had warned me of this one, so I made sure to answer correctly, but Luke didn't know the first time and told the lady he was walking. :)

Unplugged

I promise to update soon. We are without internet and the only access is at McDonalds a block and a half away.
All is good and we are in the house. I hope to be "plugged in" soon!

Arriving in Melbourne Pictures

Loading our things into the maxi-taxi.

Luggage @ the house.

O loves the trams, calls them choo-choos.

Henry on the tram.

Our first rainy day in Melbrin(as Henry calls it).

More pictures

Summer fun with the hose.

Family photo before heading to the airport.

Our luggage. (I love the look on the agent's face)

My little travelers in Sydney airport.

1 more makes 11....

Here'a a few pix from July that I didn't get posted:

Eating breakfast on our dinning mat.

Carly in our bed. I miss her already.

One more family photo at the house in CO.

Oscar and Great Grandpa Van.

The boys eating breakfast at Great Grandpa's house.

The 11th bag arrived today, as promised.

We had an interesting day. Our game plan was to go until we couldn't go anymore. Oscar made it to 4:14 and the rest of us are still up at 5:30. Don't know how long that will last, but not so bad for our first day.

The first thing on our list was to get beds and refrigerator for the house. We reserved a flexi-car and headed to IKEA. Picked out 3 mattresses and were on our way. I will definitely be back there again. WOW, I'm in love.....

I'm not used to the whole driving on the left side of the road. I have had to stop myself from screaming at Luke for turning into the "wrong" lane. He's doing a great job, but has a 2 week advantage on me.

We headed to the house to be there for the suitcase to arrive. I'm so afraid of our house getting broken into while we are staying at the hotel. By the time the bag arrived it was 3 and no one was napping, yet. We decided to press our luck and head to an appliance store in the rain. It was not a successful trip, but glad we checked it out.

We took a tram home and 4 blocks from our stop, O fell asleep. Poor guy just sacked out and was snoring during our quick trip into the store. I'm sure he'll be up at 2 am, ready to eat.

I finally have my camera cord, so I'll add some photos. I promise not to attach so many in the future.

Knackered

Well we made it! There were a few times that I thought to myself, 'what have we gotten ourselves into?'.

I'll share a little of what has gone on in the last 30+ hours.

Luggage list:

8 suitcases, all weighing 50 lbs, each.

2 bikes, in boxes

1 very large box with the bike trailer/stroller

5 carry-on pieces of luggage.

It took 2 large trollies to get in from the parking lot.

Check-in, in DSM:

* Showed up to the airport around 12:30 to drop our luggage off.

*As we were walking in to the airport, I noticed that O was leaking (on both sides). Major blow out that Aunt Klaire took care of while we checked in. Thank you, Aunt Klaire!

*Lucky for us there was no one in line, so we walked right up and got checked in. Also, the computer wasn't working, so we were only charged 200 total for both bikes. We were expecting to pay 200 each.

*Only one of the 11 suitcases was overweight and it was only by a pound. Just had to remove a piece of clothing and we were good to go.

*Lunch with family, mexican.

*Once we got to our gate, I got a call from Klaire and Luke had left his sunglasses in her car. She came back and Luke went to meet her, all 20 min before our departure time. Thank you, Klaire!

*Oscar was super tired and was falling apart. I couldn't get him calmed down the whole flight. The man who sat in front of us thought I should know that he flies a lot and, thanks to Oscar, we were now in his Top Ten.

DEN-SFO

*Oscar had a mini blow out walking off the plane. Changed him super quick to save his pants.

*This was, by far, the worst flight I have ever had with kids. Oscar was screaming the second we walked on the plane. And continued to do so until the seatbelt sign was turned off and I could stand and rock him at the back of the plane.

SFO-SYD: (small layover in SFO, ate dinner, let the kids run wild)

*LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Rescue Sleep. Yes, I drugged my child (twice on our 15 hr fight)and don't regret it one bit. Doesn't taste very good, but worked within 5 min and he slept for several hours.

*DVD players ran out of battery and I thought we were all going to loose it. Used the laptop as a quick fix.

Sydney Airport

*Our 3 boxes were waiting for us as we walked up to baggage claim. A nice surprise!

*7 of the 11 suitcases were in a row on the carousel. I would get one set down and have to run to catch the next one, all while keeping watch on the boys.

*Only one lost bag, it got left in SF. Bad thing was that it was our last bag packed so all our day to day things were in it. It is promised to be here Wednesday.

*It took 3 trollies(luggage carts) and me pulling Oscar in his car seat with the GoGoBabyz and the nice guy from the lost baggage department to get us out into fresh air. Thank you Tristan!

*Took a maxi-taxi to the leasing agent to sign lease and pick up house key.

*Stopped at house to check it out/drop all our stuff off. It was so nice that our friends here have helped get us settled. There was a TV and a chair waiting Henry, along with a whole room full of household items. Thank you again; Sue, Josie, and Kort!

The house has interesting details. I'll have to send pictures. I think it will do just fine!

*The boys were hungry, tired and fighting with each other, so we headed to McDonald's to get food and free wifi. Luke booked a hotel room while we ate. Since we have no beds or fridge, we will be in a hotel for 2 nights.

*We ended our day with a nice tram ride downtown. Both boys fell asleep.

I'm trying not to go to sleep, it's almost 6pm. Oscar has been out since the tram (3 hrs. ago) and Henry just cashed out after getting his TV fix.

Can't believe we are here. I'm looking forward to getting settled and meeting neighbors. I saw two moms walk by with their kiddos as we were bringing luggage in. A good sign.

My favorite memory of the day: The boys insisted on pulling their rolling backpacks on and off the airplane and in the airport. Too cute!

pictures to come soon.....