Rottnest Island and Fremantle

While our latest visitors were here in August, we had the pleasure of visiting a few spots that we hadn't yet thoroughly explored. Rottnest Island is just a short ferry ride off the coast of Western Australia. Fremantle is a suburb on the coast with great shopping, food, a market, and museums that celebrate Western Australia's maritime history.

We'd gotten mixed reviews from locals about Rottnest Island, who call it "Rotto." Some said "Don't bother." Others said, "You have to spend a week." We all took the ferry over for a day, and we're excited to spend a weekend sometime!

The island is famous (and named, sort-of) for it's small, furry inhabitants, the quokkas. They are tiny, round relatives of the kangaroo. When the island was first explored, the English thought they were rats and that the island was useless. So they began to call the island "Rat's Nest" which later became Rottnest.

We booked a 1.5 hour bus tour that covered the whole island. It's a small, but really beautiful place. It has reefs to explore either by scuba or snokel, a playground, restaurants, bicycle rentals, and, of course, lovely beaches.

Lunch was delicious. Here you can see D enjoying the world's largest kids' meal cheeseburger. It was as big as my regular menu burger. Right about the size of her head.

Fremantle, or "Freo,"was also a wonderful time. Most shopping centers in Western Australia are closed on Sundays. There a few grocery stores here and there that stay open 7 days but most do not. Fremantle was a happening place all day Sunday. We plan to head there more often. We visited the market, had lunch in the sunshine, enjoyed Baskin Robbins ice cream, and then toured the Maritime Museum. It was a marvelous day.

D loved exploring the boats on display at the museum as well as watching an odd (but very talented) street performer who played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes to honor the baby whale that was euthanized in Sydney Harbor that week.

It was really nice having T's mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law here for a week. It went by too fast.

Friday Morning Gymanstics

After a few weeks of requests, here are photos of D at gymnastics. It's lots of fun for her, C, and myself. When I called for information a couple of months ago, I was looking for a program where I could just watch from the seats with C. But, they told me at her age, parents had to participate with the children and any younger siblings are welcome to crawl around on the mats or join in where possible. I was thrilled and signed us up right away.

The kids do 2 or 3 circuits each session with a break for water and fresh fruit about half-way through. Sometimes the ciruits focus on balance, bars, coordination, or jumping and landing.

Still can't reach it! Maybe next week!

C loves all the space to move and mats to roll around on. Now that he is crawling, he tries to join the circuit, but he's not quite ready for the springboards and forward rolls yet.

D's favorite thing to do is jump off the spring boards. Funny photo, but they aren't easy to snap!

Fix My Kids!

It's been just over 2 weeks now since the kiddos came down with nasty colds. Is there anything worse than your kids suffering with illness? Not sure how well I would handle serious illness. Neither seems able to get over the coughing, sneezing, and runny nose. They are resting, drinking fluids, and eating well. Any more ideas?

It's not a great time to post new photos of the kids as there would surely be that lovely, shiny spot below each nostril. So I thought I would catch up on topics I've previously missed blogging about. Like, our new house in North Perth.

A select few of you have had live Skype tours, (sorry for the shaky broadcast) but for the rest, I've snapped a few photos. Our home is 1 of 3 built on the lot, we have the property to the rear so it's a long driveway and very little backyard, but it's nice and quiet. Here's the front.

The playroom. Master bedroom.

Living room.

Kitchen.

D's room.

C's room.

Backyard.

We also have a guest room but it is full of clutter at the moment so no photo for you. You'll just have to come visit us and see it for yourselves!

I'm Due for a Blog!

Has it really been 3 weeks since my last blog!? Time is flying. You all need an update.

We are busy hosting company at the moment. T's mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law are here in Perth with us. We are all having a nice time. There are lots of things to see in the area and we've had gorgeous weather to get out and spend some time outdoors. Today, we took the ferry to Rottnest Island. What a beautiful place! I'll blog more about that and post photos later. We'll have to go back for a long weekend or something to snorkel and just relax on the beach.

C cut his 3rd tooth today. He's not having the troubles he had with the first 2 teeth. Those seemed to cause a lot of discomfort.

D is VERY busy with her aunt and uncle. She has them drawing flowers, reading her stories and skipping rope. Life is good for the girl. She has also been offered enrollment at one of the Catholic schools in our area so we are all very excited about that. The school year begins in February here in Australia. So, she will begin 2 full days per week in February 2009, in what is called kindergarten here, or "Kindy."

Like I mentioned earlier, we've had gorgeous weather here the last few weeks. It looks like winter may be wrapping up and our days will again be filled with 70 degree temps and sunshine. I'm starting to move winter hats and sweatshirts out of my backpack and replace them with wide-brimmed hats and sunscreen. We're all looking forward to spending time at the beach again. Now, if I can just teach C not to eat the sand!

Rockstar and Happy Chappy

I could not possibly take enough photos or video of my children. It's pretty much every day that they are doing countless funny, entertaining things. I ought to have a camera permanently built into my hand. Since that isn't really an option, I try to get the camera out as often as possible to capture their antics.

C's happy disposition earned him a couple of nicknames while we were in Bali. He smiled constantly at anyone who made eye contact and several friendly Australians gave him the name Smileychops. And others chose Happy Chappy. They've stuck and we're enjoying using them on our grinning little man.







And though he smiles at everyone, no one can make him giggle like D does.

And, those of you who Skype with us have probably seen and heard D's rockstar performance. But, for those who haven't, you'll have to see her rock. She was given an electric guitar and microphone with amplifier for her 3rd birthday. (Not from her parents, I can assure you.) And, at the same time, was inspired by David Cook's ability to adapt songs to his own rocker style on American Idol. At the moment, the video I have of these performances are too long to post on blogger. I'll work on taking a shorter video and get it posted soon.

So Now I'm 30

It really isn't so bad at all, being 30. In fact, it's a lot like being 29. And that went just fine for me too. I wasn't anticipating too much emotion over this milestone birthday and it has been quite pleasant.

Thank you to everyone who remembered the day! It made it special to get cards, emails, and food! I actually celebrated several times. I went out with a big group of girlfriends last Wednesday night. We had a marvelous dinner with live Jazz and tasty cocktails. The band even played and sang "Happy Birthday" to me as the waiter brought my dessert with a sparkler stuck in the top. It was great fun!

Friday was another girls' night out with the moms from playgroup. Lots of talking and laughing and food!

Sunday (my actual birthday) was lovely. Church, a food expo, a (much needed) nap, and then a BBQ with friends.

Todd and I will have a night out, just the 2 of us, on Friday. Hopefully, I'll remember to snap some photos to post. Surely, you are curious to see what I look like as a 30-year-old!

No Parades or Fireworks, But There Was Budweiser and Oreos!

Happy belated 4th of July to my fellow Americans! We had a nice Independence day here in Perth, but it wasn't the wild day we are accustomed to back home.

We began the day at Toddler Jam with our good friends Kelly, Jacob, and Ollie. D wore her stars and stripes and I pulled something red, white, blue, and stripey from C's closet. D received many compliments on her ensemble. (Thanks again, Connie, it was lovely to get 2 years out of this adorable dress!)

That evening, T's office hosted a nice 4th of July party. Everyone was invited, not just the Americans, so there was a nice big crowd. They brought in American beer (as was mentioned in the title), ordered pizzas and treated us all to Oreo cookies! So American!

The Social Club put a lot of work into the party. They gave an American trivia game and posted information about American cities and landmarks all over the office. It was very well done and a lot of fun.

We even had party favors that Delaney has worn several times over the weekend.

Just so you know: Australia has their own day of patriotism and celebration (including fireworks). They celebrate Australia Day in January.