dilemma of sorts...

Tonight when Andrew and I were walking home from work, I was faced with a dilemma.

We were stopped at a corner waiting for the "green man" so we could cross. Suddenly, we heard a screech and I saw a body go flipping thru the air. (Luckily, Andrew was focused on watching for the green man that he didn't notice!)

My body immediately turned, wanting to run and help. But I had Andrew in the stroller. I couldn't leave him alone on the side of the road. I can't ask random strangers to watch him. I didn't want him to turn and watch what I would be doing. So we waited for the green man to beep and we crossed the road.

Given my profession and training, I feel a duty/obligation to help. The last time I was faced with an emergency while out-and-about, Rene was with me. I just ran to help. Tonight, instead, I felt guilty that I turned my back and walked away.

What's a mommy to do?

da Bears

It's Tuesday Night Football....but we're ready! Well...most of us were. Somebody was more excited about stickers :)Rene had DVR'd the game. I got the snacks (unfortunately there is no Uno's here). We had both successfully avoided any mention of the game (which meant staying off facebook!)

We watched, we hemmed and hawed, we lamented. Then the game got exciting. With 2:26 left...the DVR had stopped recording!!! agh!!!! Luckily, the game was being replayed so we just had to sit thru the 4th quarter again.

Mental note...extend the recording for future games :)

new toy

Andrew found a new toy....

He walked around holding this egg carton. Talk about a weird little one...

happy memories...

Andrew was dancing. Looked like when my mom used to do aerobics. Doing the "grapevine" and marching in place. Wish I could download videos because it was so cute.

I keep a picture of my mom on the bedside table. It's a pic of her her on the beach...her favorite place. He likes to hold it and look at her. I don't think he realizes who that is. We talk about how it is mommy's mommy and Papa is mommy's daddy. We pray for her every night, calling her "grandma up in heaven". I hope I'm not confusing him...

Speaking of beaches....

Rene surprised me (us) by taking a roadtrip to the beach today. Next week is Labour Day weekend and I am working all weekend (including Monday). So he decided we would go away this weekend. Since I am "on call" he didn't think we could go away overnight, so we just road-tripped.

Our plan was to go to Wollongong, but we got sidetracked as we went thru a national park. (don't ask me which one...I don't have any clue which one...ok, the iPhone says Garie or Royal National Park)

Our first stop in the park and Andrew wanted to see animls. So we walked a bit. The only animal we saw was a stuffed Joey near the Ranger station. Not really the type of animal I want him exposed to.

So we got back in the car and almost ran over a porcupin-y, hedgehog thingie sauntering across the road..

We took the windy road down to the beach.

Andrew was excited to see the big "sandbox". He liked walking without his shoes.
He was a little hesitant about the waves, but he made his way up to edge of the water.

"coming daddy?"

Then a wave came to lap at his feet...

and suddenly he was face down on the sand (and water).

not enjoying the water very much this time...

He was a little startled, and wet, and sandy but he was ok. We just sat out in the sun for a bit and all was well.

Everything's better with a "lick it"

He liked watching the surfers in the water and walking by. The surfers reminded me of that Keanu Reeves movie Point Break - older paunchy dudes...
Once dry, we moved on to the "Windy Bridge of Death" or "Puke-y Plunge Road" or "Cliff Death Drop" or as the Aussies refer to it "Grand Pacific Drive". It was so twisty - I felt like puking the entire time.
We stopped in Thirroul at a little beach that had a play place. Andrew had fun running around. I had fun being stationary. We got take-away and ate it at the beach. Such a fun time!

Hopping on the pylons

There were these weird little "pool" things. I assume it was a shallow bottom. The end was open to the ocean and the waves splashed in to circulate the water. Cool concept...not my cup of tea...
On our way back to Sydney, we stopped at the organic food market. Look familiar?

Such a long, fun day. Somebody was totally zonked...

Hope you enjoyed the play-by-play.

Food...a comparison

The other day, I was talking to my dad about food. He was asking about the price of various items.

I bought 1 kg of carrots for $.99. That's $.50/lb. If I remember correctly, I bought 1lb for $.99 in the States.

I have been getting the most delicious strawberries for $1.50-1.98/250g. That is 1/2 lb or 8 oz. The best deal I found for strawberries in the US was $1.99 for 1 lb but usually bought for $3.99/lb. So pretty comparable on price, but definitely NOT on taste. The strawberries here are so juicy and flavorful. And red all the way thru, not white and grainy like some of the strawberries I used to get. And it's winter...just imagine what they will be like in the summer!

Wanna know a cool thing about food shopping in AUS??? As milk nears it's expiry date, they discount it.

I picked up a litre of organic milk for $2. It still had several days left before it went "bad". While that price is comparable to organic milk in the US if you buy it in the gallon, I usually buy it in smaller quantities where it's more $$.

The other day I was at the store, and they had 1Ls of skim for $.49. FORTY-NINE CENTS! It expired the next day, so I didn't get any. I need to figure out recipes that I can make with lots of milk.

I unknowingly got unhomogenised milk. When I first poured Andrew a glass, it skeeved me with the globs on the top. Then I realised it wasn't homogenised. Now all I do is give the milk a little shake before I pour it.

I bought a 2L of Diet Coke for nearly $6. In the US, I would wait and stock up when the price went to $.99. A case of coke (12 cans) is $24. yes TWENTY-FOUR dollars for a case of coke!!! The bottles I buy at lunch are $3.90 for 600mL (20oz) and $3.20 for 450mL (12 oz). Granted it's at the convenient mart, so it'll be a little cheaper at the grocery store.

A candy bar....$2 (give or take).
Small bag of chips (grab bag size)... $2-3

Oh, and Crunchy Nut Flakes (bursting with nutritious value I'm sure ) was $8.95 a box, while the uber-delicious All Bran Honey Almond Flakes was only $4.95

My dad made the observation that the healthy food are cheaper (more reasonably priced) and the stuff that is bad for you is outrageously priced. It's like they are forcing me to eat healthy... of course I still have my Diet Coke habit!
pics from coles

Just for fun

Here are some pics of me and Andrew before work.

(why Rene thought it would be a flattering pic to take it from below is unknown....)

Love his smile!

upside down time

Editorial Comment

If you check this blog regularly, you may have noticed a lack of updating recently. I could say it was because we had sketchy internet before and after the moved into a permanent home as we waited for our internet to get set up.

While this was true, I was trying to decide if I still wanted to put pics up on the internet for "all" to see. I love that I have the ability to share pictures with my friends and family on the other side of the globe. It scares me that "anyone" could see these pics and download them or use them for their own use.

I decided to keep posting the pics. You may notice my watermark. Please do not download these pictures. If you want a copy of any of these pictures... please ask.

Marathon day

Today was the Blackmore's Sydney Running Festival. I had wanted to do the "Family Fun Run" but Rene said he didn't want to since he would be travelling this past week. They ran one street over, so I thought I'd take Andrew over to watch the runners. He had a fun time watching the runners during the C-U Marathon Rene and I did.

Since the race started in North Sydney and they have to run the Bridge to us, I thought we would see runners around 9-10. um...nope! Around 7:30, I looked down and saw....

So Andrew and I got on our shoes and walked over. Didn't quite work out like I'd planned in my mind. He kept trying to run away and into the race....

maybe I'll be running the Nov marathon....

Watching the runners tuckered him out. He sat like this ("zombie-like") forever.

then...

Another early morning...

Andrew and I went on a quest to find b'fast. Unfortunately the only thing open that early wasn McD's, Hungry Jacks or Krispy Kremes. So guess what we go...

After our nap, we ordered from Wagamama (delish) and went to go pick it up. Andrew and Rene explored the wharf while I picked up the food.

Busy Saturday

Finally got off our tushies and had a busy weekend.

We rented a GoGet car (like a ZipCar). Had us a l'il Prius. Just like home except Rene was on the wrong side of the car.

First we were off to watch daddy play tennis.

Got bored so we decided to play with some balls....

Forget tennis....I wanna eat!

Then we went for a haircut...more to come. Yes, the hair cut deserves it's own post :)

After the haircut, we played in the park right next to the salon. There was a little boy there wearing an amber necklace. Great conversation starter. His mom and I had a nice little chat.

Then we went to Target!!! I was looking forward to getting into a familiar place. It wasn't the same.... It was in a mall - reminded me of the Westchester Mall in NY. It ws very cramped in there. The layout and look reminded me of the Sear in Gurnee. NOT like Target back home. booo!

We got towels. $30 bath towels. $30!!! (ok, officially a cheapskate) Cool thing about these towel. The tag says "THINK CLIMATE. COLD WASH & LINE DRY" - um...you know it! I swear this is not the reason we got $30 towels. I didn't even know the tag said that till I was drying off (and that did not occur in the Target).

Anywho.... we got something else at Target too. A potty and big boy 'roos. Andrew was so exited. When we got home, I had to get the potty out straight away- before we even unpacked. Unfortunately, the peepees didn't cooperate (despite the dry diaper after many hours). So we spent all afternoon "making more peepees" by drinking lots of water.

I digress again..... on the way home Mr. I-know-how-to-get-home takes us on a slight detour over The Bridge. Nice detour, but someone was itchin' to try out his new potty!

and one last photo...cuz he's a cutie!

Time for a haircut

Some of us (ok all of us) are in desperate need of a haircut. The little guy ended up getting one. He was getting so shaggy. They hairdresser actually said when we walked in she didn't know if he was a girl or a boy. Agh!!!!

We went to KidzLidz - hate the name. Really hate the use of "z" when it should be "s", but it was the ONLY place that I could find that did kids haircuts. As it is we had to drive to the eastern 'burbs.

Andrew got to drive a cool car and watch videos during his cut. He was very good during the whole thing. After he got his hair cut, the hairdresser said to me "we have an adult salon too". What are you say??? I need my hair cut? yeah... I do... it's on my list of things to do.

going to the park

At Pyrmont Park. Just found these pics on the camera. Not sure when we were there.

Such a big boy climbing the steps and sliding all by himself....


This structure is a huge dome shape made with rope. Great to climb...for the older kids (although Andrew does pretty well too). I'm afraid he would make it up to the top and I'd have to go get him. There is this "slide" made out of black rubber. Andrew walked all the way to the top and the slid down.
and then scooted himself back up again. over and over and over...