Thursday, 29 November 2012
Scooting on the beach!
Finally the long-awaited scooters have arrived. Hooray! The 'tude on Hannah has reached a new high. The posing!!!
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Beauty Point Public School Concert
Hannah's school had their end of year concert tonight and it was beyond cute. Definitely better than the marathon ballet recitals we had to endure in Arlington :)
If you can endure 3 mins of 6 year olds jumping around like lunatics, here is the video. Hannah is in the second row on the far left (you don't really see her until the front row squats down about 30 seconds in). As with all pictures and videos, double click to see a larger version of this.
When did Hannah get so old??!
Hannah is second row from the top, far right. Was there any doubt which one was her? That pose is ridiculous.
Abbey is Hannah's most enthusiastic groupie.
Thankfully we brought a real American cheerleader with us all the way from Boston to help the girls with hair and make-up before the show.
Glam shot. I love that she's holding her lips apart so as not to smudge her lipstick.
If you can endure 3 mins of 6 year olds jumping around like lunatics, here is the video. Hannah is in the second row on the far left (you don't really see her until the front row squats down about 30 seconds in). As with all pictures and videos, double click to see a larger version of this.
When did Hannah get so old??!
Hannah is second row from the top, far right. Was there any doubt which one was her? That pose is ridiculous.
Abbey is Hannah's most enthusiastic groupie.
Thankfully we brought a real American cheerleader with us all the way from Boston to help the girls with hair and make-up before the show.
Glam shot. I love that she's holding her lips apart so as not to smudge her lipstick.
Monday, 26 November 2012
Beach Birthday!
We ended up with the most perfect, sunny day for Hannah's birthday party down at the beach. It was a little insane with 30 kids running around, but we all had fun and were happy to finally be celebrating a birthday outside, something we can never do in Boston with both kids having winter birthdays.
Thank you SO much to all of our family who sent money for us to get all the things that we didn't ship over here that the girls are missing (bikes, scooters, baby strollers, etc). We let Abbey open her gifts early (it just seemed mean to make her wait another month for things we could be using every day right now in the beautiful Sydney summer). The baby stroller is a HUGE hit, Abbey has not stopped pushing that thing around for one minute since she got it.
This could only happen in Australia! Pete was filling water balloons for one of our party games and this animal was in the hose and ended up in the balloon. Of course, he didn't even notice until Hannah saw the creature squirming around inside one of the balloons in his pile half an hour later. How did he manage to tile the balloon without noticing that a live animal was inside it you ask? Welcome to my world :)
A rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose after the water balloons ran out and everyone had eaten about 10 lbs of candy already (and that was before the piñata fiasco!)
Candy!!!
I told Hannah was should try to come up with some American-ized version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey and this is what she suggested. Pin the Star on the American Flag. Great idea, Hannah! The kids loved it.
Not quite the masterpieces of previous years, but I managed to make cakes cobbled together with the hodgepodge of baking supplies I have here.
Hannah singing Happy Birthday to herself (of course)
Thank you SO much to all of our family who sent money for us to get all the things that we didn't ship over here that the girls are missing (bikes, scooters, baby strollers, etc). We let Abbey open her gifts early (it just seemed mean to make her wait another month for things we could be using every day right now in the beautiful Sydney summer). The baby stroller is a HUGE hit, Abbey has not stopped pushing that thing around for one minute since she got it.
This could only happen in Australia! Pete was filling water balloons for one of our party games and this animal was in the hose and ended up in the balloon. Of course, he didn't even notice until Hannah saw the creature squirming around inside one of the balloons in his pile half an hour later. How did he manage to tile the balloon without noticing that a live animal was inside it you ask? Welcome to my world :)
A rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose after the water balloons ran out and everyone had eaten about 10 lbs of candy already (and that was before the piñata fiasco!)
Candy!!!
I told Hannah was should try to come up with some American-ized version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey and this is what she suggested. Pin the Star on the American Flag. Great idea, Hannah! The kids loved it.
Not quite the masterpieces of previous years, but I managed to make cakes cobbled together with the hodgepodge of baking supplies I have here.
Hannah singing Happy Birthday to herself (of course)
Mommy/Daughter Birthday Girls Day Out
Hannah and I skipped work and school and headed to Luna Park here in Sydney for the afternoon to celebrate her birthday together. Its not exactly Six Flags, but it was still fun. Although it kind of looks like we stuck to the little kid rides, that's only because on the ones I went on with Hannah, I was way too terrified to pull my camera out. We might have to wait until the next birthday to do some of those again, Hannah bit off a little more than she could chew with some of them. I wish I had bought the photo that the machine took of us as we came over the scariest bump on the roller coaster, we both look completely frantic. Funny, but also made me feel like a less than perfect parent :)
The posing has become a little over the top since she turned the big 0-6!
Rock-on party girl!
Hannah came dangerous close to puking after this one.
These rides were more her speed (plus, I was too big to fit on them so was thankful for the reprieve. My roller coaster days are over I think)
The posing has become a little over the top since she turned the big 0-6!
Rock-on party girl!
Hannah came dangerous close to puking after this one.
These rides were more her speed (plus, I was too big to fit on them so was thankful for the reprieve. My roller coaster days are over I think)
A few more random photos
Well, just about caught up on photos that have been sitting on my camera and phone. Here are a few more of random things that we've been up to or seen along the way.
Corporate Challenge in Sydney. Very hilly, but rewarded with beers at the end so all worth it.
Bootcamp at Balmoral Beach. I really have no excuse not to join one of these since a) its a 1 min walk from my house and b) how could you not want to join a bootcamp that looks like this!!??
As I've already told some of you, my Ben and Jerry's addiction is officially dead. Seriously? Why is a pint of ice cream $12? Why isn't someone making an absolute fortune making something almost exactly the same as B&J and charging a more reasonable, but still outrageous price for it? The cost of things here is insane.
The worst one yet by far, however, is Diet Coke. I just got a flyer in the mail today that was advertising "Huge Sale! Big Savings! Great Deal!" followed by a picture of a 24-pack of diet coke cans for $17, which is $7.95 off the regular price. $24.95 for 24 cans of Diet Coke unless you are lucky enough to buy them on sale, which sadly I usually am not. Ugh.
The girls created some art to spruce up our somewhat barren walls at home.
Another run home from work over the Harbour bridge last week. Again, hills!!
Another insanely priced item, also supposedly a "Great Deal!!" Let's just say that the Whiting Girls' salty snack addiction has taken a hit along with our moratorium on Diet Coke and Ben & Jerry's.
Abbey holding court at Hannah's school. Hannah just loves it when her school friends pay more attention to her little sister than to her. Not!!
Corporate Challenge in Sydney. Very hilly, but rewarded with beers at the end so all worth it.
Bootcamp at Balmoral Beach. I really have no excuse not to join one of these since a) its a 1 min walk from my house and b) how could you not want to join a bootcamp that looks like this!!??
As I've already told some of you, my Ben and Jerry's addiction is officially dead. Seriously? Why is a pint of ice cream $12? Why isn't someone making an absolute fortune making something almost exactly the same as B&J and charging a more reasonable, but still outrageous price for it? The cost of things here is insane.
The worst one yet by far, however, is Diet Coke. I just got a flyer in the mail today that was advertising "Huge Sale! Big Savings! Great Deal!" followed by a picture of a 24-pack of diet coke cans for $17, which is $7.95 off the regular price. $24.95 for 24 cans of Diet Coke unless you are lucky enough to buy them on sale, which sadly I usually am not. Ugh.
The girls created some art to spruce up our somewhat barren walls at home.
Another run home from work over the Harbour bridge last week. Again, hills!!
Another insanely priced item, also supposedly a "Great Deal!!" Let's just say that the Whiting Girls' salty snack addiction has taken a hit along with our moratorium on Diet Coke and Ben & Jerry's.
Abbey holding court at Hannah's school. Hannah just loves it when her school friends pay more attention to her little sister than to her. Not!!
Saturday, 24 November 2012
Some more catch-up photos
Since Abbey is sleeping right now, Hannah and I have time to catch up on some old pictures again.
Hannah: This is my friend Nina. She is Leila's cousin and one of my favorite friends.
Hannah: I like the peacock. I have never seen one before that had sprouted their feathers like that. So, I am very excited about the peacock because it looks very beautiful and I like it because it is an animal and a pretty animal because its blue and has very cool feathers.
Hannah: These are the running stairs that mommy runs on and its a cool trail because there are lots of stairs and its good for hiking.
Lori: Yikes! No wonder Australians are so fit, there is nowhere flat to run here...
Lori: ... except on the beach, which is nice and flat and the scenery is not bad either.
Hannah: Balmoral Beach is one of my favorite beaches because I explore the rocks and I usually like to swim there too. But the bad thing about the beach is that we are not allowed to collect the shells there. The shells there are very beautiful and I wish I could take some home.
Hannah: I like Beauty Point Public School because I already got a couple of certificates, but when I really had to go on my first day of school I could not go because we didn't have the right paperwork checked out. So we had to go on a different day. That's why I like Beauty Point, they are helping me learn a lot of stuff.
Lori: Lots of paperwork to be done by the silly Americans trying to go to public school here! We also did not have any idea how to get a uniform so Hannah stood out a little the first few days :)
Hannah: I like this picture because I was supposed to take a picture at the front but then I saw a sign that had a little sign for the school. I was wearing a backpack I was not supposed to be wearing but I didn't know that because Mr. G told us the wrong thing.
Hannah: I like this picture because its me at the school office in my uniform and I didn't know it would be like that but I knew it would be something cool. I like my uniform because it has red, white and blue which are the colors of the American flag. It also has yellow on it.
Hannah: Here is a picture of me and my sister wearing our costumes for Halloween. We went out to search for candy and we got lots and it was very yummy. And, there were not a lot of houses that had candy but then there was a street we went to where all of the houses had lots of candy. Some houses said "we're out of lollies" which means candy in Australia.
Lori: So much for Australia not having Halloween, people were super into it! Very weird that only every other 10th house or so actually gave out candy and it took us a while to figure out the system (only the houses that are decorated have candy) but we had fun. Beautiful sunny 75 degree evening didn't hurt either :)
Hannah: On Tom Smee's birthday, he always had a party under a Jacaranda tree and we took this picture because we thought he would like it because it was his birthday on the day we took it. Jacarandas are my favorite tree because they are purple (my favorite color) and they are big and fun to climb.
Lori: Nippers at Balmoral Beach. The best way to take swimming lessons ever! Too bad its sold out for the season, we need to enter a lottery to get a spot for next year.
Hannah: I like this beach because it is a very nice beach and my dad and my sister and me is in the picture. The reason I picked it for my blog is that I like jumping over the waves with my sister and my dad is about to dive into the waves.
Lori: Just a cool picture I took walking to work one morning.
Lori: View from my office.
Lori: Running home from work over the Harbor Bridge enjoying the view of the Opera House.
Hannah: I like the Sydney Opera House because its made in a funny shape and we don't have one in Boston. Its not a very common building.
Hannah ran out of steam so just my boring comments from here...
Might be a little hard to see these guys but here are 2 of what seems to be hundreds of cockatoos that live in our neighborhood. Yes, they look beautiful, but no they do not sounds beautiful, especially at 5:30 in the morning. Better than the kookaburras though, they are the worst alarm clock in the world!
Waiting for the bus in "sports uniform". Abbey is dressed for ballet (of course! why not? No, we were not going to ballet but why let that stop us from wearing the gear). My favorite part of the outfit is the undies sticking out.
"Maths on the Beach" field trip (excursion actually, as they call it here, Hannah gets mad at me if I don't use the correct Australian terminology, she is like the language police here) to Chinaman's Beach.
Bunnies, bunnies, everywhere!! They come out every night at dusk and are too many to count.
Tennis birthday party, such a great idea for a party.
Picnic dinner at Balmoral Beach. Eating famous (for good reason!) fish and chips from Bottom of the Harbour. Complete with after dinner photo shoot
Taking the ferry home from work. Definitely the best way to commute (although I'm usually lazy and take the bus which is a little more convenient.
Jacaranda tree in our yard. Sitting in here recording video of us singing happy birthday to Tom Smee.
Waiting for the bus to school at the beach.
Getting on the bus for the first time. No helicopter parents here in Australia. This is a city bus (only for school kids, but still, just a regular city bus) with no parents, chaperones, or any other adult other than the driver. Yikes! She LOVES it though, she feels extremely grown up.
Just a lazy day at the beach.
Hannah: This is my friend Nina. She is Leila's cousin and one of my favorite friends.
Hannah: I like the peacock. I have never seen one before that had sprouted their feathers like that. So, I am very excited about the peacock because it looks very beautiful and I like it because it is an animal and a pretty animal because its blue and has very cool feathers.
Hannah: These are the running stairs that mommy runs on and its a cool trail because there are lots of stairs and its good for hiking.
Lori: Yikes! No wonder Australians are so fit, there is nowhere flat to run here...
Lori: ... except on the beach, which is nice and flat and the scenery is not bad either.
Hannah: Balmoral Beach is one of my favorite beaches because I explore the rocks and I usually like to swim there too. But the bad thing about the beach is that we are not allowed to collect the shells there. The shells there are very beautiful and I wish I could take some home.
Hannah: I like Beauty Point Public School because I already got a couple of certificates, but when I really had to go on my first day of school I could not go because we didn't have the right paperwork checked out. So we had to go on a different day. That's why I like Beauty Point, they are helping me learn a lot of stuff.
Lori: Lots of paperwork to be done by the silly Americans trying to go to public school here! We also did not have any idea how to get a uniform so Hannah stood out a little the first few days :)
Hannah: I like this picture because I was supposed to take a picture at the front but then I saw a sign that had a little sign for the school. I was wearing a backpack I was not supposed to be wearing but I didn't know that because Mr. G told us the wrong thing.
Hannah: I like this picture because its me at the school office in my uniform and I didn't know it would be like that but I knew it would be something cool. I like my uniform because it has red, white and blue which are the colors of the American flag. It also has yellow on it.
Hannah: Here is a picture of me and my sister wearing our costumes for Halloween. We went out to search for candy and we got lots and it was very yummy. And, there were not a lot of houses that had candy but then there was a street we went to where all of the houses had lots of candy. Some houses said "we're out of lollies" which means candy in Australia.
Lori: So much for Australia not having Halloween, people were super into it! Very weird that only every other 10th house or so actually gave out candy and it took us a while to figure out the system (only the houses that are decorated have candy) but we had fun. Beautiful sunny 75 degree evening didn't hurt either :)
Hannah: On Tom Smee's birthday, he always had a party under a Jacaranda tree and we took this picture because we thought he would like it because it was his birthday on the day we took it. Jacarandas are my favorite tree because they are purple (my favorite color) and they are big and fun to climb.
Lori: Nippers at Balmoral Beach. The best way to take swimming lessons ever! Too bad its sold out for the season, we need to enter a lottery to get a spot for next year.
Hannah: I like this beach because it is a very nice beach and my dad and my sister and me is in the picture. The reason I picked it for my blog is that I like jumping over the waves with my sister and my dad is about to dive into the waves.
Lori: Just a cool picture I took walking to work one morning.
Lori: View from my office.
Lori: Running home from work over the Harbor Bridge enjoying the view of the Opera House.
Hannah: I like the Sydney Opera House because its made in a funny shape and we don't have one in Boston. Its not a very common building.
Hannah ran out of steam so just my boring comments from here...
Might be a little hard to see these guys but here are 2 of what seems to be hundreds of cockatoos that live in our neighborhood. Yes, they look beautiful, but no they do not sounds beautiful, especially at 5:30 in the morning. Better than the kookaburras though, they are the worst alarm clock in the world!
Waiting for the bus in "sports uniform". Abbey is dressed for ballet (of course! why not? No, we were not going to ballet but why let that stop us from wearing the gear). My favorite part of the outfit is the undies sticking out.
"Maths on the Beach" field trip (excursion actually, as they call it here, Hannah gets mad at me if I don't use the correct Australian terminology, she is like the language police here) to Chinaman's Beach.
Bunnies, bunnies, everywhere!! They come out every night at dusk and are too many to count.
Tennis birthday party, such a great idea for a party.
Picnic dinner at Balmoral Beach. Eating famous (for good reason!) fish and chips from Bottom of the Harbour. Complete with after dinner photo shoot
Taking the ferry home from work. Definitely the best way to commute (although I'm usually lazy and take the bus which is a little more convenient.
Jacaranda tree in our yard. Sitting in here recording video of us singing happy birthday to Tom Smee.
Waiting for the bus to school at the beach.
Getting on the bus for the first time. No helicopter parents here in Australia. This is a city bus (only for school kids, but still, just a regular city bus) with no parents, chaperones, or any other adult other than the driver. Yikes! She LOVES it though, she feels extremely grown up.
Just a lazy day at the beach.
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