Melbourne

We had a great time vacationing in Melbourne. There were a ton of things to do, great restaurants, and lots of parks and green spaces. What is not to love? We spent 5 days there which is much more than what we usually spend in one city while on vacation but thought we would relax a bit more especially since we are now travelling with a toddler. One big change: instead of hotels we booked an apartment which gave us much more space to sprawl out. I think Ethan really loves when we change locations since it gives him a brand new environment to explore. He especially loved standing at the floor to ceiling windows and pointing out each 'baus' (bus) and 'ka' (car) that passed below us on the street.

I have to say that he was great on the flight over. We just booked an infant ticket but no extra seat since our friend just brought his toddler (she is bigger than Ethan) over on Qantas and she apparently slept in the bassinet. Well we opened that bassinet up once in the air and there was no way Ethan would fit in there. He ended up just sitting on our lap and napped or played with the water bottles or TV remote. Periodically he would ask for his 'salk' and 'shooos' and we would take a jaunt down the aisle but for the most part he was happy to just hang out with us at our seats. The flight attendant servicing our side of the plane kept commenting on what a happy baby he was and mentioned as we left that he was the most well behaved toddler she ever saw on a flight. This could be because he is getting to be quite a flirt I have to say. He laughs and waves and babbles to those who take an interest in him.

The first day we arrived we walked all over the city and then caught a tram to the Docklands. We saw the boats, did a bit of shopping and stopped by the first ever Costco to land in Australia. We might have also stopped by a Target. Apparently I miss America more than I thought. =P

Ethan having a great time at Costco - where he learned how to drink from a straw, had his first ever bite of hot dog and also liked getting samples for us to eat.

Ethan liked the tram and kept wanting to dangle from the 'andles' above us.

Every day we walked to either the Fitzroy gardens, along the Yarra river towards the Royal Botanical Gardens, or to the Alexandra Gardens. We also hit up the Aquarium (the penguins were our favorite), the zoo (where we watched the lions being fed and petted huge tortoises), and went to the Collingwood Children's farm (where we got to pet all kinds of farm animals and also got to milk a cow!).

Collingwood Children's Farm:

The cow before the milking demonstration. Ethan wasn't that up for it but Bob and I gave it a try.

Of all the animals, Ethan liked the cat the most. His version of petting was poking the cat repeatedly in the ear while saying 'meiow me', but she still purred contentedly for us.

Alexandra Gardens:

Aquarium:

Zoo:


Fitzroy Gardens: