Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to say that I am thankful for:

• My sweet funny brilliant cute boy that I think the world of
• My thoughtful husband that is also just happens to be a great father
• My parents who are absolutely the best parents in the world (and still manage to love and support me after some 30 odd years)
• My wonderful parents-in-law
• That I get to be close to my brother again since he just moved out to HK! Yea!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

And because everyone loves a dancing baby - here is Ethan dancing to his favorite song:

Awesomeness

And the blooper:

New Play Tunnel

Fun with Nai Nai

First Ice Cream

Even though we live right on Tai Pak Beach we have never stopped to play on it. Saturday it was perfect beach weather - dry and warm but not too hot so we decided to have some fun on the beach. After a bit of soccer we decided to cool off with an ice cream cone. Ethan has always refused to even try ice cream but today he decided it looked too yummy to resist. He then promptly grabbed both our ice cream cones and went to town. I guess he is developing a sweet tooth!

Sydney

We were in Sydney for 3 days. Unfortunately Bob had to work, but Ethan and I had lots of fun anyways. We basically went on jaunts along Darling Harbour and the Circular Quay everyday.

This was the coolest fountain. It was in the herb garden within the Royal Botanical Gardens. I think it was pressure activated because as soon as you climbed up the steps onto the tier with the fountain it would start to flow.

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:

Australia 2007

We just came back from a trip to Melbourne and Sydney but before I post pictures I thought I would share some from a previous trip that Bob and I took in '07. We went to Adelaide (where we had awesome meat pies and the best brunch I have ever had), Kangaroo Island (to see the little penguins, kangaroos, koalas and seals out in their natural habitat), Cairns (for the scuba diving) and Sydney (where we went on the bridge climb, had great food, and explored all of downtown Sydney). Of these places our favorite by far was Kangaroo Island and hopefully in the future we can take Ethan back there.

Cairns/Kuranda:


Kangaroo Island:





Sydney: