Where We Live and What We Miss

We live on a little quiet street in a small beach suburb. We live less than a mile from the beach and harbour. We have lived in large suburban areas in the past, but this area here is definitely more urban and "city" like, which is both different and exciting! There is definitely more "hustle and bustle," more people and lots more to do! We also previously lived in houses that have been newer or less than 5 years old and our house here is very old, but very charming! This is by far the smallest house we have ever lived in and by far the most expensive! But, we are loving every minute of our new adventure and our new little life!

This is our house!

This is our car and our tiny driveway where we park. We open and close the fence manually...I sure do miss my automatic garage door opener, well, I really miss my garage, too.

This is our tiny street that is lined with trees. People can park on both sides of the street and believe it or not, it is a 2 lane road!

I don't particularly love this picture of me, but it says it all...me trying to figure out how to drive with everything completely opposite than what I am used to. I still turn on my wipers every time I go to use my turn signal. Looking to the left for your rear-view mirror just feels weird! But, I am getting the hang of it and feel like I can get myself around now! The roads and parking spaces are super skinny and I always feel like I am going to hit everything on the left! I have yet to drift over to the right side of the road, but I do have to concentrate very hard every time I turn or go into a parking garage!

This is a tree in our backyard that the kids love to climb!

It is a beautiful tree that I never get tired of looking at! Although, the wind blows all of the blossoms off and they cover our backyard! Sometimes our grass looks more lavender than green!

This is Garrett's new lawnmower...he is so proud. Braden loves it because he can actually mow the lawn. However, the mower cuts the grass horribly and leaves the biggest mess. Obviously not a problem for Garrett.

Update: After a few weeks of attempting to mow the grass with this thing...Garrett finally decided that this lawnmower is a joke and we have since hired someone to take care of our lawn!

This is my first little bird for my new house. I have named her Bobette. If any of you know Bobette, you will understand why! I was happy to find this little bird at a home store just up the street from my house. It was only $9, which I thought was reasonable considering there were throw pillows for $99 in the store!

Shopping is difficult because it is so expensive. It is hard to stomach buying things knowing what I can get them in the states. For example, I just bought a small hand mixer for $40.00, which would probably cost something like $14.99 in the states. We have Target, but it is very different than the Target I am used to. There are no groceries or cleaning supplies or even shampoo. Only clothing and homewares, but nothing like in the states. And of course, it is very expensive. I miss stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx and even Wal-Mart! I never thought I would say that! We have bought some furniture from IKEA while we wait for our shipment to arrive, which is scheduled for sometime the first few weeks of December. We have been surrounded by boxes and been assembling something each night. Garrett loves IKEA! Hardly.

This is my very small washer and dryer. A far cry from my huge red LG Tromm's! I miss them so much I could almost cry! The dryer literally takes about 3 hours to dry 4 towels and I am not kidding! Most people around here line dry their clothes, but my clothesline is covered in spider webs! Every time I clean them off, they just come back! I did hang our swimsuits out to dry and by in the morning I had to rinse them again because they had so many spider webs!

I am surprised at how different the grocery store is, too. Cooking has been challenging as I have had to substitute ingredients that I can't find over here. Not to mention that I can hardly figure out how my oven works and how to convert Farenheit to Celcius. I was sad to not find Libby's canned pumpkin for our "little" Thanksgiving feast. Although, my friend did eventually find it at an import store for $12 a can and we did enjoy a really good pumpkin pie! I haven't been able to find graham crackers, shortening, green enchilada sauce, cornmeal (well I found out I can use Polenta), Bisquick, Karo Syrup, or my deodorant to name a few.

Oh...and I really do miss my 44 oz. Diet Pepsi from On the Run! You can buy a bottled liter of it in the store, but a big Pepsi on ice in a cup with a lid and straw is unheard of here! In fact, if you order a soda from a restaurant, you get it without ice!

Lizards, Spiders, and Birds

If you have ever watched Animal Planet or Crocodile Hunter, you know that Australia has some pretty dangerous and amazing wildlife. It is home to some of the deadliest species like the Sydney Funnel Web spider, the Box jellyfish, the Stonefish, the Eastern Brown Snake, and lets not forget about Crocodiles! Well, we have been enjoying some of Australia's finest, gladly not anything that would threaten to end our lives, but a few not so fun things...especially when they are in your house! Of course, the kids love it and are so excited with every new thing they see!

Our backyard is full of these beautiful birds, but I can't seem to snag a picture of one of them! I actually did get a picture of one of the Lorikeet's, however it was one we found dead in our backyard and I didn't think that would be all that good to post a picture of a dead bird. The kids were all so sad for the little bird. We don't know how it died, we just found it under the tree one afternoon. Avery loves to draw pictures of the birds and we have a whole wall full of all the birds she has seen. They are beautiful birds, but very noisy and can wake you up early in the morning! We also have Magpies, which are black and white crow-looking birds that are very comfortable around people and have come very close to walking right in our back door!

Well, Daddy thought he would try to draw a picture, too!

This is what most of the bushes look like in my yard...huge spider webs everywhere! I have cleaned them off, but they just come back! Garrett keeps telling me I need to just embrace them and "be one with nature"... yeah, right! I have already called a few pest control companies for estimates.

This picture is hard to see and tell actually how big this web is. Let's just say it completely covered Braden's top half when he ran into it a few days later!

This little (not so little, actually) guy is right outside our patio door and loves to come out at night when it is dark...spooky!

Here is a nest of hundreds of baby spiders that just hatched right outside my bedroom window...nice!

These lovely lizards are called water dragons and are everywhere near the beach...luckily not in my house like the one below!

It didn't scare me until I tried to get it out and it started running everywhere. Yes, I did get on a stool and use a broom...I am sure it was a sight to see!

Shelly Beach

The first few weeks we arrived it rained almost everyday, which was a nice change from what we were used to, however the kids were ready to hit the beach! So, on one of the first warm sunny days, we headed to Shelly Beach. This is a small little cove down from Manly Beach that is sheltered from the surf. It is also a reserve so it has been known to have some really neat marine life which makes it a popular scuba sight. We enjoyed the clear blue water and the beautiful beach! We could have done without the freezing cold water! It didn't stop the kids, though, they got in and snorkeled and played. We had a fabulous time!

Manly Beach is in the background...

4 boys sunning themselves on the rock like lizards!

Carson could climb up and down these rocks all day!

Here is Braden snorkeling. He was amazed at all the fish he could see. He saw big groupers and even a sand shark (the ones that bury themselves in the sand; they actually look more like a ray)

Looking back at Manly Beach...Braden is on the rocks looking for crabs. A few surfers were out where the waves were breaking.

Braden and Davis playing on the beach...it almost was like we were at a pool or lake rather than the ocean. The water was so blue, though!

Avery coming back from snorkeling...she was so excited to tell us about all the fish she saw!

More Nature Walks

We have decided to make our Sunday afternoon nature walks somewhat of a tradition. We really love getting outdoors and exploring the beautiful beaches, bush, and harbours (yes, that is how the Aussie's spell it!) of Sydney. The kids love seeing all the cool wildlife, marine life, insects, and birds, and of course, love climbing and exploring new places. There are endless trails and walking paths all along the harbours and beaches that we have been exploring parts of each week and have found ourselves looking forward to our "walk" each week and wondering what will be next!

World Record

Braden with Feliks Zemdegs, the current world record holder

Just shortly after we arrived in Australia, Garrett and Braden headed down to Melbourne for a Rubiks Cube competition. Braden was super excited to compete in his first Aussie Rubiks event, especially considering that the 2nd fastest cuber was an Aussie and would be at the competition. And it was especially exciting when that cuber, Feliks Zemdegs, actually broke the world record (7.08 seconds) set back in 2008 by another cuber from the Netherlands and became the fastest cuber in the world at 7.03 seconds! Braden's head was about to explode he was so excited! Although, later that evening after Garrett and Braden had left, Feliks actually broke his own record again with a time of 6.77 seconds and they were not there to see that one. Braden had a great time being a part of it and also set some of his own personal records in the 2x2 (4.23 seconds) and 4x4. Here are a few video links Garrett posted on YouTube...

New World Record

Braden solving next to the world record holder

Braden solving the 3x3 and 2x2

First Day of School

Davis strutting his "stuff" on the way to school...too cool for school!

Braden, Avery, and Carson started school on Monday at their new school just down the street. They have to wear uniforms and a hat, which I thought they looked adorable. They had a great time the first day, met new friends, and liked their teachers. Because we are considered temporary residents, we have to pay $4500 per child per year to attend "public" school! Ouch!

The teachers sent home a supply list and I had to figure out a few things..."Textas" are washable markers.

Nature Walk

I am still pinching myself that I live here. It still feels a little like a vacation or something we would only imagine doing. Sunday afternoon, we headed down to Manly for a scenic walk along Shelly beach and Harbour National Park. The kids loved looking for different insects and bugs they had never seen. They also loved the water dragons, which are huge lizards! The views were breathtaking!

As we headed down the path, someone was saying that there were whales off in the distance. When we got closer, that someone actually turned out to be my childhood neighbor from Nampa, Idaho, Diane Riordan Groves. I knew that she was living over here and even near where we live, but how random was it that I would run into her unexpectantly half-way around the world! She married an Aussie and has moved over here. Here we were neighbors years ago and now we are practically neighbors over here! Who knew! Oh, and we did see the whales!

Darling Harbour

Saturday afternoon, despite the weather, we boarded a ferry from Manly Wharf to Circular Quay to Darling Harbour to head to Wildlife World. We had a great time and got to see some spectacular things along the way. Braden was especially excited when he got to see the World's most dangerous spider and snake up close for the first time! We also got to see a few other of our favorite fuzzy Aussie animals!