The Wades and the 3 Sisters in the background
Us with the 3 sisters
Ethan and Kari... squinting.
Us.
Me. On a mountain. Being awesome.
Wades. On a mountain. Trying to be awesome.
Kangaroo with baby checking things out.
Ethan feeding the kangaroo. He wasn't excited at first... but he had a good time.
Ellen looks totally comfortable amongst the wild animals.
Making friends.
With the koala
His first encounter with the wallabies
Ethan passed out on the bus on the way home... but he held on to his sucker.
I told you I'd post more today and I didn't let you down.
I told you I'd post more today and I didn't let you down. Saturday was a big day and I had been looking forward to it for a while. We took a bus tour up to the Blue Mountains that are a couple hours outside of Sydney. The bus met us bright and early just down the street and then it was off. Our first stop was a Wildlife Park just outside of Sydney. It was a lot of fun. They had a huge assortment of animals and they let you get really close with a bunch of them. Shortly after you get in there you see the first of wallabies that are free to roam about. They are really friendly and you can walk right up and pet them if your heart so desires. You can also get up close and personal with koalas, kangaroos and an ostrich/emu. I lost count of how many koalas they had. But, they are definitely a crowd favorite… and a favorite of Ethan’s as well. Most of them were asleep when we got there, but a worker jumped in one of the cages and roused a few of them up and they actually moved around some. Shortly there after they brought them out of their enclosures and you could take a picture with them and touch them if you’d like. That was great! You can do that at the wildlife place and zoo we have been to previously but they charge you at least $20. Here it was free… and me likes the free. Especially since Kari has gone on a spending spree with Ellen here to actually go shopping with her. Anyway, after the koalas you get to hand feed the kangaroos and that was a lot of fun. That was definitely the highlight of the park for me. I had two eating out of my hand at one time and one grabbed my hand to pull it towards him and the other had the same idea so I had to pull my hand back quick before my self fulfilling prophecy of losing digits came true. For the most part they were pretty friendly… though one got a little aggressive and gave Ben a kick cause apparently he wasn’t refilling his hand with food fast enough. At one point an emu came around, which by the way are enormous, and apparently they like the kangaroo food as well. The food doesn’t come in bowls or bags, you get ice cream cone scoops full of it. Anyway, a lady we didn’t know(which makes it easier to laugh at) was trying to feed the kangaroos when the emu came over and started eating directly from the cone itself. Within 3 pecks it had almost completely devoured the cone and the food was flying everywhere. It was really pretty entertaining. After the feeding we spent some time looking at the various other animals in the park before jumping back on the bus to continue our journey.
The next part of the ride was the longest and Ethan surprisingly fell asleep on me for about 30 minutes even though it was 10:00 and that was way early for his nap. However, that worked out great because there really wasn’t much of a break again until we headed back. Our next stop was a pretty desolate overlook with sheer cliffs and no guard rails. I really enjoyed the views from there though which was surprising cause usually heights make me soil myself. We all got some pretty good pictures and then headed on to the next stop called Gordon’s Falls. However at this time of year Gordon’s Falls is more like Gordon’s Dribble. Not a lot of water flowing over the edge, but it was still pretty scenic. Ethan enjoyed running around on the lookout and thankfully there were actually guard rails this time. After an arduous walk back up to the bus, made me even more so because I was carrying Ethan and he wanted me to hop up every step, it was on to a little town called… I don’t remember what it was called. It starts with an L though. I should have just made something up… none of you would have known. But, I’ve typed this much now so its going to stay as is. Anyway, everyone except me hit up the candy store and then we wandered around the town for a little while before heading off to lunch. We had lunch at a local country club and it was pretty tasty. And, I saw something I had never seen before. Instead of using a golf cart, this old dude was using a mini dirt bike that he had somehow welded a hand pulled golf cart too. Oh the ingenuity of those who have too much time on their hands. After lunch Ethan and I sat outside and watched some people tee off for a while. There was one group that would have made the Breezy crowd very proud. I counted no less than 5 mulligans in a 3 some and it was only hole number one. It really was a thing of beauty.
After lunch we rolled through the biggest town in the area called Koombatoomba. That’s not the real name… I made that up. But, its something like that. See how much easier that was… Then it was off to the see the 3 sisters… a giant rock formation that has 3 points and legend has it that it’s the daughters of a aborigine magic man. I’m sure magic man is somehow offensive but I’m too lazy to look up the actually name. The legend itself is also too long to type it all out but if you really care you can easily Google it. After that it was on to Scenic World where you get to take a glass bottomed cable car across a valley at a height of almost 900 feet. That was pretty cool. Again, I managed to not soil myself. After that we killed some time and then jumped back onto the bus for the journey back to Sydney.
On the ride home we swung through Olympic Park where a lot of the 2000 games were held. That was semi-interesting. Then we took a ferry back to the Circular Quay. Ben and I had the pleasure of getting flashed by some lady on another boat. That wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the brochure for the tour but neither one of us really had a problem with it. We grabbed some pizza on the way home and spent the rest of the night just relaxing.
Sunday we got up, waited for Ellen to get ready(theme of the week) and had a late breakfast back at the Waterfront Grill. It was really good and everyone walked away with a full belly. Towards the end there was a little bit of juice left in the pitcher and Ethan displayed his potential binge drinking skills by chugging straight from the pitcher itself. I know its still a little early to judge talent but at this point I’m willing to assign the ‘prodigy’ label to him. He’s that good…
At that point we split up… Linda and Kari took Ethan home and Ellen, Ben and myself went to Manly Beach to soak up some surf and sun. Ben and I did some surfing… well, I did. Ben was just happy to get out of the ocean alive. The first 10 minutes or so were brutal… I hadn’t experienced a rip like that since we’ve been here. It was really a struggle to try and get out. I gave up and moved down the beach and after that it was a lot more fun. I didn’t regress like I had in the past… in fact I really only crashed a couple times. Ellen and Ben enjoyed their time on the beach and Ellen miraculously got off the beach without a sunburn. Meanwhile back at the Bat Cave… I mean apartment, Ethan was supposed to be napping. Kari let him bring his toy car and truck to bed and she heard clicking for about 20 minutes and just assumed he was banging them together. After a while she decided it was really time for him to go to sleep so she went to check on him. He was sitting in the corner with the wipes container and Kangaroo… there was an enormous pile of used/wasted wipes around him that he had used to wipe Kangaroo. The clicking wasn’t the cars banging together… it was Ethan opening and closing the wipes container. Anyway, Kari put an end to that game, Ethan passed out and when he got up the three of them went to the Rocks to check out the market and while they were there they got the added bonus of checking out the 70s party. People were dressed in 70s attire and they were playing 70s music and they said it was really entertaining to watch. We all met up at an Italian restaurant called AmoRoma for dinner before heading home for the night.
Today Ellen and I went for a run in the Botanic Garden. Ben wandered around Sydney checking out the various cafes and Linda went to the library. We all met up for lunch and since it was in the food court in our building and I still hadn’t showered from the run I was easily the skankiest person there. After lunch Kari and I went back to work, Ellen and Ben went their own way and Linda went hers. We all met up for dinner back at the apartment and everyone else is at the aquarium now and I’m here writing this novel of an entry and doing laundry. I lose. But, I needed to swim tonight for the tri this weekend and Ben could use my pass again so it saved them some money. Give, give, give, give, give… its what I do.
A few quick bits of info cause that’s all the more energy I have typing:
Ethan really is beginning to repeat almost everything you say. Ellen has taken advantage of this and used it against the rest of us. It started with ‘Shhh, grandma!’ which Ethan was more than happy to repeat and it has just grown from there. You’d think that with Ellen being 25 now she’d be able to handle the situation like an adult… turns out that’s expecting more than I should. Anyway… it has been pretty entertaining cause at times Ellen can be witty.
This week Ethan has been really well behaved. In fact, our guests have yet to witness one of Ethan’s ‘special performances’. People are going to start think I’m lying. But, he really has done well with all the eating out we’ve done and the also on the long bus ride. I was really hoping that others would get to share in our pain but Ethan has let me down. Figures the one time I actually want him to throw a tantrum he doesn’t…
Alright. That’s enough. Its time to go have a couple drinks and some wedges. Work night be damned… its party time! Though, it won’t get too crazy. We have the big bridge climb tomorrow and the breathalyze you before they let you go up.
The next part of the ride was the longest and Ethan surprisingly fell asleep on me for about 30 minutes even though it was 10:00 and that was way early for his nap. However, that worked out great because there really wasn’t much of a break again until we headed back. Our next stop was a pretty desolate overlook with sheer cliffs and no guard rails. I really enjoyed the views from there though which was surprising cause usually heights make me soil myself. We all got some pretty good pictures and then headed on to the next stop called Gordon’s Falls. However at this time of year Gordon’s Falls is more like Gordon’s Dribble. Not a lot of water flowing over the edge, but it was still pretty scenic. Ethan enjoyed running around on the lookout and thankfully there were actually guard rails this time. After an arduous walk back up to the bus, made me even more so because I was carrying Ethan and he wanted me to hop up every step, it was on to a little town called… I don’t remember what it was called. It starts with an L though. I should have just made something up… none of you would have known. But, I’ve typed this much now so its going to stay as is. Anyway, everyone except me hit up the candy store and then we wandered around the town for a little while before heading off to lunch. We had lunch at a local country club and it was pretty tasty. And, I saw something I had never seen before. Instead of using a golf cart, this old dude was using a mini dirt bike that he had somehow welded a hand pulled golf cart too. Oh the ingenuity of those who have too much time on their hands. After lunch Ethan and I sat outside and watched some people tee off for a while. There was one group that would have made the Breezy crowd very proud. I counted no less than 5 mulligans in a 3 some and it was only hole number one. It really was a thing of beauty.
After lunch we rolled through the biggest town in the area called Koombatoomba. That’s not the real name… I made that up. But, its something like that. See how much easier that was… Then it was off to the see the 3 sisters… a giant rock formation that has 3 points and legend has it that it’s the daughters of a aborigine magic man. I’m sure magic man is somehow offensive but I’m too lazy to look up the actually name. The legend itself is also too long to type it all out but if you really care you can easily Google it. After that it was on to Scenic World where you get to take a glass bottomed cable car across a valley at a height of almost 900 feet. That was pretty cool. Again, I managed to not soil myself. After that we killed some time and then jumped back onto the bus for the journey back to Sydney.
On the ride home we swung through Olympic Park where a lot of the 2000 games were held. That was semi-interesting. Then we took a ferry back to the Circular Quay. Ben and I had the pleasure of getting flashed by some lady on another boat. That wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the brochure for the tour but neither one of us really had a problem with it. We grabbed some pizza on the way home and spent the rest of the night just relaxing.
Sunday we got up, waited for Ellen to get ready(theme of the week) and had a late breakfast back at the Waterfront Grill. It was really good and everyone walked away with a full belly. Towards the end there was a little bit of juice left in the pitcher and Ethan displayed his potential binge drinking skills by chugging straight from the pitcher itself. I know its still a little early to judge talent but at this point I’m willing to assign the ‘prodigy’ label to him. He’s that good…
At that point we split up… Linda and Kari took Ethan home and Ellen, Ben and myself went to Manly Beach to soak up some surf and sun. Ben and I did some surfing… well, I did. Ben was just happy to get out of the ocean alive. The first 10 minutes or so were brutal… I hadn’t experienced a rip like that since we’ve been here. It was really a struggle to try and get out. I gave up and moved down the beach and after that it was a lot more fun. I didn’t regress like I had in the past… in fact I really only crashed a couple times. Ellen and Ben enjoyed their time on the beach and Ellen miraculously got off the beach without a sunburn. Meanwhile back at the Bat Cave… I mean apartment, Ethan was supposed to be napping. Kari let him bring his toy car and truck to bed and she heard clicking for about 20 minutes and just assumed he was banging them together. After a while she decided it was really time for him to go to sleep so she went to check on him. He was sitting in the corner with the wipes container and Kangaroo… there was an enormous pile of used/wasted wipes around him that he had used to wipe Kangaroo. The clicking wasn’t the cars banging together… it was Ethan opening and closing the wipes container. Anyway, Kari put an end to that game, Ethan passed out and when he got up the three of them went to the Rocks to check out the market and while they were there they got the added bonus of checking out the 70s party. People were dressed in 70s attire and they were playing 70s music and they said it was really entertaining to watch. We all met up at an Italian restaurant called AmoRoma for dinner before heading home for the night.
Today Ellen and I went for a run in the Botanic Garden. Ben wandered around Sydney checking out the various cafes and Linda went to the library. We all met up for lunch and since it was in the food court in our building and I still hadn’t showered from the run I was easily the skankiest person there. After lunch Kari and I went back to work, Ellen and Ben went their own way and Linda went hers. We all met up for dinner back at the apartment and everyone else is at the aquarium now and I’m here writing this novel of an entry and doing laundry. I lose. But, I needed to swim tonight for the tri this weekend and Ben could use my pass again so it saved them some money. Give, give, give, give, give… its what I do.
A few quick bits of info cause that’s all the more energy I have typing:
Ethan really is beginning to repeat almost everything you say. Ellen has taken advantage of this and used it against the rest of us. It started with ‘Shhh, grandma!’ which Ethan was more than happy to repeat and it has just grown from there. You’d think that with Ellen being 25 now she’d be able to handle the situation like an adult… turns out that’s expecting more than I should. Anyway… it has been pretty entertaining cause at times Ellen can be witty.
This week Ethan has been really well behaved. In fact, our guests have yet to witness one of Ethan’s ‘special performances’. People are going to start think I’m lying. But, he really has done well with all the eating out we’ve done and the also on the long bus ride. I was really hoping that others would get to share in our pain but Ethan has let me down. Figures the one time I actually want him to throw a tantrum he doesn’t…
Alright. That’s enough. Its time to go have a couple drinks and some wedges. Work night be damned… its party time! Though, it won’t get too crazy. We have the big bridge climb tomorrow and the breathalyze you before they let you go up.
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