Ethan and his blankets
Crazy hair after a nap
Far too close to the snake
One of the 1000 pictures of a koala we've taken since we got here
This kanagaroo was golden. When we first got there he was lying on his side with his head in the air, then he moved to flat on his side and then he moved to this position. All while every other kangaroo was eating.
Every night before I go to bed I check on Ethan and tuck him in and this is what i saw the other night so I had to take a pictures
Bondi Beach
More Bondi
Bondi
Coastal Trail
Same
Same
Same
'The Staircase' Story below. This shows not even half of the stairs. Where you see those people is where Kari bailed on me.
Here we are… last full week of work in Sydney. Hard to believe but its exciting none the less. Tonight we did the first of what will certainly be several sessions of packing. We had a really fun weekend so I’ll just get into the details.
Friday was the last Friday in Sydney for Chris and Sam so a bunch of people from the office and I went out. Saw a couple bars I hadn’t seen before including probably the nicest bar I’ve ever been in in my entire life. It was all marble inside with arches and classic artwork on the wall. I’m used to wood paneling and the only art work is of the neon beer sign variety or a beer poster with scantily clad women. I’ll take that over fancy any day… Anyway, it was pretty low key cause I knew we had a busy Saturday ahead of us so I shocked myself, and probably Kari as well, by keeping things under control.
Ethan and Kari did the normal Friday night routine of dinner at the mall and hanging out. Ethan ate like a machine that night and quickly finished his popcorn chicken and seemed disappointed when it was gone. Usually he eats all of it or at least close to it… but never that fast and often he loses interest and we have to keep asking him to eat. None of that was needed Friday night. When I got home that night I Kari was in bed and, being the thoughtful person I am, I went in to tell Kari I was home so she didn’t wake up worried sick about me later and in the process I almost crushed Ethan. Pretty sure that’s a run-on sentence but I don’t care because I’m pretty sure the sentence structure of this particular sentence is insufficient as well. Anyway, he decided he was going to sleep in our bed that night and in the dark I didn’t see him and landed on him when I sat down. Thankfully I only got his arm a little bit and he didn’t even wake up. But, with him in my spot that means I was relegated to the guest room and the unmade bed. Good thing I have low standards…
Saturday we got up and went to Pancakes on the Rocks and had an early Mother Day’s breakfast. We didn’t want to fight the crowds next weekend and we really wanted to go there and we ended up pretty much having the place to ourselves. The pancakes were really good and as an added bonus each serving comes with a scoop of ice cream. Ethan ate just a couple bits of pancake… he spent most his time smudging up the windows with his hands that were covered in chocolate and strawberry jelly. No matter where we go we leave our mark some way or the other… After breakfast we wandered around the mall some and killed time. We ended up doing a little shopping before heading home. After a small lunch, due to the large pancakes eaten earlier naps were taken and then we headed back to the Wildlife World. Ethan was very excited to see the Koalas again. That’s what he spent most of his time talking about both before we got there and the entire we were there until we actually saw them. While we were looking at the various species of insects Ethan informed me that they are ‘gross.’ The snakes were really active again and I got as close to one as I ever want to be ever again. If it wasn’t for the inch thick glass I wouldn’t have been within 20 feet of it. Man they are creepy… especially eye to eye. Anyway, most of the Koalas were sleeping like normal so that was pretty anti-climatic. One thing I’ll never forget about them is the incredibly strong smell of the eucalyptus leaves they are fed. It’s a very distinct smell that would probably be overpowering in an enclosed space. After the Wildlife World we had our normal Saturday night meal of a Family sized Americana pizza and garlic bread from City Slice Pizza. I think we’ve had it every Saturday night we’ve been in the city. By far the best pizza we’ve found in Sydney. I’m sure there business will suffer after we leave… I think they even recognize us now cause I don’t need to tell them what I’ve ordered when I get there. But, you can’t beat the two minute walk.
Sunday we went out to the Bondi beach area. We hadn’t been there yet and wanted to see it before we left. We had gone to the Bondi Junction area and checked out the mall, but hadn’t gone as far as the beach. We hopped on a train, and then took a bus to the beach and it was pretty cool. The beach is enormous and they have a path that starts at the beach and runs along the coast to two other beaches and then out to a point. The path isn’t exactly designed for strollers though… lots of steep staircases and the entire area was wet cause it rained overnight and then again right before we got there. Thankfully the rain that threatened to make our trek incredibly unpleasant moved out over the ocean. It was a really nice walk though. A lot of cool sights and very scenic. After about an hour on the trail we decided to try and make it back to the mall for some lunch. However, we had never been to this area before and we had no idea how to get back and hadn’t seen a cab since we left the first beach. So, I used Kari’s phone to find the mall on a map and then we started to try and work our way back. At one point we had to climb the largest staircase ever constructed by man and that meant I had to carry the stroller, with Ethan in it, up every single stair. At one point as we were going up Kari offered assistance at the next landing. However, upon arriving at the next landing we noticed the hugest spider web above our heads and it was occupied by no less than 6 spiders that were no less than 6 inches in length. Surprisingly my ‘assistance’ disappeared as Kari found a burst of energy and sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs. Thanks, Kari… thanks a lot. Using my Magellan-like navigational skills we eventually found the mall and had lunch before heading home.
Last night I was checking up on the hockey highlights from back in the states. Probably the biggest bummer about being gone right now is missing the NHL playoffs. Its my second most favorite time of the year behind Christmas. Anyway, Ethan came running over and we watched highlights from both games several times cause Ethan kept asking to see them again when they ended. I was excited about that and then decided to use YouTube to show Ethan highlight of Alexander Ovechkin hoping it inspires him to play like him. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Ethan also asked me to play catch again last night so it was a good night for me! Also, the Harbour we are living on is celebrating its 21st year of existence and had fireworks last night. We knew they were having them but didn’t think they started until next weekend so we just ended up watching them from here. I held Ethan and he loved it! He would yell out the colors whenever one exploded… if they exploded really close together he’d get overexcited and just yell out ‘light!’. When the show finally ended saying Ethan was disappointed would be an understatement. He started crying and saying ‘Moooorrrrrreeee’ as we tried to explain to him that we couldn’t make them start again but we’d see more next weekend. None of that seemed to matter so it was YouTube to the rescue again as I showed him some fireworks shows other had recorded and uploaded. Technology is a wonderful thing…
This morning was a first of sorts… Ethan actually got dressed this morning without fighting! Normally it’s a battle to get him in his PJs after bath/shower, and getting him out of PJs and into his clothes in the morning. To say it is my least favorite activity we do together would be stating it mildly… The only thing I hate worse is when Ethan thinks its funny to get squirmy/start kicking when I’m in the middle of changing his messy diaper. Tonight I cooked dinner… well, I drained the noodles and Kari did the rest. But, I think draining the noodles was paramount in the success of the dish. Kari my see things differently but she’d be wrong. Also, Ethan ate half a cup of yogurt tonight and he didn’t spill any of himself, the table or the floor. Small miracle there but I was impressed! Tonight at the grocery store we finally found the cheese and crackers snack. We found a couple up at the Gold Coast but we never had been able to find them here in Sydney. Figures it’s one of the last weeks we are here.
I think Ethan is starting to take interest in potty training which is A-OK with me! Twice in the last two nights Ethan has asked to go to the potty. Neither time has anything actually happened outside of Ethan flushing the toilet but progress is progress in my eyes.
Ethan has picked up a bit of a lisp in the last week or so. There is a little girl at daycare who has one it seems like he is now mimicking the way she talks. Yes has now becomes yesssth. Any words that end with an S now are like that. Its pretty cute… as long as it goes away without some sort of speech therapy.
Ethan is continuing with his naughty streak. It seems like no matter what you do/say he either ignores you or does the exact opposite. He loves sitting at the kitchen table and watching his videos and we repeatedly ask his to sit right in the chair and keep his feet at least on the chair. Time and time again he leans on the table and picks his feet up or straddles himself between two chairs, or sits on the arm rest instead of the chair itself, etc. When you ask him to stop he just looks at you and smiles and last night I asked him to put his foot down twice and as I walked towards him to take him out of the chair he not only didn’t put his foot down he picked his other one up so he was balancing completely on the table. Unbelievable… are the terrible 2’s over with yet?
Alright, here are some videos. The first one is Ethan reading one of his books to us. He is all about reading his books to us now. This one has all sort of animals, color and shapes and a scratch and sniff area on each page. That’s why you hear him breathing in and out so hard with each page and that’s what he’s talking about when he says he likes it.
This is video from last night of Ethan and I playing catch. We had already been playing for a while so at the end he loses interest and yet I keep trying to talk to him so it turns into a pretty good example of him ignoring me.
The End.
Friday was the last Friday in Sydney for Chris and Sam so a bunch of people from the office and I went out. Saw a couple bars I hadn’t seen before including probably the nicest bar I’ve ever been in in my entire life. It was all marble inside with arches and classic artwork on the wall. I’m used to wood paneling and the only art work is of the neon beer sign variety or a beer poster with scantily clad women. I’ll take that over fancy any day… Anyway, it was pretty low key cause I knew we had a busy Saturday ahead of us so I shocked myself, and probably Kari as well, by keeping things under control.
Ethan and Kari did the normal Friday night routine of dinner at the mall and hanging out. Ethan ate like a machine that night and quickly finished his popcorn chicken and seemed disappointed when it was gone. Usually he eats all of it or at least close to it… but never that fast and often he loses interest and we have to keep asking him to eat. None of that was needed Friday night. When I got home that night I Kari was in bed and, being the thoughtful person I am, I went in to tell Kari I was home so she didn’t wake up worried sick about me later and in the process I almost crushed Ethan. Pretty sure that’s a run-on sentence but I don’t care because I’m pretty sure the sentence structure of this particular sentence is insufficient as well. Anyway, he decided he was going to sleep in our bed that night and in the dark I didn’t see him and landed on him when I sat down. Thankfully I only got his arm a little bit and he didn’t even wake up. But, with him in my spot that means I was relegated to the guest room and the unmade bed. Good thing I have low standards…
Saturday we got up and went to Pancakes on the Rocks and had an early Mother Day’s breakfast. We didn’t want to fight the crowds next weekend and we really wanted to go there and we ended up pretty much having the place to ourselves. The pancakes were really good and as an added bonus each serving comes with a scoop of ice cream. Ethan ate just a couple bits of pancake… he spent most his time smudging up the windows with his hands that were covered in chocolate and strawberry jelly. No matter where we go we leave our mark some way or the other… After breakfast we wandered around the mall some and killed time. We ended up doing a little shopping before heading home. After a small lunch, due to the large pancakes eaten earlier naps were taken and then we headed back to the Wildlife World. Ethan was very excited to see the Koalas again. That’s what he spent most of his time talking about both before we got there and the entire we were there until we actually saw them. While we were looking at the various species of insects Ethan informed me that they are ‘gross.’ The snakes were really active again and I got as close to one as I ever want to be ever again. If it wasn’t for the inch thick glass I wouldn’t have been within 20 feet of it. Man they are creepy… especially eye to eye. Anyway, most of the Koalas were sleeping like normal so that was pretty anti-climatic. One thing I’ll never forget about them is the incredibly strong smell of the eucalyptus leaves they are fed. It’s a very distinct smell that would probably be overpowering in an enclosed space. After the Wildlife World we had our normal Saturday night meal of a Family sized Americana pizza and garlic bread from City Slice Pizza. I think we’ve had it every Saturday night we’ve been in the city. By far the best pizza we’ve found in Sydney. I’m sure there business will suffer after we leave… I think they even recognize us now cause I don’t need to tell them what I’ve ordered when I get there. But, you can’t beat the two minute walk.
Sunday we went out to the Bondi beach area. We hadn’t been there yet and wanted to see it before we left. We had gone to the Bondi Junction area and checked out the mall, but hadn’t gone as far as the beach. We hopped on a train, and then took a bus to the beach and it was pretty cool. The beach is enormous and they have a path that starts at the beach and runs along the coast to two other beaches and then out to a point. The path isn’t exactly designed for strollers though… lots of steep staircases and the entire area was wet cause it rained overnight and then again right before we got there. Thankfully the rain that threatened to make our trek incredibly unpleasant moved out over the ocean. It was a really nice walk though. A lot of cool sights and very scenic. After about an hour on the trail we decided to try and make it back to the mall for some lunch. However, we had never been to this area before and we had no idea how to get back and hadn’t seen a cab since we left the first beach. So, I used Kari’s phone to find the mall on a map and then we started to try and work our way back. At one point we had to climb the largest staircase ever constructed by man and that meant I had to carry the stroller, with Ethan in it, up every single stair. At one point as we were going up Kari offered assistance at the next landing. However, upon arriving at the next landing we noticed the hugest spider web above our heads and it was occupied by no less than 6 spiders that were no less than 6 inches in length. Surprisingly my ‘assistance’ disappeared as Kari found a burst of energy and sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs. Thanks, Kari… thanks a lot. Using my Magellan-like navigational skills we eventually found the mall and had lunch before heading home.
Last night I was checking up on the hockey highlights from back in the states. Probably the biggest bummer about being gone right now is missing the NHL playoffs. Its my second most favorite time of the year behind Christmas. Anyway, Ethan came running over and we watched highlights from both games several times cause Ethan kept asking to see them again when they ended. I was excited about that and then decided to use YouTube to show Ethan highlight of Alexander Ovechkin hoping it inspires him to play like him. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Ethan also asked me to play catch again last night so it was a good night for me! Also, the Harbour we are living on is celebrating its 21st year of existence and had fireworks last night. We knew they were having them but didn’t think they started until next weekend so we just ended up watching them from here. I held Ethan and he loved it! He would yell out the colors whenever one exploded… if they exploded really close together he’d get overexcited and just yell out ‘light!’. When the show finally ended saying Ethan was disappointed would be an understatement. He started crying and saying ‘Moooorrrrrreeee’ as we tried to explain to him that we couldn’t make them start again but we’d see more next weekend. None of that seemed to matter so it was YouTube to the rescue again as I showed him some fireworks shows other had recorded and uploaded. Technology is a wonderful thing…
This morning was a first of sorts… Ethan actually got dressed this morning without fighting! Normally it’s a battle to get him in his PJs after bath/shower, and getting him out of PJs and into his clothes in the morning. To say it is my least favorite activity we do together would be stating it mildly… The only thing I hate worse is when Ethan thinks its funny to get squirmy/start kicking when I’m in the middle of changing his messy diaper. Tonight I cooked dinner… well, I drained the noodles and Kari did the rest. But, I think draining the noodles was paramount in the success of the dish. Kari my see things differently but she’d be wrong. Also, Ethan ate half a cup of yogurt tonight and he didn’t spill any of himself, the table or the floor. Small miracle there but I was impressed! Tonight at the grocery store we finally found the cheese and crackers snack. We found a couple up at the Gold Coast but we never had been able to find them here in Sydney. Figures it’s one of the last weeks we are here.
I think Ethan is starting to take interest in potty training which is A-OK with me! Twice in the last two nights Ethan has asked to go to the potty. Neither time has anything actually happened outside of Ethan flushing the toilet but progress is progress in my eyes.
Ethan has picked up a bit of a lisp in the last week or so. There is a little girl at daycare who has one it seems like he is now mimicking the way she talks. Yes has now becomes yesssth. Any words that end with an S now are like that. Its pretty cute… as long as it goes away without some sort of speech therapy.
Ethan is continuing with his naughty streak. It seems like no matter what you do/say he either ignores you or does the exact opposite. He loves sitting at the kitchen table and watching his videos and we repeatedly ask his to sit right in the chair and keep his feet at least on the chair. Time and time again he leans on the table and picks his feet up or straddles himself between two chairs, or sits on the arm rest instead of the chair itself, etc. When you ask him to stop he just looks at you and smiles and last night I asked him to put his foot down twice and as I walked towards him to take him out of the chair he not only didn’t put his foot down he picked his other one up so he was balancing completely on the table. Unbelievable… are the terrible 2’s over with yet?
Alright, here are some videos. The first one is Ethan reading one of his books to us. He is all about reading his books to us now. This one has all sort of animals, color and shapes and a scratch and sniff area on each page. That’s why you hear him breathing in and out so hard with each page and that’s what he’s talking about when he says he likes it.
This is video from last night of Ethan and I playing catch. We had already been playing for a while so at the end he loses interest and yet I keep trying to talk to him so it turns into a pretty good example of him ignoring me.
The End.
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