Monday, July 28th

Our day started out a bit crazy this morning... I got out of the shower to find that Anna had already begun helping herself to some Cheerios before breakfast. Brady discovered this and proceeded to dump the entire box onto the floor before I could get to it. The kids happily ate Cheerios on the floor but the only problem is that regular Cheerios here have a light sugar coating similar to Honey Nut Cheerios in the US... and they stick to EVERYTHING they touch... (note their pajamas and feet in particular). I took these pics before I spent the next 20 minutes stripping them down, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming the floors all over the house! Of course I fed them breakfast first =)

We're in this together, sis! Let me give you a hug to thank you for opening the box of cereal and creating this terrific disaster! Couldn't have done it better myself!

Later in the day we received our gifts from Boo and ABoo's cruise around the Baltic Sea. Thanks so much guys! Brady loves his Russian hat and both kids loved the Russian wooden doll figurines (now I just need to locate the "inner dolls")!

Anna loves her new baby doll... look at that face when I handed it to her!

Have a fantastic last week of July everyone, and thanks again Boo and ABoo!!!

The last couple weeks in pictures

We've had a busy and very cold July (well, not super cold by US terms, but cold for JULY!) I've been busy snapping photos of some of our activities, so here are some pics of the kids from the past couple weeks...

North Sydney markets are on the 2nd Saturday of every month and it's fun to go out and browse the merchandise, plus just relax to a live band and munch on some food in the sun! Here we were waiting for some friends and these photos are taken in front of the library...

Anna never misses her morning nap

A couple random shots from around the house... the first one was Anna getting ready to push Brady around in her baby doll's stroller (I couldn't believe he fit!)

Our good friends Lynnette and her son Christian from South Africa with Brady and Anna at the Secret Playground... we can actually talk there without chasing kids since it's completely enclosed and it's tucked away on a quiet street so it's relatively undiscovered.

We ventured back to Waverton Park on a pretty day this time. The first picture is the view of the harbour from the park

Christian running around looking for a ball to kick... he's 2 weeks younger than Anna and weighs more than 10 lbs. more than her! He's such a cutie pie!

Lynnette and Anna sharing a banana... actually Lynnette was sharing it with Christian until Anna spotted food and then it was all over for Christian!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Winter has truly arrived!

Our week has progressively gotten colder and colder by the day! Here are a bunch of pictures I've taken this week in my quest to be a better photo-documenting mother =)

Monday's playdate at Kara, Morgan, and baby Tessa's house

Morgan getting in the car

Anna eating the end of a toy crane

Brady practicing careful driving techniques

Here's Anna again

Morgan giving Brady a hug

Now on to Tuesday, we went to Clifton Gardens in Mosman for the first time. It's getting colder today...

And Morgan and Brady found the water fountain!!

Kara and I discovered what they were up to a little late... Morgan was especially soaked and Brady wasn't far behind!

Brady had fun even being wet, but we left shortly after this due to the boys shivering!

After a chilly romp in the park on Wednesday, we stayed inside for the afternoon to keep warm. The kids had a ball playing in the toybox.

This morning was the coldest yet and was overcast as well. Of course, after we got home from the park it got sunny and a bit warmer!

Anna and Ryan playing in the car at Waverton park

Brady couldn't bear to be left out and Anna is ready to GET out, but Ryan is hamming it up for the camera!

Naomi and Ryan coming down the slide!

There's our week so far!! It was so cold today that we actually ended up in mittens and gloves before the park trip was over. I brewed coffee before I left and again when I got home to warm up. I'm jealous of the warm summer weather over in the northern hemisphere and am eager for spring to come. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Playgroup and our 4th of July

Here are a couple photos from playgroup a couple weeks ago:

Kara and baby Tessa

Anna and some of their friends and mums from Kara's mother's group

Brady painting... our budding artist!

Anna dancing to Hot Potatoes by the Wiggles (on TV) following our 4th of July outing

Brady after the 4th of July outing

Well, for the 4th of July we decided to meet up with some fellow Americans at the American Society of Sydney. We had a great time eating BBQ and listening to "Born in the USA" blasting while looking out over the harbour at the fireworks display the group put on. They had a DJ blaring the music, and Bruce Springsteen was followed by "Sweet Home Alabama" which we found very appropriate and pretty cool! I didn't get any pictures at the event because it was nearly dark when we got there at 5 pm and it was pretty cold outside while we were watching the fireworks. I'll be sure to get some pics at our next AMSOC event which will be for Halloween.

Hope everyone had a great 4th!!