Darling Harbour and the Aquarium

On Sunday we ventured out to the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour. Although we have been to Darling Harbour on several occasions, we hadn't made it to the aquarium here yet. It was great and I can't wait to go back. Here are some pics from our day...

The first one is of a diver in one of the tanks... I thought it was pretty cool that the tank was so deep that a diver had to go down into it to do whatever it was he had to do... I'm sure he didn't have to dive to go in, but clearly needed to stay underwater long enough to use an oxegen tank. Sorry, I missed the earlier demonstration as to what he was down there for!

Shark!!!

We found Nemo in the Great Barrier Reef tank!!

Man, it is hard to capture pictures of fast moving fish!! Especially when you're busy making sure your 3 year old isn't so far ahead of you that you can't see him. Here is a pic of a fish head on...

Blurry Nemo in the reef

Here's a platypus

Saltwater crocodile... I had to take his picture and also wonder who the heck handles this animal. If you don't know anything about a saltwater crocodile (I didn't before moving here) then google the thing and you'll be appalled at how dangerous this animal can be.

There is one part of the aquarium where you're actually walking over glass with fish swimming underneath... Anna wasn't too sure about this at all and Nonna had to help her out!!

Brady had to get back into the pram after too many times of him running off ahead of us... here he's saying he wants to get out.

Anna LOVED the fish... this was only her second trip to an aquarium, the first being in Melbourne in April when she was only 12 months old, so she was really intrigued this time around.

"I want a cookie"... Anna's first sentence spoken a couple weeks ago and here she is getting her wish...

After leaving the aquarium we wandered around Darling Harbour and grabbed some lunch before heading off to the play area. Here are a couple shots of Darling Harbour:

Here we are at the playground at Darling Harbour... Anna was enjoying the sand pit until I decided to take her picture.

Nonna helps Anna out with her very first "big girl" carousel ride

Brady loved it too, but was too curious about what was going on outside to look at the camera

That's all for Sunday, August 24th... Happy "real" birthday, baby boy!!

Visits to Australian Reptile Park and Milson's Point

Monday we went to the Australian Wildlife Park about an hour north of Sydney... it was the first time we traveled by car as a family, so of course we had to rent a van. What you DON'T see here is that Brady has been getting carsick lately... we can't figure out any other reason than that he doesn't ride in a car regularly anymore (never did it before we moved here... maybe it's the left side of the road throwing him off?) and we spent the first 20 minutes after arrival cleaning him, the van, and the carseat up before we could go in! We normally bring a towel and a change of clothes in case this happens but of course we forgot this time!! Poor Blake had to clean it all up as I tend to get pretty sick myself at the smell... bad Mommy!! ANYWAY, after all was said and done we were ready to head into the park...

This is the coolest place to see Australian wildlife as you can get "up close and personal" with all the animals. Here is a Tasmanian Devil:

A tortoise... this one is young, only in his 40's

A dingo (AKA wild Australian dog)

Wallaby

Here we have a Floridian Gator... they had to import one since it's a reptile park! They also had another saltwater crocodile, much more secluded than this... thought it was cool to see another Gator in Australia, though!

Well, you know this is a koala, but this was the first time we've seen one not in a tree

The kids managed to get themselves completely muddy in the area where you could pet the kangaroos and wallabies... Anna kept getting upset when we'd try to get her our of the mud

OK, Mommy's back, so I'm happy now!!

Kangaroos and wallabies are really SOFT!

Brady feeding the wallaby

On Tuesday we headed off to Milson's Point, the same place below the Harbour Bridge where we saw the fireworks on New Year's Eve last year. It was the first time I've walked down there and the first visit I'd had during the day, so I was happy my parents and I could explore new territory together. It was awesome and we'll definetely be going back soon!


A view from Lavender Bay on the way down

Brady running off by Luna Park

A cool picture my Dad took of the bridge from Milsons Point

My parents at Milsons Point

The bridge and Luna Park from Lavender Bay

Bradfield Park playground

On the way to lunch in Kirribilli, next door to Milsons Point

Nonna and Brady in front of Luna Park

Brady climbing (as he does best) at Bradfield playground

That's all I've got!!! Phew, that was a LOT of pictures (read down if you haven't seen them all). I hope you're all doing great and enjoying the start of college football over in the States!! Go Gators!! Spring officially starts September 1st for us, so I can't WAIT!!! My aunt is coming for a month long visit in just over a week, so it will be a busy Spring down under. Keep in touch and let me know how you're doing, and that goes for ALL of you reading this =)

Indoor Play and McMahon's Point

Our first week in August has been a good one... we bought the kids a little table and they love it. Brady is quite fond of bringing the chairs over to the couch and reading. He gets upset if Anna gets up and doesn't sit with him, as he likes things done HIS way and his way usually includes playing with Anna (that is, unless she's bugging him and then he requests that I put her down for a nap...) Here is a picture I took of the two of them enjoying some books in their new chairs...

I call this Anna's Donald Trump "you're fired" face...

On Friday we went to an indoor playground at the nearby mall with Lynnette and Christian. Neither Christian or Anna wanted to get in the ball pit without their mummies, so Lynnette and I got buried in balls too! I actually had fun, and was surprised that it was deep enough for a full grown adult to get covered! No wonder they were scared by themselves!

Brady had a blast throwing balls at me!

Finally a great shot of my little man looking at the camera with a smile!

Lynnette holding the babies and Christian telling Anna to take it easy and enjoy herself... she's been QUITE the handful this week and was having a fit about playing (very unlike her... I think we have more teeth coming)

Handsome Christian enjoying his playtime!

On Saturday Blake and I took the kids on a walk down to McMahon's Point at the mouth of the bridge on the northern side. We couldn't believe the views we had on our short walk and the fact that we'd never ventured down there before... I think this area will become a more frequent family outing for us. The walk back up the hill from the harbour is a killer, though!

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A shot of the Opera House with the ferries going by from McMahon's Point

The Harbour Bridge from McMahon's Point... Blake and I were wondering what time people must come out on New Years' Eve to see the fireworks from here... we're thinking a couple days after Christmas =)

We're looking forward to my parents' arrival on Saturday morning the 16th... we can't wait to show them around and to explore even more areas of Sydney that we haven't yet seen... it will be so great to see Nonna and Grandpa again after 8 long months without them!!

Hope everyone is having a great August and getting ready for school and football season... we'll really miss getting to watch the SEC this year, so keep us posted!!