outing to the park

Playgroup was at the park this morning, near Lake Ginniderra. (I met a couple of ladies at church on Sunday who told me about it.) So we spent the morning playing. It looked like it would rain, but it turned into a really gorgeous day, in lower 70's. There was a neat little waterfall that Nathan liked throwing rocks and sticks in. He tried throwing rocks in the lake, but a flock of geese and ducks thought they were going to get fed and came after us.


On the bus again...the lake, park, library, and shopping center are all located in one area. So we walk, ride the bus, and walk. No worries!

fake Tim Tams

We had a nice evening tonight. The weather was gorgeous, so we took a walk. That's what we do- we walk. Anyway, we went looking for "roos" at dusk, but unfortunately didn't see any. Nathan still hasn't seen any kangaroos since we've been here. We stopped by the local grocery store to pick up something yummy. Everything is pricey, but we found a generic version of Australians famous "Tim Tams", a chocolate cookie, sort-of like a twix bar. We loved the fake ones, so that's our new treat. Nathan is now asking, "One more Tim Tam?"

Happy from just eating our fake Tim Tams

Bedtime! We all read books together. Jared plopped down in Nathan's lap tonight...

lots of walking...

I was reminded how hard it is to get around with no car. We needed some things from K-Mart, which is in the shopping center about 3 miles away. It took us 65 minutes to walk there. The flies were terrible and Nathan didn't want to walk. With all the energy he has, I don't understand why he has a hard time walking. About half-way into our walk, he was complaining. He ended up standing on the little metal rail of the umbrella stroller. We made it to the shopping center, got our bus pass, and a few things from the store. Next, I had to try to take the boys, the stroller, and the bags on the bus. It was quite an experience. I wasn't sure where to get off the bus and then when we did, I ended up walking around and around the neighborhood trying to find the way home. And I even had a map. Why couldn't I figure out where to go?

Anyway, we got home 5 minutes before it started raining.

Today, we went back to the shopping center area, because the library is over there. We went to storytime and back to the store and on the bus again... it still wasn't fun, but we accomplished what we needed to. And today I knew the way home.

1st day of work

It was a little bit of a rough start...

It rained pretty hard in the afternoon. Riding the bike wasn't so fun.

At least this was on the way home...

pictures of the house

the kitchen/dining /computer/play area

backyard

closer view of the newly updated kitchen

We've arrived!

That last post was actually posted on Sunday at 5:34pm. We finally made it on Friday (Thursday for you) at about 6:00am into Sydney airport. The flight wasn't too bad. Nathan and Jared slept 8 hours of the 13.5 hour flight, and the sticker books, toys, and snacks kept them pretty busy the rest of the time. Jared was fussy the 1st hour until we got him to fall asleep. He actually got his own seat, which was great because he was able to lie down on the seat. We had 4 seats in a row in the middle section, so we put Nathan on the aisle, with "momma" and her "sleeve" next to Nathan (Nathan likes to rub my arm under my sleeve) and Jared in between me and Alex. It was a nice set-up.

We had reserved bus tickets for 2:30 on Friday, but were able to take an 8:30am bus instead, so we didn't have to wait around. The bus ride was terrible. Jared was incredibly fussy. He did finally sleep 1 hour of the 3 hour ride.

When we arrived at the bus station in Canberra, we had to wait 3.5 hours for a rental car to be ready, since we got in at 11:30am instead of 5:00pm. Long wait, but we finally made it to the house we're staying at.

Our hostess is Gabrielle (mother of 8 and grandmother of 5) and she is really nice. The house has 5 bedrooms, of which we're using 2 of them. Additional things that are really nice are: a big backyard, a piano, computer with dial-up, a bike, and a bathtub (we washed Nathan in the sink last time we were here). The house is very kid-friendly. There's some toys already here that the boys like to play with.

Yesterday (Saturday) we drove around the city a little bit, but it rained most of the day, so we couldn't get out much. We stocked up on groceries and things to start out and mostly tried to get unpacked and settled in.

We went to church this morning, to the Belconnen Ward. Everyone was very friendly and willing to help out if needed. Despite having those willing to help, Alex drove the rental car back to the airport and then rode about 10 miles on a bike (too small and slightly flat rear tire). It was nice having a car for the weekend; now we get to take the bus and walk.

It's been nice so far. Canberra is a pretty place and we're just happy to have a place completely furnished. We get to sleep on a real bed and not an air mattress...

cousins

Nathan and Jared playing with cousin Nicholas