Another Sally-ism

Today we were hanging out on the deck, watching the sunset. We bought Sally a sally-sized folding (camping) chair, and today was the first chance she's had to use it.

She sits right down in the chair and leans back and says, "Wow, this chair is really comfortable! I only wish it had a cup holder for my drink."

Perhaps the cutest part was that the word "comfortable" came out like "camftable" which I know is exactly how I say it (because she sounded just like Poppy when she said it)

Too cute!!

Tomorrow is field trip day at camp -- to the Aquarium!

Sydney Switches Out

After a week of Sydney having icky diapers (need I get more graphic than that?) and general crankiness, we decided to switch formula to Similac Advance. Fingers crossed!! She slept well last night, after busy day.

Andy and I presented the lesson (homily, to you Catholics... sermon, to most everyone else) at church, which was very well received. I think we may be rapidly becoming Rev Sue's favorite replacements when she is out of town. Then we hung out for awhile before heading home.

Our friend Bill was passing through town with his girlfriend Lisa, so we made arrangemetns to hook up with them, and had a great time.

Now we're gearing up for Granny's upcoming visit -- we're off to buy a mattress this week (did I tell you the kitties peed on our guest mattress before we left for Australia? We threw it out before we left...box spring is fine, but no fun to sleep on!) and get the house cleaned, which it is in desperate need of. (If anyone knows a good housekeeper in CAstle Rock, let us know! I think we've been through 5 or 6 already and we've only lived her 2 years!)

Grammy gets in on Friday and is staying through the following Friday.

Milestone: Sydney Pulls Herself Up!

We have another milestone for our little Sydney!

Yesterday Sydney pulled herself up from a lying down position! She is quite strong and cracks herself up every time she pulls up or holds onto something while standing.

I may not have mentioned this, but on our return flight from Australia on the 16th, Sydney also started waving "hi." Some lady a couple of rows back was waving to her, and she was waving back. Occasionally, she also adds a "heh" sound while waving, which I thikn is how she is trying to say "hi"

We had a great video chat with Francois and Kelly (Syd's godparents) the other day, and we are all excited about our upcoming trip to New Orleans in November. Looks like we're going to stay for about 9-10 days total.

Francois and Kelly are expecting their first child (yippee!!) around Sally's b-day, which is cool because we'll be in New Orleans again in February for Harry's memorial.

Sally had a pretty bad fever (another half a degree and we would have had to take her in ASAP) but she pulled through, no worries and is back to her amiable self. Despite a bit of cradle cap (and a relapse into early AM play sessions), the kid is dang near perfect!

Today we took Sally (all of us, really, but it was intended for Sal) to see "Ratatouille" at the local Castle Rock theater. What a darling movie! I loved it. Sally gets very excited about going to the movies....and since there are at least 3 grown-up movies I want to see, I think we'll be enlisting Cori's help (next door) to babysit so we can get out for a date night.

It was strange to go to the movies without eating popcorn though....oh, didn't I tell you? I'm currently on day 4 of the Master Cleanse (and if you've ever done it, thank you, I accept your congratulations). I figure this is the only fool-proof way to break my sugar addiction, so here goes. I'm committed to doing 10 days, but would love to do 14 or 15. Actually, I didn't miss the popcorn while we were at the show today, but my mouth was watering over the thought of a soda! Ah well, time enough for that.

Later gators!

We'll Miss You Harry

My brother-in-law Harry died in his sleep Sunday night. About a month ago, he had been diagnosed with cancer of the liver and pancreas.

His wishes were to be cremated and to have the ashes scattered over a huge bonfire with friends and family. Absolutely no services.

In lieu of flowers, Harry asked that donations be made in his name to the NRA. That's so like him, isn't it?

Please keep Susan and the rest of our family in your prayers. Thank you.

An Escape for Mum and Dad

Monday - Margaret River and Geographe Bay

Yesterday (Sunday) we took the 4-hour drive South to Margaret River and did a Bush Tucker wine tour. We participated in tastings at 4 wineries, Bootleg Brewery, the chocolate factory and Fonti cheese farm. Yum! A fabulous day. For lunch, we enjoyed a cold plate that included hibiscus petals, corned kangaroo, salad, turkey (which is rare -- here, the Aussies love their ham, but typically only eat turkey at Christmas time), sun dried tomatoes, fresh breads, chutneys, pesto, and other condiments, kalamata olives, marinated mushrooms, and a bunch of other stuff I can't recall at the moment. I do know there was a witchety worm, that someone ate in exchange for a bottle of wine (!). We were hte only Americans on teh tour, which was great because we got to meet a lot of locals. We were pretty tired after all that wine, so we just walked to the grocery for some nibbles, and headed back to our room at the B&B to enjoy a DVD ("Narnia.")

Today we struck out on our own -- The morning began with a gourmet breakfast at the B&B (Margaret River Guest House - Chris and his wife were absolutely Divine hosts) and then off for our journey to the Southwest corner of Australia.

First stop was Leeuwin Cove Lighthouse -- so named for a certain man named Leeuwin, he was (we were told) the first person to circumnavigate Australia, and he began his journey from this cove. The lighthouse is still operational today, and despite its 100 years of service, a ridiculous amount of ships have wrecked in the submerged rocks near the lighthouse (but none have run aground, so that's something, I suppose). The views from the rocks just beyond the lighthouse are absolutely breathtaking.

This is the spot where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The shades of green are so gorgeous, they don't even look real. We shot some video for my online TV show (Be-Do-Have It ALL) and we had to tear ourselves away from the spot in order to carry on with our day.

After a quick chat with Trudy from the lighthouse gift shop, we decided to skip the nearby cave tour in lieu of whale watching -- and what a good call that was. About 5 mins from the lighthouse, we stopped at Flinder's Bay and saw at least 3 whales (they come into the bay to calf) less than 50 meters offshore. Gorgeous! Shot some more video and loads of still pix of the bay and of these magestic creatures.

Next stop was Augusta for some fish and chips -- we were told that we simply MUST sample some Augusta Whiting, so that's exactly what we had. Delish! I also tried my first "corn jack" which was quite yummy. Somehow I think my descriptino won't really do it justice, but here goes anyway: imagine creamed corn rolled in a dense wrap and deep-fried. I'm telling you, between pineapple fritters and corn jacks, the Deep South in the U.S. is really missing out. Growing up in New Orleans, I thought I'd eaten everything fried that could possibly BE fried, but mmmmm-mmmmmm-mmmmmmm these were tasty.

After lunch we headed up to 2 wineries -- just to "swish and spit" since we were both expecting to take turns driving the long way back to Currambine. Voyager is the "swankiest" of the Margaret River vineyards, and it certainly had the most decadent cellar door. Tastings are enjoyed in Reidel glasses, no less. They have a Cabernet-Sauvignon-Merlot that is absolutely divine. Yummy.

Last stop for the daylight hours was Leeuwin Winery, where a charming bloke served us some quite tasty wines. Fortunately, this winery has a distributor in the U.S. who ships to Colorado (hooray!) which is a dang good thing, because we absolutely fell in love wiht their Art Series Chardonnay. This is the first oaked Chardonnay (French Oak actually) that I ever fell in love with. At $85AUS a bottle, it's definitely worth every penny.

In fact, I couldn't bring myslef to taste anything else after that Chardonnay -- I just wanted to let it linger on my palate.

Yeah, it was THAT good.

Today was also my first real attempt at driving on the left-hand side of the road. Actually, it was quite simple -- the only thing that messed me up was that the turn signal is on the right of hte steering wheel. So I put my windshield wipers on quite a bit to signal that I was changing lanes. Ah, well.

Just before we reached Perth (remember, we were driving up North from the southwestern tip of Oz to Currambine, which is north of Perth -- a 4 hour drive altogether), I noticed how clear the night sky was, and I suggested that we pull over to enjoy teh stars.

Holy cow -- I don't think I've ever seen so many stars! Western Australia has (what I call) Big Sky, like Colorado, and getting away from the lights of the city means you can see billions upon billions of stars. Magnificent!

We arrived back at the house in Currambine just in time to kiss the girls goodnight. Penny said they were both excellent while we were away, so it sounds like everyone had a great time.

Another spectacular couple of days!

Rudeness? I can’t be sure.

Today we (meaning the whole gang, plus a very nice family of 4 from Altlanta/Singapore) took a fabulous tour of the highlights of Perth and surrounding areas. It was a wonderful day – even Sally was on her best behaviour.

(note the Australian spelling of behaviour :-)

Ron took us around to all sorts of places, starting with the Caversham Wildlife Park (pronounced: Paaak, think Boston accent) where we got to feed the kangaroos, pet the koalas, held the wombat and heard the kookaburra (among other things). The highlight for Sally was a camel ride – short albeit exciting, as that was a dang tall camel and she was riding high!

Next it was off to an Aboriginal Art centre, where we learned how to throw a boomerang (can I just tell you that I kicked ass? I was the best boomerang thrower out there, apart from our guide Lyall). The centre (which also appeared to be a farm) was run by Lyall, who was a delightfully patient man (with the boomering-throwing, for sure -- I think Andy and Michael accidentally boomeranged his tree more than once). The gift shop was top notch, we bought some goodies and a natural stone that is only found here in Australia: Mookaite. Bought several pieces, and a darling book for Sal-Sal.

Then we headed to the Edgecombe Brothers winery, where we sampled about 6 wines and bought a few bottles (plus the most delicious mandarin oranges I’ve ever tasted). We even got to sample a muscat wine, served with a muscat fortified (brandy) wine over the top. The Chocolate Factory was next – where we took the phrase “sample anything you like” absolutely seriously. Dark chocolate covered crystallized ginger – yum yum yum. Bought some olive tapanade (to go with all the wine) and some onion thyme marmalade (yeah baby!) along with some liquer truffles. Tasty! All of this was in the Swan Valley, a beautiful place named for the Swan River that is shaped exactly like (you guessed it) a swan.

Next it was off to a pottery gallery, where we got to watch the potter make a hunny pot (I’m spelling it that way, because it was shaped exactly like Winnie the Pooh’s “hunny” pot). Sally knew right off the bat what it was – she was so enthralled with watching the potter.

Then we went to Ron (the driver)’s house for a real Australian BBQ. Ron and his mom threw some lamb chops and sausages on the barbie, and we ate rice, salad and some delicious new potatoes. Then we had homemade apple pie a la mode and tea for dessert. Yum!

Ron and his mum were excellent hosts, and we had a lovely time. The family we met was just delightful – Michael (13), Ivy (Michael’s mum), “M” (Ivy’s sister) and Lily (M and Ivy’s mum). They were wonderful conversationalists and very friendly – and they took to Sally as though she was their kin. We just tend to meet the best people, wherever we go! What's interesting is that the tour guide says he *never* gets 2 groups from America at the same time.

The last stop on the trip was a ferry ride across the Swan River – lovely views of downtown Perth.

What a spectacular day!

Oh, I suppose you might be wondering about the title of this post “Rudeness? I can’t be sure.”

Well, while we were at Ron’s for our barbie, I noticed there was no salad dressing for the salad. So I asked Ron, and his response was, “Of course there’s no salad dressing! This is a real Asutralian bar-be-cue, and you get what you get! We’ve got heaps of salad dressing, but I’m not gonna give you any. You didn’t travel all this way to do exactly what you’d do at home, did you? If so, there’s no point in leaving home, is there?”

He also made some comment about how it’s better to taste the flavors of the food, and not the salad dressing. I think he even went so far as to suggest that I shouldn’t let Sally have ranch dressing on her raw veggies.

Hmmm.

Sure, he was smiling while he said all of it, but it kind of left me wondering if it was rude of me to ask for salad dressing. But then, I also thought maybe he was kind of rude to respond so dramatically. I mean really, if this wasn’t a bush meal, right? If you can get fresh lettuce, you can get a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, ay?

Ah, well, no worries. Maybe neither one of us was rude, and it was just a minor blip in an otherwise perfect day.

Tomorrow we’re headed to some food and wine fest at the Perth convention center. Sounds yummy.

Just Arrived into Perth

OK, I’m back. Internet here is kind of sketchy – when we told some folks in Sydney that we were headed to Perth, they told us “it’s like America from the 1950s.”

We really had no idea what the heck to expect, but I can tell you we’ve been pleasantly surprised with the experience.

Crime rate is low, folks are super-nice, and so far we haven’t met anyone else with an American accent. Oh, and most of the stores and services (grocery, shops, chemist, etc) close at 5 or 6 PM. For some reason (we haven’t yet determined why), stuff seems to stay open later on Thursday nights. Perhaps that’s payday here?

Anywhoo…on Tuesday we checked in, met the owners of the house we’re renting, drove around a bit, got the lay of the land, hit a grocery and picked up some other essentials. Quickie dinner at the Chicken Treat.

On Wednesday, we headed into Perth proper (we are actually staying in Currambine) to buy some internet access cards. Apparently most people just have dial-up or satellite in their homes, but we can use these Telstra cards at the McDonald’s, about a quarter mile from our house. Andy and I went down to Burns Beach, a tiny strand that looks out onto open ocean (that’s the Indian Ocean). We also checked out some model homes and picked up literature on new home construction. We’re considering picking up a rental/investment property here. More on that to come…

Today we went to Quinns Beach at Quinns Rocks and we took the whole gang. Sydney’s first trip to the beach!! Sally had a great time, digging in the sand. The weather is much nicer here than it was in Sydney – it’s cool, but not cold, and about 15 degrees warmer. The rain showers don’t last long, and we managed to avoid rain entirely today. The beach was fabulous – Andy recorded a couple of Wealth Theory episodes, and I recorded another Be – Do – Have It ALL. We also spent a lot of time playing with Sally, who had a great time.

We spotted a blue bottle (dangerous jellyfish, they call ‘em “blueys” here) washed up on the shore and I can see where they get their name. They look like a funny-shaped plastic bottle, and they are the most striking color of blue.

Speaking of striking colors, the water was absolutely divine – the deepest shades of blue and green that you can imagine. Just paradise.

Andy had another person get started in his business since we’ve been here.

We are digging Perth!

Safe and Sound in Perth

Well, I would say Happy July 4th, but it’s only July 3rd back in the states. We arrived safe and sound in Perth, which is an absolutely lovely city. We found a 5-bedroom house to rent in Currambine, just north of Perth, less than 5 minutes from the beach.

It's absolutely fabulous -- in fact, my only complaint is that we have to
go to the McDonald's to get internet access.

Good-bye Sydney (the City, not the Munchkin)

Success! We were able to knock out Sally’s bladder infection – she just stayed in pull-ups for 2 days until she was back in the saddle (so to speak). Now all is well and everyone is feeling good. Sally was having some meltdowns since we got to Perth (she is SO far out of her routine, it’s not even funny) but we had a heart to heart yesterday and things are much better now. Whew!

Monday our friend Leo (lives in Sydney) drove us all around town and showed us things that tourists normally don’t get to see. We went down to Long Beach (named so for Long Reef) which was absolutely breathtaking. Panoramic views of the open sea and beaches south of Sydney. We also say North Head and South Head, which mark the entrance to the Sydney Harbor (also known as Port Jackson).

Leo drove us all around, and we had a delicious lunch at the club, overlooking the ocean. Fabulous! We drove around, took lots of pix, found a playground for Sally and watched the sunset over the harbor. Spectacular.

Monday was a long and wonderful day, and as much as we would have loved to just crash when we got back to the apartment, it was time to pack up. We have a very early flight to Perth in the AM.

Time to say good-bye to the city of Sydney, at least for a bit.