Melbourne Museum

Monday we took Eleanor to the Melbourne Museum.

Rosie enjoying a big puddle from the previous night's rainfall.

The Melbourne Museum.

The new animal exhibit is pretty wild!

Super bug and butterfly exhibit.

A real tarantula! Aahh!!!

Rosie, Josh, and I amongst the dinosaur bones. A great way to spend the morning.

Sydney Day 3

Day 3: We headed to the ferry building armed with umbrellas.

An excellent reminder on the street. It is a little difficult to remember to look the correct direction.

A lovely view of the Harbor bridge.

What city are we in again? Oh yeah.

City from the ferry.

There were so many gorgeous houses and apartments along the shore. Can you imagine the view these folks have of the city?

Sydney is a city with so many inlets. You would definitely want to own a sailboat if you lived here.

Eleanor and I walked around Manly Beach with Sam and Rosie while John and Josh boogie boarded in the ocean.

These guys are addicted!

Manly Beach.

Sydney Christmas Day

Another beautiful hotel Christmas tree.

I sewed stockings out of the leftover bazaar flag fabric to make things feel a little more homey. The kids had fun opening a few presents on Christmas morning. I love reminding them that this year is a year of experiences and not presents. Being overseas is a good way to keep Christmas to a minimum.

We headed to the Sydney Aquarium for a day of fishy fun. We say Manatee, they say Dugong.

Fun fact: What is the only male in the animal kingdom that can get pregnant?

Answer: Sea horses and Thomas Beatie

Seeing the creatures from inside the aquarium tunnel was really cool.

Wouldn't want to be in the tank with this guy!

John getting some good pictures.

After the aquarium we ended the day in the hotel with a wonderful Christmas dinner. Santa even came to visit. We told him he better get moving because the kids in the U.S.A were waiting for him.

Sydney Day 1

We arrived in Sydney the day before Christmas and joined hundreds of other tourists milling around the Sydney Opera House. It is memorable to see such a famous landmark.

The wind was very gusty that day. Our mission was to find the pool near the Botanical Gardens.

A beautiful view of the Opera House from the Gardens.

Sam, Eleanor, and Josh:)

The kids enjoying a water sculpture in the Botanical Gardens.

A gorgeous old tree in the Gardens.

The Roses were especially nice.

Sam with a nice view of the city skyline in the background.

Here is the pool we were trekking to. John is trying to make up for 5 years of inconsistent exercise. This pool was right on the water.

Josh wanted to get a picture of the battle ships in the background for his friend JJ. Hi JJ:) After all the walking we did, the kids had little trouble getting to sleep on Christmas eve.

Family Christmas Picture

We took a quick family picture overlooking Werri Beach before we headed to eat wood-fired pizza. Do we look hungry:)?

Josh, Sam and Rosie.

Grandma Eleanor and Josh.

Sam.

John and his mommy:)

Werri Beach, Gerringong

Eleanor was so nice to watch Sam and Rosie while John and I took Josh to the beach, all by himself! It was so relaxing to just sit on the beach and not worry about anyone drowning, or being taken to sea in an undertow, or being eaten by a shark or stung by jellyfish. John and Josh had so much fun boogie boarding. They are promising to buy me a wet suit too, so I can join them.

Love this picture! Josh was in 7th heaven. A sea lion came out of the water and jumped right between John and Josh! It was only about 10 feet from Josh.

Pondering her future as a professional sand castle builder.

Rosie on Werri beach.

Melbourne to Gerringong

We drove for 8 hours from Melbourne to Gerringong on our way to Sydney. The landscape looked like this for about 7 hours then all of a sudden we started driving through mountains that seemed like rain forest! It was beautiful.

Voila! The beautiful little beach town of Gerringong about 90 km from Sydney.

It's a little tempting to stay. Don't worry Mom we're not:)

We stayed at the BellaCharra Boutique Hotel. Picked obviously by the lovely pool!

Hotel Christmas trees and an occasional Christmas song on the radio are our biggest clues that it really is Christmas:) Australians probably can't enjoy all those Christmas treats like most do because instead of donning a baggy sweater, they are donning tiny swimsuits.