Australia Day

Yesterday was Australia Day and we celebrated by doing what most Aussie’s do and that is - to go to the beach. We went to Newport where we had morning brekky, waved Aussie flags and took in some of the festivities. We headed down to the beach with everyone else and built sand castles and played in the ocean. It was a hot one and the ocean water felt fantastic. We came back to nap and barbecue, not that much different from what we do on any given Saturday or Sunday, but great fun to do on a Wednesday.

Over the weekend

Dancing. With our shirts off. It was a hot one.
Going to the beach with friends.
Taking naps.
Visitor.
Playing T-ball.
Enjoying the view.

First day of preschool

Yesterday was Annmarie’s first day of preschool. She is going to a cute little school right up the street from us. She was very excited about starting school. The last couple of days we have talked a lot about starting school and how everything was going to work out. So, when the morning rolled around she was so excited that it was the day. She was actually rushing me to get out the door. So I thought great this is going to be easy. She was even willing to pose for a picture.
When we got to school she did get nervous and was very clingy. I stuck around for about an hour to get her settled and she was very into all the different things they had to offer. We met some of the other kids and it was all good. Until I told her I was leaving. She started begging me to stay and when I left she started screaming. I could hear it. One of the teachers was comforting her and I was hanging outside listening until another Mum told me to stop torturing myself and to just leave. So I did. The school called me 15 minutes later to confirm that she was fine and was getting ready go to outside. All the teachers appear really caring and nurturing and AM seems to like them.

She was happy to see me when I picked her up. The first thing she said to me was ‘I started crying when you left. And a teacher held me and told me to shh shh, like I was a baby”. I asked her if it helped and she said yes. I asked her if she was going to cry next time and she said “I’ll try not too”. She’ll get there. She told me she had fun, but that she was a little shy. She ate all her food, had no potty accidents, didn’t have any other meltdowns, painted, all good things. She didn’t sleep during nap time, but I was excepting that.

So when we got home, this happened.
She was wiped out. She was not happy when I woke her up for dinner. She was in bed at 6:40. She typically goes to bed at 8:00.

All and all it was a good day. For both of us. I know AM still misses all her buddies from home and the interaction with other kids. The other day she even approached a little a girl at the park to play with her and she never does that. Her pick up line – what’s your favorite color? Of course it was partly sad for me to see her off to preschool, because it’s my baby growing up. But it’s also good. These last 4 months here in Oz Annmarie and I have pretty much been glued to each other. And believe me, I think there are days when AM wishes I would go back to work. She’ll be going two days a week for now, so it’s the perfect break for both of us. So what did I do all day you ask? First of all, it’s so amazing how much you can get done when your all by yourself. I cleaned the bathrooms. Went out and had a long lunch all by myself. Went to the store. Watched the Golden Globes. Prepped dinner and made granola. Just like that, the day is over.

Happy New Year

Holiday Road

After Christmas we took a little road trip to the Blue Mountains for two nights. They are only about an hour and half away. We took our time driving up and stopped off at the Koala park, and also had a nice lunch at Eden Gardens before heading up. For dinner that evening we had what we both proclaimed to be the best meal we have had in Australia at Cafe Bon Ton. We checked out the sites and the small towns, went swimming at our hotel and generally just relaxed and slept a lot. Here is a look.

(streets of Leura)

(three sisters)

(lunch: corn fritters)

The day after...

Christmas. Or Boxing Day as they call it here...

I cut my kid's hair.
Yes, I became that Mom.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Saved some money and any potential freak out.
And Jamie, who repeatedly told me not to do it, likes it too.

Christmas

We opened gifts.
Ate breakfast tacos.
Went to the beach.
And had a nice dinner. We grilled fish; I called it our Feast of One Fish. I made this salad. It's a good one. I didn't take any other pictures of the food. Damn camera.
It was a nice and simple Christmas. Just the three of us.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we:

Decorated the Christmas tree.
Yes, AM is wearing last years Christmas jammies.

(one of my favorite ornaments)

Had a little visitor.

Went to Manly.

Stopped for a drink and AM had a lollipop.

Yes, she is wearing last years Christmas dress.

Annmarie asked for Dad's phone so she could call Santa. Had ribs for dinner at Manly Grill.

And got ready for Santa.

Annmarie asked for a real soccer ball from Santa. Gotta love the simplicity of this age.

She also really enjoyed her message from Santa that she got from here.

More holiday posts to come.

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Note - I got a brand new computer for Christmas. Yay. No, not really. The logic board went out on us and basically the cost to fix it is the same cost as a new computer. Jamie picked it up today. I haven't open it up yet. Apple did transfer the data for us, but I have a feeling it's going to take forever to find everything and organize it. I'm also still having error issues on my camera. I can get it to take pictures, but every other picture I have to turn the camera on and off. So annoying. I have tried everything the internet has suggested, but I'm going have to call Cannon on this and I have a feeling they are going to have me send the camera in. Something I'm not looking forward too.