Angela Reads

I use to share the books that I've read here on the blog. I haven't done that in a while primarily because I took a long reading break when we first moved to Australia. I spent most of my time reading the internet and magazines and not really opening a book. I also spent a lot of time watching horrible Australian TV, and by horrible Australian TV, I mean horrible American TV broadcasted here. Then for my Birthday last year I got an iPad (one of the best things ever invented) and started reading books on there. Never thought I would be a fan of digital readers, but I love it. Also, when you are nursing a newborn eight to ten times a day it's the perfect way to read a book.

Here are some books that I have enjoyed recently.

The Hunger Games - Of course I read this, who hasn't? 

Bossypants by Tina Fey - Huge girl crush on Tina Fey. Favorite bits included when she talks about being a Mother, and her breastfeeding experience had me rolling on the ground laughing. A lot of laugh out loud moments.

Two Kisses for Maddy - Started following Matt Logelin's Blog when I saw him on Oprah years ago. The book should come with a box of Kleenex attached to it.


Unbroken - What can I say about this book? Amazing. Read it. Even if you're not into war books, read it. Here is the link. I got a hard copy of this book so Jamie could read it (I'm a little selfish with my iPad. Ski racks, Jamie, ski racks). Anyway, one of the best books I have read.

Mothers' Group- Written by a local Sydney Author and the book specifically takes place in the Northern Beaches of Sydney where we are living. More dramatic than what I was expecting, but good. Kleenex needed for this book too.


Bringing up Bebe - There are so many books out there about how the French do everything better than everyone else, so I wasn't so sure I wanted to read this. But I liked it. I look at as an account of Author's experience versus a parenting book. There is some practical advise too.

Lately

We are in the middle of winter down here. We have had some chilly temps. Well chilly is all relative I guess. It gets cold at night, but we have had some great sunny days too. It always seems colder than what it is because homes around here are not built with winters in mind. The winter season is so short around here you just need to deal with a chilly house. We have had some very beautiful, clear, crisp sunsets.

The kids have had their share of runny noses and coughs and pajama days. Annmarie fell sick this weekend with her first fever of the season, which is never fun. Poor thing. When the sun is out we try and make the most of it.

It's whale season around here too. The humpbacks are making their way north and you can see them off the coast. Avalon had a little whale festival this weekend and I saw some whales right off the coast here. They were pretty far out, but I had a pair of binoculars and I could clearly see them. There was also a little table set up from a local whale watching company providing the public information about the whales and helping spot the whales. It was very cool.

Over the Weekend

On Sunday Jamie and Annmarie headed up to the Central Coast to visit the Reptile Park. They saw all sorts of cool things - a huge tortoise, a Tasmanian devil, kangaroos, snakes, crocodiles, owls, wombats, koalas and more. Ben and I just had a chill day at home.

Monday was a holiday for the Queen's Birthday observed. It rained and rained all day, so we stayed in and Annmarie and I made mini crowns in honour of the Queen (found the idea on Pinterest). Annmarie was very taken when I told her about Queen Elizabeth and that she was real life Queen and not a pretend one.  She asked all sorts of questions and I had to show her pictures of the Queen and her Palace. Her first reaction - 'she's old'. She wanted to know if she was a nice Queen or mean Queen. After about fifty other questions, she decided that she wanted to meet the Queen and visit her castle. I told her to go talk to her Dad.

Another Video

Random Pics

(Annmarie on her way to soccer, hot coco, seafood platter, smile, monkey see monkey do, pulling up)

Jamie's Birthday

We headed to Rose Bay for the afternoon for Jamie's Birthday. We ended up having lunch at Catalina - it was fabulous. We got lucky considering I found this place on my iPhone while we were driving to Sydney. Nicole Richie was there with Samantha Ronson (she posted this pic to instagram). I was thinking about going up to them with Ben and striking up a conversation, but passed.  People were leaving them alone or they just didn't recognize who they were or even cared.  Anyway, the oysters were awesome and I finally have faith in Australia oysters. Ben did well too. Annmarie was in preschool, so she missed out.  Later that evening we had what seems to be Jamie's traditional birthday brownies and sang Happy Birthday.