Only in Australia

Only in Australia would you see a sign like this at a children's playground!!

On the move

Glenn is on the move!! She's not super speedy yet, but it won't be long. She's going to be a terror for her brother Bennett. It doesn't matter what he has in his hands, she wants it. And she's getting to the point where she's mobile enough to make a go for it. So far, Bennett finds it funny, but it won't be long before he finds it annoying!

Diamond Valley Railway

What a wonderful day!  I'm sure this would be up there as one of Bennett's top ten events.  There is a wonderful miniature railway, about a two minute car ride from our house.  For a mere $3, we got to ride in one of these wonderful steam engine driven trains for over 10 minutes.  Then, we stood and watched the "stinky steamies" and "dirty diesels" go by.  What fun!  To our surprise, there were also pony rides.   Bennett had never been on a horse, but he did really well.  He really wanted to ride the big horse, but we felt it best to start with a pony ride.  Definitely a place to go back too....maybe for a birthday party!

Sick baby

Glenn was struck by her first cold, and was it ever a nasty one.  She got it from her big brother, who must have picked it up at daycare.  Last week, Bennett was home sick from daycare all week and was treated for bacterial conjunctivitis.  Grand-maman and Grand-papa then caught the cold part of it.  Monday, Glenn started getting sick too.  She was pretty pitiful all week.  All she did was sleep on Grand-maman during the day.  She didn't eat much.  Her eyes were all red and weepy, her nose was runny and her voice was really hoarse.  She must have had a sore throat for sure.  Finally on Saturday, she started perking up, but still not at 100%.  

She is almost crawling now too.  She can go backwards, which frustrates her because she's getting further from the object she's reaching for.  It won't be long and she'll be scooting across the floor, chasing after Bennett for sure!!  

St Kilda

Last Sunday (the 13th), we went to the beach in St-Kilda.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.  We walked the breakwater and then frolicked on the beach for a little while....okay, maybe not frolicked, but we did have a nice stroll.  The sand was smooth and clean.  There's an amusement park in the neighbourhood too, but we didn't go.  On Sundays, there are vendors on the esplanade selling their wares, anything from beautiful wood cutting boards, to strangely designed lamps.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Trip to the city

We went into the city this morning.  Joelle has already been a few times, but Lucille and Donald and the kids hadn't been.  We picked the coldest day to date to go in though!  The wind was quite nippy.  First we went to the Queen Victoria Market.  For those from Vancouver, it's sort of like Granville Island public market, but much bigger.  They sell not only fruits, veggies and meat, but they also have many many stands selling clothing, sunglasses, shoes, souvenirs, toys, arts and crafts.  It was fun, and it certainly had the best deal on food we've seen in the city. 

Then we took the City Circle tram.  This is a free tram which circles the downtown core of Melbourne (called CBD - Central Business District).  Bennett really enjoyed this trip.  

The CBD has beautiful architectural features.  Within the tall modern buildings are interspersed old beautiful buildings and churches.  

We stopped at Flinders Street station, which is the main tram station.  We walked through Federation Square and for a little ways along the Yarra river.  Bennett still isn't fully recovered from a nasty cold, so we didn't stay very long.  Hopped back onto the City Circle tram to head home.  It was a good adventure.

Cute picture

This is a picture that Sylvain took when he came to visit. As you can see, Glenn is trying desperately to crawl. Bennett is still madly in love with her and we have to peel him off her on many occasions. Thanks Sylvain!

Healesville sanctuary

Kangaroos, wombats, wallabies, koalas, dingoes, emus, platypus....are there other Australian only animals left to see?  We went to the Healesville sanctuary today.  It was an absolutely beautiful drive for about 40km to get there from our house.  I always imagined Australia to be all outback and desert, but this area of the country was luscious and green, with rolling hills and vineyards.  The road was winding through the hills and valleys.  It was quite different than I expected, but just stunning.

The sanctuary was fun.  Bennett enjoyed the wombat and the snakes and lizards the best.  The pelicans let us get right up close and we got to pet one of the wallabies.  I'm sure it must be different seeing the animals in the wild, but it was still pretty cool.  It would have been nice to see the kangaroos hopping around though.  

Bennett seems to have come down with a cold unfortunately.  He fell asleep on the way home from the zoo and went back to sleep when we got home.  

Visit from Sudbury

Isn't it funny how sometimes you have to travel half way around the world to see old friends!  Sylvain Whissell and Joelle went to high school together and haven't seen each other in over ten years.  Through mutual friends, we realized we were now both living down under.  Sylvain lives in Sydney but happened to be in Melbourne over the weekend.  It was great to see him again.  We'll definitely take him up on his offer to tour us around Sydney when Rob arrives.  See you soon Sylvain!

Sweet siblings

This is one of those photos that we'll have to show them in the future to prove to them that at one point in their lives, they actually did get along!!

Melbourne update

Well, we are now in full Melbourne time. We've adjusted to time difference and are well into life here. I've started working, although my clinics have been quite light so far. There was a lot of administrative stuff to take care first off. The biggest challenge has been driving on the left hand side!! I think I'm quite used to it now. It just requires a little more concentration....which means no radio or music to listen to.
Bennett has started at daycare and seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit. He's very excited to get going in the morning to head to school. Glenn was giving Grandmaman a little bit of a challenge this week. She was refusing to take formula. We had never tried her on it before now and she would have nothing of it. But Grandmaman pulled out a trick from her bag and put corn syrup into the formula. And voila, Glenn now drinks it without a fuss. She had enough rolls to keep her going for a little while, but I'm certainly less stressed now that she's eating well.
We are going to venture out to the country side this weekend to visit a sanctuary to see the Australian wildlife (Healesville sanctuary). Hopefully the weather improves. It's been raining and very windy the past few days.