Sydney

We arrived in Sydney last night around 8:30pm local time. The flight went well, with the exception of the entertainment system which was on the blink the entire time. Despite being on a full 747 we found ourselves seated only two rows behind our friends the Ayambos, who minister to a Sudanese congregation in the suburb to the north of us, and were able to swap seats for a chat.

On reaching our hotel we found we have a tiny, triangular room on the 9th floor. I can't look out our window too long or it gives me the heeby-jeebies! It felt a bit anticlimactic to catch a train and walk to our hotel and just go to bed, watching TV and playing Sudoku, but that's pretty much what we did.

One thing we have found at our hotel" American hotel beds are much, much softer. Ours is fairly close to a plank. I didn't sleep well, and neither did Jeff. But he is the one who will suffer the most. He'll be walking with a stiff back the entire time we are here.

This morning we're off for a 3km walk to our conference, Oxygen 2011, at Technology Park.

Birthday Adventure at Caversham

We went to Caversham Wildlife Park today and the kids looooved interacting with the animals: patting the koala, feeding the kangaroos, milking the cow, watching the sheep being shorn... and I got to crack a stock whip! These are the best of the photos that include family members. For photos that just show animals, see the previous post.

With the koalas:With the kangaroos:

At the Farm Show:

Exhaustion!

Australian Animals at Caversham Wildlife Park

From our trip today with Grandpa to celebrate Jeff's 37th birthday. These photos just show the animals. For photos inlcuding family members, see my next post. (Rude pic alert! The last picture shows two kangaroos mating... which Joshua was quite keen to point out to me when he noticed them hiding behind a grass tree.)

Avon Descent fun day

After our church fellowship lunch on Sunday, Jeff took the older kids down to the river to enjoy some of the Avon Descent festivities. Meanwhile, Sam and I had a nap, which Sam really needed and I really appreciated. There were lots of free activities, and our kids enjoyed the rock climbing (except Abigail, who was still too short):They also loved the face painting (for which Mr R queued for an hour and a half for his son and our kids!):Jeff had the pleasure (?) of being chosen to join a knife juggling act, where he lay on the ground and the juggler walked over him with the knives whizzing in the air. Unfortunately, the kids didn't take any photos of that experience. Perhaps they were too busy fearing for their father's life!

Twins

Ha! That got your attention, didn't it?

A conversation I had with my 4yo son this morning over cuddles:

Me: I love you, Sam.
Sam: I love you too, Mummy.
Me: I know someone else who loves you. Can you guess?
Sam: Jesus! Jesus loves me!
Me: Yes, Jesus does love you. And I was going to say God loves you.
Sam: God is Jesus.
Me: That's right, Jesus is God.
Sam: God and Jesus are the same, kinda like twins.
Me: You're right. Kind of like twins... did you hear that, Jeff?

Jesus is God. He is the God-man who makes God known to us, in a body we can understand.

Hunger Games the Movie (Poster, that is)

I really want to see this movie. Perhaps almost as much as I am looking forward to the November release of Breaking Dawn Pt1, even though all the action is going to be in Part 2. I'm just not sure if I do go to see the Hunger Games, if I'll be announcing myself as a "Capitolist" at heart, or if I can just go as a reader who enjoyed and appreciated the books for all that they are; for their anti-war message and apotheosis plot. Any thoughts from anyone who has read the books by Suzanne Collins?

The view over my kitchen sink

Actually, I took this shot through the fence just outside my kitchen window, a metre in front of where Sam was floating a Lego boat in our kitchen sink.The canal next door has been steadily filling this winter, unlike last, when there was not enough rain to raise the ground water table sufficiently. Since yesterday, for the first time, the canal has stayed looking Full even after the rain has stopped, rather than like a snaky line of water between puddles. Over summer it is completely dry.

I noticed this morning that the small lake at the end of our street is looking Full as well. Hooray for rain in WA!

Did you know you can find out how full the dams around Perth are? Just head on over to the Water Corp's site. And there are a few graphs and other information to help understand what is happening in our dams here.It seems we are still well below the average for the past 8 years, but climbing out of the dry hold that last year's lack of rain left us in, with a sudden upswing in the last week. Last year was the dark blue line; this year is the black line.

Again I say, Hooray for rain in WA!