Twirling and spinning and horses, oh my!

Monday. It's our day to go to visit Eric for lunch. I usually try and get to some playground beforehand but we ended up leaving really late. Why did we leave late?  We waited for Lily and Lena to call, the sweet mother's helpers from home. It did not happen this week. Amelia was very sad. But things like this happen. Life happens. They ended up calling about 10-15 minutes after we left. Of course.

Anyhow, we went to the mall to pick up lunch to bring with us. We did our typical walk to Eric's office and go to the playground (really just for a few minutes since we left so late). Amelia made us some mac and cheese from inside the little house on the playground. So sweet.

Ready to dance.

It was too chilly to eat outside so we went to Gloria Jeans (yes, the coffee shop. For some reason it is quite popular here) and had lunch inside. They have hardwood floors and music. Amelia because a ballerina during lunch and for the first time ever, spun around on one foot. All the way around without falling. It was a thing of beauty.

Twirling on one foot!

After the dance recital, we went to the giant trampoline. Amelia had asked many times to do it and today seemed like a good day to try it. They hooked her up and heled her bounce partially because she weighs so little and partially because she doesn't quite get the concept of jumping on a trampoline.

Our next adventure lead us to the Equestrian Center where we pet some horses and watched 5 little girls get on their horses and ride out to Centennial Park. Amelia and I walked with them for 10 min until we found a park with baby swings.

The dark horse

Trying to get on.

We likes this white one.

We followed them out to the park.

And our final adventure for the day was back through the park, but a different way because we were following the horses of course, and we found a different playground. This one had multiple baby swings and a guy practicing his juggling. We watched for a bit and then went to the swings.

Adventures of the dancing queen

Short but sweet.

Well, everything I typed disappeared. Bummer. I'll see if I can remember what I said.

Our adventure to dance class started with a bus trip. We took the bus instead of walking today because after class, we were planning to go check out another more modern stroller.

Holding hands.

Pom-poms love!

Rainbow ribbons.

What a shadow!

It turns out the last day of class (our 2nd) brought with it a "performance" for the parents as well as a photographer from the local paper. The kids are very photogenic in their outfits, of course, and rank right up there with pictures of baby animals in the cuteness factor.

Amelia surprised me this class and actually participated in almost all of the class. The only thing she skipped was jumping over the stuffed animals and crawling through the tunnel. Just not interested in that. But going to the magic line, playing under the parachute, twirling, stomping, whatever, she seemed interested in doing it this week. Hooray!

After class, we mosied over to the woman's apartment, but not before Amelia had to use the bathroom... 5 minutes after we left the studio. Luckily, there was some kind of Catholic looking facility complete with lots of sisters in uniforms who generously allowed us to use their toilet.

We found our way and Amelia even WALKED for a good part of the trip. Amazing because that kid never wants to walk and will act as if it's the end of the world if you ask her to do so. She will cry and say she can't walk. I don't know where that comes from. It bothers me though and I don't really know how to change it.

Eating her snap peas. Thanks mom & dad!

Once at the apartment, which was much smaller than our old 1 bedroom, we checked out the stroller. It seemed much larger than I had anticipated and yet Amelia barely fit. Scary. She got in and out a few times, as if to put her scent on it. And then got distracted by the alphabet floor tiles. In the end, I did not buy the stroller. It seemed like $90, while it's a good price for that piece, was too much for something we might not be using for very long. I guess we're just going to keep the relic.

Talking to her pie.

Eating her pie.

Not sharing her pie.

Our next stop was lunch in Randwick. We found a place to eat, a little cafe, and Amelia gobbled up her chicken pie. We caught the bus home and then it was time for a nap--both of us were pooped!

Manly beach and the case of the missing shoe

The day we decided to go to Manly beach happened to be the day of the Sydney marathon. This is slightly important to the story.

One of Eric's co-workers called to say they were taking the 10:30 ferry to Manly. We wanted to be on the same ferry as them so we hurried our asses up, got out of the apartment, down to the bus station to buy out $2.50 family fun day passes, down to the train station, on the train, and then we waited for the train to leave. Amelia refuses to walk so we had the dinosaur stroller with us. It's not bad except the elevators take FOREVER! We eventually just picked her up and took the escalator down.

The quickest way to Circular Quay is train + bus. So we exited the train at Martin Place, ran to the bus, only to find out the buses weren't actually going any further because of the marathon. Ok. Put Amelia back in stroller and go. Go fast! We walk (I lightly jog to keep up with Eric and his lengthy legs) to the ferry at Circular Quay. It wasn't actually that far and it was kind of fun to see the streets closed with all of the runners. Another thing which brings back San Francisco memories.

Eric pushing Amelia to the ferry.

The finish line!

Sydney Marathoners

I felt like we, too, made it to the finish line. Left our apartment around 9:45 and made it to the ferry before the 10:30 departure. There were loads of people waiting too.

What a queue at the Quay!

Waiting to get on the ferry.

One thing about Amelia: she intensely dislikes the wind. Any kind of wind. Wind from a hand dryer. Wind from the car window. Wind from, well, the wind! And being on the ferry was no exception. We had to stay inside (though I did pop outside for a little fresh air). During the 30 min. ride, we found ways to entertain ourselves.

Our seats

Dancing on the seats.

Peek-a-boo!

Up and over!

Once we got to Manly, we found the Third Floor folks and then headed off to our destination: Shelly beach. It was a nice long walk to the somewhat sheltered beach but we had to stop at beautiful ocean pool first. Amelia just had to go in it! Eric and I and Amelia went in, though I didn't stay in for too long--it was freezing! Not sure how Amelia did it really, but kids have some weird ability to be in icy water and not be bothered. I've seen this phenomenon at Norther California beaches where, even at the height of summer, the water hurst to go in! We saw lots of kids in this pool and I just wondered if there was something I could do to make my skin more resistent to the cold.

Manly has lots of sculptures, even at the pool!

Ocean water pool.

Playing on the steps.

View from the pool.

Finally, after an hour of so of getting in and out of the pool, it was time for lunch. We finished the walk to Shelly and, of course, they have a little over-priced cafe. We get our sandwiches and head to the sand. Big mistake. Not only is it windy (strike 1), and Amelia is over tired (strike 2), but we have to figure out how to get our behemoth stroller over to our blanket (which happens to be the one we just bought for Amelia at Ikea.) Eric folds it up and carries it over. His friends were all planning to go snorkeling so no one was around to watch the stroller (really, we should have just left it by the cafe--I mean, really, who would want to steal that thing????)

Shortly after getting to Manly, I bought a rather cheap beach umbrella. Another big mistake. I noticed not one single umbrella on the beach, only tents with mesh air vents. You know why? The wind. Of course. Eric had put the umbrella up and not 2 minutes later did that thing take flight, tumble end over end and then almost impale another beach-goer. So it's super sunny, windy and now we have sand in our over-priced lunch (which we haven't eaten yet). Hmph.

My little ghost!

After eating our sandy sandwiches, Eric took Amelia to the water. Oops. That didn't work. It was too sandy and her feet were dirty! Ok. Time for a nap. That was about 15-20 min of beach time. Next, gather everything back up. Pack it in the bags, carry everything but the stroller and umbrella back to the  cafe area. Eric went back for the stroller while I wiped Amelia's feet. Got her in the stroller and walked back towards the pool, hoping she would fall asleep. It was super windy and the little blanket we brought with us barely covered the stroller's hood. It was my feeble attempt to stop the wind from keeping Amelia awake. Eventually it worked.

I pushed the stroller all up and down the boardwalk while Eric and he cohorts played beach volleyball. It was fairly difficult to keep the blanket from flying away but eventually I had a stroke of genius: use one of the towels we brought instead! Wow. Why didn't I think of this sooner? After the 2 hours or so was up, Amelia finally came to and seemed very excited to see her daddy playing in the sand. We sat above the beach, at the boardwalk, cheering both sides. Amelia wanted to walk around but when I went to grab her shoes out from the basket at the bottom of the stroller... one was gone!

I couldn't believe it! Brand new shoes! How could this be? I was really upset. Had it fallen out on my walk? Did it come out near the pool? Had we lost it in the sand? I asked Eric to look in our other bag but it wasn't there. After he finished playing volleyball, I told him I wanted to look for the shoe. He, of course, thought I was crazy. Crazy Amelia wanted to go back in the pool, which by this time, must be even colder! The wind had picked up and the sun was going down. But one last dip might be fine. We all walked to the pool and I left them to freeze. My entire walk I kept going over the scenarios where I find the shoe, or I don't find it. How am I going to feel. Why am I so upset over a stupid shoe?

Eric and his co-workers all played beach volleyball.

Playing in the water... the cold, cold water!

The missing shoe.

I see families and want to ask them about a Lost & Found, but I keep walking. I get to the table where we sat after being on the sand and ask them about a shoe. They just look at me funny. I went inside the cafe and asked them about the shoe. Again, funny looks. No shoe. I venture to the sand and take off my own shoes, looking for our little spot. I see new faces, more kids, lots of shells (I get distracted by the shells), look out across the water and turn back to path. Feeling rather dejected, I look down, trying to rationalize all of this. I look up just a few inches and LO AND BEHOLD I FOUND THE SHOE! That's right! I found it! Seriously, not making this up, I dropped to my knees and shouted with glee! So stupid that finding that shoe would bring me such joy. I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted. My crummy beach day had a purpose after all. 

I went back to the people at the table and showed them the shoe." See? I said, I found it! It exists!" The lady in the cafe seemed rather surprised as if she was thinking, "Wow. No one ever finds lost beach crap." Walking back (on cloud 9) to Eric and Amelia I wondered how I was going to tell them I found it. My decision? Hide it behind my back and spring it on them. They were both excited and surprised as hell. The perfect reaction.

Practicing ballet moves in the water.

After this, we realized it was time to call it a day. Nothing, except ice cream could to that. And besides, Amelia's lips were turning blue--a sure sign she had had enough fun for the day.

View of Manly from the pool.

Still wanted to go in at the end of the day!.

The sun also rises

*UPDATE*
The phone seemed to come back to life after a dozen tries. Whew! I still lost some though but, for the most part, we have them all!

I think my iphone has died. It will not move past the apple logo. After freezing, I tried to reboot (something it's been doing a lot lately and it's not even a jailbroken phone!) The sad part is I have not backed up my photos in the last week. So all of the photos and videos from our adventures this week, are gone. I'm very sad because the dancing videos were among those presumably lost.

The other thing is our bed and pillows suck. I can not get comfortable all night and last night was just the worst! Up since 5am, I finally just called it and got out of bed. No need to toss and turn any longer. Seemed fruitless.

So no photos now, again, for this posting. I will just focus on our adventures.

Amelia's hair is ridiculously long.

 After a day of NOTHING on Thursday (though we did manage to get to the grocery store for a bit) Friday took us on a walk across town to Paddington Library for storytime. Though it's much further away than Waverly, it actually has books! Poor Waverly. They have only one, maybe two of the popular books which means they are always out. It would cost me $1 to put a book on hold or just walk another 25 minutes to the next library and check them out there.

So that's what we decided to do. We walked a new route, a little better than our regular route, but still a rather bumpy-broken-rooted-no ramp kind of walk. I think the sidewalks have not been fixed in 20 years or more.

The storytime was fine. Only a few kids (which is very different than Waverly). I think it's the video at Waverly which attracts all of the children. Personally, I think videos are not meant for storytime. Read the kids some books! Sing some songs! Do a little puppet show! That's what storytime is about. Ok, off my high-horse. Anyhow, this one is just books and a little craft project. The theme of the day was food so all of the books centered around food. In one of them, Spot helped his mom make a birthday cake for the dad. It was his birthday. When Amelia woke up from her nap, she wanted to make her daddy a card because it was his birthday. Awww. That was so sweet! I had to tell her that was from the story.

The carrot she made for daddy at the Paddington library storytime.

Totally zonked out.

At Buzy Bake House while I had my lunch.

Amelia had woken up very early and not gone to sleep until almost 10:30 or later the night before. Needless to say, she was tired. It didn't take long before she had crashed out on our walk home. I decided to take a different way home and walked through Woollahra on Queens Street rather than the loud and terrible sidewalked way we have previous traversed.

Turns out I found a perfect path! It's a little longer, but there's more to see, fewer streets and the sidewalks are actually mostly manageable. Actually, every street corner has a ramp so a sleeping kid does not need to be disturbed. (How sad, this is the exciting part of my day: ramps!)

Along this road, I also find many coffee shops, a delightful bookstore, toy store, bakeries and more. It was lunch time so I stopped in to Buzy Bake House. I had been there once before, during our first week, but hadn't made it back since. They have an amazing Sicilian pizza. Super duper flat bread with farmers market fresh ingredients. I had half and took the rest home for Amelia. It was $11 for the one piece but I figured split between 2 people, that wasn't terrible. They also have all sorts of homemade quiches and pies and deserts. So many deserts! I enjoyed my pizza and left it at that.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful.
*PARENTING OVERSHARE ALERT* Please skip ahead if you don't want to read this.
Amelia finally pooped! It had been since Monday. I was so stressed about it. 4 days? Really. Thankfully, I had been practically feeding her olive oil so it wasn't a terrible experience. However, during this time, a potential babysitter came over.

*OK YOU ARE CLEAR NOW*
Elise, a potential babysitter, came by for a little visit. She seemed very nice. I know I should do some extensive background check, but she came recommended from someone on one of the email mom's groups I'm in LA. We chatted for a least an hour and a half and Amelia seemed very comfortable with her. That's really what matters (and that she's not a serial killer). We'll definitely use her for next weekend--it's our 6 year anniversary!

I'm cautiously optimistic that Eric can get my phone to work and I can get all of the pictures off of it. If so, I will edit this posting and add photos. If not, I will be quite sad.

Week 3: What did we do?

Week 3 has really flown by! I can't believe how little we do some days. It's Thursday at 4pm and we haven't left the apartment. We did, however, put our clothes on. That was a step in the right direction.

First thing Monday morning we were lucky enough to talk to two of Amelia's favorite people: Lena and Lily, my mother's helpers. They come over and play with your child while you are still at home. They're 13 and have all of Amelia's attention when they are around. The girls graciously let us call them on Sunday (Monday here) so Amelia could say hello. That was all she could talk about the rest of the day, though when we're Skyping them, she doesn't say much. That would be true for most of the Skype calls we make.

On Mondays (this was our second time doing this) we have been visiting Eric at work. We walk to his office at the Entertainment Quarter, going through a wonderful place called Centennial Park. I've mentioned this before but I can't say enough how much I love this park! This week we saw all sorts of interesting birds, some I've never seen before. It makes me wish Los Angeles had more parks. Honestly, you can't walk more than 15 minutes without encountering some type of green space. Believe me, I've tried! I walk somewhere almost every day and it's just not possible. These people planned well.

It seemed to take us less time to get to the office this week, maybe because I had already been there and it didn't feel as new. On our way, besides seeing birds, we geese, ducks and the most adorable chocolate laberdoodle named Bailey. Awww. I wanted to give Bailey a big kiss! After a brief chat with the owners, they walked on. Amelia saw them playing and said, "that puppy is playing with his mommy and daddy and other mommy!" So darn cute. And wow. Imagine if we were all that accepting of different lifestyles.


I'm sad to report that either Amelia  or I accidentally deleted some really great pictures and videos from the phone. It happens. I don't think there's any way to retrieve them since they hadn't been backed up yet. The iphone is not really great with that. Oh well.

The pictures I do have, which I will have to post later, are from Monday and Wednesday. Monday, as I said, we met Eric for lunch. After which, we ended up playing in a kid store for over an hour. They had a giant doll house Amelia seemed to like. She put the little JellyCat bunny to sleep in the bed, put her on the potty and also made her do other household chores. It was quite darling.

Playing in the store seemed more fun than the playground!

Having fun with the giant doll house

Sitting at the table

Bunny is sleepy

Bunny is going potty

Wearing a fancy headband

Tuesday was library day. This was our 3rd storytime at Waverly library. This week they had Rainbow Fish (which they edited not only for time but content. I actually appreciate that because if you've ever read Rainbow Fish, you'll know it's not actually a great story for kids.) There was a video with Maisy scuba diving with a playful dolphin. And then we had our craft project. My craft project really. We made an octopus and though Amelia did stick the smile and eye on, she didn't really want to do the other stuff. It kind of scares me that she won't even try to do things--she'll just say, "No, mommy, you do it."  Ugh. C'mon girl... try! We need to work on that. As for the rest of the day, I can't remember what we did.

Wednesday was our big day. On this day Amelia took her first ever dance class at a place called Rhythm Factory located in Randwick. I don't know if she loved it, but I think she loves the idea of. She has been watching and reading Angelina Ballerina so she seems very into everything dancing right now. It's very sweet. I love that when it came time to choose what to wear, instead of picking the traditional pink tutu, she wanted to wear her green turtle skirt (thanks Uncle Andy!) with the blue flower shirt.

First dance class.

Trying to get the hang of the magic line.

Kicking their feet

The pom-poms were a HUGE hit!

Barefoot ballerina.

They had all sorts of props in the class and the music was a tad bit too loud, but it was fun to watch. It took us about the same amount of time to walk there as it did for the actual class. But it was worth it. After dancing, we walked to the park, played there a little, met a nice woman who gave us a lunch recommendation, then headed over there. Three Blue Ducks. It was quite good. Amelia and I split a steak sandwich and I had probably the best coffee I've ever had. Seriously! It was amazing. Why? I don't know why. A flat white, is like a latte but they use microfoam instead of poured steamed milk with foam on top. Some shops in Santa Monica do it this way: Cafe Luxxe and maybe Le Pain Quotidien.

She finished her half of the sandwich. It was delicious!

My flower is getting a little silly.

After a delicious lunch, we continued our walk East to Bronte Beach. Stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing! The ocean in Australia is much more beautiful than California. I will be posting pictures, but for now, take my word for it! We played in the sand for a while, making sand castles (well, trying to anyhow) and tried, twice, to get gelato, but the only shop which carried it, was out! And I watched the surfers. They seems to glide through the water so effortlessly. We took the bus home, which was great because it would have been a steep ass walk back home. I don't know if we could have made it with the stroller.

First view of the beach.

Bronte is beautiful.

Dreaming of warmer water.

Making sandcastles in the sand.

Dreamy.

Today. We've done NOTHING today. Well, we have been ballerinas and read books and played with the shells I collected yesterday and had pistachios and gotten dressed and finally, taken a nap. That's it. I hope to get to the store shortly because we have nothing to eat for dinner. Must go wake the sleeping child now. It's 5 o'clock!