Doug had to go into work this morning so the boys and I headed to Darling Harbour to see the Chinese Gardens. When we got there we noticed that there was a festival going on in the park. We walked over to the Gardens and saw that there was an entrance fee. We decided to skip the gardens and check out the festival instead.The festival was a celebration of the Taiwanese culture and its people in Australia. The park was filled with tents, people moving from stall to stall and a stage with dancers and speakers. There were bright colours everywhere and good smells aplenty. We left before the Dragon Dance, but were able to get a good look at the dragon anyway. Gorgeous!
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| Taiwanese Puppets |
The weather was beautiful, but hot so we did not stay too long. All the crowds and the heat coming from the cooking tents made it a little uncomfortable. So we left the park and began walking to the waterfront. There are many, many water features along the way. This one is really cool and Coop was so proud that he "hopped" onto one of the little islands.
At this time Doug was done at work and joined us at the harbour. We decided to go to Chinatown for lunch. We had walked through the area before, but had not eaten there. We found a restaurant that was not too crowded and had outdoor seating. We ordered too much food and enjoyed every bite. Coop would only eat a few grains of rice while Tucker tried everything (before dumping in on the table, the floor and himself). The chopsticks were a big hit with Tucker. They became rhythm sticks, drumsticks and even a train going through a tunnel. Coop was mostly impressed with the paper table cloth that he could write on.
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| "Towards Australian and Chinese Friendship." |
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Tucker kept pointing at this guy and saying. "Baba" who is
his grandpa. Not sure why.... |
After lunch we headed to Paddy's Market which is a HUGE indoor market where you can find almost anything and pretty cheap. Coop was bound and determined to buy a remote control helicopter. Where he got that idea, we have no idea, but both Doug and I agreed that was not in his cards. Could you just imagine that trip to the ER....
Doug had to go into work this morning so the boys and I headed to Darling Harbour to see the Chinese Gardens. When we got there we noticed that there was a festival going on in the park. We walked over to the Gardens and saw that there was an entrance fee. We decided to skip the gardens and check out the festival instead.
Sticks. Dirt. Dig. Dump. Dig. That is what it is about for my boys. We spent hours each week in the park across the street digging in the dirt and playing with sticks. We use our plastic construction trucks from Walgreens (these are the BEST by the way) digging holes, lifting a load, dumping that load into the dump truck over and over again. And the sticks, who knew there were so many uses for them-- digging, scraping, swatting, building, sweeping, writing, piling- you name it, we have done it with a stick. I sit with them and try to see what they see. There is a whole world going on. For Tucker, it is mostly the action of using the digger to pick up the dirt, to dump it into the truck and then to dump that load to the ground. He does it in such a slow, methodical manner as if every millimeter he moves is vitally important. Cooper, on the other hand, is telling a story. Whether it is an intricate story of the happenings at a construction site or a simple story of a digger doing its job, it completely becomes his world for that moment in time. I do enjoy digging with them for a while. It is fun to get down into the dirt and to feel the earth in my hands. But my story is not the same as either of the boys' stories. My story is simply being with my boys.
