David Jones Food Hall

 I was told that the department store David Jones has a grocery store (or "food hall" as they call it) and in the store they have an "American food" section.  So while the boys were with the sitter, I went to check it out.  I was so excited to see what treasures from home I would find!  The food hall itself was amazing.  They had fresh produce, a butcher, several bakeries, a cheese shop as well as a few sit down eateries in the hall.  I located the "American food section which was basically one wall  filled with goodies from home- Crisco, Mrs. Buttersworth syrup, Bisquick, Tobasco, Libby's canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix, Bone Suckin' sauce, Baconaisse. Pop-Tarts and more!  It was very cool- it felt like I was back at Safeway!  Never really thought I would be excited about that.... :) I was tempted to buy some of the items just to have them in our hosue, but then I checked the prices and decided against it.  The biggest shocker was Libby's canned pumpkin was $AU9.95. Yikes!  So, instead leaving with a bag of goodies from home, I just left the smile on my face to see a bit of home down under.  

PS- to all you Tacoma folks they even had a little bit of Tacoma in the "imported chocolates" section! Almond Roca from Brown and Haley!  

David Jones Food Hall

 I was told that the department store David Jones has a grocery store (or "food hall" as they call it) and in the store they have an "American food" section.  So while the boys were with the sitter, I went to check it out.  I was so excited to see what treasures from home I would find!  The food hall itself was amazing.  They had fresh produce, a butcher, several bakeries, a cheese shop as well as a few sit down eateries in the hall.  I located the "American food section which was basically one wall  filled with goodies from home- Crisco, Mrs. Buttersworth syrup, Bisquick, Tobasco, Libby's canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix, Bone Suckin' sauce, Baconaisse. Pop-Tarts and more!  It was very cool- it felt like I was back at Safeway!  Never really thought I would be excited about that.... :) I was tempted to buy some of the items just to have them in our hosue, but then I checked the prices and decided against it.  The biggest shocker was Libby's canned pumpkin was $AU9.95. Yikes!  So, instead leaving with a bag of goodies from home, I just left the smile on my face to see a bit of home down under.  

PS- to all you Tacoma folks they even had a little bit of Tacoma in the "imported chocolates" section! Almond Roca from Brown and Haley!  

The New Tumbalong Park Playground

What a fun and busy morning we had at the new Tumbalong Playground in Darling Quarter!  They have been working on this playground since before our arrival in Australia and this weekend, was the grand opening.  This park has everything! Climbing rope jungle gyms, slides, swings, a zip line, sand pits (aka sandboxes) as well as the coolest water play area I have ever seen and more!

Our friends, Carrie and Eleni, met us outside our apartment building and after a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to the park.  Cooper and Tucker were quick to explore every inch of the water play area while Eleni was satisfied to just play in the water pump area and the sprinklers.  The kids tried out the water pumps, the water ramps, water fountains, water wheel, water curly-cue thingy (yes, that is the technical name), they walked the "river" and used the gates to dam the water and then open it back up again. Coop spent a few minutes in the sprinklers, but then had to move on.

After the water play, it was on to the sand pit.  They had the coolest diggers I have ever seen.  The end of the digger actually looks like an ice cream scooper and is much easier to use that the ones with the bucket at the end.  Coop figured it out right away and as you can see from the picture below, Tuck had a little more trouble... :)

This slide is amazing.  You have to rock climb up to the top in order to slide down.  The slide itself is huge and very wide- three or four people (adults included) can go down at one time.  It reminded me of that Saturday Night Live skit where that woman (Shelley Duvall?) sat in that ginormous rocking chair and talked like a baby.  Am I showing my age??? Below is Tucker walking through the tunnels beneath the slide.

And what day at the park would not be complete without the bubble man?  Yes, he was there making fantastic bubbles and Cooper loved chasing them.  Tucker planted himself about 15 feet away and just watched. Not sure what was going through his mind, but he had no intention of getting any closer than that.  Eleni seemed satisfied to watch as well.

Then it was time to head home and it turns out Eleni is quite smitten with Cooper. She held his hand almost all the way to lunch and Cooper LOVED every minute of it.

The New Tumbalong Park Playground

What a fun and busy morning we had at the new Tumbalong Playground in Darling Quarter!  They have been working on this playground since before our arrival in Australia and this weekend, was the grand opening.  This park has everything! Climbing rope jungle gyms, slides, swings, a zip line, sand pits (aka sandboxes) as well as the coolest water play area I have ever seen and more!

Our friends, Carrie and Eleni, met us outside our apartment building and after a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to the park.  Cooper and Tucker were quick to explore every inch of the water play area while Eleni was satisfied to just play in the water pump area and the sprinklers.  The kids tried out the water pumps, the water ramps, water fountains, water wheel, water curly-cue thingy (yes, that is the technical name), they walked the "river" and used the gates to dam the water and then open it back up again. Coop spent a few minutes in the sprinklers, but then had to move on.

After the water play, it was on to the sand pit.  They had the coolest diggers I have ever seen.  The end of the digger actually looks like an ice cream scooper and is much easier to use that the ones with the bucket at the end.  Coop figured it out right away and as you can see from the picture below, Tuck had a little more trouble... :)

This slide is amazing.  You have to rock climb up to the top in order to slide down.  The slide itself is huge and very wide- three or four people (adults included) can go down at one time.  It reminded me of that Saturday Night Live skit where that woman (Shelley Duvall?) sat in that ginormous rocking chair and talked like a baby.  Am I showing my age??? Below is Tucker walking through the tunnels beneath the slide.

And what day at the park would not be complete without the bubble man?  Yes, he was there making fantastic bubbles and Cooper loved chasing them.  Tucker planted himself about 15 feet away and just watched. Not sure what was going through his mind, but he had no intention of getting any closer than that.  Eleni seemed satisfied to watch as well.

Then it was time to head home and it turns out Eleni is quite smitten with Cooper. She held his hand almost all the way to lunch and Cooper LOVED every minute of it.