Aussie Lingo

So, I am sure you all think we are down here speaking all this Aussie speak by now. Well, no. The truth is that so many of the words they use here, I have trouble using myself. I cannot bring myself to call the stroller a pram or a diaper a nappy. It just doesn't come naturally to me and it sounds like I am trying to be someone I am not. Maybe even a little too Mary Poppin-ish.... I have not yet been able to greet someone with, "How ya going."  Oh, my high school English teacher would have a heart attack with that one.  I still use a shopping cart at the grocery store- not a trolley. If I say trolley I am expecting the Rice-a-Roni trolley to go by.   I am sure you are thinking, um, Steph, it is just some words. I realise that and I am trying. Truly.

But don't fret (Em!) I have discovered one word that I love and that I have now adopted into my vocabulary.  It is a little silly, but it works for me. The word is sunnies.  Sunnies are sunglasses. I love this word. It flows so nicely and it really is a lot easier to say than sunglasses. Maybe it is because I say it so often- "Cooper where are your sunnies? Cooper where did you leave your sunnies? Cooper pick up your sunnies off the floor. Cooper did you break your sunnies? Cooper did you lose another pair of sunnies?" Maybe it because we have bought 8 pairs of sunnies since we arrived- most of which are scattered around the Sydney area lost to us.  Maybe because it is a cute word and sunnies look so cute (and so silly) on the boys. Not sure I would call my own sunglasses, sunnies, but for the boys it works.  So, there you have it. I am one word into Aussie speak, but still have a long way to go. :)

Aussie Lingo

So, I am sure you all think we are down here speaking all this Aussie speak by now. Well, no. The truth is that so many of the words they use here, I have trouble using myself. I cannot bring myself to call the stroller a pram or a diaper a nappy. It just doesn't come naturally to me and it sounds like I am trying to be someone I am not. Maybe even a little too Mary Poppin-ish.... I have not yet been able to greet someone with, "How ya going."  Oh, my high school English teacher would have a heart attack with that one.  I still use a shopping cart at the grocery store- not a trolley. If I say trolley I am expecting the Rice-a-Roni trolley to go by.   I am sure you are thinking, um, Steph, it is just some words. I realise that and I am trying. Truly.

But don't fret (Em!) I have discovered one word that I love and that I have now adopted into my vocabulary.  It is a little silly, but it works for me. The word is sunnies.  Sunnies are sunglasses. I love this word. It flows so nicely and it really is a lot easier to say than sunglasses. Maybe it is because I say it so often- "Cooper where are your sunnies? Cooper where did you leave your sunnies? Cooper pick up your sunnies off the floor. Cooper did you break your sunnies? Cooper did you lose another pair of sunnies?" Maybe it because we have bought 8 pairs of sunnies since we arrived- most of which are scattered around the Sydney area lost to us.  Maybe because it is a cute word and sunnies look so cute (and so silly) on the boys. Not sure I would call my own sunglasses, sunnies, but for the boys it works.  So, there you have it. I am one word into Aussie speak, but still have a long way to go. :)

Tucker's New Love

I am not sure what we created when we took Tucker to see Dora "in concert." He is now obsessed.  Dora is more important than his precious puppy, Ruff-Ruff, more special than his beloved music teacher, Ruth and ranks higher than his wonderful babysitter, Fleur.  I really didn't think anyone or anything could rise above these treasures, but Dora has.  Tucker sleeps with 2 Dora figures and one Boots figure (which he calls Dora too).  He arranges his Dora stickers from his cousins over and over and points to each one and names it. He wears a Dora bandaid on his arm- the one with Dora in the sun is "Dora hot" and the one with Dora on the beach is "Dora blue."  He shows these bandaids to everyone who will look and he carries the figures with him where ever we go. If someone tries to even look at Dora, he says, "No! Dora mine!"  His favourite game is, "Hi Dora." Basically, what you do is hold a Dora figure (and he does the same) and you say, "Hi Dora." Then you do it over and over again. Sometimes, if you are lucky, Dora will get on the bus and go to her house. Then the game becomes, "Dora House."  And, to top it all off, he wakes in the night crying, "Dora, Dora." when she falls from his bed.  If I had a dime for every time he says the word "Dora" throughout the day (and night for that matter), I would be a rich woman. I really do not see the attraction.  She yells and repeat herself too many times throughout each show.  Her best friend is a monkey and a backpack that says, "Delisicioso" when you put something in it and she falls for that darn Swiper's tricks every time. To me, she is creepy, but to Tucker, right now, she is everything. I know this phase will end soon, but for now, I will be getting up in the night to put the "Doras three" back in bed and will be playing, "Hi Dora" all day long.

"MAMA! DORA!"

My apologies to any of you Dora fans out there, but heck, this is MY blog, right? :)

Tucker's New Love

I am not sure what we created when we took Tucker to see Dora "in concert." He is now obsessed.  Dora is more important than his precious puppy, Ruff-Ruff, more special than his beloved music teacher, Ruth and ranks higher than his wonderful babysitter, Fleur.  I really didn't think anyone or anything could rise above these treasures, but Dora has.  Tucker sleeps with 2 Dora figures and one Boots figure (which he calls Dora too).  He arranges his Dora stickers from his cousins over and over and points to each one and names it. He wears a Dora bandaid on his arm- the one with Dora in the sun is "Dora hot" and the one with Dora on the beach is "Dora blue."  He shows these bandaids to everyone who will look and he carries the figures with him where ever we go. If someone tries to even look at Dora, he says, "No! Dora mine!"  His favourite game is, "Hi Dora." Basically, what you do is hold a Dora figure (and he does the same) and you say, "Hi Dora." Then you do it over and over again. Sometimes, if you are lucky, Dora will get on the bus and go to her house. Then the game becomes, "Dora House."  And, to top it all off, he wakes in the night crying, "Dora, Dora." when she falls from his bed.  If I had a dime for every time he says the word "Dora" throughout the day (and night for that matter), I would be a rich woman. I really do not see the attraction.  She yells and repeat herself too many times throughout each show.  Her best friend is a monkey and a backpack that says, "Delisicioso" when you put something in it and she falls for that darn Swiper's tricks every time. To me, she is creepy, but to Tucker, right now, she is everything. I know this phase will end soon, but for now, I will be getting up in the night to put the "Doras three" back in bed and will be playing, "Hi Dora" all day long.

"MAMA! DORA!"

My apologies to any of you Dora fans out there, but heck, this is MY blog, right? :)

Bubbles in the Park

Today was yet another beautiful day here in Sydney. Thankfully it was not as humid as it has been so it was a bit more pleasant to be outside. Coop, Tuck and I headed to the park for a bike ride. While riding about we ran across, "Mr. Incredible, the Bubble Guy" or the "Bubble Nazi" as I will refer to him from now on.  He had all his bubble "gear" set up behind a semi-circle of string and at the front he had a plastic jar for tips with a sign.  Now this was not just your typical tip sign that says something like, "Tips Please" or "Tips Appreciated." This sign had a picture of a camera an equal sign and then a $$ sign which basically meant (as we found out while standing there for while) if you want to take a picture, you have to give a tip.  And he was serious about this. He would literally stop his "show" if people came by with cameras until they tipped him or moved on.  He must have stopped 4 or 5 times while we watched (yes, we did tip him) and tell them to tip or leave!  He even said to one man, "If you have a $5,000 camera, you can give a tip." Wow, that was ballsy.  He also said, "Dammit" a lot and made some pretty derogatory remarks about Asian people. Yikes! Other than all this, he made some darn good bubbles and the boys had a great time chasing his bubbles.  

The bubble man himself

Bubbles in the Park

Today was yet another beautiful day here in Sydney. Thankfully it was not as humid as it has been so it was a bit more pleasant to be outside. Coop, Tuck and I headed to the park for a bike ride. While riding about we ran across, "Mr. Incredible, the Bubble Guy" or the "Bubble Nazi" as I will refer to him from now on.  He had all his bubble "gear" set up behind a semi-circle of string and at the front he had a plastic jar for tips with a sign.  Now this was not just your typical tip sign that says something like, "Tips Please" or "Tips Appreciated." This sign had a picture of a camera an equal sign and then a $$ sign which basically meant (as we found out while standing there for while) if you want to take a picture, you have to give a tip.  And he was serious about this. He would literally stop his "show" if people came by with cameras until they tipped him or moved on.  He must have stopped 4 or 5 times while we watched (yes, we did tip him) and tell them to tip or leave!  He even said to one man, "If you have a $5,000 camera, you can give a tip." Wow, that was ballsy.  He also said, "Dammit" a lot and made some pretty derogatory remarks about Asian people. Yikes! Other than all this, he made some darn good bubbles and the boys had a great time chasing his bubbles.  

The bubble man himself

Coop's 5th Birthday Party

WOW! What a wonderful celebration we had for Coop's 5th birthday.  Five months ago I would have never imagined that we would have managed to assemble such a nice group of people to help celebrate. The numbers were small- 6 kids (minus 2 sickies) and their moms.  Everyone arrived about 10 am and the fiesta began!  The kids played beautifully together and were all very respectful and well-mannered.  Of course they all played fire engine in some manner or other at one point although the little ones did a bit more exploring and trying out different toys.  It was really nice for both boys to have kids their own ages to play with and for me to have other moms to talk with! Below are the photos from the party. 

 Enjoy!

The Decorations and Food

 Fun and Games

Coop trying to sneak some icing....

Millie having a snack 

Archie and Tucker

Coop's turn

Max's turn

Archie's turn

Even Tuck took a turn

Millie and Eleni

 Time for Cake

the cake

Coop blowing out the candles

Max and Coop

Gifts

Archie and Coop