Christmas in Sydney

Merry Christmas or Happy Chrissy as the Australians say.  Christmas Eve was really beautiful.  We took the train into the city, had a great Italian dinner and then walked to Christmas Eve service at the historic and beautiful St. Mary’s Cathedral.  We stopped along the way to see Christmas trees in the city.

 

Santa and his reindeer made their way to our cozy 1 bedroom apartment through the balcony door and delivered presents for Christmas morning.   The kids got their wishes and fortunately they will all fit into a suitcasesJ.    Our apartment is tiny, but the view is amazing and will be perfect for New Years Eve.   We hear the cruise ships leave every day around five and wave goodbye. 

 

Around noon on Christmas Day, we drove about an hour up the coast to Palm Beach to spend Christmas Day with our friends from San Francisco.  We did not have a white Christmas, but it was a wet Christmas.  The weather kept us indoors all day so we baked Christmas cookies and made a great Aussie Christmas dinner.  When we woke up the next morning, the rain had cleared so we hit the beaches for the morning.    We said goodbye around noon as our friends were also moving back to States the next day.    We are now less than a week away from our departure.

 

 

Moving Time

Here we go again….  It seems like we just unpacked all of our things.   We spent the week before clearing out clutter and separating summer and winter clothes into sea shipment, air shipment and luggage.  We took this opportunity to clear out some things as we were at risk of being too full.   I finally parted with my bedroom set that I purchased when I graduated college.  Matt and I took a big sigh of relief when the last item made it in.  Our last night in our Australia home was December 21^st and we waved goodbye to the truck and moved into our temporary apartment just before Christmas.    Hopefully all of our things will arrive back in Kansas City by early February.  I am not looking forward to the transition period again.

 

 

It’s Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas

Although it doesn’t feel like Christmas with the warm temps, there have been plenty of holiday activities to keep us feeling festive.  Santa’s mail box is up the street from our house, so the kids have been busy writing letters.  Cade’s list is simple.  He wants Lego Ninjago Age 8-14 sets and Paige wants a new baby, flip flops and a watch.  We’ve had several Santa sightings including one at the end of Nippers at Balmoral Beach.    We also went to the Taronga Zoo’s family Christmas night.  They stayed open late and had an elf DJ mixing up Katy Perry’s Roar song and several other hits.  With a bubble machine, dance party and bar for the parents, it was quite the entertainment.   Our favorite holiday event was Carols at Balmoral.  Thousands of local came out with their picnic blankets/baskets to listen to carols at the beach.  The beach was lit up with kids and glow sticks dancing around and having a ball.   

 

 

End of School Year Activities

Frank arrived in Sydney safely on Monday, December 9^th and we were thrilled to see him.  We decorated the house in our Christmas décor, but no Christmas tree for us this year:( 

The last week of school was filled with activities.  Cade’s last day was December 5th, and he had his prize giving concert.  Each class performed a skit/song to the theme, “It’s a Small World”.  We especially enjoyed the Born in the USA performance.  At the end of the performances, the school Headmaster presented each boy with a book and certification of completion as their prize.  After that it was summer break.  All of the boys are so excited to be in Year 1.  Cade seems to understand that he will return to Kindergarten in Kansas City and is ok with it.   Paige also had her Christmas concert where they performed a number of traditional carols.  She practiced for weeks and was so excited.  I even caught her singing in her sleep one night.   The very last song of the performance was Jingle Bells, and then we heard a big Ho, Ho, Ho from across the room where a summer dressed Santa greeted the kids and presented each with their own book.  Cade attended a few camp days and a week-long tennis camp with his mates from school as well as about forty other K-6 kids.   On the last day of camp there is an awards ceremony where trophies are presented to the singles and doubles winners from different age categories.  The final trophy of the ceremony goes to the most improved player of the camp, and we were thrilled and all surprised when Cade’s name was announced.  It is his first real earned trophy.

Frank Travels

After our Thanksgiving celebration, we were expecting Frank our elf to arrive.  We searched the entire house (literally) and couldn’t find him anywhere.  We received an email from Uncle Adam and Sydney in Kansas City saying that Frank had arrived on Juniper Street.  Oh no!!  Frank got confused on his instructions from Santa.    Santa told him to go to Sydney.  He thought Sydney the dog, not Sydney the city.  He is on his way (Priority International Express Mail) and should arrive in 3-5 days.   He is enjoying his layover in LA before his late night Qantas flight leaves.  “Silly Frank”

Happy Thanksgiving

I never thought I would say that I miss the Kansas City cold, but it certainly does not feel like the holidays here.  We attended a Christmas service this evening with Cade’s school, which helped, but it is hard to feel festive when it is 90 degrees.  

When I dropped Paige off at school this week, her teachers asked me to tell them about Thanksgiving…what is it about?  How do you celebrate?   It gave me a moment to reflect on the holiday and how special it is as I shared my thoughts with them.    “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It is simple.  There are no expectations, no gifts, no dressing up, just enjoying great food with family and reflecting on all that is good.”

We are truly blessed with amazing family and wonderful friends.  Being 9,000 miles away on the other side of the world has made us even more thankful for all the people in our lives and we are so excited to reconnect with everyone in person very soon. 

On this unique Thanksgiving Day when we are away from family and friends on and not having the traditional meal, we spent some time reflecting on what we were thankful for this year.  

Our family list

• More downtime as a family
• Continued professional opportunities that challenge and inspire us
• Living by the water in a beautiful city that has made us more active
• A strong education system for our childrens’ early years
• Traveling to other parts of the world
• Good health

The kid’s list

• The Opera House
• Lollies (Candy)
• Legos and babies
• Sydney (our dog…not the city)

Paige’s school celebrated Thanksgiving today for the first time ever.  They enjoyed an extra special afternoon tea, made hands to put on a big turkey and talked about all of the things they were thankful for.  They said they would continue the tradition in Paige’s honor next year and adopt the new holiday as their own at school. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Nippers Fun

After two rainy and cold weekends, we were thrilled to have a perfect Sunday morning for Nippers.  Cade is in his fifth week and is having a ball.  I am so thankful that we got this unique Australian experience before moving back.  There are over seven hundred kids at our beach alone every Sunday morning participating and thousands across Sydney.  Events include tug-a-war, beach boards in the ocean, swimming with noodles, bull rush games, obstacle courses and beach runs.  We weren’t really sure how he would respond to it, but he always has a smile on his face, even when the water is freezing cold.  The hats are funny, but I appreciate how protective Australians are of kids and the sun.  The kids are broken up by age and gender and have different color caps.  It is very hard to keep track of your child.   Santa is joining the beach activities for the final Sunday in December before the holiday break.