More fun with Grammy

Having Mom for 2 weeks made it possible to get out and do a lot, as well as take some recovery time in between. On rainy days, she helped me sew Aub's dance costume, clean out vents and filters, vacuum the baseboards, sweep the garage... I told her, Mom, you're visiting me in Australia. Don't you dare pull ONE stinkin' weed! Well, she could hardly stand it, but she left the yard alone; I can't say as much for the house :) Thanks, mom.

Here are some photos of our excursions around greater Sydney...

Taking a break at Shelly Beach midway through my favorite "Manly walk." Tay loves Grammy!

keeping entertained while we wait for the ferry

overlooking Woollongong

a small fishing town about an hour south of Sydney. I'm not sure what Zach's zooming in on, but at least he has great binocular posture.

Kiama Blowhole

Every 10 minutes or so the waves would come just right and spout water up through the rocks. I missed getting a good photo the first few times, so Aubrye is whipping around to check if I got that one.

Featherdale Wildlife Park-- Just Mom, Tay & I went while the kids were in school. It was a much better experience than the first time I went. Somehow I never posted from that first time. It didn't leave a great impression on us, especially Aubrye (could it have been the giant EMU that followed her around? Or the fact that we brought a picnic lunch, not realizing we'd have to eat amongst the animals?) I'm pretty sure mom liked the fairy penguin and all the birds best (and there are 90 zillion to choose from.) Mom did not seem to enjoy the Goannas (giant lizards).

A little pre-Halloween fun for FHE.

I had this brilliant idea to take mom to see the flying foxes (large furry-headed bats) at the Royal Botanic Gardens. (mom & the kids weren't nearly as spooked as I was...) We were a bit unprepared for this adventure. We arrived before dusk to look for them hanging upsidedown in the tree branches, but we never did find any. Then the sun went down... and I nearly had a panic attack. There were SO many bats flying all around us! This photo of blurs is not even close to accurate, as you cannot see how big they are, nor how numerous, nor can you hear them. We ended up walking and walking in the RBG (since it was closed; that added to the spookiness) in search of the one gate available for exit. I hadn't packed a bottle for Tay or water for the rest of us. We were SO happy when Grammy found this bubbler (finally) after walking at least 5k's! You see the Opera House in that one pic? Well we started over there, and had to go around the entire Gardens and back to find our car. It was reminisent of the time Sue & I walked the kids from the Opera House to the Tower... not as close as it looks!

Bushwalking at Ku-ring-gai--Like I've said in the past, there's LOTS of nature here in Oz. Since it is spring, we are back to constantly walking through spider webs and pointing out 'the biggies'. Mom got a little too friendly with this guy if you ask me!