October 23 - A Day to Drive and Hike

We hopped in the car and drove several hours to Freycinet National Park. We had to make a stop for Lilly to go to the bathroom and checked out this beach very quickly. We later stopped for lunch and a short play at the park.


Once we finally got into the park we found a good hike to Wine Glass Bay. It was to be a three hour round trip hike. The first part was up to a lookout with lots of stairs. We did take the hiking pack and Lilly had a little ride up but not the entire way. The view of the bay was quite spectacular.

The next part was downhill and Lilly was able to do this one easy peasy and only took about 30 minutes. We got to the beach and there were all of seven other people there. It was a bit chilly and windy but we were able to play in the sand and run around a bit.

The hike back to the car park was a little more strenuous. We had left the in-laws on the way up to the lookout and said we would meet them back at the car park. I didn't want to leave them waiting too long so we just went quickly back over the ridge. I had the pleasure of carrying Lilly up to the top and just figured I would take her the rest of the way. Let's just say Lilly isn't little any more and I got a workout.

In the car park we found this wallaby. I'm guessing she got a few handouts from other visitors as she wasn't scared of us at all. If you look closely, you can see the joey in her pouch.

We checked out one more hike along a board walk with a lighthouse. Then it was time to find something to eat. We knew there was nothing for most of the drive and for some reason it was a state holiday so anything we might encounter would probably be closed. So we settled for the first place we ran into which was a pizza place. Very small and cozy but we were starving and it was good pizza.

The drive home was nothing exciting and we just went to bed as we had an early morning the next day!

October 22 - Trip to Tasmania

We took an early flight to Hobart. I will applaud Qantas for their service. The flight was approximately 42 minutes and we got breakfast! That's right, breakfast. Cereal, fruit, and a drink. On a 42 minute flight. We had to eat fast. Lilly also got a kids pack to play with. I dig Qantas!

Once we arrived in Hobart, we were able to get our rental car quickly (it's a small airport) and drove into the city. We parked the car and took off on a walk in search for information. Seth's highlight may have been watching the passed out drunk guy sleeping on a park bench. He woke up and started chugging a beer he pulled out of his jacket. Sorry, we didn't get a picture of it.

Once we found the information center, Seth and his parents chose what we would be doing for the next couple of days. As for the current day, it was between the Cadbury Chocolate Factory and the Cascade Brewery. The brewery won, mostly because you can't actually tour the chocolate factory, just the visitor's center.

We went over to the brewery and had lunch before our tour. Lilly wasn't allowed to go on the tour so Pennie stayed with her. They walked around the gardens for the hour that we were on the tour. The day after our visit was some Tasmanian holiday so everything was going to be shut down for the day. For this reason, there wasn't really anything going on and all the huge vats were completely empty.

After the tour we were able to try a few samples. I think we got three each. The brewery had done the math to figure out how much an average person could drink and still be under the legal limit to drive home. The little glass show here, was not the usual size. They had to account for the stout being stronger than the other beer!

After the tasting was over, we jumped back into our car and headed to our place of residence for the next several nights. We had found a two story, 3 bedroom apartment type place. It was pretty nice but in the end, we really didn't spend a lot of time there.

For dinner we went to the hotel restaurant. Seth and I took off before dinner to find a grocery store to load up on snacks and breakfast foods. By the time we got home, Lilly was in bed (although awake) and we pretty much crashed as well.

October 21 - Let's see Melbourne!

So what do we do when we get guests? We tour the city! We headed to Vic Market for some look at the cheesy souvenirs and chickens - cause yes, you can buy these right next to each other!

Next we headed down by the river and took a nice lazy walk to check out some of the art work. We took a look at Flinders Street Station and Federation Square. We also gave the in-laws a couple of fun rides on public transportation. It never gets old! I really love not having to get in the car.
We kept this day pretty relaxed cause we have some heavy duty traveling coming up!

October 19 - The Grandparents have Landed

Seth's parents arrived in Melbourne on Monday morning. There was a little error in pick up but we finally got everything handled and sorted. I will say we were oddly lucky that the airlines forgot some luggage in Sydney cause we were packed into our car. The airline did deliver the luggage later that day (along with the wonderful canisters of Swiss Miss that were stashed away inside).

**I've already mixed up days so if you are confused, just pretend you aren't, and I'll pretend I didn't mess up!**

The bulk of the day was pretty relaxed. We did head over to Sydney Road which is our main street for Coburg. We showed the family where we did our shopping, went to the library, bought croissants, and had hot chocolate.

When we got home Seth threw a large piece of fish on the grill for dinner. The rest of the luggage was delivered. Lilly started working on her puzzle (to be shown later) with grandpa and then our guests and Lilly were in bed by 8:30.

October 18 - Ballet Sneak Peak

Lilly had her first ballet pictures. It was adorable. The make-up, I could have done without but she did ok with it all. I was disappointed with the actual picture process as I was used to spending time with the photographer in each costume and doing several poses. For this, they did a group shot and one picture in first position with her arms out. That was it. We would find out later that they then wanted $20 for a 5x7 and Seth never even got to see her individual picture. Hopefully we can get some shots on the day of her performance.

October 12 - Structured Playgroup

When we first moved here, I was always asked if Lilly was on a waiting list for three year old Kinder. Well, of course not, we didn't know anything about it. Kindergarten (just known as kinder) is equivalent to pre-school. Right now it seems as if everyone is determined to get their children into a kinder and start the learning process as early as possible. Three year is usually on one day a week for three hours or two days for a couple of hours. While I am sure that there are learning opportunities during this time, I see it more useful for social purposes (especially having moved from another country). But that's just me, I still have people look at me funny when I say we opted not to do three year kinder.

Well, I figured Lilly needed some more kid time and we did find a group that advertised itself as a structured playgroup for those who did not get enrolled in a kinder (there is a waiting list at most places). It may be structured in the same way as I imagine a day of kinder, I don't know. They do songs and read stories. Usually have some sort of art activity and some play time. The parents are all in there and it is a small group. I don't find it particularly educational, but Lilly loves it and that's what I was looking for.

October 10 - Fairies

Part of the bonus of living near a large city is all the free activities. There is almost always something, you just have to pay attention to where they are as some aren't too close. Our friends went with us to our local shopping center and we met with the cast of The Fairies for some singing, dancing and story reading. Lilly wasn't keen on getting to close but I think she enjoyed watching from a distance.

September 29 - Melbourne Zoo

Because we got a year pass, it is very easy to just hop on the tram or train and take a ride to the zoo. We can spend a few minutes (yes, we have done this on a rainy day) or several hours. We like to pick an animal or two and then head to the play park.

This day was special because Lilly told me that she thought we should try the butterfly house. The first time we went to the zoo, she went into the butterfly house and completely freaked out when a butterfly landed on her. She was done. She climbed up my leg and into my arms then kicked me until I got out of the house. It was not pretty. Each visit after we would go see the elephants and we would have to go by the butterfly house. Lilly would go into panic mode and tell me she would not go in, some days she would even be in tears. For whatever reason, today was the day she was over her fear. She went in, stood for some pictures and held her hand up for a butterfly to land on. The only almost tears - she was upset when the butterflies did NOT land on her hand!

We went by the elephants. We like to stand and watch them for a while. Ok, I like to stand and watch, Lilly likes to jump up and down the steps and swing from the bars in the area. At least we are both happy!

And of course, what's a trip to the zoo without a trip to the play area. This was the busiest I have seen the zoo but it was a really nice day.

September 22 - The Royal Melbourne Show

Lilly and I got our friends, Heather and Alex to go with us to "the Show". I didn't really know what to expect. I just heard it was a lot of fun. Upon arrival, I discovered it was the state fair, with a different name. Everyone asked if I had been to the Show and while before I thought they were talking about the theatre, now I know they were talking about the fair.

We lucked out with the weather. The Show takes place during school holidays so I've heard how busy it gets. The day was warm and mostly sunny but very windy. Every once in a while it looked like it was going to rain and I think that kept people from coming.

Anyway, the first thing we did was check out Elmo. Keep in mind that Lilly is petrified of dressed up characters (it all started with Santa Claus last December and has included a zebra at the zoo and Kung Fu Panda). She was so excited until she saw Elmo and how big he was. She did not want to go up to get her picture taken with him so I carried her and while he tried to hug her, had to ask him not to touch her. She was fine as long as I was in between them!

There were several areas with animals. We watched a lamb be born. That was kind of weird. They bring all these sheep in for the purpose of showing this. We also went into a petting area and got to pet goats, chickens, calves and lambs. One calve was trying to eat my jacket and then my shoe. It took about 5 minutes to get the thing to stop eating my stuff only to turn around and start eating my friends shoes/pants. We left at that point.

The rest of the day was spent walking around and checking out the hundreds of booths/exhibits/foods/rides. We didn't see everything and we ended up staying until almost 8:00 at night. There was a lot of walking but they had lots of things for the kids to do. Lilly planted a flower, dug up potatoes, rode a train (that was the only thing I paid for besides food and entrance fee), colored pictures, and played on a computer. She probably did a lot more, I just don't remember. I was very impressed with how child friendly the entire thing was.

September 21

We have a bike path that goes fairly close to our house. I usually take it when I go for a run (not that I've done it lately, but if I had, I would take it). It winds around through trees and fields, goes by the outdoor pool and a large play park (that Lilly loves to go to) and goes on to the north and south. I don't know where either end start, I've stuck to a few miles in either direction.

Lilly wanted to go for a walk so we grabbed her scooter and left. She also wanted to be a superhero so she has the cape. [This was an awesome activity we did before we left Michigan - a silk scarf and kool-aid, lots of fun!] The first picture is going up the hill to get to the path. Then we have going down a hill that we won't let her ride her scooter on.

After you go around a footy/cricket field, you get to a bridge that goes over a cute little stream. The pictures are looking out from the bridge. And then of course, in complete Melbournian style, the bridge has been tagged.

September 12

We headed into the city for a day and our first stop was lunch at Federation Square. Our budding photographer picked up the camera and snapped a couple of shots of us. Not too bad.

Our next stop was the Immigration Museum, but we weren't allowed to take pictures in there. So this was a boring post!

September 4 - Family Movie Night

We've been having trouble with Lilly and sleeping. She sleeps, just not always straight through the night. So, reward and bribery. That's our solution and sometimes it works. Just not always well.

Anyway, she earned a family movie night. We popped popcorn, turned on the heater and watched in our favorite television viewing spot. Our movie - 101 Dalmatians (the original version). We won't be watching it again for several years. Lilly can find something scary in every movie we watch but doesn't always tell us until it is over.

Lilly also got to sleep in our bed that night. Not sure we'll be doing that again either.

August 23 - A 'Little' Play

The place where I play soccer is this huge park. In March, the Australian Grand Prix race is held there. The track is around a lake. The Melbourne Swimming and Aquatic Center is located in the park as well as a Tennis Club and Gulf Club (although I am pretty sure there isn't a full course). Throughout the park there are play structures for children, picnic areas, and walking tracks. Seth finally took Lilly to one of the play structures during one of my games. He said it was so big they didn't even play on the entire thing!

Day 9 - Say Goodbye

It always sucks to say goodbye to people! I would like to think this one was easier. In theory we will be in the states for a while next year. I just don't know when or for how long.

Seth had to send in his X-box for a little love and care. He had mom take it back with her to send it from the states.

Love you, mom!

Day 8 - Trip to Healsville

For our last full day with mom with headed to the Healsville in search for the kangaroo. Mom wanted to see one and this was the best place to guarantee a spotting.

We saw all the Australian animals and checked out the kangaroos. We checked out the "Meet the Keepers" for the koalas and the Tasmanian devils.

On the way home we tried to find some dinner. We finally found a place that was open and when we went in they asked if we had a booking. Of course we didn't but the place was empty! They took their time trying to figure out where we would sit and finally found space for us in a corner. I couldn't even tell you the name of the restaurant let alone where it was.