Our Weekend

Monday, November 18th, 2013

I don't have a green thumb and I haven't killed the roses in our yard!  Yet...

Chaney made this birdfeeder (and Charlie made a matching one) in preschool last year in Warrensburg.  A neighbor gave us some "colourful bird food" and we have been waiting!  (This bird isn't that colorful.)

I know this picture isn't that good.  But, this was the first time we saw a colorful bird in our yard. It was a pretty red and blue parrot just sitting on our fence. 

Charlie just hanging in his PJs just reading.  (You can see pictures leaning against the wall waiting to be hung. You might also see the lone Thanksgiving decoration.  It's still weird that it is spring here. All my Thanksgiving decorations are fall related! )



Australian ESPN was showing the Kansas Jayhawk basketball game LIVE the other day.  But since it was at 2:00 in the afternoon, we recorded the game and watched it when everyone was home from school and work.  We added an extension to the recording time but the recording still ended with 4 minutes 35 seconds left in the close game!  NOOOOOO!!!  Thank goodness for the internet so we could find out how the game turned out.  Jayhawks won!



On Saturday we went to the zoo.  We can get up close and personal with some of the animals. 

At the zoo!

On Sunday we went to Tidbinbilla.  Tidbinbilla is a preserve about 40 minutes away.  We got to get close to kangaroos and see some awesome koalas. 

 

Tidbinbilla also had a cool playground with a huge slide and a mini zip line.  The kids loved it.

 

Bugs and Feathers

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

On day a few weeks ago, a couple of other American women took me to two wineries near by.  We left after dropping the kids at school and we arrived at the first winery about 10:00 when they open.  Of course we had to sample the wine!!  I bought several bottles.  The scenery was beautiful.

Where's Waldo The Kangaroo? Can you spot the kangaroo that we saw on the way to a winery?

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

We pronounce that black and white striped animal zee-bruh.  Australians pronounce it zeb-ruh (with a short e). I don't know why, but I find this very funny.  Maybe its because my six year old twins now pronounce it zeb-ruh. 

The mailman rides a small motorbike dressed in neon yellow from head to toe with a neon yellow flag sticking off the back of the bike.  He rides up to each mailbox, delivers the mail, and rides right on to the next mailbox. 

Instead of saying "ready, set, go!" they say "ready, steady, go!"

We say fillet (fi-lay).  They say fil-it. 

Erich's Nissan 350Z arrived last week.  It appears to be in good condition so that is a relief to Erich.  He dropped the car off in St. Louis back in mid June.  I bet that car has some stories to tell about where it's been and who has sat in the seat! Since we have purchased two Australian vehicles, his car will probably just sit in the garage most of the time.

All the eggs I've seen in the grocery stores are brown.  I haven't seen one white egg.  How do you dye brown eggs at Easter time??  And they don't wash the eggs.  So you might get a feather or two in your carton... Goody...  I have been washing my eggs before I crack them open. 

When you buy leaf lettuce at the grocery store, the roots are still attached.  My head of leaf lettuce even came with some bugs hidden among the leaves. Maybe that's why prices are so high!!  You are paying for bugs and feathers!

I am SO EXCITED that Australian ESPN will be showing the Kansas vs. Duke basketball game LIVE!  It will be on at 2:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday.  We are recording it so we can all watch it together Wednesday night.  (I'm very much against recording and watching sporting events at a later time.  But I also never thought I would be living in Australia!) So don't text or email me the results of the game!!  The KC Chiefs football game against the Broncos will be on live on Monday at 12:15 in the afternoon.  It's gonna be a great week!  Rock Chalk and Go Chiefs!

Only a Matter of Time

Monday, November 11, 2013

Holidays

Since they don't celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving here, nothing is stopping them from putting up Christmas decorations around the mall in early October.  (I'm serious.). It also doesn't stop them from having their Christmas parties at the beginning of November. I'm totally serious. We thought it was a joke when our friend said they were on their way to a Christmas party.

This was picture was taken at the mall in mid October.

Money

• When shopping, an item price tag already has the sales tax included.  So if the tag says $5.95, you will pay $5.95 at the register. 
• They don't have 1 cent coins.  The smallest coin they have is 5 cents.  So, if you owe $5.67, they round up to $5.70.
• The Australian dollar bills are all different colors and sizes.  A 5 dollar bill is the smallest denomination of bill they have. They have $1 and $2 coins.
  
    

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• They don't measure butter by tablespoons like we do in America. They measure by grams.  This makes it very interesting when I need butter for a recipe.  All my recipes call for tablespoons or cups, a measure of volume. Their measurements are all in weight.  (Aren't you proud, mom?!) There is a website that will convert the butter measurements. So I use the online converter and then break out my handy food scale.  One tablespoon of butter is 14.2 grams. Just in case you wanted to know. Their butter is different than ours. When set out at room temperature, it doesn't get as soft as American butter does.  It's still quite stiff.  Go ahead and ponder that one.
• They don't have drive through ATMs.  Banks don't have drive through lanes.  And there are no drive through pharmacies. (Of course they don't call it a  pharmacy. They call it a chemist.)
• In the U.S. you flip a light switch up to turn on the light. In Australia, you flip a light switch down to turn it on. 
• You know the kids game where someone is "it" and they chase around the other players and the next person that is touched then becomes "it?"  We call that game tag.  Australians call it tips. I heard Charlie asking Chaney the other day if she wanted to play tips.  I had to ask what that was.  They are hearing and using all the local phrases and words.
• More musk flavored candy. A few pellets of perfume tasting candy for a buck.  Don't waste your money.
  
• I've mentioned before that there are a lot of American shows on the TV and I've seen a lot of old shows I haven't seen in a while. Today I saw CHiPs.  It used to be one of my favorite shows! And then I noticed something.  Do you see it?
  
  
  
• I did something I had never done before.  I hung laundry on the line to dry.  Everyone here does it.  One reason is the price of electricity.  Another reason is the incredibly inefficient dryers.  I can't put more then a couple of shirts in the dryer at a time or it won't run.  And it takes forever to dry.  I seriously never thought I would hang clothes on a line.  Never. Ever. Never. I've been hanging my laundry for a week and a bird has not yet crapped on my clothes.  But it's only a matter of time.
  

 

 

Halloween Down Under

Sunday, November 10th, 2013

Oh my goodness! It's been too long since I've updated you about our crazy lives!

Erich was out of town for a week.  We kept track of how
many more nights he would be gone
by coloring in one moon every morning.

A Halloween morning wouldn't be complete without an orange pumpkin pancake!

 

 

Australians don't celebrate Halloween like Americans do.  Most kids don't trick or treat and there is no party at school. The U.S. Embassy had a Halloween party and it was great! A special shout out to Mars and Skittles candy company for donating a ton of candy to the Embassy for the party.  

At the Embassy Halloween Party.  May I present Cowboy Charlie and Princess Chaney.
(Yes, you see Captain America in the background. He's legit.)

Always glad to see Old Glory waving in the Australian wind!
-at the U.S. Embassy

They had a mummy wrap with toilet paper.  Chaney did a great job wrapping up Charlie.

The kids got to meet the U.S. Ambassador to Australia and his

partner. They are in front of the entrance to the Ambassador's residence. 

They are the only ones that live on the Embassy grounds.

 

 After the Embassy party we went back to our house and went trick or treating with our neighborhood friends.  Our neighbors passed out notes to the neighborhood with balloons and ribbon.  The notes explained that if they wanted to participate with the trick or treating, they were to put the balloons on their door.  About every 5th house had a balloon out!  (but no one else had pumpkins!)

In front of our house before trick or treating.  (It is not your imagination.  Chaney changed costumes.)

It was a little strange trick or treating while it was still daylight.  Since this is our spring, we have sprung forward and the sun doesn't set until after 8:00.  But it didn't matter. The kids had a lot of fun and they got candy!

The weekend before Halloween, we carved one pumpkin.  Usually we do more than one but there was a shortage of pumpkins around town (they aren't in season here) and this one was $16. 

Trick or Treat!!

 

Tag Footy Messes You Up

Friday, October 24, 2013

Charlie has always complained about walking when we are out.  I just figured it was a little kid complaining about walking.  After our trip to Sydney, where the complaining was at an all time high, and he showed us where on his foot it hurt, we decided it was time to have it checked out.  On Thursday we had an appointment with a podiatrist and he has really flat feet.  It is causing all his pain because it shifts his ankle and knee and hip joints.   He gets fitted next week for orthotics.  He never complains about pain when he is playing outside or running around with friends.  We think that is because he is preoccupied with having fun that he doesn't even notice. 

Charlie!  See the bruise on his nose?  It happened at recess today. 
He was playing "tag footy" (tag football) and he ran into someone. 
I think this picture of Charlie look alike!

There are some major brush fires in New South Wales.  The brush fires are a big deal around here.  So far the fires have stayed away from our area but we are to have a family plan for evacuation incase it is needed.  Last Saturday there was a haze over Canberra.  It was the smoke from the fires in NSW.

 I went to buy laundry stain remover the other day.  I stood in front of the stain remover section and examined a plethora of brands I had never even heard of.  I've never had that experience before.  I was standing there completely clueless as to which brand to pick. I read each label to see what they claimed they could do.  I looked at where it was made.  I checked out how to use each product.  I was spending WAY too much time picking a stain remover. I ended up buying the only one I had seen an advertisement for on TV.  The power of advertisement at work.  And then I went and did the same thing all over to choose a tub and shower cleaner.

For the most part, school drop off has been going well.  I kiss the kids goodbye in the parking lot (car park) and then I walk them to the playground by their classroom.  We usually get there with about 5 minutes of play time before it's time to line up and go into their classroom.  I've started saying goodbye about 40 feet away from the classroom door area.  And then I turn and leave.  I've found that if I stay until they go into the classroom like most of the other parents, that is when the fits start.  This process of me leaving right away has been working for about 5 weeks.  In that five weeks, there have been two times she has had to be physically taken into the classroom while yelling and resisting.  Today was one of them.  It's a tough start to the day. 

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• All the schools around here have swim lessons in their curriculum.  The kids have had swim every day for the last two weeks. They take a bus to a local indoor pool. Today was their last day. 
• Last night Chaney and I played a game of Chutes and Ladders.  (She won.) Do you remember that game?  If you land on a ladder you get to climb up and go further towards the winner's square.  If you land on a slide, you have to slide down, further away from the winner's square.  Chaney let me know that they have the same game here but they call it Snakes and Ladders.  On the game board there are snakes instead of slides.  I feel like this is quite appropriate in this land of killer snakes (and killer sharks and killer jellyfish and killer spiders...).  Hey kids, play this game and slide down the back of this killer snake.  Have fun!
  
• While Chaney and I played Chutes and Ladders, Erich and Charlie played HORSE with the indoor basketball goal.  I heard Charlie say, "Daddy, you have haitch and O.  I have haitch." ("Haitch" is how the Aussies say the letter H.)
• We call the rear storage area of a car the trunk.  The Aussie's call it a boot.
• A common phrase is, "Good on ya."
• Another common phrase is "How you going?"
   
  
  
   

No Dummies

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 

I miss having a garbage disposal.  I did not take offense to my Australian friend who said people who use garbage disposals are lazy.  I didn't...  Okay,maybe I did just a little bit.  But I still like her.  I did learn that garbage disposals are actually illegal here.  If you have an old one,  you can keep it.  But once it dies you can't replace it.  I wonder if there is a black market for garbage disposals...

The city provides us two bins.  One for trash and one for recycling.  The trash bin gets picked up every week and the recycle every fortnight. (I'm even using the lingo now.) The trash bin holds about two tall kitchen trash bags. It is small. When we moved in I thought there was no way we could get our trash for a week to fit in there.  We are doing such a great job with recycling, that we don't even fill it up every time!  Schroeders 1.  Pollution 0.

The light switches here all make a loud click sound when they are turned on and off.  Pretty annoying when everyone is sleeping and I need to turn on the bathroom light. I guess I even miss the light switches in America.  But,  I'm learning to embrace the change and really appreciate the U.S.! And when I say embrace the change what I really mean is that I tolerate the change until I get used to it.  Some things are easier to embrace than others...

Chaney was sick this last weekend.  She is better now and back to school.  Over the weekend Erich was invited to the family BBQ for the squadron he flies with in the Royal Australian Air Force.  Since Chaney was sick, I stayed home with her and Erich took Charlie.  They had a lot of fun.  They got to tour the plane that Erich flies in, there was a bouncy house, and a petting zoo.  At the entrance to the petting zoo was a sign with the rules.  One of the rules was "No dummies."  What??  It took us a couple of days, but we found out that is what they call pacifiers.  Now it all makes sense.

 

At the petting zoo.

Everything is going well here.  We are getting settled into the house.  The kids are enjoying school. We are starting to settle into a routine. 

The kids running on ahead to our neighborhood park.

Charlie and Daddy practicing the bounce pass.

 

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• Instead of signs that say:  Start Line Here or Wait Here for Next Available Cashier, they have signs that say, "Queue Here."
• Chinese Restaurants don't have Cheese Rangoon or General Tso's Chicken on their menu.  What?!
• I miss refrigerator crescent roll dough.
• Every month I look forward to the monthly game of Bunco with the other American ladies.  Good times!
• They don't call them popsicles.  They call them "ice blocks."  

False Advertising

Monday, October 14th, 2013

Back to School!

Today was the first day back to school to start the beginning of Term 4.  They have new "summer uniforms" and part of the required uniform for school is a hat.  This is to protect them from the sun and from attacking birds.  No, I'm not joking. Attacking birds.  Of course in Australia they call it "swooping" and not "attacking."  But let's just call it like it is.  Attacking.

Allowance

This past weekend we started giving the kids allowance.  We are giving them $3 a week. (In Australian currency) Fifty cents of their allowance is put into "savings" and fifty cents is set aside for "giving."  Well of course their $2 they had left was burning a hole in their pocket.  Erich took them to the mall to shop at the cheapy store. (Like a dollar store but since everything here is more expensive, it costs more than a dollar) Below they are showing off their purchases. 

A New Word

I was searching a website of an Australian store.  When I went to narrow my search, I saw this:

Haberdashery?  What?!! What a funny word. I had to look it up.  Apparently it is a word not commonly used in the U.S. (you don't say).  It has a couple of different meanings.  It could be a store that sells sewing goods like thread, ribbon, buttons. It could also be a store that sells "men's furnishings."  (define men's "furnishings" for me)  Now, maybe all you guys already knew the word.  This gal didn't.

Bacon

You might remember my post about bacon.  Bacon is different here.  So when I saw this,

I got excited.  I mean it has an American Flag on it!  It should taste like American bacon, right? It sorta smelled like American bacon.  It kinda looked like American bacon.

But I am here to tell you that I have NO IDEA why there is an American flag on that package of bacon.  It didn't taste like American bacon at all. AT ALL!  FALSE ADVERTISING! (I couldn't even eat it.  But everyone else did.)