A few more Sydney sights...

Sydney on Sunday...

The Rocks... great place for some markets.

Liam and Beth were quite taken with the look and feel of this dress.

Wooden kangaroos that 'hop' down the slope.

Sydney day 2... powerhouse museum...

The Powerhouse Museum turned out to be quite fabulous, with something for everyone. One of the highlights for me was strolling through the rather nostalgic 'Back to the 80s' exhibition. Fashion, technology, games and toys, current affairs, music and entertainment - they had it all on display. I was so excited to see a version of our old Atari that Aaron and I used to play, and proudly demonstrated to Liam and Beth how to use a joystick! Of course, both kids were utterly bored with all of it... far too old and boring, Mum!

The children's section 'Zoe's House' turned out to be more of a hit for Liam and Beth. Donning hard hat and work vest, it was all hands on deck to help 'build' walls of a house with large grey foam bricks.

Another highlight for me was coming across a display of the original images of one of Jeannie Baker's picture books - 'Belonging'. Jeannie Baker is known for her intricately detailed collages that form the images in all her books. I was surprised at how small the collages are - in fact, they are only slightly bigger than the size pictured in the books themselves.

Ah - finally, the children's playground. The place Liam and Beth had been waiting for the whole time!

Sydney day 2... out and about...

Waiting for the bus at Circular Quay...

Slurp slurp chocolate milkshake...

Actually, we had rather rainy weather for most of the weekend. The sky wasn't really blue, but it was fun playing with the image on Picasa.

Trying for another arty shot...

Off to Sydney... day 1

We took the opportunity to use up some frequent flyer points on some flights down to Sydney over the last weekend. I like this picture of Liam and Beth watching Sydney out of the plane window - sharing the space and even a small display of sibling affection... just moments before fighting over the window space broke out.

On Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to catch up with friends Tanya and young Cassandra, whom we befriended through playgroup in 2008 and who now live back in Sydney. Tanya drove all the way into the city to spend a few hours with us, and it was fantastic to see them both and catch up amidst the noise of the kiddies having a riot of a time playing in our hotel room! We had some fun at Hyde Park, and dined at kid-friendly Hungry Jacks.

A freaky crash...

No, this didn't happen in a storm, no wind, no rain... just an ordinary hot sunny day. After hearing what sounded like an extra-large palm frond dropping down heavily outside the front of the house, a proper inspection amazed us. The tall gum tree across the road had one of its branches give way and crash down across the road, ending just on the edge of the road in front of our house. Scary... had it been one of the taller forks of the tree, it would have come a lot further into our yard, or even our house!

It's Wii-am!!!

Here's our little man... practising his driving skills on Mario Cart Wii. It's safe to say he's just a little bit addicted to playing this game!