Thursday, May 16, 2013

Travels (May 5-11)

Most of this week, I was in Los Angeles for a work event.  Brian and Grandma held down the fort with the kids.  So they were also responsible for taking pictures!


May 5:  We headed out to the Royal Botanical Gardens after a very long morning nap for Brenna (she always does that when we want to go somewhere).  When we got there, it was lunch time so we had some lunch at a little cafe where they had these nice couches.  Liam was thrilled because they had pancakes with ice cream on the menu!


In the pond, there were ducks and eel (not my favorite).  Liam was very curious. 


Brenna loved the birds.  She squeals with delight when she sees them. 



The park is gorgeous and set by the harbor, with great views.  It is full of interesting critters and plants and flowers.  We didn't have time to ride the little train that goes through the gardens, so we'll have to go back!



May 6:  I took Monday off from work to spend a little more time with the family before heading on my business trip.  So, we decided to head to Featherdale Wildlife Park.  The park has a ton of Australian animals.  The wombats were a big favorite.  Liam kept saying, "They're so cute.  So so so so cute."  They are!

Some of the animals - like these kangaroos - you can feed and touch.  Liam was fearless! 



And Brenna was curious.


The emu was pretty agressive with the food and the ice cream cone holding the food.  

 






I took a lot of pictures of the birds and animals to make a little book for the kids.
 



Holding a koala is now illegal in New South Whales (where Sydney is located), but we got to pose with one and pet his back.  They are not as soft as you might expect.  But still "so so so so cute", as Liam would say.


May 7:  I had to go to the airport in the late morning, so Brian and I took the kids for a walk to Rushcutters Bay after breakfast.  We looked for fish in the water and played on the playground.


Then while Brenna was napping, Liam and I did some projects with scissors and a glue stick.  He was so proud to show off his work to Brian!


May 8:  While I was away, Brenna was in pretty good spirits playing in the living room.


May 8:  Liam was worn out by the end of the day and caught a quick rest with Grandma on the couch.


May 9:  Brenna found a new love of cantaloupe while I was gone.  I don't care for it, so I never buy it.  But when Mom is away, it's cantaloupe time!


May 9:  Grandma and Brian took the kids to the Sydney Tower Eye to get a view of the city.  



May 10:  Last day without Mom and Brenna was totally holding up.


May 10:  And Grandma was holding up, too, despite tackling both kids.  Liam had a hard day the last day, perhaps because he woke up quite early while I was out of town.


May 11:  I arrived home early in the morning after a very long week.  We were all a bit tired, so we stayed at home.  Liam was satisfied with the presents I brought back (books, legos, and a puzzle).  And he really liked the caramel popcorn.  He ate 3 snack cups of it in a day!



Brenna really wanted to get her hands on his snack cup.  She tried charming Liam with her big goofy smile, but he was not impressed.  She did manage to get her hands on it just after I took this picture.

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