AU with the Gardiners

Australia was one of our favorite places while on our round-the-world trip - we loved the beaches, the rock pools, the cafe culture, the flat whites, the wine, ALDI stores... and most of all, the people.  So, we've had it on our list to return to since 2012.  Last month, we finally made it happen and we are already looking for another opportunity to return.

We spent our first week in Collaroy at the Gardiner hale where giant cockatoos came screeching to the lanai each morning begging for snacks,

Gordy and the boys (Max and Pierce) played wresting, cars, and dress up,

We enjoyed day trips to Manly,

we went to Max and Pierce's footy game,

and we checked out the Taronga Zoo.

We spent a few days up north in the Hunter Valley cruising the Central Coast on the way up, drinking a fair bit of wine, getting the VIP treatment at Tyrrell Wines (thanks Cam!), swimming in some killer pools, and eating lots of good food from ALDI.

For our last week, we drove about 3 hours south of Sydney to Manyana with the Gardiner crew.  Gordy had so much fun with all the kids - every morning he would wake up and jump out of bed asking "where the boys?".  Once he found them, he'd chase them around the room yelling, "here comes the Gogo monster!".  The beaches were beautiful and empty, and Dean and Sherene were great company.  We cannot thank the Gardiners (Deano, Sherene, Charlie, Pieces, and Max) enough for sharing their little slice of paradise with us.  We had a wonderful time!

Tutu Time

Tutu came to visit!!!  She was only here for a week, but we managed to fit quite a bit in, including...
A day at Sea Life Park

Some yummy food

Sprints

And even some ukulele playing!

See you next time Tutu! xo

2019 has been good so far!

"gogo cuddle me for a minute"

For some reason, I thought that as Gordy got older, he'd become less interested in cuddling.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  In fact, sometimes, he cuddles me so much that I feel like he'd climb back in my belly if it had a door.

His newest thing has been to ask for one last cuddle before he goes to bed by saying, "Gogo cuddle me for a minute".  When he says this,  he means that he wants me to lay down next to him so that our faces are touching, he wants my arm around or on him and he wants to snuggle his little body into mine as much as physically possible.  Once in our position, he'll lay there until either, he (and sometimes I) fall asleep, or until I tell him that's it and he needs to go to sleep.  

My heart melts every time.

scooter-riding maniac

Gordy has spent the last week perfecting his scooter-riding skills and has already improved significantly.  He can lean to each side to turn it,  He can go up little bumps onto the sidewalk and can also go back down them.  He can go super fast and can then slow down when he needs to.  Thanks Tutu and Pop Pop for the Christmas gift - Gordy is on his way to becoming the next neighborhood hoodlum.

making up stories

Gordy's vocabulary has been improving quickly.  He's constantly asking what things are called (Mommy, what dis called?) and where they come from (Mommy, where dis come from?) and then will repeat our answers as though he's trying to make a mental note of it for later.  

The other day, he took things a step further and used his new found words to make up a story.  We were driving in the car and he announced that he needed to go to the doctor.  When I asked him what happened he said, "lots of bites".  He then proceeded to tell me that he had bites on his ears, knees, toes, etc. and that the bites were from bees.  He then insisted again that he go to the doctor.  I did my best to explain that bees don't bite and that we probably didn't need to visit Kaiser, but that we'd check on the bites later to make sure that they were ok.  He seemed satisfied.

p.s. He didn't have bites of any kind on him.

Santa come!

This was the first year that Gordy seemed to care at all about Christmas or Santa.  So, since he was showing some interest, we played along.  We told him a little bit about Santa and how he would come visit on Christmas Eve.  We put up our little tree and decorated it with lights and ornaments.  

We restarted my Granny Goodwitch's tradition of baking and painting sugar cookies.

We rode our bikes to the Haleiwa Christmas parade to see the lights.

We had a Christmas Eve feast with friends and family.  

We left cookies out for Santa.  And, we opened presents :)

Not sure that Gordy will remember much of the festivities for long, but we all had a happy holiday.