Schools, Sharks and Stupidity

Have had so much to report this week that I haven't really reported anything.  And I think the real reason for that is that I haven't wanted to admit that I wrecked the car.  Yes, it's true.  I made what can only be classified as a "stupid American" move and ended up getting the entire left side of the car smashed in.  I bet Andy is really wishing he'd listened when I told him I wanted to LEASE a WELL USED car.  Well, the car is definetly going to be valued as a well used car from here on out. . .
On a far more positive and confidence-building note, we have made lots of progress on just about every other front.  Sophia and I had an amazing orientation visit to her new school and she couldn't be more excited to start on Monday.  The facility is just amazing - in fact, the official "opening" of their new campus is this week - and the teachers and administration were so loving and enthusiastic.  Having only attended public schools, I am completely intrigued with the whole uniform thing.  Here's a preview of some of the gear you'll see featured in Sophia's first day of school photo:

It also looks like they have a space available next year (starts end of January) for Zachary in their "transition" class, which is the Australian version of pre-K.  In the meantime, I've found a great pre-school for Zachary to attend.  We had our orientation visit today and he will start going on Mondays and Fridays next week. 
We finalized everything on our house this week, too.  Well, everything but the move in date.  Looks like we will be able to move in sometime the week of Sept 20.  While the apartment we are in has been great, I am already counting the minutes to when we'll be in our place and have our own things.  (and hopefully to when we'll be getting a bit more sleep. . .)
We also found the time to enjoy the beautiful weather we've had this week.  We went to the aquarium yesterday - which involved 2 ferries and a train, which Z might have enjoyed more than the sharks - and today we went to Balmoral Beach.  It is hard to believe that we are less than 10 minutes to such an amazing spot!  More soon.