Here is a link to the latest collection of Lark family photos on our Shutterfly site.  This is how I reckon the kids would prefer to spend their days:

Winter Break: Hawaii, Whales and Sunshine

We have one more week left of winter break so I thought I'd give you a quick update on our recent activities.  It will probably be a long time before I can think of June/July/August as anything other than "summer" but the cooler days and rain are a good reminder that it isn't summer here.  But it would take a whole lot more than cool, wet days to dampen my enthusiasm for exploring our hometown - particularly since you can count on a beautiful sunny day to break things up. 

• We had one such day on Sunday and took full advantage by going whale watching at Cape Solander, about 45 minutes south of our house.  Humpbacks, Southern Right and Minke whales all pass by Australia on their annual migration and can be seen off the coast of Sydney between May and October.  The peak time is typically the first week of July.  Turns out the whales are operating on their own schedule this year and while more than 1,500 have made their way past the South Coast of NSW in recent months the numbers are still quite low.  When we arrived at Cape Solander on Sunday, the outlook was not good.  They had only seen 1 humpback on Saturday and they had seen 5 at 7:30am on Sunday but none since.  (they usually see 60-80/day in early July.)   But the view was incredible and the weather perfect so we decided to stay for awhile.  Sophia befriended the migration study volunteers, who loved the whale book she brought to help identify the whales we might see.  Our patience was rewarded with 4 humpback whales, who swam close enough to our vantage point that we didn't even need the binoculars. 

• We had a Malacarne family "meet-up"in Kauai the last week of June.  It was so wonderful to see my parents, sisters and their families.  The kids loved playing with their cousins - and were enamored by the two newest additions, Jackson (6 months) and Mara (9 months.)   The 10 hour flight seemed like a breeze compared to the 16 hours it would have taken to get to LA or Dallas.  So glad everyone was willing to meet us in the middle of the Pacific!   Snorkeling, boogie boarding and exploring were the main activities.  Zachary and I got so sick on the helicopter ride that I opted out of the snorkel trip but Grandma and Uncle Jake went in my place and fun was had by all.  (Gave me some extra time with my sisters, nieces and nephews!)  Next year at Disney, perhaps? 

•  We ended our Hawaii vacation with two days in Oahu with one goal in mind - giving the kids a chance to swim with dolphins.  They were in heaven!

•  I am looking forward to tagging along with Andy on a few upcoming business trips.  Would you believe that i have yet fly anywhere in Australia since we arrived?  That is all about to change - am going to Melbourne for a night next week and then to Noosa on the "sunshine coast"in August.  Will be sure to tell you all about both trips. 

School starts back next Tuesday so there is still some time to squeeze in a few more things.  Will likely hit some musuems later in the week and possibly head up to the Blue Mountains to an animal park I've heard some good things about.  Of course, the kids have already been to the zoo this week - LOVE those "Friends of the Zoo" annual passes.   We have an extra one for guests so come on down and see us! 

Goodbye Tonsils

I have been terrible at updating my blog over the past few months which is prompting me to think that i need to re-evaluate how I use my blog vs. facebook.  Maybe I should be updating my blog and posting that to facebook rather than just posting to facebook?  Or maybe I don't really need a blog since my facebook community is so much larger and it is so much easier to update my status?  Will have to give that some thought.  Let me know if you have an opinion.

In the meantime, here is what has been happening since my last post (also chronicled on my facebook timeline):

• I woke up the morning after my first netball game with a terrible fever which then turned into Quinsy (see this October post for my previous bout), which is very unpleasant complication of tonsillitis.   I ended up being admitted to the hospital not once but twice and spent the better part of the Easter holiday in a coed geriatric ward where I was the youngest person by several decades.  For those of you keeping count, I have been to the hospital 5 times (and stayed 24 hours or more 3 times) since we moved here.  The recurrence rate of Quinsy is very high - nearly 90 percent after the first recurrence -  so I was told to get rid of my tonsils as soon as as I was well enough to do so.

Easter Sunday breakfast at Royal North Shore Hospital

• I was released from the hospital on Easter Sunday and Andy's cousin Lorraine arrived a few hours later with her family from WA (Western Australia).  What could have been a disaster turned out to be fabulous as they were such a joy - and help! - to have around.  They took the kids on all sorts of adventures and their teenage son earned "rock star"status with Zachary.  Highlights of their visit included going to the Sydney Royal Easter Show (think Texas State Fair, Aussie style) and seeing Tony Bennett perform at the Opera House.  
• We postponed our trip to New Zealand by a week so I could recover a bit and the kids and I were able to enjoy 7 days in Rotorua with Nanna and Granddad in late April. (Kids had 3 weeks of school holiday.)   Rotorua is known as the "adventure playground" of NZ and with good reason.  We went bungy swooping and jetboating, shot down a mountain on a luge, patted lion cubs and swam in the hot pools.  We also spent some quality time with Andy's grandparents - who are 90 and 91.  You can see just how scared both Zachary and I were when we realized how high 43 meters is in this video of us bungy swooping.  Sophia thought it was awesome from the beginning; it took Zachary and I a bit longer to agree.
• Sophia turned 7 and we had a zoo party at our house.  It was so much fun.   Here are some photos.  The porcupine-like animal is called an Echidna.  Every animal they brought was an Australian native which made it even more special.  Taronga Zoo is ready to hire Sophia.  Some of you may remember her fourth birthday, which also featured animals from one of Austin's "rescue zoos." 
• I had my tonsils out on May 1 and it took a full two weeks to recover enough to eat an actual meal.  Thankfully, my mom was able to come down and help and Andy got very good at school pick-up and drop-off. Plus we have been blessed with great friends who pitched in with playdates, carpools and even pharmacy runs.   I really must have looked terrible when I first emerged from my sick cave as I've had at least 10 friends comment about how much better I look this week.  Guess I took "pale" to a  whole new level.
•  The drama with our rental continues and we are awaiting notification of the date for the "formal hearing." In the meantime, I am lining up our witnesses and evidence.
• We had to say goodbye to Mom (aka Grandma or "Granny") but are counting the days until we meet up with my entire family in Hawaii next month. 
• I return to Netball tomorrow.  The kids blame netball for all of my recent illness so I'd better emerge pain and sick free.  I'm planning to ease back in and only play a quarter or two.  Our team is undefeated so I hope I am up to the challenge.   

That more or less brings you up to date on life down under.  Andy and I are going to the Opera House tonight to see florence+the machine, which promises to be awesome.  Hope you are all enjoying a warm spring - our fall is slowly giving way to winter. . .

xoxoxo,
k

My First Netball Game

My zeal to embrace all things Australian may have gotten the best of me today. My dear friend and neighbor Sally and the awesome ladies we play tennis with convinced me to join a netball team. A perfect way to soak up Aussie culture, right? That they somehow spotted my competitive streak still astounds me. Ahem. At any rate, I bought my ridiculously short uniform, attended 2 practices and soaked up all the instructional videos YouTube had to offer. Here is a link to one of the videos if you want to get a feel for the game. Sophia, who has been playing netball at school, also offered up a few tips. She even served as the official photographer..

Photo credit:  Sophia Lark

Today was the first game of the season. It was so much fun. At first we were all a bit freaked out when our opponent turned out to be a group of 16-year-olds (year 11 aka juniors to us americans) complete with a coach and official scorekeeper.  The first quarter was a bit bleak. The umpire was blowing her whistle every few seconds and we looked like deer caught in the headlights as we tried to figure out what we were doing wrong.   But then we got it together and ended up coming from behind to win.   Go, Mosman moms!  They might have had youth, agility and skill on their side but we had an exuberant and under-supervised crowd of kids - ranging in age from 1 to 12 - on ours. 
The bad part didn't come until later. In the fourth quarter I twisted my ankle but didn't think much about it at the time. I was fine for the first few hours.  But now it is extremely swollen and painful and I can't put any weight on it.  I'm following the RICE (rest, ice, compress and elevate) treatment, have dug into my stash of imported Advil and am hoping it will improve dramatically by tomorrow. Thank god i still have crutches from the stair incident. And before you ask, it was the other foot.
At least we have a few weeks off until our next game. The first school term comes to a close this Thursday and not much gets scheduled during school holidays. The kids and i are going to New Zealand to visit nanna and granddad fish for a few days and andy's cousin Lorraine and her family are coming to visit us so it should be action-packed. Yet another reason why this ankle problem had better be temporary.  More soon as I'm way behind on my updates...which will feature Picasso, a possible new career in law and the car I'm planning to steal from Andy. . .stay tuned!  Miss you..  xoxoxo. 

It's The Hard Knock Life

Sophia and I went to see the musical "Annie" yesterday. (Her adorable friend Issie rode with us.)  Hard to say who loved it more but it was probably me.  I've always had a special affinity for Annie - not because I grew up as a poor orphan but because I had a terrible mop of short red curly hair.  I was called Annie a lot - and not in a good way either - but that didn't keep me from dreaming I could sing like her. 

Sophia and our neighbor Issie with their "Annie" purchases

 

 

 

I remember going to see the touring production when it was in Kansas City and I couldn't have been much older than Sophia is now.   When I asked her which part she liked the best she answered "all of it" but later admitted that she liked Sandy the best.  (Of course!)  She also had some really great questions - How did Daddy Warbucks know about Sandy? Why were those people going to get money for taking Annie and Daddy Warbucks didn't?  Was President Roosevelt real and why was he in a wheelchair?  Did all of those other girls go to live with Annie, too?  Of course, the song "It's the hard knock life" opens up an entire can of worms but it would be hard to come up with a better opening for talking about the harsh realities some children face.  I suppose the message was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that I allowed us  to fall prey to the Annie marketing machine.  She was shocked to learn that they didn't sell "Sandy" stuffed animals when I went to see the show with my mom.  But at least she promised to carry on the family tradition:  "When I have a little girl, I'll take her to see Annie and you can come with us.  And Grandma, too." 

Kicking off the New School Year

This week marks the official start of the new school year.  Sophia started "Year 1" on Monday and Zachary started his "senior" year of preschool today.  Zachary loves being a big kid, wearing a uniform and being so close to Sophia.  (The preschool is next door to the prep school.)  Sophia loves being old enough to play on the monkey bars.  (Kinder was banned due to several broken bones.)  Mom loves being able to do drop-off and pick-up for both at the same time. 

Parking remains a nightmare but we are getting lots of exercise as I've decided to give up on trying to find a parking space nearby.  Nothing like a brisk walk to get your morning started right. (Today's downpour made it so refreshing!) And what great strength training to carry a tired and cranky 4-year-old at the end of the day!

Dog Days of Summer

I have definitely been remiss in blogging during our "summer holiday" but I'm going to blame that on the craziness of having the kids out of school.  A few highlights:
1.   Spending New Year's Eve at our neighbor's and watching the fireworks from our deck.  AMAZING!
2.  Taking the kids to see "Hairy Maclary" at the Sydney Opera House.  (If you aren't familiar with the series, go to the link and buy this beloved NZ children's book!)
3.  Celebrating Zachary's 4th birthday at Luna Park, a 1930s amusement park on the harbor.
4.  My stealth solo trip to Kansas City for my dad's 70th birthday and to meet my new niece Mara and nephew Jackson.
5.  Putting our annual passes to the Taronga Zoo to good use.  I LOVE that place. 
6.  Spending "Australia Day" and the last four days of school holidays watching the kids catch waves on the South Coast.  
I should probably note that the title of this post really isn't apt as it has been anything but "dog days" here.  I don't know how many people have told me that this is the "worst summer in Sydney" but I'm quite enjoying it.  It is still unseasonably wet and dreary but there are have been very few days when we haven't been able to squeeze in a swim or a trip to the beach. . .