Daytrip to Watsons Bay

Watsons Bay from the ferry
Opera House

Tom

Three boys sharing a joke

Alex and I

We travekked ==== yes trekked and travelled by ferry to Watsons Bay. Ultimately for an ice cream and a swim under skies of sunshine. A nice break from the rain. Extra ferries were running. What is there to do at Watsons Bay - walk, eat, swim, and catch a ferry. Last ferry leaves at 3.50pm. There was a lovely irish lady sitting next to us on the ferry who lent the boys her kids sunblock roll on - must get one of those. Thanks.

Eleven

11 Things you don't know about Alex

1. He has lost his ipod touch for two weeks now

2. Next year he will be in 6th Class

3. He achieves top 2% maths scores

4. He is a Sea Scout

5. He is the first person up in the morning at our home

6. He never makes his bed in the morning

7. His best friends are Tumma, Jonah, and Ewan

8. His favourite book is "The Willoughbys"

9. His favourite food is Chinese cuisine

10. Playing chess is his school sport

11. "Never tell me never" is his motto

More Christmas Pics

Howard Rubie plays Santa Claus at the 2010 Haven Amphitheatre Carols
Janette and boys
Janette and Tom

Jon and the Christmas Pudding on Christmas Eve

Kids Christmas

Getting ready
Tree

Grandma and Grandkids

Three boys

Jon's new food processor as requested - a break from the cookbook tradition

On Christmas Eve we had lots of carols at Tom and Alex's youth group church, St John's and then at the Castlecrag Haven Amphitheatre. Dinner was the Christmas Dinner at 9pm last night. This year ducks and the christmas dishes from the Hayward family recipes. The christmas pudding and brandy butter finished off the occasion, as made by Jon. By 10am this morning we were all up finally and the kids started on the presents. Five minutes later the floor was awash with wrapping paper and soon lego kits were being assembled. For once the weather forecast is wrong and Sydney is bright and sunny with no cloud cover. It is possible that we will venture out for a beach excursion - I just have to check the tides. What will we get up to this week - movies, the NSW Art Gallery, the harbour ferries, and more beach trips. Jill and Robin phoned us as well - from the UK. The Crag is quiet and we may get out there for a bush walk to check out Tom's new collapsible fishing rod. Thanks for making Christmas great everyone. It is a lovely time to rest and think about each other, present and absent but closer because of the phone and the computer. Peace. Except for the cicadas.

Christmas Week

Jonathan made pizzas with the NY Times no knead bread recipe
Alex's class sang Mama Mia at the school Christmas conert
Alex sang quietly with his class on stage

Nick played at the Balmoral Beach playground

and Nick body boarded in the small waves at Freshwater Beach

We put up the Christmas tree, sold live trees for Scouts fund raising, and got ready for the holidays. Tom finished Year 8 and enjoyed sleeping in for a change.

Floodwatch

Sydney in the rain

It's hard to be completely happy when your Mum insists on walking through Sydney to look at museums and galleries in the rain. Still we can't stay inside all Summer. Fiji anyone?

Balmoral Canoeing

Climbing the moreton bay figs
First Sailors Bay Sea Scouts arrive with canoes in tow

Tom working on his competitive spirit

Listening at the muster

Lots of scouts

Balmoral sunset

Canoe games

Every year all of the scouts in the district come together at Balmoral Beach for canoeing games and a game that they complete over a 2km course. At the start of the event our scouts and Northbridge Scouts arrive by boat from up Middle Harbour. The scouts organise all the canoes on the beach and then its game on. Here are some of the pics from yesterday.

Growth Rates

The global economy might still be skydiving but the kids are growing. This year Tom has grown the most out of the three boys. At the start of the year he and Alex were almost the same height. Nick has some catching up to do. I haven't measured their actual height but Tom must be around 158cm now as he is almost as tall as me. One day I will manage to take a photo where they all smile at the same time, maybe bribes are called for.

Weekend with 5 boys

Avalon Beach in the 1930s

Matt and Jake are staying with us this weekend. Our family of three boys is now five. I can't tell you what this feels like to sit at the dinner table with Jon and five boys. Yesterday Tom, Matt, Jake and I headed to Avalon Beach to surf. Well they surfed and I kept a lookout from my deckchair on the beach. We headed home and I made up a big pasta lunch with salads. Other things on this weekend are Nick's swimming lesson and gardening for me. The recent rains have turned on the weeds and there is some clearing up to do. The hopefully some more planting in the coming weeks. I noticed yesterday that the garden has many different aspects when viewed from different places within it.
It's the end of the year and Sydney has that almost Summer feeling about it. I'm looking out for teaching gigs for next year and have been to two interviews so far. Offers of casual teaching abound but nothing permanent as yet.
Last week I published to Kindle at Amazon. I have been writing on and off now since 1999 and finally feel the need to find a readership. 2010 has been a good year. Roll on 2011.

Daytrip with Rosalind

View from the lookout at Garden Island
The view north east, almost original Sydney

Doyles at Watson's Bay where we had lunch

Rosalind and chapeau

Moi aussi

Watson's Bay beach, the gorgeous view from our table

Looking back towards the City

The Florentine skies of Sydney

Back at the Quay

Ferries old and new

Rosalind and I have been enjoying collaborating creatively on writing and illustrating. Today we went on a ferry daytrip on Sydney Harbour. We experienced the beautiful weather and the ocean breeze across the water. After reaching Circular Quay we set out for Garden Island. There we found an amazing 360' lookout and also visited the Maritime Heritage Museum. From there it was on to Watsons Bay for lunch. All of the inner harbour ferries stop from 1-2pm. So it's lunchtime for everyone. Roz had the salmon with mango chutney on a potato rosti, I had the Ulladulla flattie with chips. The sun shone across the water and we whiled away the time talking and laughing. Travelling in Sydney by ferry is the best.

Photos of the Kids

Alex and his friend Robbie at the assembly day
Alex is relaxed after school

Tom and Nick

Portrait of Alex as a young man

They change a little every day.

Vanessa

Vanessa
Vanessa and I (self portrait)

I met up with Vanessa in Chippendale. We went to the pub near her home called The Rose Hotel. It was great to just have an hour and a half where we could actually sit and talk to each other. I don't think I have had the opportunity to catch up with Vanessa for over a year. So it was really special. She told me about her trip to New York and the immigration law work she does. We talked about our kids and families. I met Vanessa in 1988 when we both worked together. Time has changed who we are and our self identities but it has not changed our friendship.