Fruits of our Labors...

 One of the really cool things about going overseas is trying new things whether it be activities, language or phrases or food!  We have loved trying the foods of Australia.  The fruit and veg here is quite awesome.  They use heaps of pumpkin, but their pumpkin is squash to us.  They eat it in salads, soups, everything.  But don't try to buy canned pumpkin...as in the big round orange pumpkins...because they've never heard of that (canned).  But this post is not about pumpkin it's about STARFRUIT!  Such a fun name for a fruit right???

 On Sundays the members of our ward bring things they have a surplus of, to share with the rest of the ward. It's a pretty cool custom. Sometimes we get mangoes, lemons--we even have a woman who owns a bakery so she brings in heaps of bread each Sunday.  It's the stuff the bakery would have to throw out over the weekend.  And we all get to go to her trunk after church and pick out a loaf to take home.  Sometimes we end up with a couple because Parker and Sydney both pop over to get our family a loaf.  I'll be honest, I love this!  I love the idea of sharing what you have and just leaving baskets of fruit by the doors for people to take as they head home.  For about a month, we found bushels full of these funky fruits, called Starfruit.  I'd never tasted them before, and they are interesting.  The members told us they are ripe when they are yellow and they'll turn from green to yellow on your countertop.

We were told they aren't a sweet fruit, but more like cucumber.  Pretty obvious how they got their name!

 We all tried the starfruit and liked it ok, but Oaklee developed quite the taste for it.  She loved an afternoon snack of a plateful of starfruit.  Everytime I cut them, I just kept thinking, "These would make such a beautiful fruit bowl and such an awesome garnish on a plate."  Just look at those perfect little star slices.  I had to wonder if Oaks loved them just for the idea of eating a star!  I wouldn't put it past her.  She is fancy in all things...including her eating.  In fact she told me just the other day, "Mom, I know you like all your kids to be unique, but I'm really unique in a special way from Parker and Birdy.  I am all about Fancy Fashion and they are both more into Village Girl."  Park and Syd heard this and both had to agree wholeheartedly.  Neither of those 2 really go for fancy-pants.  They are all about simple.  Oaks on the other hand-- bring on the puffiness, bling and sparkles baby!  She even likes her water served in goblets.  

I guess she's just fancy, all around.  What can I say, she eats fancy things like fruit shaped as stars!  Love this girl.

Parker Makes His Mark!

I have been so proud of Park here in Brisby when it comes to his sporting experiences.  He has tried all kinds of cool Aussie sports.  He's played in tournaments, and on teams for sports he's never even heard of (AFL) and never once even watched, let alone played (Rugby League and Rugby Union).  He's had a blast doing it.  But of course, he still loves a good game of American hoops.  I've mentioned before that Queensland does a great job of including athletics into their curriculum.  Students are encouraged to try out for district teams.  (All schools in their districts).

Parker was brave and tried out for the district basketball team.  Each school can send 4 students to district tryouts.  Out of the 40 kids at the tryout ages 10 to 12, Park made the district team, even as a 10 year old!  It was so awesome.  He did such a good job.  They practiced for a month together and then went on to play in the Regional tournament.  Park was pretty young for the tournament.  Most of athletes that make the district teams are 12 year olds.  So he had some tough competition underneath (where he likes to play best) for rebounds and boxing out. But he definitely held his own. He had an awesome tournament.  He was totally their team's best rebounder, even though he was far from the biggest on the team.  He had a blast.  He is so brave to try out and it was awesome watching him tear it up at Regionals.  Their team ended up coming in 4th --even though they were the only team to have beaten the team that ended up winning the tournament.  Go Sunnybank!  What a fun day-- and yes, they got to miss a full day of school for the tournament!  The next day at school everyone was so excited for him and proud to hear about Yeronga's only student to make the district team!  Way to go Parker Man!

That weekend we celebrated by heading down to the Gold Coast and playing for a bit on Burleigh Heads beach with our bishop's family.  Parker and Keith Hutchins have become mates here in Brissy.

Nothing like digging enormous holes in the sand!  Big enough to sit in!!!

I loved this shot of the moon over Surfer's Paradise.  I love the sunset at the beach and the moon over the ocean!  It was such a nice night at the beach.

Happy Harmony Day!

What a cool holiday!  Australia celebrates a day called "Harmony Day" and it is all about friendship and embracing diversity.  It is such a fun idea.  One of the things I have loved most about the state school we attend is the diversity it has brought into all our lives. Brisbane itself is very diverse.  I can't believe how many different nationalities my kids have come to know.  They both have friends from so many walks of life.  They have friends that are muslim, hindu, buddhist and so many other religious beliefs.  It's great to see how all the students just blend together at Yeronga, yet still feel individual and proud of who they are.  I really love it.

 When they wear their uniforms many of the girls, have to wear long leggings and head wraps to cover themselves according to their religious customs and beliefs.  And at tea (lunch time), I'm always interested to hear my kids tell me what kinds of things their friends are bringing in their lunches.  It's like an international food fair everyday.  :) And yet, all holidays are recognized and respected.  No one is offended that there are Christmas songs sung, and that the word "Christmas" is used freely.  We also hear all about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah; it's fun to learn about holidays from all over the world.

 So each year our school celebrates Harmony Day with a big assembly and presentation of flags.  They have a flag from each country represented in the school's student body.  They ask a child of that nationality to carry "their country's flag" and place it in the stand.  They allow the students to wear their country's traditional dress instead of their school uniform for the assembly.  We wondered what that might be for America?  An NBA jersey maybe?  Well, ok, it's probably pretty much the same as the Aussie fashions :)
 

It was really quite touching having the country names called out and seeing the student carry their nation's banner across the stage.  Parker was asked to carry the flag for the U.S. and I have to say when he came across, I actually got quite emotional.  I was videoing and I tried to holler for the U.S. while everyone was clapping and cheering and my voice kind of stuck in my throat.  I was pretty choked up seeing him carry the stars and stripes.  It was a really neat assembly.  All the students clapped and cheered for each country.  And you will never believe how many nations were represented...56!  Isn't that crazy?  There are 56 different nationalities represented at our one primary school!  I was amazed and so impressed. I, once again for the millionth time this year, had a moment of such gratitude that my children are having this experience in Australia.

 I couldn't believe how many flags kept coming.  Some of the costumes were amazing.  There were countries and flags called out that I'd never even heard of and dresses and head wraps that added all kinds of splash to the stage.  There were many countries from Africa and the Middle East, that I knew I wouldn't be able to pronounce-- everything from Ghana to Sri Lanka and Malaysia to Yemen.  It was such an awesome site.  I had the chills through the whole thing.  Each grade was asked to present something for the Harmony assembly.  Parker's grade sang a song about nations coming together and people embracing new friendships.  It was really awesome.

The sixth grade did a sing along and dance along to the hit song "Happy" from Despicable Me 2.  It's such a popular song on the radio right now that all the kids clapped and sang along.  It was fun to see the sixth graders dancing the robot, then breakdancing, then highlighting some of the traditional cultural dances from the students in their grade.  Birdy's grade presented art projects they'd done from various places around the world.

All the students were asked to add a bit of orange to their uniforms.  Orange is the color of Harmony Day.

The year ones did a presentation about what makes people happy--"H is for hope..A is for acceptance...etc."  It was really cute.

 So, while still wearing their uniforms, they could add orange socks instead of the usual white for girls or grey for boys, or an orange hair tie, orange bracelet or an orange pin.  Syd's teacher gave all the students orange crepe paper to tie around as a head band.

 Here are Birdy with a couple of her friends in Year 3.  They had written on their headbands..."Together We All Belong!"

Oaks found the American flag after the assembly and was proud to wrap up in it.  I love those moments where you are truly proud of where you born and what makes you who you are.






I thought Harmony Day was such a neat celebration of diversity and Belonging Together!!!  Happy Harmony Day!

Our Last Day in the City of Sydney!

 On our last day, we had a few other sites on our list to see.  We wanted to at least get a closer look at St. Mary's Cathedral.  It is enormous.  And very beautiful.  We had passed it on our walks throughout the week but mostly just saw the spires.  It is a gorgeous church downtown.

 This is a fun view of the mall across Darling Harbour.  We loved the mall.  It was a great place to shop and find some quick food that might not leave your wallet completely scraped out.  MIGHT NOT!  :/

 Another stop we really needed to make was the downtown markets.  Lex told us it was the best spot for souvenirs.  He had been while on his mission and picked up umpteen boomerangs and keychains for friends and family.  On the way there we walked through some awesome old streets with old apartments and beautiful architecture.  I loved this part of the city.

 The new, modern, fancy part was fun too.  Just not quite as charming.  :)

 We made it to the markets and they did not disappoint.  They were plentiful...albeit chaotic.  Just what you'd expect from a market.  Or a place called Market City!

 Lots of this happening.  Everything from kangaroos to Spongebob...or a kangaroo in a Spongebob T-shirt.


Spongebob?  How does he do it?

 Talk about getting C. U. M.  "Caught Up in the Moment" as the Excell girls call it.  You know that moment on vacation when you realize you just bought 5 T-shirts that you'll never wear because they were 5 for $20 or one for $7!  How does one walk away from that deal?  I even came out of there with a set of coasters...I've never used a coaster in my life!  Well three cheers for saving the wooden surfaces in our house!  Those market workers...they know how to get ya!

We had a blast shopping for souvenirs.  Sydney especially loved it since 2/3 of the merchandise had her name written on it!  :)

On the way out we saw these fun dudes.  Probably being paid well to do advertising no one else was willing to do.  Let's hear it for spandex!

 Parker, Parker, Parker...we have seen so many streets, bridges and building named after Parker.  What a lucky guy!  Here he is on his street... Parker Street.  Just another nod to the greatest 10 year old mind in the 21st century!

Oh Sydney how we loved thee!  We loved all your awesome sites, your beautiful harbours, your amazing bridges and cool enormous Converse advertisements on buildings.  We had such an awesome week here.  I'm so glad we got to do this.  I loved seeing Lex here in this city that holds so much meaning and will always be special to him.  What an incredible vacation!

Sydney Treetop Adventure and the Blue Mountains!

We couldn't do without a bit of adventure on our trip!  We took off for a day in the Blue Mountains and stopped by Treetop Adventure for an AWESOME day!  The girls got to spend the day on the children's adventure courses.  Because it was during the week and there were no field trips...we had all 3 courses to ourselves!  And my 2 little adventurists didn't waste a single second!  This was our guide, Matt.  He and his dreadlocks were the perfect fit for the adventure here!

 He was so much fun because he loved his job so much.  It thrilled him to pieces that my girls were so brave.  He said he couldn't believe they were both willing (especially the little one) to try EVERYTHING.  I guess they get a lot of kids that just freeze up because of the heights. All the courses are set in the treetops up high off the ground  It's on a belay system so the girls were harnessed in the whole time.  Everything is about 30 meters up or so.  With zip lines of about 50 meters connecting each piece.  In Australia a zip line is called a flying fox.  Treetop Adventure was so cool.  It was a giant obstacle course in the trees.

 Each course had platforms where you stepped before the next obstacle.  Here is Oaks climbing through the net.

 There were lots of these log bridges.  Just pieces of logs dangling from ropes you had step from one to the next.  Pretty tricky!

Harnessed and ready for the flying fox!

Syd cruising down the flying fox...no hands!

 Sydney decided she wanted to be timed and kept getting faster and faster on each course.  She set all kinds of Treetop records!

The boys went on their own "Junior Adventure".  Park just qualified as you had to be at least 10 years old to go.  I didn't get to go with them, so I only got a couple pix as they were training and then taking off higher into the forest for their even bigger adventure.  

Lex said their course was pretty intense.  They loved it.  All in the treetops on on belays, they were walking tight ropes from tree stand to tree stand, climbing nets, climbing trees and soaring down flying foxes over 150 meters long and over 50 meters off the ground.  Their course took quite a bit longer and they were both tired.  But they said it was so awesome and an incredible adventure in the forest.

 More wooden log bridges to cross.  Streeetttchhh Oaks!!

Birdy--Triumphant after crushing her last time!  Show off!

 This girl never wore out.  She will not be left behind.  If Birdy's going...so am I!

With their belays and harnesses! This whole adventure was right up our alley! Treetop Adventure was definitely one of our favorite days on this trip!

 After that we drove to a cute little mountain town called Katoomba.  Lex had been there on the mish and said we'd love it.  He was right.  It was a really quaint town high up in the Blue Mountains.  They said they actually see some snow up there every so often.  Lots of little bakeries, coffee shops, and places to buy souvenirs.  We really wanted to see the Three Sisters.  It's a rock formation off Echo Point.  It was gorgeous.  It was extremely foggy so we had to wait til the fog moved to see the sisters.  There they were!  It reminded us a little of Bryce Canyon with the towers of rocks and funky little shapes out across the valley.  It definintely wasn't as radiant red or as captivating as Bryce but then again you don't usually get the ferns and lush green foliage in Bryce either, but they had a similar look...but you know what I mean!  :)

The fog just kind of made everything look really cool and mysterious.  Beautiful!

 It started to pour so Park and I tried to take a few more quick shots of the sisters before the rain and fog washed everyone away!

These 2 are such good friends.  I love that about them.

The Blue Mountains were beautiful.  And the rain made everything even more beautiful.  It was such a fun day-- out of the city and into the mountains.  I guess we have a mix of city bones and country hearts in us!  We love them both!!!