Let's Party

 We are going to be on vacation on James' birthday, so we started the celebrations a little early to bring in the big 1-0 for James.  He invited three of his friends over for lunch.

 And birthday cake.

 We found these sparkler candles that looked like such a great idea until they burned the table where the sparks flew off.

 Iron Man

 James opened his presents then we took the boys to the indoor swimming pool.

 They had a weird rule that photography was prohibited so I could only sneak in this one picture in the pool area.

 After swimming we went outside to the jumping pillow.

 That would be James who is upside down.

James and his mates: Angus, Nicolas, James and Bryce.  A fun day with our birthday boy.

Vivid

We got to hang out in Sydney tonight to see Vivid, but first a stop for some fro yo.

 This tree is covered in knitted yarn at a fancy arcade (shopping centre).

 Had to stop at the play ground in Darling Harbor.

 And then we got on this boat for our dinner cruise around the harbor to look at Vivid.

 I had in mind a nice table to sit at when I heard dinner cruise. The boat was so crowded that after getting our food, we had to eat on the floor of the top deck.

 And this is Vivid, a creative festival of light and color all over Sydney.  We had a bird's eye view of all the cool lights in Circular Quay from our boat ride.

 One of the coolest things we've seen.

 We got off the boat in Darling Harbor and went to Cockle Bay to wait for the fireworks, water and light show called Aquatique.

Another great night in Sydney then we were off to the Jesus Hotel as Faith calls it (temple accommodation).

State of Origin

 I should really make Doug write this post, since it's about his time at a rugby game, something I still know very little about.  I know that rugby is huge around here, and I know that the State of Origin game is like the Superbowl of rugby.  State of Origin is an all-star team made up of players from their state of origin, either New South Wales or Queensland.  The big game went down tonight in Sydney at ANZed (not Z, Zed) Stadium. 

 Daniel in our ward took Doug, but they had to cheer (not root because that's a bad word in Australia) for Queensland.  

The Blues ended up beating the Maroons, but I guess there are two more games before they know who really won.  Like I said, I really don't know what is going on with this rugby thing.