I'm Gonna Miss This #12: Australia

 Some things in Australia are better, and the school calendar is one of them. The kids go to school for four terms.  After a ten week term the kids get two weeks off. After the last term they get their summer vacation, but it is shorter than the summer vacation in the States. I prefer this system.  I love that the kids get more breaks throughout the year and when school holidays are on everything else stops.  No sports or other commitments are allowed during school holidays. I love this system  and I'm gonna miss the school holidays in Australia.  I also love that during school holidays there are things going on for the kids.  My girls love the craft class at the mall in front of Big W.  They went twice to color little ceramic animals.

 The National Museum of Australia is another favorite spot for the girls during school holidays.  We go to the crafty exhibit and this time the girls made head dresses inspired by a head dress in the museum from the Torres Strait Islanders.  

 After they made their headdresses, they got to stand in front of a green screen and video of them was projected to the great big screen in the main foyer.  The boys were with us but wanted nothing to do with making funny hats.

I'm gonna miss this.

Flip Out

 Today I took the kids and James' friend Max to Flip Out for some trampoline fun.  Spencer ran away from the camera, but he was there.

 Spencer on the foam pit trampoline.

 I took a lot of pictures but a lot of them are blurry.  I guess it's hard to capture them bouncing away.  The girls loved it and stayed in the little kid area the whole time.

We are loving the school holidays with no school.

Recycled Art

Faith loves to create things.  She especially loves to make things out of garbage in the recycling bin.  This week she found these bits in the recycling bin and created a dinosaur.  I love her creativity!  We kept it around for a few days then I threw it in the recycling bin outside so she'd forget about it :).

More Sydney

 Here are some random pictures of our last day in Sydney.  The Opera House usually has some cool kid thing going on during school holidays and this time it was all about lights and shadows.

 Mine. Mine. Mine.

 We went inside the Customs House which is now a library.

 We went to see this replica of Sydney in the floor.  Very cool.

 We didn't know there would be a French festival outside the Customs House, but we were really glad. The desserts reminded us of the ones we tried in Paris.

 I had been looking for a specific print to match another one I'd already bought, and we ran into the artist and her booth at the French festival.  I wanted the Sydney print to match our Canberra print. My hairdo is after Thunder Jet boating :).

And we had to go to Paddy's Market one more time.  As if we don't have enough from this place. As we were leaving today we kept asking ourselves, "Have we done it all? Have we seen it all?  Is there anything else in Sydney we need to do?"  I can honestly say that I feel like we've done everything Sydney has to offer.  Doesn't make it any easier to leave.

Getting Wet on the Thunder Jet

Our last adventure in Sydney was riding through the harbor on a high speed boat that turns and whirls through the harbor. So much fun!  Our girls didn't go because they are too little, but they are good about waiting and cheering for people.

Doug and James went first while Spencer and I stayed with the girls.

 Then Spencer and I went.

 It was probably one of the best things we've done in Sydney.  It is not the best for the hair.  Even though we wore rain coats, we still got wet.  Water splashed into our faces and one time even up and over and down our backs.  My wet hair had product in it and was blown around at speeds at like 100 miles an hour in the boat.  As we were coming back into Circular Quay, Spencer said my hair was totally messed up. When Doug and the girls saw me after the ride, the girls yelled, "What happened to your hair?!"  I guess it's all part of the experience :)