As a stay-at-home mom I try to fill Nuno’s days with fun and (sometimes) enriching activities. One such thing that meets that criteria is visiting the zoo. Since we live so close, we became members soon after our arrival. For the cost of two visits, we can go as often as we like, which we do.

Early into the school year, (February here) we started to head over after dropping Lana off at school on Fridays. The first time I went with my friend Lou she suggested we head straight for the cafe. Very clever idea. We had sat and had a coffee while the boys ate lollipops, then after being fully caffeinated we went exploring. Unfortunately, they did some major renovations at the zoo, and replaced the cafe with a coffee bar leaving us to walk with our coffees…terribly unfortunate for us, I know.

By term two we were joined by the new American in the class and her young son. We don’t necessarily go every Friday, but more often than not we are there by 9:15am. Over time the zoo has become a bit of a playground for the boys. They have their route. They just run ahead of us checking out all the usual exhibits: koalas, frogs, reptiles, giraffes, etc. If you know the zoo, you know our path just by reading those animals listed.

Well Buddy is turning 3. For his birthday, I thought it would be a nice idea to arrange for a photograph of the boys with an animal. I knew that the best laid plans might not result in a good shot. Then you add that we scheduled this during nap time, on a hot day, after having spent the morning in the city at a play with all three boys. As we stood in line, I don’t think any of the moms had much faith in how this would turn out.

Well, as soon as the boys were let into the feeding area, they were in their element. I smile just thinking how cute it was to see them feeding these majestic animals that tower over them. There was no fear, just excitement and joy. I’d like to think that Nuno will never forget this experience, I know I won’t.

When we came over I knew that my kids would be exposed to different sports. Soccer of course is universal, but cricket, netball & the various rugbies (it looks funny in plural) are something that my kids had never played or ever seen played for that matter. As a non-sports fan, I wasn’t worried about having to learn them myself until Nuno got to school. I am not being sexist, I just happen to have a daughter who did not enjoy soccer because, “The kids didn’t take turns kicking the ball.” I agree, how rude!

Well, my husband is very keen for our daughter to engage in an activity other than dance. After watching our neighbor’s netball game and a friend’s  field hockey game she was still not sold. Fortunately, here they have an athletics program. In a nutshell it’s a track and field training program for kids. We decided to sign both kids up. They have a Tiny Tots program for Nuno.  The kids will train at the oval at the beach. There will also be competitions for the olderkids. A friend told me about it and it’s just another one of those cool things about Australia. Lana is not thrilled, but she is going to give it a fair go. Nuno however, is SO excited.

When I went to pick up the uniforms, yes, there are uniforms, I almost forgot to get one for Nuno. It is so hard for my brain to wrap itself around the thought that my baby is old enough to participate in an organized sport. Well, he is psyched. When he put on his uniform for the first time he immediately started zipping around the house because in his words, “It makes me run faster!”

Here he is showing his muscles:

And how could I not do a Maria-inspired pretend run shot?

This is what I found when I turned around from making this kid his oatmeal…

Here is his final creation:

From an actual email:

“Yes, there is a semi final for the NRL on Friday and Sat and an All Blacks game on Sat…… Very busy time of the year! Very tiring….. ”

Love you,

*Frank

This past weekend our family was honored to host Lana’s friend for her first non-family member sleepover. Lola’s mum (a KIwi) and I have become really good friends. Although a first sleepover is a big deal, it didn’t feel like it at any one moment because it was really so casual. I actually had to keep reminding myself to take pictures to share with her family.

When it was (way past) bedtime I thought we’d call her mum so that Lola could say good-night. After her mum spoke to her, then it was her dad’s turn & then her brother’s turn. It was so sweet. I remember thinking what a lovely family they are, this unit of four that is so close. As someone who has dragged her kids away from everyone we know, we have tried as a family unit to become stronger. Our hope is that our kids feel safe and grounded in a place that is not home. I realize, however that having wonderful friends and families like them around us adds to making OZ feel like home.

Last week my friend Jenny posted about how one quarter of her time in OZ has passed. Although I miss my family and friends back home, the thought of this experience ending did sadden me. We have been blessed in our time here to have met so many wonderful people and so many lovely families. Since many of them are also expats, I know the time to say good-bye will come, but those thoughts are not for now.

Congrats to Dr. Bob & his gorgeous wife on the birth of their beautiful baby girl.

 

Not sure when and how I stumbled upon Annie Paxye’s Sensible Living  website, but I was hooked. She’s this interesting woman from British Columbia, Canada. She, her husband and two kids live what would be considered by most, an alternative lifestyle. I don’t necessarily want to live as she does, but I certainly get something positive from reading her blog. She is very connected to her kids and the Earth. I also think that she’s a pretty interesting cook.

As I mentioned before, I have some time on my hands, so when inspired, I am trying out different recipes. Last night, we had some leftover chicken and an overripe tomato that would have gone bad if I didn’t use it that night. I got the idea to make homemade tortillas and use up the food we had rather than just dump it, something I have always hated to do, especially now since the chicken alone cost me $20.

We took the chicken, cut it into small pieces and heated it up. I diced up the tomato & shredded some Tasty cheese (that’s Australian for cheddar cheese…something everyone has a block of in their fridge at all times.) The kids, including a neighbor, were the first to build their wraps. They loved them. I offered them to the dad’s (our neighbors had dropped by) who were watching the footy, but they weren’t interested. However,after taking them some samples they both asked for more. Well, dinner was a success. It is always so funny to me (and a HUGE compliment) when kids ask me for a recipe for something, as my neighbor’s eldest did.

Annie’s recipe for tortillas which can be found here is actually from the Rebar Cookbook. This is the cookbook that I gave my vegetarian niece for her birthday. The recipe is actually pretty easy and all ingredients can be found in one’s pantry.

Before…

 After…

Back in August 2008 when I was in Portugal, I was trying to purchase some music on itunes. For whatever reason, it wasn’t allowing me to buy them from my computer in Portugal. I was in desperate need for something new to listen to on my runs. It was my husband who suggested I download Leonard Lopate to my ipod.

For those of you who do not live in the NYC area, he is described on the WNYC website this way, “Host Leonard Lopate lets you in on the best conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.” Rarely to my husband and I agree on things, but we both love Leonard Lopate.

I went back to itunes and subscribed to his podcast. While there, I also subscribed to This American Life and a few other awesome PRI shows. Easy peasy, melon squeezy.

When I told my marathon sister, she balked at the idea of running and listening to anything other than music, but on a slow run day, which is every run for me, Leonard and the others are great. Maria too now is a fan, as is my mother-in-law, as well as my sister-in-law.

Another thing about Leonard is that the man is prolific. So since I am not really interested in the Broadway interviews, I just pick and choose what I want to listen to. However, I am often surprised that something that I didn’t think would appeal to be turns out to be really great.

While out running a few months ago, I was listening to an interview with write Michael Pollan about his new book In Defense of Food. Some of the things he spoke of I had heard before, but there were so many things that I didn’t know. I knew I’d be buying the book. (WARNING: That happens ALL the time when you listen to the Leonard Lopate show, but the books are usually great.)

Since arriving in Australia, I have been giving a lot of thought to the foods we eat, especially the foods we feed our kids. I have also struggled with the amount of money we spend on food here. After listening to the Michael Pollan podcast I made a decision that I was going to try to avoid processed foods. It wasn’t just the idea of feeding my family healthier food, but also saving money. He makes the point that the further we move from the original state of a food, the more expensive it gets. i.e. Oatmeal is cheap, but as soon as you process it into brand cereal, it becomes more expensive.

I haven’t banned processed food from my house, and yes, we have eaten McDonald’s and Doritos since I made that call, but I just decided that as a stay-at-home mom I would try to make most of the food we eat myself.  I already cooked almost every dinner myself from scratch, but this meant a few changes like oatmeal rather than processed cereal at breakfast and my kids lunches would not be store bought fruit bars and rice wheels, but homemade fruit bars (easy recipe). I figure there are two advantages here: even in large packages fruit bars cost a $1 each here, whereas if I make them myself they are a fraction of that price and they are FRESH and yummy.

We also took a look at the meat we eat, which is very expensive here. I am still a carnivore, but we have certainly cut back slightly on our consumption. I can imagine the Portuguese having a very difficult time imagining a meal that does not contain meat (or fish), but we have discovered some great recipes (I promise to share them later) that even Lana enjoys.

If I sound like I am on a soapbox, that is not my intention. I just thought I’d share Lenny with the people I love as well as In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. For those of you interested in hearing the podcast it can be found here.