Cruising Brissie on the "Kitty Cat"

After a nice Sunday morning brekky out on our veranda, we decided to take the City Cat up the river to hit the city sights. Marina affectionately calls it the "Kitty Cat". To the left is a picture of the girls just after we boarded this fun method of public transport. Part of the strategy was to keep Callie and Margaret up and awake so they could adjust their body clocks to Australian time. First stop on the way was the weekly Sunday Market along Eagle Street Pier. This market appears every Sunday morning in the heart of Brisbane along the river and has a wide variety of arts and crafts. By the time we had arrived it was about 85 degrees, so our first stop was a round of fresh-squeezed lemonades for everyone. In the end the damage wasn't too bad- Margaret purchased a new purse, and Meagan new sun glasses and earrings. From there we made our way to the outdoor Queen Street Mall, which is an open air mall with a cobblestone walkway. Along the way we stopped by the historic St. Stephen Catholic Cathedral, which happened to be conducting late morning Mass. The back doors were open so we popped in for five minutes to see the beautiful architecture and hear the celebrant reading from the Gospel of John. Callie and Margaret thought it sounded very dignified with the Australian accents. You can check out the cathedral architecture at http://www.cathedralofststephen.org.au/art.htm

We didn't spend much time at Queen Street Mall but quickly grabbed some lunch fixings at Coles for our church picnic near the University of Queensland campus, similar in size and feel to the University of Washington.

http://www.translink.com.au/qt/translin.nsf/ReferenceLookup/070115_NetworkMap_Ferry.pdf/$file/070115_NetworkMap_Ferry.pdf

We started at Bretts Wharf at the upper right and made it to Guyatt Park on the lower left. You can see how the winding river really gives a nice city perspective. For dinner we ate out under our covered veranda and treated Callie and Margaret to Australian Barramundi, a delicious white fish we all enjoy.

After dinner when it turned dark the girls set out with flashlights in hand to look at giant spider webs and white-tailed opposums. They actually found both, with a white-tailed opossum scurrying along a telephone wire. Here's a picture where they found an opposum. Poor thing ... it was probably really scared with all these girls screaming and pointing lights at it!


To cap it all off, after Madeline and Marina went to bed, the four older girls went out to the hot tub with candles, music and CHOCOLATE! It will be tough to beat this day.

Tomorrow the girls get to participate in Michelle and Meagan's speech class at the Gryzesiak's home and then play a few tennis matches, followed by a cool-down in the pool. Already this trip is off to a great start!

Marc

Arrival of Good Friends!

It's Sunday morning 7AM and we have just picked up Michelle and Meagan's close friends Callie and Margaret McKenzie. They arrived after a long day or traveling starting Friday afternoon at 4PM and ending Sunday morning. Here's a picture of them just after coming out through customs. Other than Canada with their parents, this is the first time they have really been outside of the States and certainly the most time by themselves. Their parents had arranged for an escort in LAX to get them from the Alaska Airlines terminal through the myriad of international flights at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Unfortunately that person never showed up, so they found their own way with some instructions we had sent them in advance just in case they got missed by Alaska. Fortunately they ended up figuring it out and managed to find their way through LAX to the Qantas flight. Once back through security we called them on a cell phone they had to find out they were at the gate, ready to board. To the left is a picture on our deck after they arrived at our home and were talking to their parents. The weather today is set to be 85 degrees, and the plan is to take them to the Riverside Sunday market, then come back for swimming in the afternoon. We want to keep them awake as long as we can so their body clocks adjust. Make sure to check out Michelle's blog for other posts.

Marc

Michelle's Blog

I have just started my own personal blog (michellesadventuresinlife.blogspot.com), so I thought I should let the readers of this blog know! It won't be as formal as this one, but I'll try to have plenty of pictures and update more frequently. Please look at it and tell me what you think!

~Michelle

Our Friends, the Grzesiak's

This evening, the Grzesiaks (pronounced Greez-ee-aks), along with Mr. and Mrs. Bailey (a North Carolina couple mentioned in one of Mom’s earlier posts who visit Brisbane for a couple of months twice a year) are going out to dinner at a new upscale restaurant, Manx. This is their last opportunity to have some extended time of fellowship with the Baileys before they head back to America on April 1st. The Grzesiaks will drop off their children, much to the delight of all the kids. The younger ones will watch "Peter Pan," but since I highly doubt that the older ones will want to watch that movie, we will probably play a stressful game of Risk! In this blog, I thought I would introduce you to the Grzesiak family.

The Grzesiaks have four children: Ryan (13), Connor (10), Sarah (8), and Lucas (affectionately called “Lukie,” 4). They hail from Charleston, SC, and are therefore more accustomed to this hot and humid weather!! (We’re having a warm spell right now, although autumn has already begun. The temperature has been reaching the nineties lately! It’s so strange and kind of annoying, but I hope it stays this way for a while, just for Callie and Margaret’s sakes. Callie is especially anticipating the sweltering temperatures while they’re here!) Mr. Grzesiak also works for Boeing, and they’ve just returned from a 1 ½ year assignment in Germany. While there, they had many opportunities to travel around Europe and experience the varied cultures. I just love hearing about all their amazing adventures!!

They arrived in October, and we met them during their first week because the relocation specialist who helped us get settled here also worked with the Grzesiaks. Once she discovered they homeschool, she put us in contact with each other.

A few weeks ago, Meagan and I started taking weekly speech lessons at their home each Monday. Following our lesson, Madeline and Sarah enjoy a lesson together with Mrs. Huf (our teacher), while Meagan and I play tennis with Ryan and Connor. I have to admit they have better tennis skills than I do, but I attribute this to the fact that they have a tennis court in their yard, take private lessons, and also play on a team. Another common hobby we enjoy is playing Risk, the world domination strategy board game. We have enjoyed countless games, especially with their Lord of the Rings version—very fun.

Madeline and Sarah have become really close friends. It’s so adorable to see them walking around their yard together, just talking. It reminds me of all the times I spent with my friends taking walks around the church building after the service, discussing school, special events, etc.

Marina and Luke also enjoy their time together. Although he is at least one year older than Marina, she towers over him!! But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re close friends. One of their favorite activities is playing in the pool together, performing all sorts of acrobatic jumps into the water as well as lots of underwater antics.

My mom has also greatly enjoyed the company of Mrs. Grzesiak. They spend a lot of time discussing life in Australia and the challenges of homeschooling a family down under, as well as other topics. My mom really appreciates having a friend who understands the same issues.

I have to get going now. I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please comment.

~Michelle

Neighborhood walks

Ahh...a quiet, peaceful house, and I'm the only one in it! Such rare occurrences in our household. Now I'm not complaining, I love our days filled to the brim with math lessons, history lessons, science experiments, piano lessons, speech classes, etc. but every once in a while I take pleasure in this special treat. Marc took the girls down to Racecourse Road for a leisure Saturday morning brekky at a cafe of their choice. Usually, on weekends when we're not out exploring, Marc and I are up and out the door before the girls are awake to enjoy one of our weekend morning dates . We don hats, sunglasses, and lots of sunscreen and head out into Paradise, with bright skies and sunshine overhead, surrounded by lush tropical plants and trees of every kind as well as beautiful birds calling out to one another. We usually end up at Ascot Continental Deli, one of our favorites. On most of these mornings, we'll get a call from one of the girls wondering, "What's taking so long?" followed by their individual breakfast orders. "Michelle would like the berry muffin, Meagan the bircher muesli, Madeline a chocolate croissant, and Marina a finger bun (with sprinkles, please)". So then we make our way back along Racecourse Road procuring each of their requested menu items from, of course, different bakeries and cafes. Most of the personnel know the routine by now and guess as to what we're picking up for our girls. It adds to the charm of our morning outings.

In addition, Marc and I try to get out at least one or two evenings a week and head down to, where else but, Racecourse Road to enjoy coffee and/or dessert. Michelle and Meagan get the delightful job of putting the little ones down for the night. :-) A necessary item for these nocturnal walks is a torch (flashlight) because the last thing we want is to get our faces caught in one of the numerous gigantic spider webs (yuck!). We've had a few close calls, though! The torch also comes in handy to spot all the bats swooping down, possums balancing along on overhead wires, cane toads hopping by in front of our path, and, believe it or not, cockroaches scurrying around underfoot--if you knew how much I hated cockroaches before our move here, then you'd realize how much progress I've made.

We'll greatly miss these lovely walks of ours, as well as the alfresco dining that we've come to love. Australia holds such a special place in our hearts; its truly a world apart.

Marc and the girls are just returning home as I finish this post. I had to laugh because the girls complained it was "too hot!" for the grueling 6 block walk home and took the easy route by catching a bus. It's 10AM and already 88 degrees, a good time for them to cool off with a swim in the pool.

Marce

Marc's Birthday Celebration at Tukka

As I write, Marc is somewhere over the Pacific Ocean (probably near Hawaii at the moment) en route to LA. He's on his way to Seattle for a 1-day meeting--unbelievable! One bonus for me is that he brought an extra suitcase to transport all the schoolbooks I recently ordered from Amazon. We have a difficult time getting our hands on books we need for homeschooling, so it will feel just like Christmas when he returns home! Hopefully, he'll be able to connect with a few family members, as well as talk to some coworkers about potential jobs. Its hard to believe we have less than 3 months before our return in June!

With Marc's busy travel schedule we haven't had any family getaways recently. But once the McKenzie girls arrive on the 25th of March, we'll head up to the Sunshine Coast for an extended weekend and enjoy plenty of beach time. Our girls can hardly wait until Callie and Margaret get here, and have planned quite a full and action-packed itinerary for their 3 week trip. We'll have so much fun showing them around Brisbane!

For Marc's birthday last weekend, Ramsis and Cecilia surprised him with a special night out at "Tukka", a one-of-a-kind restaurant in the trendy West End precinct. We enjoyed an authentic Australian meal which included some interesting and delicious aboriginal dishes like seared wallaby, wild boar, emu, and crocodile tail, matched with some fabulous Australian wines--mmm, are you getting hungry, yet? :-) Actually, we found it all quite tasty. We also indulged in some homemade damper (a kind of soda bread) and native berries and fruits such as lemon myrtle, pepperberry, gum leaf and rainforest limes. We ended with an incredible passionfruit creme brulee dessert. I'm surprised it took us over two years to discover this restaurant and experience true Australian 'bush tucker'. It was a great evening and a wonderful place to celebrate Marc's birthday, as well as all things Australian.

Marce

Family Update

Sorry, everyone, for taking so long to update our blog! February is always a busy month for us, and this year, we also get to plan for Callie and Margaret McKenzie’s visit starting on March 25 and lasting for almost three weeks!! It is always difficult to stick with school during the middle of the school year, but planning and looking forward to the fun we’ll have with them definitely keep us motivated! We just wish more people could come and visit us (hint, hint; just kidding; we realize that Australia is a long distance to travel and takes up too much time for most people). Because nothing even remotely interesting has happened here, I’ll use this blog to give the details of what Meagan, Madeline, Marina, and I have been doing, categorizing them by each family member.

Me: School has taken up most of my time. For my AP English class, I am writing an essay analyzing the military treaty, formally called ANZUS, between Australia and America, and I’ve learned a lot from that, as well as having a lot of fun. I hadn’t realized that Australia and the US are so militarily close! Did you know that Australia has fought alongside American troops ever since 1914? (Well, I actually realized that before I started my paper, but still, it is fascinating….) For my US History class that I take over the phone, I need to read The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. So far, it isn’t my favorite book, but I am learning much about society during the early twentieth century. This week, Meagan and I will take the National Latin Exam, so we both are busy studying for that also. When we finish it on Friday, our Latin will conclude for this year. In about two weeks, we will also stop our piano and voice lessons, freeing us up to spend more time with the McKenzies and to prepare for our move back home. This May and early June, I will take the SAT, SAT II US History, and the AP English Language exam, so it will be nice to have finished Latin, piano, and voice so I can study more. Meagan and I have also started taking speech from a godly Australian woman who actually spent a few of her years in Seattle along with her husband and three children! It’s fun talking to her about the differences between Australia and America. She can really relate to our time here, especially since she has children about our age who went through what we experience right now. Outside of school, I spend my time either e-mailing, talking with my family, reading, watching movies (very rarely, of course :-)), and planning for Callie and Margaret’s visit.

Meagan: She has also been busy with school. This year, she’s taking Algebra I and Physical Science through Bob Jones videos, to name two of her many subjects, and is doing wonderfully well in both. Her preparation for the National Latin Exam has been moving along, and I know she can’t wait to finish it up for this year. Back in America, Mrs. Anderson, a wonderful, godly woman, taught both of us Latin and had an amazing talent to really bring it to life. But here, we are studying Latin by ourselves (we used to have a teacher, but she has been ill for several months) and we greatly miss Mrs. Anderson. Meagan also enjoys speech, especially the dramatic part (she has always had more acting ability than I do!).

Madeline: Whenever her head isn’t stuck in her school books, Madeline can be found either working through some fun craft or activity for friends or family members, or playing with Marina. She has recently enjoyed writing e-mails from Mom’s and Meagan’s accounts to Meagan and me and waiting for replies. (Since I’m on the computer almost 24-7, and because I can quickly write her one-sentence e-mails, she normally receives a prompt reply from me.) She also loves drawing pictures with Marina and giving them to her family members. I have a little drawer almost solely devoted to holding her pictures, and they’re all so cute!

Marina: My youngest sister is so adorable! I love all my sisters, and none more than the other, but because she’s the baby, I can’t help but notice how cute she is. Her vocabulary expands daily (earlier this week, she tried to pronounce the word “ridiculous,” and her attempt at that word made me laugh!), and she lightens our days. Recently, she has found great enjoyment in talking about Callie and Margaret’s trip here. A few days ago, she was absolutely convinced that they were coming in “thwee minutes” and that provided us with another laugh. Right now, she’s sitting at my side, trying to click the buttons on this keyboard with her feet, and I’m having a difficult time managing her….

I hope this provides you with a glimpse of what we do here in Australia! Also, we would appreciate if you could be praying for us this week. A cyclone might hit us later this week, around Wednesday or Thursday. Brisbane has been in a draught since our arrival two years ago, so we hope the cyclone provides us with some much-needed rain. Ironically, our dad is scheduled to leave for a two-day meeting in Seattle on Wednesday, so we’ll see if he makes his flight if the cyclone does indeed hit. Maybe you could pray that everyone will remain safe and also that Brisbane will receive lots of rain. Thanks!

Michelle