Riley is back at school

While we were traveling we missed the first day of school. We were lucky enough to return on Music day. Ms Ana was back and in the Snowy Plover room when we arrived and Riley got to enjoy music once again. The puppets were still his favorite and they consoled him as Mommy left to get back to work.
There were lots to re-familiarize himself with. The infant room shared the play yard with Snowy Plover so that wasn't new but Riley was happy to see the fountain again. Water play was always the best part of being outside as far as Riley was concerned. "Oh fountain, how have I missed you."

Riley was happy to be back with his friends. He showed them all how strong he got while he was traveling and pulled Morgan around the yard being careful to negotiate between the babies and other toys.

Cameron came downstairs to visit Riley's new classroom. She helped the babies with an art project and showed them how to make circles and choose different colors. Cameron was also in a new room, Harvest Mouse but she was lucky to keep all the same teachers. She was especially glad to see her best friend Nadia.

Last Chance in Oz

When Cameron started to finally feel better I took a half day off or work and we decided to join Turtle on a whale watching tour. About 30 minutes into it, I realized this was the worst idea I've ever had. First we didn't see any whales. A humpback showed his back but that was about all that anyone reported seeing. Cameron and I didn't see anything because we were in the cabin with our heads hanging in a bucket. I owed her big for this...

Since the kids, and Turtle enjoyed Bondi so much we decided to go and spend the day at the beach. We enjoyed a great lunch at Nick's and then picked up some sand toys for the kids. They played in the sand and Cameron again was greeted by some Japanese tourist who asked if they could take their picture with her.

I remember my first trip to Bondi where I learned that clothes were kinda optional. Riley got to experience the same thing. He was very curious about the kids running around without their clothes and watched them for awhile.

On our last weekend day I decided to finally go and see the Opera house. We spent the day exploring the Botanical Gardens and enjoying all the performers around Circular Quay.

To pay Cameron back for the awful boat trip on Friday we went shopping and bought a new outfit. She picked it out and it was really outrageous. After buying the new dress, jacket and shoes we went to a chocolate shop where she enjoyed her warm milk with chocolate sprinkles. We really enjoyed our shopping trip together and talked about everything we saw that day. It was hard to remember that she was only 3. I hope we have lots of Mommy and Me dates like this.

You can see more of our pictures from Sydney on Picasa.

Week 2 in Oz

I was really looking forward to doing some sightseeing after missing all the fun this week. On a recommendation from a local co-worker, we headed out with another manager and his friends from the states to a Australian National Park, Bundeena. We woke up early and took a train, then a boat to the little town. We didn't really know much so we just followed some hikers. We didn't realize we were going to have to trek up a hill and through a neighborhood to find the trail head. Then didn't realize we should have grabbed food because now we were in the middle of nowhere. Sumeet ran back to grab a picnic lunch and we decided to start hiking. It took us a long time before we saw anything.

Jeff took the long trail and we took a short cut to the cliffs. It was difficult treking around with the kids and the stroller. The trail was sandy and rutted. Turtle also did not enjoy the hiking or that hill.

When we finally hit the coast it was really beautiful. We spent a long time just taking in the view. After awhile Cameron starting to complain about her ear again so we separated from Sumeet and friends and just headed back to the city.
By the time we reached the hotel Cameron was really sick. The rest of the weekend I just tried to keep her comfortable while Daddy and Turtle did the bridge climb. It was clear that she needed to go to the doctor and the rest of the week was spent trying to get the correct antibiotics. It turned out her complaints about her ear on the first day was more than just jetlag. Cameron had a double ear infection and after 3 visits to the doctor she was finally on the road to recovery.


Riley was a very good sport through the whole thing. I guess he figured he owed us that after Tokyo. He found lots of ways to occupy himself while in the hotel room. The curtains were his favorite hiding spot. He would climb up and wait for someone to go looking for him, then he would pop out and surprise you.

First Week in Oz

After a few days of recovering from Tokyo and a trip to Dr. Lee to make sure Riley was okay to travel we arrived in Darling Harbor, Sydney. It was a long flight but Cameron had a new movie, A Bugs Life on the Iphone and the flight was showing Monster's versus Aliens. We watched them both several times. Riley slept and enjoyed having Turtle in the row next to us. When we arrived everyone was tired and Cameron was complaining about her ear hurting but we didn't want everyone to go right to sleep since it was only 7am. Cameron felt better after eating something and we headed out to explore Darling Harbor. Our first stop was the new (at least to us, it wasn't here the last time mommy and daddy were here) WildlifeWorld next to the aquarium.

We barely got out of the hotel before Riley fell asleep in the stroller. The first section was filled with bugs. The entire cast of "A Bugs Life" was there so it was really fun for Cameron to see Flik, Manny, and Hopper. It was fun for us to because Turtle got to hold a really cool stick bug and it crawled up his arm and on his shoulder. Cameron would not hold it. After making it through half the exhibits and getting to meet the koalas Cameron traded places with Riley and slept while Riley got to meet the Kangaroos and wild birds. We had lunch and realized it was too long of trip to do any more exploring.

The next day Mommy had to work, so Daddy and Turtle headed out to explore Sydney with the kids. They took the ferry over to Circular Quay and explored the Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens. There was lots of chasing of birds and Cameron enjoyed finding the "Castle" (or the Government House). After they took the ferry back, mom met them for dinner and a trip the aquarium. We quickly discovered that with the jet lag and a full day of adventure, it was not going to be possible to have a second excursion that included mom. So the rest of the week mom would only get to have dinner with the family and put them to bed, after all, it was technically a work trip.

After taking a day of rest, the gang was off to the Taronga Zoo. This is a beautiful zoo and you have to be jealous of the view the giraffe's have. After getting separated from Turtle because one took the tram which dropped off at the top of the zoo, the two groups finally met us and got to enjoy meeting all of the Australian animals and some non-native animals. There was a great bird show and the elephants were awesome, especially the baby.

Although it was technically winter the sun came out and it was perfect because that is when the family was off to Bondi Beach. This is a beautiful beach and was just a bus ride away. The surf was perfect if you like to watch surfers, which Turtle did for sure! Cameron and Riley enjoyed getting in the sand and running along the beach.

On Friday the family decided to stay closer to the hotel. A week of inconsistent naps was taking its toll on everyone so it was a half-day trip to the Chinese Gardens. There is a photo shop that will allow you to dress in royal costumes so Cameron and Daddy dressed up for photos. Cameron made for a beautiful chinese princess, while Riley explored the interesting architecture.

Tokyo in July

If you ever wondered what Tokyo was like, imagine hot. Then imagine really, really hot. Think of New Orleans on the most humid day and then raise the temperature and humidity level. I couldn't believe men were in suits and women were wearing tights!!! But anyway, everyone slept on the plane except mommy so the trip wasn't bad. We arrived in Japan and took a car to the hotel. The ride in was great and I was looking forward to our weekend to get some site seeing in before my week of work.

On Saturday we started by walking about the city, but Riley wasn't feeling well and given the heat we decided to split up. I took Riley back to the hotel. Daddy and Cameron went to the Imperial Palace without us. They walked through the gardens and looked at the buildings and took lots of pictures with the locals. Cameron was very popular but since she is shy she didn't really like the attention.

Riley continued to get worse so early Sunday we took him to the emergency room. Japan is not keen on sick foreigners who just got off a plane. They gave him every test possible but everything was clear. After more than 12 hours of tests they determined it was just the croup probably triggered by some virus.

The care was excellent (and relatively cheap) even though we could not understand most of what they were saying and not anything they gave us to sign. Luckily there were pictures for the important stuff. Riley had about 8 breathing treatments and when he was finally breathing normally we were able to check out of the hospital. He was pretty traumatized, when any young Japanese woman approached he would just cry (suspecting they were a nurse).

After a few days of being stuck in the hotel, Jeff took the kids to Disneyland. If you ever wondered what Disneyland Tokyo is like, imagine Disneyland California and stop. Everything is exactly the same including the stores and restaurants (except the food is really terrible!!!) After a day long adventure in the park by himself with two kids he called me for help. My boss helped me figure out the trains and I met up with everyone to help with the travel back to the hotel.

Given the rough start, the kids had a good time. Cameron learned to say "Konichiwa" arogatou" which was really cute.