Visit to Canberra

Friday, October 12, 2012 - Saturday, October 13, 2012

Peter and Dagan

Sydney and Madeline

We headed to Canberra today to see Bob and family.  Bob is Margaret's brother.  They have been living in Australia for a while.  It is ironic that both Brett and Margaret now have siblings living here. 


It was an easy drive to their house.  It took a little over 2 1/2 hours to get there.  We arrived around 7:00 pm.  They live in a nice suburb not too from Parliament House.  Madeline was cooking dinner for us.  She made burritos.  Sydney helped chop the lettuce.  Dagan was excited for the guacamole.  We had a great dinner.  It was nice to talk and get to know each other better.  After dinner, the kids played games.  Sydney and Dagan had brought some of our favorites, too.

The kids with a view of the old Parliament House 

 and War Memorial behind them.

Parliament House

On Saturday, we headed to Parliament House after breakfast.  It was really interesting.  The building was built under the ground, so the people could stand on top of or above the government.  We wandered around for a while.  Dagan was trying to find the portrait of the Prime Minister he had researched, Christopher Watson, but unfortunately, "it was on a different floor.  We went up on the roof.  What a view!  Canberra is a beautiful city.  The War Memorial and the old Parliament House are lined up in a way similar to Washington DC.  We could also see the US embassy.  When we went back inside, we got a tour of the building.  The guide was excellent.  He tailored the tour to provide information from where all the visitors came from. 

Bob, Peter, Adam and Dagan

Sydney, Kristin, Madeline and Vernique

We went back home for a delicious lunch.  While lunch was cooking, Madeline got Sydney to help her make dessert.  They made pavlova.  Maybe her motivation to cook will rub off on Sydney.  Peter and Dagan set the table.  After lunch, we went for a walk up Red Hill.  It was a good walk.  You went through their subdivision first, and then up the hill.  It was rather steep.  The views at the top were great.  Plus, there were lots of kangaroos.  The kids decided to bushwalk down the hill.  The adults took the path.  Sydney and Madeline took my camera to take nature pictures.  The boys had fun with sticks. 

Sydney pointing at some kangaroos.

A mob of kangaroos

Once home, the kids took a quick swim before we headed for Wollongong.  We had a great weekend with our "extended" family.  We can't wait to do it again.  All of us are headed to Wisconsin for Christmas.  It would be fun to be able to see each other there, too.