Waterspouts

Thursday, May 23, 2013

These were the sprays of water we saw before the funnel clouds..

The funnel goes all the way down to the water.

It was a stormy day.  About lunchtime, Adam looked out at the water, and we could see these spouts or sprays of water.  As we were watching them, dark clouds rolled in, and we could see the clouds forming small funnels that went right down to the water.  This was what was causing the spouts or sprays of water we could see.  It was neat to see, but a little creepy.

Fish Market in the mall

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

One view of the fish market

Another view

Adam wanted to go to the Stockland Shellharbour Mall today, so we went this afternoon while the kids were in school.  It is interesting to see how the mall is the same and different to an American mall.  One of the biggest differences is the fish markets, meat markets and produce markets in the center of the mall.  This isn't something we see at home.  We had to stop and see all the different types of sea creatures we could purchase to eat. 

I love the look of the blue crabs!

Octopus anyone?

A different corner of the market

Dagan's Athletic Carnival

Monday, May 20, 2013

A view of the field

Dagan is in Acacia house.  He could wear yellow to the carnival.

Dagan in the 200.

Dagan landing after his high jump attempt.

Dagan had his athletics carnival for school today.  We went to watch a few events after Adam finished some meetings.  We saw Dagan run a 200 and try the high jump.  He hadn't decided if he was going to try the 800, so we left.  When we picked him up after school, he told us he ran it.  We should have stayed to watch him. 

The three of them made were half of the people in the stadium.

He had completed shot put, long jump, and 100m dash before we arrived.  He said he came in second place in the shot put.  As a result of this, he thinks he will be going to the district carnival.  He is very excited about being a representative for his school.  Hopefully, we will get a letter from school about this soon.

Kiama

 Sunday, May 19, 2013

The dolphins are near the boat.

Sydney & Dagan are off in the distance.

We moved slowly this morning.  After a big breakfast, we went to Kiama.  We wanted to go to the markets.   The craft market is next to the water.  As we were walking through the market, we spotted a pod of dolphins right off shore.  They were fun to watch.  Sydney and I did the most shopping.  We are quite excited about our Ali Babba pants and other clothes.  Adam just rolls his eyes at us.  We don't shop very often, but it was fun today.

Dagan, Dana, JoAnn, & Sydney

Sydney found a good seat.

Dagan sitting above me.

We also went to both blowholes.  The kids walked on the rocks out to the edge.  Adam and I went partway, and Jo Ann and Dana enjoyed the view by the big blowhole.  We had to get back in the car to get to the little blowhole.  We actually liked the little blowhole better because it was easier to see.

3rd pic

1st pic

2nd pic

On our way back to Wollongong, we stopped to see cathedral rocks and at Harvey Norman.  Adam needed something for work.  Everyone was hungry at this point, so we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant before calling it a day.

My Birthday

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Today is my birthday, and Jo Ann and Dana's first day in Australia.  We went out for breakfast at Diggies.  We were able to watch the surfers.  The waves were big, so there were lots of surfers out in the water.  After breakfast, we headed to Adam's office.  His parents wanted to see the office he helped build.

Dagan, Adam, and Dana enjoying the view.

Sydney and Jo Ann at Bald Hill.

Then we drove north on the Grand Pacific Drive.  The coastline is beautiful along this drive.  We went over the Sea Cliff Bridge and up to Bald Point.  There we no hang gliders today, but it was nice and sunny.

He finally is posing for the concert.

The five of them at Mt. Kiera

We stopped at the information center/lookout and Mount Kiera Lookout before heading home.  At Mount Kiera, this kookaburra was sitting on the railing.  We were able to get up really close to it before it decided to fly away straight at Dana.  It almost hit him.  

First picture of the kookaburra with Wollongong in the background.

Last picture of the kookaburra.

This evening we went to a Dragons footy game.  They won easily.  Dana made friends with the guy sitting next to him.  He explained the game to Dana as it was being played.  It is fun to watch, but the four of us have decided we like AFL games better.  There is more action. 

We went out for some ice cream afterwards.  This was instead of birthday cake.  You can never go wrong with ice cream.  After completing this page, I think I should have asked to be in at least one picture.

Mother's Day

Sunday, May 12, 2013

A model of Madam Tussaud

Do you think he could surf for real?

Dagan's ready to race

We headed into Sydney for Mother's Day.  We met our friends in Darling Harbor.  We went to Madame Tussaud's.  It was really fun.  Besides seeing all the different people on display, it was very interactive.  There were props/costumes that visitors could put on to pretend they were a part of the action.  Sydney really got into it.  I had to "convince" Dagan to join in to get a couple of pictures.

Don't you just love this movie?

Dagan could be Mad Max.

Gotta love E.T.

Sydney and Sophie are showing off their moves.

Georgia, Sydney and Sarah

A view of Darling Harbour

A view of the sunset

You can see the bridge and opera house in the background.

After the wax museum, we headed to our favorite German restaurant for lunch.  Then we wandered the open air markets before heading to the Sydney Tower.  The tower provided some great views of Sydney.  It was interesting to see how the water is so much a part of Sydney.  We have ridden on the ferries, but I enjoyed getting a visual of the area.  The sun was setting while we were on the observation deck which was great.

We went back to the train station and headed home.  It was a fun way to spend Mother's Day.  I just wish that I had remembered to take a picture of the two mothers.  We ended up taking the pictures instead of being in them.  Isn't that the way it works?

Volleyball Tournament

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - Sunday, May 5, 2013

Sydney is getting ready to set, and I am by the net.

I am number 9, and Sydney is number 3.

Sydney and I played in a volleyball tournament together.  At our Tuesday night league, the organizer asked us if we were available to play.  It was a women's division.  We played with a couple of women from our Tuesday night team and a few other women.  With not having played together before, we ended up doing fairly well.  On Saturday, we lost our matches, but it took three games to do it with the score being very close.  We just couldn't pull off the win.  On Sunday, we won our only match.  We ended up in 5th place out of 6 teams.  This tournament provided Sydney with some awesome experience.  A couple of the women on our team were really good.  They were getting her to set higher balls and got her to spike a few, too. 

Dagan all ready to ride.

Adam and Dagan watched most of our games, but disappeared for a while on Saturday to go go-karting.  They said it was a blast.  Sydney would like to go back and try it herself another time.