We spent all day at Robyn and Mark’s farm today and the kids really enjoyed the extended stay there. Jude and Anna both were able to go for a long horse ride and Jude watched Uncle Mark chop down a tree, cut firewood with a chainsaw, cut back a horse’s hooves, ride on a motorbike and much more. It was quite the day. Here is a video I shot today of Jude and Anna riding Cruz bareback through the paddock. They probably were riding for at least five minutes and both kids did well even when Cruz got a little frisky at the start.

Mark got out this motorbike and was riding around the property on it. Jude was a little uncertain and while he was happy to sit on it, he decided he didn’t want to take it for a ride.

Where was Marcy you might be wondering? She was in New Zealand. Yes, we have had some visa troubles. After being told by United Airlines that Marcy had a 12 month visa, when we called the Australian immigration people a couple of weeks ago we found out that it was only three months and Marcy was, in fact, staying in the country illegally. She had to leave within two weeks and then apply for a new visa while outside the country. So, this morning we dropped Marcy off at the airport and then I took the kids out to the farm for the day. It sounds like the visa was just a formality and we will see Marcy back in Sydney tomorrow night.

Last weekend we were also on a farm, visiting my friend Dicky on his Alpaca farm. But I don;t have any photos to share right now, because they are all on Marcy’s computer which is with her in New Zealand. Have some more next week.

Yesterday we stayed closer to home, venturing down to the Kirribilli markets and we had every intention of walking over the Harbour Bridge again and climbing up the pilons. There is a big park right underneath the Bridge and Jude and Anna had such fun playing in it that by the time they were done it was almost lunch time. Here they are studying the “gumnuts” they had picked from a tree.

Finally, last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending a full day music festival with some of my old uni (college) friends. Saw the Hoodoo Gurus at the Enmore Theatre (a fantastic place for live music) and had a blast. There was even a surprise appearance from one of my favorite bands, the Sunnyboys, from the early 80’s. Great times.

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One of my very fond childhood memories is going to the Royal Easter Show. It has been a Sydney institution dating back to the 1820’s and is one of the largest shows of its kind in the world. It is similar to the American state fair but on a very large scale. It is at the Sydney Showgrounds which these days is in Olympic park.

There are rides galore at the show and you can see every kind of farm animal you can imagine. With Jude and Anna we spent most of our time on the rides and then went and saw the chickens and horses. It was quite a big day and both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home – the first time that has happened in many months.

Last weekend was Easter and the Easter Bunny came and provided some yummy chocolates and other gifts for the kids. Jude was quite excited to get an chocolate bunny and I think it was gone before lunch. Both kids did an Easter egg hunt around our living room where they found some more chocolates and sometimes money inside the Easter eggs.

Yesterday, we went on a bushwalk in a national park not far from our place. It was quite the adventure for everybody and despite Anna having a bad fall at the start the kids had a great time. They were on the lookout for “treasure” which was basically just any interesting stick, leaf or shiny rock they could find (and there were many). We stopped for an early picnic lunch on this big rock by the trail. And yes, Jude did the entire walk in his pajamas.

Today I took the kids up to this great playground and met up with one of my old college friends and his kids. There is a cafe and big field for kids to play in, there is a bike trail, a fantastic playground and it is right on the water – a kids paradise. Both Jude and Anna had a great time playing with the other kids and we spent almost four hours there. Meanwhile Marcy went for a long hike and went to see a movie.

Speaking of Marcy – even though she is not doing as much yoga as she was in Denver, she still has enough strength and talent to do a handstand. I couldn’t even attempt this, particularly on the hard rock.

Last Saturday was my birthday, the first one I had spent in Sydney in 22 years. I had a great day with a visit to the beach in the morning, a family lunch, a visit with my mum and then prawns and champagne on Balmoral Beach for dinner. Anna actually snapped this photo of us – she is becoming quite the little photographer at the tender age of 3.

For weeks now we have been seeing the seaplanes near our place and when we were out on the Harbour. Jude has been asking for a long time to take a ride in one so this weekend we did just that. We drove over early to have breakfast at a local cafe by the water and then we caught a boat out to the waiting plane. Jude was very excited about it and he loved every minute of it.

I thought the seaplane ride was amazing. We went all around my favorite parts of Sydney – including the northern beaches and Pittwater as well as taking in all of Sydney Harbour. We did a figure eight loop around the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and here is one of the best photos I took.

Sydney has a lot of birds. Every morning we are woken up by the kookaburras making their loud and somewhat obnoxious call at the crack of dawn. And we have a tree right outside our balcony that is home to dozens of rosellas – a really colorful Australian parrot. They even come on to our railing some times, so I snapped this photo last week much to the delight of the kids.

Finally, I want to talk about my mum this week. She is one of the main reasons we are in Sydney for six months. She has Alzheimer’s disease and has been getting progressively worse for some time now. She recognizes me some of the time, but interestingly she recognizes my Dad all the time, at least until now. She has some very dear friends that she has known for over 60 years and we got them together for lunch this past week.

My mum, Pat Bernard and Betty Phillips met while working at Ryde Council in the early 1950’s and have remained good friends ever since. When my mum quit the council to become a full time mother just before my brother was born they kept in contact. In fact, until my mum moved into a nursing home a couple of years ago they had seen each other once a week for morning tea or lunch every week for several decades. With my mum’s declining health this is almost certainly their last lunch together. These women were so important in my mother’s life but now she barely even remembers them.