Merri Creek and other updates.

Here's what we've been up to:

-baby sleep training. (don't ask)

-class. (it's hard to study with a baby)

-exploring Melbourne on the weekends.

Speaking of weekend adventures, we went to Merri Creek for some exploring last weekend. We visited the labyrinth and wishing tree, enjoying the pretty surroundings along the way. I didn't take pictures, but I did take a few videos to practice using iMovie (as I'd like to make a few short videos during our trip to the States this July). The following is just a practice run for me to figure out how to use the program: please enjoy my mediocre filmmaking!


I'm also hoping to take some videos in a few weeks, when Ben's younger sister and nephew come to visit us...

That's right, we've got more family visiting Melbourne! The planning was actually all very last-minute. Ben and I were looking up childcare options for my intensive class in May, and the cost of hiring a full-time nanny for over a week was about the same cost as... a plane ticket from the U.S. to Melbourne...?

"We should just ask Saralyn if she'd want to come down to watch Arden for a week if we cover her ticket," said Ben.

"She'll probably laugh and say 'awww, I wish!'" I replied. "But sure, it can't hurt to ask?"

So he did. And she did not laugh. She did not say, "awww, I wish!" She immediately talked to her partner, asked for the time off work, applied for her son's first passport, looked at tickets... and they're officially coming in two weeks! Arden gets to bond with her auntie and sweet 6-year old cousin, they get to see Melbourne, and I have some peace of mind in leaving the baby with loving family for the week. Yay!

Ben is incredibly excited that some of his family can finally make the trip. My mom has stayed with us twice, but other members of our families haven't been able to (yet?) for reasons such as finances, health issues, fear-of-flying and other priorities. All understandable, but we always love hosting family (and friends, and even random acquaintances from college!) while we're still living in Australia. We love showing people around Melbourne. And Arden loves meeting her family, while sleeping really well during their visits.

Right, sweetie?

CK

easter adventures.

This past weekend was Easter, which in Australia means I get a 4-day weekend! Every year we have grand ideas of taking a trip during this long weekend, whether it be Sydney, Hobart, or Uluru, but every year those ideas always fall through. Last year our plan was Sydney, but by that point little Arden had begun the process of slowly sucking away all of Candice's energy (like a dementor, but much cuter) and she also felt like she was on a never ending journey across the Tasman Sea. But we still managed to get out and explore this beautiful country.

This year we settled on Hobart as the destination, as it's a very short plane ride away and a small enough city that we could easily explore it in 3 days. But then the sleep regression hit, and the flights and hotels were looking too expensive, so we again made the decision to postpone our trip to another time. After having seen Wilson's Prom last year, how were we going to top that this year? Fairy trees and bats, that's how!

On Good Friday almost nothing is open, so we decided to wander around the city and wound up finding our way to Treasury Gardens. It's a bit sad that we've never been there before, considering it's technically in the CBD, but because we live in Docklands we almost always end up walking around here or down Southbank, and hardly ever make it to the east side of the CBD. Treasury Gardens is pretty small, but they have a beautiful JFK memorial fountain/pond that was a perfect place to spend a relaxing afternoon. There are leafy trees providing plenty of shade, little fountains and a waterfall, and there were even baby ducklings swimming in the pond. It was another place to add to our list of great places to feed Arden (we love taking breaks in beautiful spots to feed her, so we can enjoy the scenery and fresh air while she has her meal).

JFK memorial pond

A few months ago, my co-worker had told me about the flying-foxes (aka giant bats with cute fox-like faces) colony along the Yarra River near Kew. I did some research and found out how to get there, and on Saturday we headed off to see them. We made a pit stop at our favourite cafe in Kew, Percy's Aeroplane cafe, to grab a coffee and the most delicious nutella doughnut I've ever had.

After a nice 30 minute stroll, we found our way to Bell Bird Park, and looked around in amazement at the thousands of bats surrounding the river. When we first arrived in Australia we had been amazed when we saw one of the bats in a park in Kew, but now we were looking on tens of thousands of bats. It was awesome. According to an informational sign near the lookout, the flying-foxes used to roost seasonally in the Royal Botanic Gardens, then established a permanent colony in the gardens in 1986. Growing populations led to concerns about the impact the flying-foxes would have on the gardens, so they were successfully relocated to Yarra Bend Park in 2003, where they have remained since. I can't imagine how they managed to relocate 30,000 flying-foxes without them returning to the gardens, especially when we can't even get Arden to nap on her own.

Yarra Bend Park

We took a bunch of pictures, a few short videos of them screeching and snoring, and settled down at the viewing platform for a snack. Candice was a bit concerned about them coming and attacking us, but since we didn't have any juicy fruit (they love that gum) I wasn't too worried. It's hard to believe that one of the largest flying fox colonies in the world is just nestled in the suburbs of Melbourne, and that we'd been here for over 2 years and never seen it. It reminded us a bit of Raymond Island, with its huge koala population - a place many people have never heard of, where you can see large quantities of awesome Australian wildlife.

Easter Sunday we decided to take Arden to church for the first time. We had found a church shortly after moving here, but had only gone for a couple months before I was on the road all the time and before we knew it almost 2 years had gone by since our last visit. All in all, it was a pretty successful first service for Arden. She was entertained by the music and watching all the people coming in, then got fussy during the sermon (insert witty joke here) so I took her to the side and rocked her to sleep for the rest of the service. We were a bit jealous of the other babies who were content to sleep in their prams, but that has never been Arden. After church we were able to reconnect with our good friends Cindy and David and their two boys, and had lunch with them and some other families while talking about the joys and struggles of raising a baby.

Arden's first church service!

Arden in her pretty Easter outfit!

Monday was Daddy-daughter morning, so Mommy could have some time to breathe and relax. Candice was a bit worried at first (and so was I truthfully) as when I loaded Arden up she was screaming and writhing around. Fortunately, Arden loves being outside so as soon as we left the building she was happy as can be. We took a nice walk around our neighbourhood, while she mostly slept in her Ergo, and I did a bit of shopping at Harbour Town. I then fed her a bottle (she's getting better and better, yay!) and bought a couple things before heading back home. It was great, and so nice to be able to have some one-on-one time with her. I also really enjoy feeding her a bottle, as she loves wrapping her little hands around my thumbs and holding them the entire time she is drinking. It's one of so many things I love about her.

Later in the afternoon we decided to explore Fitzroy Gardens, which is right next to Treasury Gardens, and another place we had never visited. On the way there we met a Mom and her two kids, and the little girl ran up to the pram to greet Arden and exclaimed "hello baby!" The kids then proceeded to chat with us for a while until they headed off in a different direction, with the little boy telling us he knew a shortcut to get to the dragon slide. Dragon slide? Sounds like my kind of park!Fitzroy Gardens is really beautiful. We visited the dolphin fountain, the fountain of the river god, saw the dragon slide in the kids playground, a fairy tree, and stumbled randomly upon the mini Tudor Village (a gift from the city of Lambeth, England in appreciation of food that was donated from Victoria during food shortages after World War II). Arden was awake the whole time, checking out everything with her usual puffy cheek stare. It was a great way to finish our long weekend together.

dolphin fountain

mini Tudor village

fairy tree

Our weekend walks to new areas of Melbourne gave us a renewed appreciation for how much there is to see here, and how little we have seen. It's inspired us to branch out a bit more, to search out other parks, walks and interesting attractions to visit and explore. We don't know how long we will be here, but we love this city and want to be able to say that we saw and experienced as much of it as we could. And since we have a little girl who loves taking in different sights and sounds, now is the perfect time to do it. On to the next adventure!

-BK