Mikey!

I Skyped with Mikey today! :) I hate to admit it but it's the first time we've video chatted since I've been here. I'm such a bad sister. It was so good to see him and Sandy though. I can always count on my brother to make me laugh with an inappropriate "that's what she said" joke or some sort of sleazy innuendo. That's what brothers are for, right?

The pitfall of Skyping with my family is how much I miss them after I'm done talking to them. I just want to jump through the screen and give them a big hug! I suppose that's to be expected though since they're all so ridiculously good looking :)

Bowra-do!

I can't believe I forgot to mention Dave and Jo just bought a new house! It's unfinished so Dave will spend the next four months renovating and making it look incredible. It's located outside of Sydney in a little town called Bowral. There's three sections of Bowral: Bowra-do, Bowra-don't an Bowra-never! Luckily, Dave and Jo are Borwa-doers.

I saw the house while Leiana was visiting and we both agreed that they picked a winner (I'll take pictures next time I see it). I wish I could remember how many bedrooms/bathrooms there are but my memory has failed me yet again. It's massive though and if Dave wins this argument, there will be a pool in the backyard. Exciting stuff!

The house we live in now is on the market and as of next week, potential buyers can view it. Unlike the States, real estate sells quickly here so we won't have to worry about having the house immaculate 24/7 for too long.

Anyway, that's my report for the day.

Growing boys

The best part about living with two little boys is watching them grow before my very eyes. Seriously, everyday they are learning someone new and I'm constantly amazed by it.

Today, James said his first sentence. We were reading his Toy Story book and we got to the end where the toys are at their airport and heading back to Andy's house. James pointed to the picture and said, "Buzz go home. Woody go home." I got so excited so he continued with "Dosh go home!" Joshy didn't understand what was going on but laughed because I was laughing.

James also learned the chicken dance. I actually don't know where he picked it up but lucky for him, I love the chicken dance so we've been doing it all day.

In interest of learning new things, I decided to show him the Gator chomp at dinner. He watched me closely and then made his attempt. Unfortunately, he couldn't get his arms to move up and down as he is used to normal clapping. Being the clever boy he is, he clapped his hands like he's used to doing and tilted his head to the side so it looked like what I was doing. Oh well...we still have a few months until football season, right?

James also taught me how to use an iPhone the other day. I'm not kidding. This 2-year-old boy can navigate through an iPhone better than I can. He knows exactly where to go to see pictures, watch videos, play games, etc. Crazy, huh?

Josh learned how to say "bye." He opens and closes his sweet little hands and says, "buh bye!" At first, he was waving at himself but he learned to face his hand outwards.

Josh is getting closer and closer to taking his first steps. I mean, he pulls himself up and can walk if he's holding onto a piece of furniture or someone's hands but I'm talking about walking all by himself. If I'm being honest, I'll admit that I'm a little sad for him to start walking. I love carrying him everywhere. That boy is permanently attached to my hip like some sort of growth so I'm thinking I may have some separation anxiety once he starts walking.





Gosh, these boys are so freaking cute!

Leianab and Emmy do Sydney

I have spent the last two weeks with my first visitor from home...the lovely Leiana Briganti, better known as Leianab. It's hard to believe that I was actually able to be a tour guide to someone since it wasn't too long ago that I was obsessively asking the bus driver if we were at Central (a gigantic, well-known bus/train stop) yet. I'll do my best to recap our time together.

May 12- Leianab arrives at 7am. I don't find her in the airport until 8:30am because her cell phone didn't work in Australia. First stop in Sydney? The zoo! We packed up James and Josh, hopped on the ferry and spent the rest of the day at looking at animals while James made monkey sounds at all of them. Once we got home, Leianab passed out and I went off to my running group. Do we know how to party or what?

Note: the rest of events will definitely be out of order because I have a terrible memory.

Here are the touristy spots we hit:
-Sydney Zoo
-Featherdale Wildlife Park (petting zoo)
-Powerhouse Museum (exhibitions based on the ideas and technologies that have changed the world aka awesome 80s stuff and dresses from fashion shows)
-Opera House (the most gorgeous building in Sydney)
-Pylon Lookout(best views of the city)
-Coastal walk (Coogee to Bondi beach)
-Hunter Valley Wine Tour (Five wine tastings in one day)
-Treetop Adventures (We thought it was just zip lining but turns out, we were doing crazy obstacles from tree to tree)

When we weren't being tourists, we were either watching Katt Williams/Dave Chappelle/Friends/The Office, playing with James and Josh, walking up the street to get breakfast from Bar Sirocco (where we each ordered the same thing every time), going to bars including Scubar, Martin Place Bar, Ivy and some other bar in Kings Cross where they serve shots from teapots.

I also had the pleasure of introducing Leianab to potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce, Golden Gaytimes, Tim Tams, cider and Max Brenner.

For those of you who know Leianab, you know she is quite obsessed with taking pictures. Ironically, she left her camera charger at home and her camera died minutes after arriving here. My camera is still being held hostage at the camera repair store so thank you to Dave and Jo for forking over their camera so we could stop whining about not being able to take pictures.

She left early this morning and is currently in transit back to South Florida. I guess I'll have to get used to sleeping alone again!

Becoming an Aussie...

I can't believe I've already lived here for two months. In the short time I've been here, here's what I've learned...

1) Walkers and runners do not say "hello" or "good morning" when passing each other.

2) I can drive on the opposite side of the road. (Note: I now say "opposite side of the side" rather than "wrong side of the road")

3) Men ask you to call them. I will not give into such behavior. I'm so chivalrous.

4) People from New Zealand openly call themselves, "kiwis"

5) No one else here owns Vera Bradley or even knows what it is.

6) There aren't garbage disposals anywhere.

7) Skype is a lifesaver.

8) I'm living Meagan's life so much that I realized I've been using her old bar of soap since I got here.

9) Koalas are not bears. Leave it up to Americans to call them koala bears.

10) "How are you going?" means "How are you?" or "What's up?"
This morning, "how are you going?" just rolled off my tongue and that's when I knew I have settled in to Australia! :)

Scubar!

You all should be enlightened on my first Scubar experience. Basically, it's a bar where backpackers go to meet people. Meagan had enough balls to go on her own but I'm a wimp so I made Dave and Jacqui come with me.

Glancing around the room, we could see everyone eying each other to figure out who they were going to talk to once they got a few drinks in them. Unfortunately, we didn't spot good eye candy right away. We stopped staring long enough to get a little tipsy and bet on some hermit crabs for the race. Yep, there was a hermit crab race. All of the crabs start in the middle of the circular stage and the first crab to get to the outside of the circle, wins. Dave's crab, James, came in second place which won him a lovely Scubar hat. He handed it over to me but with all of the excitement later on in the night, the hat didn't make it home! :(

I went up to the bar to get us some shots (soco and lime) and I noticed someone wearing a t-shirt that said, "San Diego" so naturally, I approached him. He was from New York and when I told him I was from South Florida he asked what part. I said, "Coral Springs" and he knew where it was! At first I thought he was lying to me because I was so excited to talk about Coral Springs but then he said, "That's the place that has really good ice cream, right? Larry's or something?" After that, I knew I was in for a great night.

The place was packed (or "heaving" as the Aussies would say)after about two hours so I ended up losing Dave and Jacqui. Luckily, I found a 20-year old (whose name I can't remember to save my life) to keep me company. Yep, I'm a cougar. Anyway, when I finally had enough, I hopped in a cab and went home. Turns out, Dave, Jacqui and I each took cabs home about 10 minutes apart.

I've really never been to a bar like this but let's just say I will be going back every Monday.

Oh, Scubar...

Many thanks!

I recently joined Can Too to train for my first marathon. As you know, I am also fundraising $2,000 for Cure Cancer Australia. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated:

-Christina Gambino
-Nana
-Craig Dobson
-Meagan Mather
-Lindsey Franco
-Artie Pliaconis
-Kelly Conley
-Chris Lowe
-Warren Wong
-Karen and Alex Newton
-Chris Cruz
-Melissa Blohm

I can't tell you all how much I appreciate the support. My training began this week and I'm off to a great start. Every Wednesday night and Saturday morning, I run with a group of about 30 people but soon, we'll break up into smaller groups once we complete a time trial next week. We aren't allowed to run with iPods (iBots) because the coaches want us to socialize and find running buddies. I was really scared about this at first but I quickly embraced it once I got going. It's going to be a tough five months but I'm up for the challenge.

If you haven't donated and would like to, go to http://www.cantoo.org.au/ and click "sponsor now" on the top, right-hand corner. Type in Peterson in the first box and then just put in your info! :)

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to Cure Cancer. I really have the best family and friends in the world.

Blueys

“Look, Em, he’s bending over.” –Dave I decided to start with the ending to this story.

I went to Bluey’s beach with the family. Once I got there, I realized it was called Bluey’s because the water is a deep blue color. Who would have thought? The town has a population of about 500 and since it was not high season, the beach was completely empty. We were seriously the only ones on the beach. Highlights: I saw my first kangaroos! They were about 3 ft tall. Naturally, I wanted to go pet them but I heard they’ll kick you so I kept a safe distance. Also, I saw about four dolphins swimming up to shore at the beach! Usually, I don’t get excited about seeing animals because I’m pretty much afraid of all of them but I was elated about my kangaroo and dolphin sightings.

Jamesy and Joshy had a blast but I think it’s because they got to eat junk food whenever they wanted. Joshy probably loved this more, though. Our sharing of food has gone to a whole new level. Since he cannot bite into an apple yet, I was sitting on the beach biting off pieces of an apple, taking it out of my mouth and feeding it to him. I felt like I was feeding my baby bird worms.

I wish I could show pictures of my fabulous time but apparently, sand and cameras do not mix. I tried to blow the sand off but it was too late. The damage was done.

Anyway, we decided to take this hilly trail to Shelly beach before leaving. We got laid our stuff out, sat down and noticed we were not the only ones on the beach this time. Dave turned to me and said, “Look, Em, he’s bending over.” We were at a nude beach.