We ventured to Costco last weekend looking for something
to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and it was an adventure. I will never think of a Kansas City area
Costco as busy after visiting this place.
It is in Auburn which is 30 minutes away and a drive across the Harbour Bridge. It is the only Costco in Australia. Once
we arrived, we spent 15 minutes driving around to find a parking spot and when
we walked inside it was mad chaos. We were pleasantly surprised to find some items
from home and many local items. Matt ran
to his case of Dr. Pepper (first time we have seen Dr. Pepper in Australia) and
didn’t even think twice about purchasing two cases at $30/case. We spent about an hour exploring the store
and filling our two shopping carts with standard Costco stuff- basics and items
we really did not need. Every checkout
line had at least 10-15 people waiting and there were at least 15 lines
operating. Costco clearly needs to open
up more locations in Australia.
Sunday was a beautiful day and we spent the entire day
outside. Our morning started with a city
bus ride the famous Rocks Markets near the Opera House where there are local
vendors selling everything you can imagine.
On Sundays, they offer a Family Fun pass where you can take public
transportation all day for $2.50 pp.
After a few hours we returned to Mosman by ferry. There were fisherman on the dock
which delayed the ferry boat by 2 minutes and during that time we saw our city
bus connection take off. The
next bus was an hour away, so we had to call a taxi (so much for our thrifty
public transportation day). After lunch
and some naps we discovered a new hiking trail near our house with beautiful views at Balmoral Beach. Little Paige (almost three) has walked everywhere in this city. She has done well, but clearly she tires out very easily. With her bold personality, I sometimes forget how little she is. Our double stroller is too large to get around easily and Cade is too big to be riding in it. I purchased a single urban stroller off the equivalent of Craig's list. She probably only has 6-9 months left in it, but I think it will allows us to do more.
We are loving the school uniform concept. All schools in Sydney (public and private) have school uniforms. The outfit, shoes, socks, hats, backpacks are all defined by the school. It makes the mornings so easy and there is no comparison of of who has what. It is so smart, easy and less expensive for families. I imagine the teachers appreciate the simplicity and predictability as well. I wish schools in Kansas City would adopt this model. We have also noticed some smart ways that Sydney conserves
energy and protects the environment.
There are free filtered water stations across the city to reduce bottle
water usage (which come in handy on Family Fun Sundays). Electricity is also used on demand so you have
to turn on an outlet to use it (so the outlets are not always on) and many escalators don't move
until stepped on. Electricity rates are 5x higher during peak hours (weekdays 2-8pm). They make recycling very easy. We have four different colored bins for
plastics, glass and yard waste and trash (the smallest of the four). They are picked up fortnightly (every 2
weeks) and trash is picked up weekly. Some smart ideas for KC to consider.
Grandma Rosie booked her ticket to come visit us
in October. She will be here during one
Cade’s term breaks and part of the time when Matt is back in KC. We are excited to see her.
Princess Paige asked for one thing for her third birthday,
cupcakes on the beach. So at 9AM we
headed to Balmoral for our sugary start to the day. Paige
also had Peanut (the class Elephant) this week. Peanut is a traveling stuffed animal that spends
time with each student in her class and the adventure is documented before
spending time with the next student.
After the beach, we headed next door to our neighbor’s birthday party,
who was also celebrating his third birthday.
The kids all went for a swim and as you can see Paige enjoyed
herself. The party continued with an Easter
egg hunt and pink cupcakes for Paige. After
a long nap, Paige enjoyed opening presents from Kansas City family. It was really a great day. She has grown up so much these past few months and has embraced her new world and lifestyle in her typical Paige fashion. Happy 3rd birthday. We love you Paige-E. 
