TTFN!

I've been a bad blogger!! I was so busy with Gladys scrapbook that I forgot to post here.

Gladys and I had a lot of fun during our last few weeks together. We did lots of shopping (our favourite thing to do together), attempted to go to a craft show (when we arrived discovered it had been cancelled!), went to a Rocky Horror Picture Show sing-along (so much fun!) and saw LOTS of movies!! Four Lions was the last movie we saw together and I loved it. I recommend it - so funny!

Thanks for being such a great buddy Gladys. I'm going to miss you!! Feel free to visit again.

Next time you can bring Sarah as well!! :D

GOODBYE GLADYS!!

mail!

I forgot to post this postcard I received last week!! For some reason the photo won't flip and the line underneath this won't disappear... Blogger hates me today.

THANK YOU!

Sleepover

We caught the train into the city, then the ferry to the zoo where we met up with the Girl Guides. Slept over at the zoo (under the stars) after a night of food, movies and karaoke.

Reading the paper on the train:

We got very little sleep as having 1000 kids under 18 doesn't not lead to a quiet night. Plus it was freezing AND it rained!

Gladys used my glove as a sleeping bag :)

This was made better by the fact that we got to spend the day at the zoo. It was a lot of fun! Although the zoo isn't nearly as good as the open range zoo we visited in Melbourne.

Chimp:

Mountain goats with Sydney Harbour in the background.

The new baby pygmy hippo - only a few days old. The cutest thing you will ever see.

And that's all the photos I am willing to share.

HB to me!

Today was my birthday and Gladys was brilliant at keeping me from getting upset about how old I am. She even came to work with me :) It actually was a really good day Much better than expected.

At work I got a cupcake and cake, a princess tiara and lots of lollies - which we had to find in a hot/cold lolly hunt! Here's Gladys with the Caremello Koala she found.

For dinner I got my favourite meal - chicken schnitzel, potato bake, mac and cheese, strawberry milk and icecream cake. Felt incredibly sick afterwards. So did Gladys.

On Friday we are sleeping at Taronga Zoo (in the city) and then going to a show on Saturday night. Can't wait!

Southern Highlands Winery

Today Gladys and I went to a family reunion for my paternal grandmother's side of the family. Since the family is split between two locations - Sydney and Canberra (Australia's capital) we met right in the middle.

We went to Southern Highlands Winery for a loooooong lunch. It was nice to see people in the family that I haven't seen in about 10 years.

Stopping for petrol before we left.

ROAD TRIP!

Gladys was a little cold so snuggled up in my sister's ipod case. A perfect sleeping bag!

Reading in the car

I let Gladys have a sip of my wine.

At the winery

Sydney show me the life

Yesterday Gladys and I took a trip into Sydney. We took a LOT of photos, most of course which shall remain a secret... :D

Sydney Harbour- with pretty blue skies despite the freezing winter weather we are having.

Botanic Gardens

Also saw China town, a bridge (perhaps you've heard of it?) and went on many train rides.

We had Japanese for dinner - delicious chicken udon and then went to see a University musical called "Beaudy" - an Aussiefied version of Sleeping Beauty. It was fairly terrible - but in a good way!

Plan for tomorrow: lots of crafting!! Will try and remember to take photos.

What makes a really good Tuesday??

Skyping family in America, snuggling with Bean (my puppy) under a blanket, eating custard and cake

and an ALL DAY Bones marathon!!

Look what came in the mail today!

I feel so bad that we've only sent one postcard! We seem to get one every 2 weeks!!! :)

Fun @ work

work and play

Took the day off work yesterday to take my neighbour out for the day since it's the school holidays. We went to the mall, saw Toy Story 3 (again), got our nails done and went shopping.

Back to work again today. Gladys has been taking photos all around the office. Will upload them when we get home.

We've also been making a surprise to take home.... :D :D

South on the Pacific Shore

Went into Sydney today for some shopping. Didn't take any photos as it was raining and we were just running from sale to sale. You've gotta love the end of financial year discounts!!

Inside the QVB (Queen Victoria Building at Town Hall). We'll have to remember to take a photo of her Statue next time we are there!

Red, white and blue

Today is.... JULY 4!

In America that means Independence Day. In Australia it doesn't really mean anyting but we decided to celebrate as the Americans do anyway, sans fireworks as they are illegal :(

Gladys really wanted to see fireworks so I showed her some on my calendar.

Here is Gladys baking vanilla cupcakes for the party.

And then the not so fun job of cleaning up afterwards....

Lots of yummy American candy!!

Our favourite American treat - pretzels with melted rollos and peanut m&ms on top! DELICIOUS! We'd send you some Sarah but i'm not sure if customs would allow it...

shopaholics

Today we went shopping in town. We mostly bought snacks because we need to spend the afternoon baking things, to get ready for our 4th of July party tomorrow!!

We also stopped by the camera shop to print some photos for Gladys scrapbook!

Not so shy, guy

My OTVGT swap package arrived today! Here is Gladys with her new friend, Shy Guy.

Tonight we're going out for Chinese. Yum!

There's a snake in my boot!

We went to see Toy Story 3 today. BEST. MOVIE. EVER.

Gladys had fun posing with the Shrek cutouts.

Can you find Gladys??

With her 3D glasses and lollies - skittles and Milka! YUM!!

It's me, Mario!

My dog was given a huge bone this morning and didn't want to play with Gladys, so instead she came to work with me. We were in charge of sorting keys... such an important job I have. Surely the company would not survive if I were to leave.

Here is Gladys with all the keys neatly in their rows.

Then tonight we babysat my cousin. We played Super Mario Party 8 with him. And won every single game. I don't think he likes us anymore... maybe we should have been a little nicer to the ten year old...

Oh, and we;ve decided that Gus is trying to make us look bad because we received a SECOND postcard today! This one if from the longest pier PLEASURE pier in the world!! I'm obsessed with giant things so this is so cool!

THANKS GUS & SARAH.

You are so sweet!

Who?

Gladys doesn't like to travel by bus or train. She prefers.... TARDIS!

We're going to the ZOO!

Day Three

Pancakes for breakfast this morning. Gladys and I shared some cinnamon apple ones but also tried the banana walnut ones my sister had ordered. They were so yummy!!

While we waited to be served we played giant chess.

After breakfast we caught the train out to Werribee because my sister wanted to visit the zoo. And it turned out to be a great idea and we had an amazing day. It was an open range zoo so there's not as many animals as a regular zoo - but instead the animals have so much space to roam and you are able to get incredibly close to them!

We went on a safari ride and got to see giraffes, lions, hippos and more! It was such a fun day and we got some great photos. As usual the best are kept safely hidden for Gladys to take home in her scrapbook.

Gladys also got VERY close to some of our native animals. But those photos will have to be saved for the scrapbook as well! She was so very excited to see a ____________ jumping on the path right in front of her! Seeing a huge ____ blocking another path was not quite so welcome. Especially as i'm terrified of birds!

That night we went to the Crowne Casino for dinner. No photos because they frown on that when you are gambling... :P

Melbourne day 2

Today we caught the tram (how one travels around Melbourne) to St Kilda.

St Kilda is a suburb of Melbourne and it's biggest attraction is the beach. Unfortunately June is not beach weather on our side of the globe. To make Gladys feel more at home we had scones and jam out on the pier.

Gladys got a little bit cold with the icy Melbourne weather....

So we went back to to city for a little shopping for something to keep her warm (but we won't tell what it is). We spent most of the afternoon shopping at DFO - a huge mall of factory outlets. Our favourite shop by far was Frat House which sells American clothes such as Hollister and American Eagle.

That night we went to see Jersey Boys, a musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Poor Gladys had "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" stuck in her head for DAYS afterwards~!!