Sydney Aquarium

Okay. Time to catch up on my blogging. So here we go -- a blow-by-blow of our adventures at the Sydney Aquarium on Tuesday, September 23rd.

Makela and I set off on foot in the rain. I thought about taking a bus, but honestly, it wasn't raining that hard, and Darling Harbour isn't all that far from our hotel. We made it without getting very wet, and started off at the aquarium, where Makela immediately spotted a life-sized statue of Bruce -- the great white shark in "Finding Nemo." After practically dragging her away from that, we started seeing some pretty unique animals, such as the platypus, Eastern water dragon, an enormous saltwater crocodile, water snakes, fairy penguins, and more. The aquarium also had great hands-on exhibits, such as their Southern Oceans touch pool, where Makela got up close and personal with sea urchins, sea stars, and shark egg cases. She thought the urchins were particularly interesting, since they turn their spines toward whatever is touching them in defense -- this time, Makela's index finger. And, without a hand-washing station or even paper towels to dry off, Makela came up with a "dry your hands dance" where she flapped her hands around in the air.

Next, we found a great tank full of all the "Finding Nemo" fish. It seems kind of obvious, but what a great idea for kids! Makela just adored it -- I think we spent at least 10 minutes watching these fish.

After we had our fill of the Nemo and his friends, we headed into the "Open Ocean Oceanarium," full of sharks, rays and sea turtles. As we walked into it, Makela started pointing excitedly and saying, "Mommy, LOOK! It's Mr. Ray!" Sure enough, there was a positively ENORMOUS stingray swimming right in front of us. We also found "Crush" and discovered how he sleeps (nose down, with his head kind of wedged under a rock so he doesn't float away while dreaming).

We then went on to the Northern Oceans habitat, which includes all of the Great Barrier Reef fish. Makela had more fun with another touch pool here, and started making better friends with the same education staff member who had been helping us at the Southern Oceans touch pool. Again, Makela had fun touching an anemone and more sea stars (including a big one called a cushion sea star -- think big, puffy pin-cushion and you've got the right mental image).

Our last stop in the aquarium, before heading to the cafe for lunch, was at the "reef theatre," a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass (on several sides) with classical music playing in the background. The final hallway around the side of this amazing exhibit had a plexiglass floor, which Makela found fascinating. She loved being able to lie down and look at the fish from above, including a shark.

G'Day from Sydney

Okay, if anyone has checked since my alert that I would be posting from Australia, it hasn't happened. Until now, that is. I'll keep this short, since it's nearly 11 p.m. local time, and Joe has been snoring for about 30 minutes already....

We've been having a BLAST since we landed in Sydney early Sunday morning. Only problem with blogging is that Joe has had to prep for his depos each night, and I've fallen asleep before he's been done, until tonight.

I'll expand on our adventures later, but here's what we've done so far:

Sunday afternoon - walk down to Circular Quay and ice cream on the Opera House pier
Monday - visit to Koala Park Sanctuary in West Pennant Hills outside Sydney
Tuesday - Sydney Aquarium & Sydney Wildlife Sanctuary
Wednesday - Powerhouse Museum and Darling Harbour

Makela has gotten up close and personal with various animals in just a few short days. She has fed kangaroos, petted a koala, touched a goliath stick insect (yes, that's its official name), stroked a diamond python, and touched sea urchins and sea stars. She's also mastered the art of saying, "G'Day." And she's now asking where the "lift" is and for "lemon squash" -- also known as lemonade back in the States.



Tomorrow, it's on to the Taronga Zoo.

The Why of Water

Okay, today's question was a doozy. I need to look up a better answer to this one.

Just as we were pulling into the Dinosaur Park today, Makela was drinking her water, and blurted out: "Mommy, why is water wet?"

Oy vey. I managed to take a scientific approach, telling her that it's because of the way water holds together in each of its tiniest parts -- called molecules. Each molecule is made up of two hydrogen parts and one oxygen part. When they come together, they are a little "sticky" and feel like a liquid.

That's the best I could muster on such sudden notice. It seemed to placate Makela. For now, that is. For now.

Makela's First Day of Preschool

Today was Makela's first day at the La Jolla YMCA Preschool. Hard to believe she's already three and a half, but here we are.

I was pretty sure that Makela would have a good day and would adjust well to being away from home for a full day. Sure enough, from the moment we walked into school (with Makela insistently bearing her gigantic rest mat on her own) at 9:10 am, she was in her element.

After arriving and putting her lunchbox and tote on the wall hooks near the front door, Makela bounced into the school room and greeted her teachers, Miss E.J. and Miss Jenna. They told her about her journal, labeled with her name on one of the tables and asked her if she could find it. To which Makela replied, "My letters are M-A-K-E-L-A!" -- and then she found her journal right away and started coloring in it enthusiastically. Mommy and Daddy were left behind, as she was now completely absorbed. We managed to distract her enough to say "goodbye" to us, and we made our exit. I didn't cry, but I couldn't resist taking one last picture as I left the door to her classroom, leaving my baby girl for her first day of preschool.

The day passed quickly enough for me, and I got SOOOO much done! I did some laundry, checked my e-mail, deep-cleaned the master bathroom, and organized and put away a few things that hadn't managed to find a proper storage home yet. Oh, and I got in a workout at the Y, too!

Even though I could have picked up Makela as late as 4:00, I went over a few minutes early, eager to see how she did through the day. I was particularly interested to hear how she handled nap time, having to stay quiet and with other children sleeping around her.

The children play on the preschool playground at the end of their day, and I found Makela hard at work in the sandbox and was able to sneak in and snap a few more photos before she noticed that I had arrived. When she did see me, her first words were, "But I want to stay and play longer." Not "hello." Not "Hi Mommy!" Just a declaration that showed her complete lack of interest in seeing me again.

I told her we could stay another five minutes, so I took the opportunity to talk with Miss Jenna about how Makela's first day went. And from the report I got, Makela was a star student! Miss Jenna said that she did great, even at nap time. Of course she didn't sleep, but she was quiet and only asked about when she could be done once or twice. Jenna said to me, with a big smile, "Makela is a great kid. She has quite the personality." Then she added, "She's not afraid to tell you what's what."

Eventually, I managed to pull Makela away from the playground, although in the end, she was really quite tired and came to the car resigned to her homeward-bound fate. And for the rest of the evening and all the next day, all we heard were variations on a request to return to preschool asap. What follows are snippets of our conversations:

Makela: "When do I go back to preschool?"
Mommy: "On Thursday. The day after tomorrow."
Makela: "When is that? The day after this day?"

Makela: "Can I go back to preschool tomorrow?"
Mommy: "No, honey. Not until Thursday."
Makela: "But why?"
Mommy: "Because we only signed you up for Tuesdays and Thursdays each week."
Makela: "Why?"
Mommy: "Because you are just starting preschool. We'll give this a try and we'll talk about it."

Makela: "Why can't I go to preschool EVERY day?"
Mommy: "Because you don't need to go every day."

And Mommy really doesn't want you to be away at school every day. Not just yet.

Compliment of a Lifetime

Okay, I realize that some friends and family who read this blog will once again think I'm a crazy mom who just can't stop raving about her child. But honestly, this is feedback from a wholly unbiased source, and I just have to relay this story.

It was Wednesday of this week when I had a complete stranger say one of the nicest things to me about Makela. She had convinced me to go to In-n-Out for lunch, since we were in the middle of running a bunch of errands. It was easier to eat out than go home and then go out again to finish them.

So there we were, eating our lunch, and having a great time while doing so. Makela was in a particularly sparkly mood, which of course always helps. But I was shocked when an older, white-haired gentleman, neatly dressed in khakis and a button-down, stopped next to me, gently put his hand on my shoulder, and said the following:

"Not only is she a lovely child, but she is the most well-behaved, animated, and beautiful little girl you'll ever see in this world. You are a very lucky woman."

I was stunned. And ready to burst with pride. Sure, it's great when people tell you your kid is cute or adorable (FOUR other people told me similar things during this same visit to In-n-Out). But this man's compliment touched on Makela's behavior and personality, which most people don't comment on -- either because they don't take notice or just focus on her superficial qualities. And I would rather have a sweet, funny and well-mannered child, rather than one with just looks. But boy, it sure doesn't hurt to have it all....

Question of the Day

Today's "Question of the Day" is brought to you by the letter G and the number 4. So there we were, in Whole Foods, rounding the corner near the seafood department and produce, and what does Makela ask me?

"Mommy, do giraffes have tummies?"

Out of nowhere. After I recovered from my initial thought of "where on earth is THIS coming from?", I told her that yes, they do.

Then Makela said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, honey. I'm sure. Are you?"

When she replied, "no," I reassured her by saying, "Don't worry, Makela. Giraffes do have tummies."

"Okay," she answered, and that was that.

The Purple Inverticle

Okay. Makela has been talking about this for several weeks now, so it's time to put it in writing. I just *have* do a scrapbook layout on this subject! Here's the story, in her own words:

"Mommy, when I grow up, I'm going to drive a purple inverticle. [Inverticle means convertible, in Makela-ese.] It's going to have TEN seats, and be purple on the inside AND the outside. Everything in my purple car is going to be purple! Purple seats, purple lights, even the windows will be light purple."

According to Makela, it's already at the "car store," waiting for her to grow up. And "it's also upside down right now, because they are putting on the tires."

The detail with which she embellishes the story increases every time. She is so funny about this purple car. When we actually see a purple car on the road (it's more common that you think), she just about loses her mind. We even saw a bright purple VW bug one day, one of the newer models. It had a license plate that said "I LOVE PURPL" ("LOVE" was actually a heart symbol). It just cracks me up how these seemingly little things just make Makela's day.