A Year in Australia: busy busy bees!

Well, it was another one of our crazy busy weekends.

Saturday morning, Fergus and Fiona went to visit her preschool. They were having an open house for family members that had not been to the centre. Both Fiona and Fergus enjoyed their daddy and daughter day! Margot and I headed to Parramatta to do some errands (ie shop for M's undies - ssshhhhhhhh).

We all met up midday at Temasek for another glorious lunch.

It is a Malay/Singaporean restaurant in Parramatta. Uncle Chris introduced us to it and we go every once in awhile. Everything that we've had there is good but in particular the kecap manis sotong (fried calamari rings in sweet soy sauce). To D-I-E for!

They even had a recent review in the Sydney Morning Herald - it was all very positive!

After that we headed home and while Fergus played soccer (they won 2 - 1), the girls and I got ready for our sleepover.

We headed to Glebe at about 5pm to meet up with Al, Teresa, Maya and Tristan. But first we stopped in Newtown to get a take out from the cheapest Thai restaurant in town. Great food and reasonably priced. By about 6:30 we finally reached our destination.

The Cuerriers were staying at another exchange families' home (Canadians Jamie and Rhonda who live near us in Vancouver are exchanging with wife who is a teacher and husband who is an architect and their 9 year old son). What a beautiful terrace home in Glebe (which is only a few kms from the city centre)! It is a very central and hip area. The home was three stories, narrow, modern and beautifully decorated. It was like a 'Vogue Living' spread - just gorgeous! I enjoyed being in the house but I almost like the burbs better - did I just type that??!! I'll have to expand on that another time!

We enjoyed catching up with our Canadian friends - eating, drinking, the kids had a blast too. We talked about the pros and cons of living in Australia and our Vancouver home. The one thing we totally agreed on is that the sunshine is good for our souls!

The kids went off to bed without too much trouble except Fiona kept on coming down. After the third visit, she started complaining of a sore finger (it was peter pointer not middle man tall!). It looked a bit green and pussy near the nail and it was starting to swell up. We finally gave her some panadol and we all headed to bed.

Needless to say, we had a baaaaaaaad night sleep. The three of us slept in a double mattress with Fiona waking up periodically and complaining of her sore finger. Fergus was having one of his worst attacks and making all sorts of weird noises due to his allergies. And me, well I could hear everyone in the house (all the kids woke at some point in the night)!

I was glad when the sun came up!! Fiona didn't complain too much about her finger and so we packed up and headed to Coogee for brunch. The beach was beautiful but we had the unfortunate luck of having the nastiest waitress in town. Very grumpy! The food took a long time and it was average. The kids were happy enough though. We headed for a brief play in the playarea which is huge and fantastic. By that time, Fiona's finger looked even redder and more swollen. She was running around with her finger pointing straight in the air. It was a funny sight.

We said our goodbyes to our friends and headed back west to our hood.

Typical Sydney terrace

The gang having some rice bubbles

Fiona with Maya

The gang

After a 45 minute drive, we were back in the hills. We tried to find a medical clinic but no luck. The one near us was closing so...off we went to our afternoon BBQ at Michelle and Andrew Lees' in Carlingford. They have three boys (Hayden 13, Jared, 9 and Zac 7). Fiona, Bob, Charlie and Bridget were also there. We were there for a few hours, we had a huge feast and it was a great time! Fiona (big Fiona) reckoned that Fiona (wee Fiona) needed to see a doctor to get antibiotics as her finger looked infected (she is a midwife). We agreed.

We drove to another clinic after the bbq and there were 25 people ahead of us so it would have been a few hours wait at least. Instead we went home and put Fiona (all of us) to bed.

Today Fiona and I went to the clinic by Margot's school. She was very brave as the doc put a pin in her finger and squeezed out the puss. She cried but not any louder than a normal temper tandrum. She did well!! She is now on a 7 day course of antibiotics! At least she didn't have her finger amputated! ;-) Poor thing. In my head I keep seeing her running around with her finger pointing up and out!

Oh yes, and how you might ask did Fiona get an infected finger...well she has taken to biting her nails since last fall and apparently it is common for both children and adults to get an infection in that area. Hoping this will be of a lesson....but somehow I doubt it!