I Love a Sunburnt Country

We played Pirates and Spies with the kiddies in the morning then went to the Arboretum. It was beautiful but FREEZING! We hadn't fully remembered how cold Canberra winters get! We had a great time though, and Eddie and Will loved the playground!

 

 

 

Before heading home, we went up to the "Wide Brown Land" sign on the next hill over.

The quote comes from a poem (which Dad recited to us from memory) by Dorothea Mackellar:
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

 

We went home and got ready for dinner at the Press Club! We had a bit of a drama over who would wear what - because we both wanted to wear almost exactly the same outfit - and then got one last opportunity to surprise family members with our presence in the country. We gave Sue and Sir, our step-grandparents, quite a shock when they came over to babysit Ed and Will for the evening!

The party at the Press Club was hosted by the Australian American Association, so we fit right in! The Harvard Krockodiloes were there to sing for us and they put on a great show! We met a few of them afterwards and had a drink - which we were all pretty excited about, having come from the US with its high drinking age.

 

 

They were going to a pub after the show and we were tempted to go with, except that it's a pretty bogan place and we were still jetlagged and exhausted. So, instead, we had Maccas drive thru for dinner and went home.

It was the right call because we were obviously tired! The next day Lucy slept in until after 12:30 and Will, amazed, said "I can't believe it! Lucy's sleeping is the biggest!"

We had a chill day at home and helped Ed and Will ride their bikes - then we attempted to ride their bikes...

That night was family movie night and we watched "The Indian in the Cupboard" which featured two annoying kids, some mild racism, and the dad from Raise Your Voice. It was a fun night, though, and we definitely felt cosy and settled in.