Fashion Queen

As most of you know, Maddie has always been a little obsessed with fashion. This week, she's been talking about buying a sewing machine and making clothes. I wish I would have learned to sew, or at least, brought my sewing machine with me. It's sitting in storage in the States. A lot of good it's doing there! I guess I'll have to find her a sewing class so someone who knows what they are doing can teach her to sew properly.

Until she can start sewing, Maddie has decided to sketch her designs. Today, she insisted that she go out on the front porch because she needed inspiration from the great outdoors. Here are her most recent sketches:

Next, she will start work on her shoe designs.

Maddie has big plans to design, make and model her own fashions.

(If any of you noticed, Maddie really is wearing her jacket. Yesterday, we were at the beach soaking up the rays. Today, we were at home chilled by the wind and rain. Hopefully, we'll have our sun and blue skies back tomorrow.)

While the dad is away, the girls will play...

A few days after we got back from Sydney, we headed back to the airport with Dad. Duty called. He had to go to Monacry, Guinea and London. Work, work, work.... and a little retail therapy. We were naughty and gave him a list of things to buy for us in London.

Since Maddie is still on break, we've had lots of fun while Dad has been away.

We went to an indoor pool with a water playground, had dinner with friends, learned to make jam, played at the park, watched the new Barbie and Tinkerbell movies, got new sandals, and had sleepovers in Mom's bed.

Mom is questioning her decision to let Maddie sleep in her bed.



We went to Strawberry Fields with friends to pick strawberries.

We went to our favorite beach which is a quick seven minute drive from the house.

We don't have much of a garden - just a little grass in front and a patio in back. The girls like to hang out on the back terrace but haven't had much to occupy them. We fixed that by buying paintbrushes and filling buckets of water.

Mom is worried that Izzie will be sad when Maddie has to go back to school. Lucky for us, we will finally get our long awaited summer vacation in two months and will have six weeks to spend together!

Girls Day Out

Just down the street from our house are the Claremont Showgrounds - home to the annual Royal Perth Show. It's like a state fair with all the excitement of pony rides, ferris wheels, animals, food, and shows. Dad had to work, so Mom took the girls out for the day.

First stop, teacups. Izzie was so excited to start spinning in her pink teacup. Look at her big smile!

The girls were anxious to milk the cows. They were a little concerned that their buckets were full of water instead of milk. If they wouldn't have run out of water, we would have been there all day.

Maddie asked me to take this photo so Hailey could see that she knows how to milk a cow, too.



The girls spent a lot of time cuddling the soft baby chicks.

The girls got to "pat a pig".

Izzie couldn't stop giggling while they fed the baby goat.

Maddie loved holding the bunnies.

After visiting the animals, we took a break and went to see some shows. This show was called "Dancing Ducks" - a fashion show for ducks. The children found it entertaining and the adults found it extremely disturbing. Maddie wanted me to take photos of the ducks in all their outfits.

Hold on Tight - an action shot of Izzie's first roller coaster ride!

Not a great photo, but look at Izzie. You've got to love that her eyes are closed as they fly around the bend!

The girls both love carousel rides.

Izzie will tell you that she saw "a sheep getting a haircut". We also saw BMX racers doing flips on ramps, a dog that did amazing tricks, and a log cutting contest. We'll definitely be going back next year, but we'll be taking Dad.

Sydney

During the first week of Maddie's school holidays, we went to Sydney the Harbour City. Sydney really has the most beautiful harbour in the world. We went on ferry rides, saw the sights, hit the beach, shopped, got up close and personal with a few birds and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. We loved Sydney. If we can ever convince any of you to come visit us, we'll definitely recommend that you make a stop in Sydney.

Sydney Opera House

Izzie will tell you that this is where you find the "singing ladies". We did not hear any amazing voices, but we saw the stages and concert halls where the "singing ladies" perform their musical magic. We're hoping to make it back when the girls are older so we can all enjoy a performance.

Taronga Zoo

We took a fun journey by ferry (with this view of the Opera House) and by Sky Safari to get to the zoo.

Koalas

Dragon

Giraffes with a Harbour View

Kissing Tasmanian Devils




Some Pretty Darn Cute Animals






These friendly birds cleaned our plates after lunch. They politely waited for us to finish but couldn't wait until we stood up and walked away from the table.





You can't go wrong with free face painting. It may not be fancy but it made one zebra and one butterfly very happy for the rest of the afternoon.













A vacation isn't complete without an ice cream in the afternoon.





Harbour Bridge

Darling Harbour - The Chinese Gardens

Maddie hates snakes, and now, lizards. After seeing this lovely creature, she couldn't wait to get out of the gardens.

Royal Botanic Gardens

This fine feathered friend parked on Izzie's stroller while she was in it having a nap.

Bondi Beach

One of Australia's Most Famous and the World's Most Well Known Beaches

We saw the lifesavers in their goofy hats and swam between the yellow and red flags.

Beach Bums

We didn't have buckets and shovels, but we had lots of princesses and fairies.

Manly Beach

Izzie took her first carousel ride without Mom or Dad.

We did some silly things, too. We stopped at Krispy Kreme for donuts and 7-11 for Slurpees - treats we can't get in Perth!