sf 2 oz

Amy, Tony and Matthew (who is now 15 months old!) visited Sydney last week as part of a two week trip to Australia. It was so wonderful to have them here - we had fun catching up and sharing some of our favorite Sydney activities. Mike introduced them to the city by taking them to Bills for brekkie and on a walk through the Finger Wharf, Botanical Gardens and Opera House. Throughout the week we also enjoyed exploring the Rocks together and trying Kangaroo Pizza, going to trivia night at the Fringe Bar and doing the Cliff Walk from Bronte to Bondi (during a heat lightning storm).

We had a perfect beach day on Saturday so we headed to Manly. Amy and Tony surprised us with a private surf lesson, which was so unexpected and nice! But man, surfing is HARD. We both got up on our feet a few times, but paddling and fighting the waves to get back out beyond the break was really exhausting. We also got to try the new Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop, which recently opened in Manly and is the first Ben & Jerry's in Oz! It was like a little slice of home, except they didn't have our favorite - Half Baked. On Sunday, Sydney was the hottest place in Australia. Hotter than the Outback. Seriously. 108 degrees. I can't believe it but we actually braved the heat and went lawn bowling after breakfast. That afternoon we had people over to our place for some cold beer and snacks before the Pearl Jam concert that evening. They headed to the airport on Monday and left behind a tree and little presents for us to open each day leading up to Christmas. How thoughtful!

We're so glad to have spent time in Sydney with Amy and Tony and Matthew, who is growing so fast and remains cute as ever. I think we all made some great memories!