Festival and Babysitting

Hello Readers!

Sorry it has taken us so long to write another blog. We have been keeping busy with work, trips into Sydney, and just living life. Now we will try and catch you up on what's been happening.

Both last Saturday and Sunday we went into Sydney. On Saturday we visited the Botanical Gardens and the Art Museum with Owen and Margaret Heldon and their family. There was a special Islam exhibit at the Art Museum which was very impressive. There were lots of pages of the Quar'an decorated with extreme detail, Islamic tapestries, pottery, and paintings. It was quite an extensive collection and we felt almost drained by the end because of all we had seen.

Each weekend this month, Sydney is putting on a different festival so on Sunday, after singing for church, we decided to go check out the Brazilian festival at Darling Harbour. Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny day, perfect for walking around the city, which meant that everyone had the same idea as us and there were lots of people walking around with us. We saw two different bands singing brazilian songs and one of the bands was accompanied by a troop of acrobats who jumped around the stage doing karate-like moves. The other band had a lead woman singer who got the audience to repeat everything she said and clap along with the music. We were happy to join in, even though we had no idea what we were saying. Beside the Brazilian festivities there was a Chinese festival going on which we also visited. We watched a show of two men under a dragon suit who jumped up on posts of different heights all reaching above our heads. It was very impressive. By the time we got back to our house on Sunday night, we felt a sense of accomplishment that we had navigated our way around the city. We were also glad that we had a great day for only the cost of a five dollar train ticket.

Monday morning we awoke early, really early, to meet up with Margaret and catch the 7:04 am train to take us to Featherdale Wildlife Park. Our task for the day was to help Margaret babysit her niece and nephew, Babbette and Edward, at the park while their parents worked on plans for their new house. We had our hands full, but between the three of us we managed to keep an eye on the kids and have a great time. This park was different than Taronga Zoo because the animals were loose and you could walk right up to them and pet them. It was a very long day, but the kids did really well considering the fact that they didn't know us at all. By the end of the day were very tired and hungry but felt good knowing that we had helped out our neighbors and done one of the most New Church things you can do.

This weekend we are anticipating our first 3-day hike. The hike is in the infamous Blue Mountains and is on a 6 ft. track, hence the hike's title "the 6 foot track". We are a bit nervous because we will be carrying packs, full of tent peices, food, sleeping bags, the whole shabang. We are going with all of Margaret's daughters, which should be a blast. We are gearing up for this endeavor, we've got warm socks and rainjackets. The feeling when we have finished will be that of awesome triumph.

Now for some shout-outs:
To Aunt Jax, Happy Birthday!
To Dustiod Elder Happy Belated Birthday! Hope you got my message.

We love you and love hearing from you,
Carling and Sarah