Spent a wet and chilly Sunday visiting some places we have already been - but the beauty of these two places is that no matter how many times you show up you will always be sure to see and do something different.
First we rode the tram down Lygon to Victoria and then walked over to the Market. Despite the weather it was packed and we had fun trolling the stalls. Colin walked away with a new pair of purple Converse running shoes - no bargain there! - and Linton got the best deal with a cozy $20 robe. Of course the Pokemon card stall got a little workout and among other things that we priced were Ugg slippers, Hawthorne Hawk footy jerseys, didgeridus, aboriginal prints, sweat pants, and mom and dad definitely needed a small latte to fight of the chill of the Melbourne winter.
We weren't so chilly that a visit to the zoo was out of the question so we figured out a new tram route up Royal Parade getting off at the Gatehouse stop for the quick ten minute walk over to the zoo. That annual membership has almost paid for itself! This visit was a chance to show mommy what we had discovered last time and the highlights were many. In particular, we saw many more gorillas, very big pelicans very close, monkeys jumping all over the place and the butterflies would not stop landing on dad's head. Very cool.
A few other reflections of note would be the Australian nation mourning Cadell Evans' second place finish in the Tour de France. We are quickly becoming big footy fans with the Hawthorne Hawks and their star player Buddy Franklin becoming as big as Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs. Which reminds me - is Mats still a Maple Leaf? Noticed that Australia, a nation of 22 million people is sending an Olympic team to Beijing of 44o strong while Canada, a nation of 32 million people is sending a team of 33o athletes. Hmmm. I am noticing a lot of signs of a lot drinking in this country. You tip toe around the beer bottles on the way to school in the morning. The media seems to also be wondering about all of the drinking. However, the food continues to amaze me - it's amazing both in variety, quality, and price! I just saw a BLT sandwich advertised for $7.50.
And finally, very sad to read of the passing of Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture. What an incredibly inspirational human - for parents, cancer patients, children, all of us. What I loved about his book was his honesty. If only we all knew ourselves as well as he did and were willing to be so open and free with that information. So many of us walk through life behind shields and veils.
On that happy note, I'm off to play some solitaire and do some homework with the boys.
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