This week was much better than last, thank goodness!

Last Sunday we tried another baptist church. It was ok, people were friendly, but we don't think it is the right place for us. In the afternoon we went to a birthday party for a child of a coworker of Brian. It was actually a lot of fun! It was the first time I felt like this was going to work for us. All the families had small children and we got along well with the other parents. The only problem is that most of them live in the north, about 45 minutes from us.

Monday was the birthday party for the kids turning 2 in the Monday playgroup. It was at at petting farm. It was great! Caleb loved seeing all the animals. The picture of Caleb mounting the pig was taken there. Caleb got to pet sheep, bunnies, a pony, and pigs. He got to see chucks, alpacas, ferrets, birds, and goats.

Tuesday was swim lesson. We got there about 10 minutes early so Caleb could acclimate to the water and area. That seemed to help because he had a great lesson! Yay! He is still very behind in skills, but he will now sit on the edge of the pool and scoot in to me! It is nice to see growth is such a short period of time!

Wednesday we had Caleb's 18 month check up. It was very different from what happens in the States. The doctor came out to us in the waiting room to ask if everything was ok and then we saw the nurse for his measurements and immunization. It was very quick. Then we went to the library. Caleb was not happy with me for being out of the house all morning but at least it was productive.

Thursday was our Aussie playdate. It was nice :)

Friday we went to Questacon, the science museum. It is a nice place to go when we don't have any other plans, but was a bit crowded.

Today we finally made it to Tidbinbilla. It is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from us. We have bee trying to go for about 3 weeks, but for different reasons we could not get there. It is a huge nature reserve with tons of animals. It was not crowded at all, so Caleb got to run around (that is the picture of Caleb running) on the trails. We got to see a koala (picture above) and lovely scenery. There were a lot of wallabies and birds. We tried to see platypuses but we could not find them. We got an annual pass so we can go back as much as we want and I think we will take advantage of it especially when it warms up!

Tomorrow we are going to try out a Lutheran church and then go into the city to the Old Bus Depot to look for some Aussie art.

One thing we have had to get used to here is the eating out differences. Bri and I really enjoy eating out. I cook 5 days a week so we eat out Friday and Saturday nights. Well, we do carry out those nights, restaurants are not conducive to toddlers. There is not a lot of variety here, mainly asian. All the chinese, thai, and indian you want (I am considering this asian because India is a part of Asia - Brian does not like me calling it asian food!) We have found 1 Italian restaurant, that is ok and a take-away place that is ok. The pizza here is not good, we have tried 2 places and have been disappointed both times (they use shredded ham and I don't think they use enough cheese), they do have Domino's and Pizza hut, so maybe that will be better. They also put beets on their burgers and sandwiches. We were warned of this, but forgot and were completely grossed out by it! And like everything else, it is twice as expensive as the U.S. Krispy Kreme donuts are $3.00 each and Subway boasts of $7.00-11.00 footlongs (and they don't have the fun jingle!) There are a few places we have yet to try, a Turkish restaurant and an Irish pub. I definitely miss eating out in the U.S and nothing will compare to the amazing food we had in NYC! What we would give for a good burrito, a real hamburger, and yummy greek food :)

We love and miss you all!