Bowled over by Cricket

Well, I finally succumbed to peer pressure and went along to a Cricket match, I even managed to drag Mel along. Steve ( the aussie from Canada ) convinced all the North Americans to join him at a 20/20 match between Australia and South Africa at the MCG ( Melbourne Cricket Grounds ).

I went in knowing a little more than nothing about the sport and picked it up as the game went on. A typical "test match" can last 5 or more days. Next down the ladder is the "one day" which consists of 50 overs for each team. Finally there is the 20/20 match where each team only gets 20 overs. There are other differences in the rules for each type of match but I can't say I've figured them all out yet.

The test match is the serious version with strategy akin to a 7 game baseball series'. The one day is more like a 2 or 3 game baseball series, while the 20/20 is a lot like a single baseball game. I believe this is the format used for professional Cricket around the world ? Traditionalists don't like them, and worry it will ruin Cricket. However, its better for TV, better for spectators, and actually pretty exciting.

Australia and South Africa are touring around playing a series of test matchs, one days games, and 20/20s.

The match we went to see was at the MCG and the attendance was 66,000. Which meant the MCG or "G" was a little over half full ! We had seats up in the nose bleeds but the view was pretty good.

It was a bit strang at first but we quickly got into it. It was cool to see the different stlyes of Bowlers ( pitcher ) and to see the different configurations of fielders the teams used. Australia was up first and had 20 overs to get as many runs as they could. Basically that meant they had 120 pitches to get as many runs as possible. They got to keep sending up new batters until they either ran out of outs ( didn't happen ) or ran out of overs. You get out by being caught out, thrown out, or bowled out. To get bowled the bowler needs to hit the wickets with the ball or hit the batter in the case where they are deemed to be blocking the wickets.

This format encourages big hits to get big hits as opposed to strategic smaller hits to get runs. In other words the risk of getting out is removed.

The Australians got a large number of runs and this put the pressure on the S.Africans to get more runs in fewer balls. This is called a run-chase. In the end they got close but ran out of balls. It was actually pretty exciting. The game took about 3 hours. The stars of the night were a young Australian batter who in his first game at this level scored 89 runs before going out, and an Australian bowler who was bowling at 150+ Km/hr .

I've been watching more matches on TV now and I'm starting to actually like it ! With the state of baseball where it is I think I might prefer to watch some Cricket over a regular season baseball game.

Hmmm, wonder if I can get the kids into cricket in Canada ??

Boxing Day with Boxwars

So, I get a text message from my friend Kerry that reads “Boxing day BBQ in Caulfield park featuring boxwars as the entertainment. 4pm, byo full Esky and meat. Cricket updates included.”. What I took this to mean was that there was a BBQ being put on by the community and there would be a band named Boxwars playing at this BBQ.

So we pack up the cooler (Esky) with some snacks, beer, wine and pull up to Caulfield park to find 100-150 people, many of them decked out in cardboard armour of one kind or another, some dinosaurs, some gladiator types, two guys on stilts, etc…


At first everyone is just milling about with a certain buzz of anticipation. My friend Kerry and some ultimate folk are hanging out having a few beer, they see us coming and start laughing as we approach with our three kids in tow. Not sure if they were expecting us to come on our own, or were simply going to enjoy seeing the kids reactions to the battle about to begin…The announcer starts introducing the "warriors" by name with a megaphone and then the battle begins. In any event, the kids loved it, Jeff was amused (not an easy task) and I got to take a bunch of random pics. The pictures do not do the chaotic battle justice. People were wacking eachother with huge concrete mixing cardboard tubes. We surmised that you were permitted to continue to battle as long as you had some piece of cardboard still clinging to your body, otherwise you could steal a piece off of the ground and claim it as your own and keep laying the beats on people…a strange and unique experience.
Wyatt was of course, soaking it all in. After the battle was over, we rummaged through the remains and took some photos. Wyatt found a helmet, then proceeded to charge at me - if he weighed more than 40 pounds he might have leveled me. Not hard to imagine where he got this idea - don't call CAS, they won't come all of this way to remove our kids. Then I got the magic helmet and Rowan thought it would be a good photo op to pretend to tackle me - which ended in a sad fall to the ground...

Then my cool single pals moved to the adult BBQ pits away from kids and we moved our munchkins over to Caulfied park for some more play time and our own KFC dinner! Another memorable evening in Melbourne!

WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, AND A SUNNY NEW YEAR!

Our wish came true. And how. We enjoyed a somewhat typical Christmas morning. Wyatt slept in till 7 (pretty good considering), he seemed pleased to see that Santa had in fact delivered some presents despite his behaviour in recent days. He sat on the potty (just to make sure the presents stayed) and even waited patiently while we woke Cooper and Maddy up in the neighbourhood of 7:20. Then he gently knocked on Catty’s door with a clear “Merry Christmas Catty” and waited for her to emerge before touching anything. Jeff and I were very impressed with his restraint. We called Grandma and Granddad for a video chat so that the chaos could be witnessed from across oceans. The excitement level was average.
Their stockings had tons of little cars, socks, and other random things I picked up from the local op shops and second hand stores. The most exciting thing for Wyatt was his KungFu Panda Pez Refills – upon opening them, he exclaimed “Look mom, refills!”. Amazing how their vocabulary can be so developed and yet so tailored towards their interests. Cooper got lots of Bob the Builder stuff, Maddy is into Dora so that was a pervasive theme in her presents but she got a purse (which she quickly filled with HotWheels cars), and Wyatt, well, he is still hooked on HotWheels. Their main gifts were complementary hummers, and they each got a LEGO kit of some sort.
Otherwise, we kept it pretty lowkey. Lots of pjs which they needed because try as I might to stop it, they just keep growing!

Once brekkie and a second video call with Grammy and Grampy were done, we decided our Oz Christmas NEEDED a trip to the beach. This marked the end of the traditional part of our day. We packed a lunch and headed to Brighton Beach for some sun and sand, along with all of the other expats in Melbourne. Definitely a notch up from loading up the car in a snowstorm! Jeff and Catty got their requisite Christmas shovelling in - digging trenches and trails for the hummers, while I sat by with my camera realising that I could easily get used to this life. Don’t worry. We are still coming home this summer.


Then home for nap, not us, just them. I cooked a turkey roll full of stuffing, mashed potatoes and some veggies and we enjoyed a very non-traditional Xmas dinner OUTSIDE. Again, not much to complain about! Hope you all enjoyed time with family and friends. We missed you (when we weren’t at the beach) and we look forward to celebrating with you in 2009.

Diamond Valley Miniature Railway & Pony Rides

Another weekend, another interesting adventure with the kids. Melbourne has too much to do for children. What Jeff and I really need is friends and neighbours with whom we can just hang out and let the kids co-exist...none of this, pack a lunch for another day trip, hope the weather holds, try not to screw up everyone's nap...
Anyways, this was a good trip. The trains and track are better than the other miniature railway we visited and we met up with a colleague of Jeff's named Nick and his two kids. Did the pony cart thing, then a picnic lunch. All in all, a wonderful way to spend a day with family. But we are truly exhausted...and this leading up to the holidays.

BEACH ELVES...

COOPER AND MADDY TURN 2!!!

PARTY LEAD UP :
In the eleventh hour, I decided to see if any of my friends could come for a last minute birthday party for Cooper and Maddy. Initially it looked like it might be a big affair, but two last minute cancellations left us with Lisa, Sarah and their kids being the only ones able to join us.
Visit the toy library. Pick up loads of toys including one of their party packs - climbing structure with double slides, whirly rocker and two roller coaster tracks with cars.
Boys get haircuts.
I pick out birthday outfits for Cooper and Maddy. Oh, too much fun!


PARTY DAY :
Breakfast - I decide to frost the cupcakes, thinking no one will pay any attention as they are absorbed by morning cartoons...wrong. Check out the pics of Maddy and Cooper cleaning off the mixer and the spatula! Maddy then decided to clean off Cooper...oh he is in for a lifetime of mothering...sorry Pooper!

Maddy wears her "party skirt" and lets me take a bunch of pics :) But she will NOT let me style her hair in any way...

Lunch - a trip to see Santa, unsuccessful as we were not prepared for a long wait (no strollers) but we managed to pick up a few extras for the party...and we even made it back so the kids could ALL have a wonderful pre-party nap!

PARTY TIME -
The weather cooperated and we had a lovely dinner, loads of sugar, some choice cupcakes, and some good times. The kids all played amazingly together and the only downer was when Declan slipped on our front yard marble tiles and tried to use a very large birdbath to keep himself on his feet, only to have the 30 pound basin crash into his head! We took tons of pics of Maddy the rockstar, Cooper, the urban homey and Wyatt in his new HotWheels t-shirt. As with all of our birthday parties in Oz so far - my kids end up in diapers running around saying "Naked Girl" and "Naked Boy."

Our babies are no longer babies. Bring on the terrible twos...I don't really mean that actually...

So what if Santa tells stories...

At the local libraries, they scheduled story time with Santa. We met up with Sam and Connor (my Canadian friend). Maddy loves Connor , she often states “I lub Connor.”. The kids were more interested in the toy section and train table at the library than they were in Santa and his stories. This was becoming a recurrent theme in my life. Then came the tamborines – a few moments of complete commitment to the Christmas festivities, then it was gone! The kids got some lollies, Wyatt sat on Santa’s lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas, we made a few tree decorations and then headed off to the park across the street. The park had a whirly tomato that the kids adored – a few times around and I was feeling nauseated but I held it together for the kids. Another day down, another chocolate out of the advent calendar.

YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING!

After missing the first concert a few days after we arrived in Melbourne, Jeff was on a mission to get us to a Wiggles concert while in Australia. We packed the kids up half asleep after a short nap (not a good start). We underestimated travel time, the traffic, the lack of parking and wound up arriving late, but we made it. The kids were a tad overstimulated by the whole arena full of people, loud music, dim lights, etc... Maddy was pretty interested in naming the characters she knew but they were finishing up her favorite song when we arrived so I was a bit disappointed on her behalf. Cooper did the most dancing, and then there was Wyatt. Wyatt was very excited by the flip-up chairs, especially those that we didn’t have tickets for. He spent more time trying to convince us to let him sit in all different rows, seats, on the steps, in the hall – than he did watching the concert. Overall, I would say they enjoyed the concert and we have the pics to show them when they get older as a rebuttal for the inevitable lament : “You never take us anywhere exciting!”