Syndey - Part 2

We arrived early enough on the first day to explore a bit close to our hotel at Darling Harbour. I liked our location because we were an easy walk to the Sydney Aquarium, and the area is very child-friendly with playgrounds, fountains, and oddities like a sculpture of sheep jumping through a pen (see below).

Just another jungle-gym for our little climber

A band was playing at an amphitheater by the water, and the harbor was full of boats of all sizes. Needless to say, the children (and I) were big-eyed just taking in all the sites.

The fountains all over were a real highlight for Julia. She ran around this one pretending to be one of the flying swans like the sculptures.Completely in her element (and in her own world) running all around the harbor

The Maritime Museum was on one side of Darling Harbour and not only did it have some interesting exhibits but it was free, so we spent a long time in there. The children actually paid attention to the exhibit called "Souveniers of Travel"-- everything from the fine china off cruise ships to little plastic toys made in Indonesia.

But since they are only 1yr and 2yrs old, they were most intrigued by the little cutouts beneath one display that made for a great combination game of peek-a-boo/hide-n-seek/tag. Matt & I didn't mind because it meant we could actually look around while they were entertained.

Once the children had tired themselves out for the afternoon (or so we thought), we made our way back to the hotel for room service and an early night. All four of us in the one small hotel room did not create a calming place for sleep, and by about 2am, I'd pretty much just resigned myself to the fact that sleep was not going to happen.

Matt wasn't feeling well the next morning (he's not as used to pulling all-nighters with the kiddos), so he slept in while I took the kids to the Aquarium for the morning. We had a great time, and I was able to let Liam out of the pram a lot to crawl up to the glass tanks and look at the fish. I wasn't able to take many pictures since I was juggling the two of them and a stroller by myself, but here are a few:

Julia and the Dugong (manatee)

This part of the aquarium was my favorite. After looking down into that pool to see the dugongs feeding (on lettuce, by the way), you walked down a long ramp and ended up below that pool in these glass tunnels. These weird-looking animals were just inches away from us (along with all the other fish)...all the perks of scuba diving without having to worry about wetsuits, sharks, or that whole oxygen business!

"Um, mom? Are you sure this glass is thick enough?"
(Liam looking a bit apprehensive after watching a huge shark swim by him)

Parenting fact #27: If you have paid a small fortune to go to any museum/amusement park/child-friendly activity, at least one of your children will be equally (if not more) amused by something you could just as easily have found (or already have) at home.

After a relatively civilized lunch, the children and I headed back to the hotel to meet Nana! More on that in the next post...