At the end of a really great summer, and a very relaxing Labor Day weekend, we realized that two museum exhibits we’ve been meaning to see both closed today. So we got up early and did a museum marathon. First, we drove with our bikes to the 31st Street harbor area on the lakefront. This area has totally changed! We’ve been there before and during a bit of the construction, but today was our first time to see the finished result. It’s really great, I’d say about the best of the Chicago beaches. Sorry, no pics of that. Then we…

Miles took all these photos at the Taranga Zoo. The lion photos in particular are really amazing — the animals were expecting to be fed, from an area right above the viewing window. So they were standing really still and looking right at and over us! [slideshow]  

The surfing lessons that Colette got Liam and Miles got a bit complicated in terms of scheduling, mostly because we only had one full weekend in Sydney. It turns out the best day for the boys to surf was the Saturday morning before our flight out at noon or so. So we all turned up at Bondi Beach for the 9am-ish surf lessons, got the boys registered, wet suited and sunblocked up, then they went out with the surf instructor while we grabbed (another amazing) breakfast next door. Toward the end of the lessons we walked along the beach and…

The next day we went east from the ferry station at Manly. That way took us past the beach and up to some really scenic spots, much more open and less wooded than the other walk. Later that night, we met Colette then Colman at the opera house to check out the evening scene. We heard this was a favorite haunt of the Kennys during their visit too! Luna Park is an old amusement park, “a restored 1930s amusement park.” (http://www.lunaparksydney.com/visitor-information) It’s awesome! We went into the Coney Island building, where you have unlimited access to very simple but some…

We crossed the harbor twice to take the coastal walks from Manly, a suburb on the north east side of greater Sydney. It’s really beautiful there, we had two really great days walking in very different settings. The first day, we walked to the west of the ferry station. Manly was named such because when the Europeans first went there, they thought the local inhabitants were fierce and “manly.”

I think I left off the Sydney photos with our trip to the fish market. That was a really full day! After leaving the fish market, we took a taxi to the Harbour Bridge and at Colette’s suggestion walked across, stopping in the first pylon to have a good look around first. It was a great suggestion, and showed us the bridge up close, without the expense and rigor of the official “bridge climb,” which involves climbing up the ladder / steps built into the sweeping arc at the top of the bridge structure. After some exploring of the area…

When we were in Denver, we took the opportunity to do a bit of mountain stuff. On the day of the wedding we drove up to Red Rocks (that’s nearly an Australian kind of name!) and took a look around.

Our corners are being refitted with new ramps that will be better for wheelchairs and strollers, and the first stage of construction involved ripping out the old pavement. I heard two guys talking outside, one said to the other “man, they took our corners away!” You know the church across the street from us? They are building a garage in the back yard and I really think they are making a mistake. Look how tall it is! They’re not going to get any afternoon sun with this in place.  

Wasn’t it Liam who once told his teacher that both his aunts have boyfriends? Now we can say all of his aunts are married. Congratulations to Debbie and Jeff and thanks for making us part of your awesome wedding! It was a really beautiful, fun, lovely, I could go on… evening! Have a great honeymoon in Hawaii!   Readers have requested a few more photos so here they are! I took the first one, and both the top photo and the bottom one are from Deb’s facebook wall. Thanks to the photographers who shared your photos!     Rehearsal  …

I tagged along with Liam on his weekly fish feeding trip to the greenhouse at school and took these photos with my new camera. More photos on flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynren/