Monday, July 18, 2011

We made it to Sydney, Australia!

Well, tomorrow will make it one week since we arrived in Sydney! We have been quite busy adjusting to the time change (14 hours ahead of Ohio!), buying a new car, settling into our "temporary" house, and getting acquainted with our new surroundings! It takes about 5-6 days to really get adjusted. The first couple days, we were falling asleep around 6pm and waking up around 4-5am! You just have to force yourself to stay awake longer at night! The kids have done wonderfully and are adjusting just fine! Keeping busy is key, and I have come to the conclusion that as long as their basic needs are met, kids are very reseliant!
We found a car for Josh - it's a silver Volvo 4 door and we really like it! Right now we're driving a rental Pajero, that we will continue to drive until we find my car.
We're doing lots of exploring, eating out, and comparing prices of things for future purchases, as things are very expensive over here! The malls are interesting over here as well. You do all of your shopping at them, including grocery shopping! So you wheel your grocery cart through the mall to get to your car - it's hilarious! We will take pictures of everything and I will get them posted on the blog as well.
Saturday we went into central Sydney by Darhling Harbor. The kids loved it! We walked around and visited the Aquarium. We thought after all the errands we had been running, it would be a nice treat for them. We can't wait for all our visitors to come and enjoy the sights with us! Our drive home took us over the Harbor Bridge with the view of the Sydney Opera House on our left - we were home 15 min. later!! It's so awesome! I can't believe we live here!!
We went to Hillsong Church (3 min. from our house) Sunday to check it out. The kids thought it was great and really enjoyed their classes. We're still trying to figure out if we will go there for sure or not permanently.
Today was Josh's first day at work - he'll be home in an hour, so anxious to see how it went! Tomorrow we will go take Grace to visit her school for orientation, buy her uniform, and take some tests. Should be a fun day! Well, that was our week in a nutshell! Until next time....

4 comments:

HBM said...

SO glad you arrived safely and are doing well! I miss you! Maybe I need to plan a vacation to Sydney... Hmmm... :) Hope we can Skype/chat soon. Love you, hon!

Simple Purposeful Living said...

So glad you are all doing so well - everyday will be an adventure but just think how much the kiddos horizons are being broadened and they will grow up with such an appreciation for all cultures with no fear of "different" or "weird" - what a gift you are giving them - GOD IS GOOD! We miss you but so excited about your adventure and our pending trip!!!!

The Malin's said...

Thanks Mariah! So good to hear from you, sad we weren't able to connect before we left, but we can definitely skype! I'll try to call you sometime, too! YES! Plan a trip to Sydney!! You have 3 years and you won't regret it!

The Malin's said...

Love you guys - always good to hear from you and your uplifting comments, Erin! Can't wait to chat again soon! Love you!