Our Recent "Adventures". Lots of Pics!

Gosh, it's been a while since I updated this thing! That being said, time is going so quickly and I can hardly believe we're already halfway through October! I have a few things lined up here to update with, but I haven't finished going through photos as I've been a bit lazy when it comes to editing them and organising them. 

Mr 2 began soccer lessons a few weeks ago. I felt like he/we needed more things to do, especially during the week. The term began last month, so we were a bit late to the party, but oh well. The classes are held in the Marina District in a really beautiful spot. They're set right on the water in front of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a gorgeous area, and I guess how I feel about it is probably how people feel about the Harbour Bridge and the Kirribilli area when they go there for the first time. 

That being said, I don't think soccer star is on the cards for a future occupation for Mr 2. He's not completely into the classes and prefers to partake in only a few of the activities they do in the 40 minute classes. Although, being a combination of myself and Robert, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by that. Haha...

Robert's Mum came to stay with us last week after she'd been on a trip to Europe. We didn't end up doing as much with her as I thought we might have. She'd been here before and I think she mainly wanted to just see Mr 2 (and us). So she accompanied us to a soccer class and basically just experienced everyday life with us. Robert did take the week off, though, which was awesome. I have to admit that it was really nice to have a little break from full time motherhood for a bit! Heh... The most tourist-y thing we did was go to Muir Woods (again. It was the third time we've been. LOL) and Sausalito with her.

In other Bartlett life news, Mr 2 got accepted into a pre-school the other week, which is awesome. I was getting anxious not knowing whether he'd be going to a school of our choosing, so I was very relieved at this! He won't start until September next year (because that's when the school year here starts), but it's so competitive here and you really need to get in early. So I'm glad we did. 

And having said that, I'm sure I had a lot more to say, but I'm so tired after a terrible night last night that I'm just going to leave you with lots of pictures. I apologise for the incoherence. I need another coffee.

xoxo

Ghirardelli have filled their fountain with pumpkins. Pumpkins are everywhere at the moment!

Muir Woods: beautiful no matter how many times you go!

I spent a lot of time on this visit looking for 4-leaf clovers. I'd never found one; I still haven't! :-(

Sausalito

View from Sausalito

Cayuga Playground and Pointe!!!

Before I say anything, this shooting in Orlando is very sad. I honestly don't know why this country feels the need for guns. Events like these not only end and ruin lives, but they bring out the worst in people; the Donald Trumps within. I only hope some new laws are implemented soon, but how many of these events need to happen before change happens? I don't want one of my family members to be a next victim, and I'm sure most people feel the same; so why the guns? I just don't understand...

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That said, we spent part of the weekend at Cayuga Playground. :-) I wanted to check out some "hidden gems" in the city, so thought this would be good since it's also child-friendly (your outings become somewhat limited with a child in tow!). It was a lovely park, despite the trains passing by every few minutes overhead. Wooden sculptures are all over the place, and kids can run and hide through the gardens. Our toddler did a bit of exploring, himself. :-) Anyway, I'm not very good with the words right now, so here are some pictures:

In other news, I BOUGHT MY VERY FIRST PAIR OF POINTE SHOES TODAY!!! I know I keep raving on and on about ballet, so if you're really uninterested in it, you can stop reading right now. Ha... But seriously, I'm very excited about this!!! My teacher was aiming for me to get them around the end of the month, but after I got frustrated during the week at my lack of progress (or perceived lack of progress), she thought I should go get them now. She's also trying to have me starting pointe by the time mum comes to visit in a few weeks, which I thought was so lovely. She teaches thousands of us, but manages to remember that my mum's coming to visit in a few weeks' time. ^_^ I thought that was so sweet. 

This is a big deal for me. :-) I really didn't think I'd ever get the opportunity to do ballet again, let alone get on pointe! 

Aaaaaand now I'm going to go sleep. We have two school tours this week lined up for the toddler. It will surely be interesting. :-) 

xoxo

Can't you just imagine the tumbleweeds blowing in the breeze?

OK, I've been a bit absent from this blog lately. Primarily because we just haven't done anything interesting. Which is good in a way: we're getting into a rhythm of the everyday, although it does mean that things are a little boring! My routine is usually looking after a toddler, partying while he naps (which usually means taking a nap, myself!) and doing ballet classes on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings (I will hopefully be on pointe by the end of the month! Woo hoo! Words cannot express how excited I am by this!). 

Our weekends have often included just taking the toddler to different playgrounds. I've been getting ideas from this link here as to where to try, and we haven't been too disappointed! These playgrounds have all just been amazing! Although I am hoping to do something a bit more exciting this weekend. I was thinking of getting an idea from here.

It's the beginning of Summer here, and I'm still adjusting to: 1) it being Summer in June, 2) Summer being here but Christmas not, and 3) people finishing school for the year/graduating in the middle of the year! As well as the driving, I feel like I'm in backwards-land or something! None of it makes sense to me! 

My mum's coming to visit for a week in a few weeks which I'm very much looking forward to! I have bouts of homesickness which make me want to curl into the foetal position and cry for a bit. But then the toddler would think I'm weirder than I already am, so I usually just cry internally. LOL.

I've also made a little group of friends which is nice and even nicer for the toddler who isn't in daycare or anything. It's a relief for me to have him socialise and to see the same people sometimes. He'll be two in September which is rushing up! I can't believe how quickly that's gone. I was going through our TinyBeans calendar last night, and things that happened a year ago seem like yesterday! We took him to Toys R Us the other weekend (Robert wanted to take him to a toy store for some reason), and the place was amazing. We got stuck for a while when the toddler jumped in and "test drove" a few electric cars. The struggle was getting him out of there without buying anything. Needless to say... he didn't walk out empty-handed. Sigh...

I have also been researching more schools as the competition for spots in good schools is always on the back of my mind. 

Anyway, as boring as our life is, I thought I'd check in here to say that we're not dead! I hope to have something more interesting to post about next time!

xoxo

Some Things That I Forgot to Mention Last Time...

Things that are making me homesick:

~ The Wiggles! LOL. Aside from my own voice and my husband's voice, I don't hear the Aussie accent very often anymore. And when I do hear it now, it now sounds very Australian! Skyping my family is also the only other time I hear it. 

~ Sand! Sand here isn't the same. It's coarse and sort of dirty compared to the fine, powdery stuff of Aussie beaches.

~ Teething rusks! I'm having to buy teething rusks off Amazon because they're not sold here! I'm not talking about just biscuits for toddlers; I'm talking about those hard things that help when they're teething. Our toddler loves them, and unfortunately they're not sold here!! WHAT?!

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Anyway, we just had our first "taste" of the American school system by going for a tour of a pre-school. It's the general "way of things" that you have a tour of prospective schools for your child, regardless of the system you're choosing. I loved the school we checked out this morning and I'd love for mr toddler to spend his days there. That said, I also don't want to get my hopes up, and it's always recommended that you apply to a few places in case you don't get in. But this one was lovely, and the people seemed nice as well. I can't believe I'm checking out schools! It seems like yesterday that the little guy was born!

I'm still also getting my head around the school year starting in September. I'm not sure why it's like that, but it is. I guess things are based around their Summer holidays which happen in the middle of the year. Personally, I preferred the Australian system. It just seems to make so much more sense for the school year to start at the beginning of the year, regardless of when Summer may be!

In other news, I got excited the other evening when I was chatting to my ballet teacher on FB. (She's amazing. She must teach hundreds of students a week, yet she manages to remember our names and message all of us to give us feedback. She's such an awesome person and her dedication to her job is admirable!) Anywho, I told her that I've always felt bummed about quitting ballet just as I was about to start pointe, so getting on pointe would be a small dream come true at 32! But she said that's fine and she can work with me to achieve that!! She also said she can see I'm already building strength, which is awesome. This has definitely been one of the best things about moving here, for me. :-) (Even though my husband has absolutely no clue as to how I spend those few hours a week! Ha...)

One thing I definitely don't like, however, is that tax isn't included on things you buy here. So every time I buy something, I freak out because everything comes up as being more expensive than what's written on the price tag. It makes no sense to not just write it on the tag. How are you supposed to know how much you're really paying, otherwise?? They must get a lot of freakouts from people like me who are like "???!!!" when they get to the register.

Anyway, I think that's about all that I forgot to mention the other night. I'm consistently tired when I write in this blog, but tired is what I am right now as the toddler didn't sleep much at all last night. Plus, public tantrums and meltdowns tend to wear me out just as much as they do, him! 

Thanks for reading, all!

xoxo

A Month In... And Happy Easter!

Firstly, HAPPY EASTER to anyone who may be reading this! Unfortunately, Easter isn't a huge thing here (like it is in Australia). There aren't even public holidays for it. We've celebrated it, nonetheless, with a visit from the bunny, plenty of chocolate and hot cross buns (which were surprisingly difficult to find).

Well, we have been here for just over a month. And homesickness is beginning to weasel its way in. It started to sink in this week that we're not here for a mere holiday; we're not going back to Australia (at least any time in the near future), and it's taken a month for me to realise that. Haha. It seems like only yesterday that Robert and I were hypothetically talking about it while we were on a walk with the toddler around Greenwich where we'd lived for a good eight years or so. The topic sort of just came up when we were throwing around options for the future, and so I can't believe that now here we sit in the US...! Time is flying and I can't keep up! Our talks started... hmm... last year sometime...? Anyway, I found myself missing a few certain things this week: my family, a few close friends, driving on the left, ABC for Kids, Sydney Harbour, Balmoral Beach, good coffee... I'm grateful for Skype and modern technology in the very least.

Things also went a little pear shaped during the week when I began researching schools for Mr toddler. We'd been advised to start early by a couple of other Aussie families we've met here (their kids are a bit older: one is four, the other is two). So I thought I'd really start looking into things. I'd assumed (stupidly) that the school system/s here were similar to how they are in Sydney: if you're opting for the public system, you go to the school that's in your neighbourhood, and if you opt for private, you apply and pay lots of money. And for pre-schools, you just enrol, right? Not quite... The school system here is similar, but rigorous and even more competitive. Plus, if you want the public system, it's not about where you live: in San Francisco, you put down a list of preferences for schools and you get handed whatever's available, regardless of your place of residence. What's more is that there's huge competition for pre-school here. Pre-schools are expensive. They're also seen as being really important, because the primary (or elementary) school you attend can be determined by what pre-school you attend as certain pre-schools feed into certain primary schools (and then high schools and so on). So people tend to get very anal about applying etc. Back in Sydney, I'd had things pretty well planned out: I knew what school/s I wanted our child to attend and I knew the system really well having attended it my whole childhood, lived in the same area and taught in it for a little while. Now I'm a fish out of water in competitive rapids. We all want the best for our children, and it seems parents are pretty willing to do whatever it takes (and pay whatever price) for their kids to have that here. It's a bit crazy and I almost broke down and cried about it the other evening, particularly when we'll need to pay upfront if I am to finish my own education here. This city is expensive, and for a few moments this week I really wondered whether we'd made the right choice in coming here. Fortunately, I'm married to someone who doesn't stress easily, and he thinks we'll be OK. So with his support and reassurance and some chocolate, I was alright in the end. For now.

Our car that we've only had for a week also got scratched yesterday. Two of the side panels will need replacing. After our car drama in Australia (went for three years!), I thought we'd be spared more car-related dramas. Apparently not. I'm tempted to simply not have a car...

In happier news, we did go to an event yesterday at the Ghirardelli Square yesterday for Easter where they had small things happening for kids. As a big chocolate lover, this place has been one of my favourites since we were here in December! Haha. My child enjoyed meeting the Easter bunny. I enjoyed consuming chocolate.

And as per usual, I know I had a lot of other things to write here, but I've totally forgotten. Think I'll go eat some more chocolate...!

xoxo