Easter seems like a bigger deal in Australia than it is in the US. In the US, it's one day of egg hunts and maybe seeing family, and church for some people. Easter is considered a very big family holiday in Australia; it's a big one for people to travel back to see their families (like Americans would do for X-mas or Thanksgiving). Before Easter, almost every school has an "Easter Hat Parade" where the kids show-off their crafty creativity (seriously, google image Easter Hat Parade if you've never heard of this phenomenon - it's a thing). Then, actual Easter is always a long 4-day weekend where many businesses close or have reduced hours, and it's very common for people to take a few days off work between Easter and ANZAC Day and end up taking a 10-day holiday. It's also school holidays, the two weeks between the first and second term of the school year. So it's longer and better than spring break, but it's autumn instead, and at the beginning of the school year.
The first year we moved here, Mike and I went to the Royal Sydney Easter Show out at Olympic Park. We hadn't gone since until this year, for PJ's first show (the equivalent of a gigantic county fair). The Show is definitely sensory overload. It's like every other entertainment extravaganza that you pay to get into, where they also want you to spend money on everything - food, rides, games, and souvenirs. Luckily, there are lots of animals to see and even touch up close, and special shows like woodchopping competitions, a rodeo, etc. that don't cost anything extra.
Penelope looked like a mini mahout, riding on an elephant for her first carousel ride. There was this kind of narrow kids alley where they had rides like that and games for little ones, and we ended up riding the carousel at the exact same time as the "Spongebob Parade", which was coincidentally the first parade Penelope has ever seen. So, she had very serious look on her face full of confused wonder. Suddenly she found herself riding on this elephant, rotating around the carousel with lights and music, and every time we came around to the side of the road there would be another float with colorful characters dancing, or stilt walkers/puppeteers, or Ninja Turtles posing, etc.
It was some good family fun, and we managed to escape without buying a single showbag. Showbags are themed souvenir bags that are full of whatever you particularly might want, for example, a Hello Kitty showbag, or a Kit Kat showbag, or a Womens Weekly showbag, or a Spiderman showbag. They aren't particularly great deals, and you can see what is in the bag before you buy it, so I don't honestly get why they're such a big deal. There is seriously a giant warehouse full of stands selling them. There are some people that literally bring their shopping carts or wagons to spend hundreds of dollars on showbags. It's so weird. We decided that it's probably a big deal here because the kids never get to have a true Halloween experience, where they have a big bag of candy that is suddenly theirs and seems in one moment like more than they could possibly eat by themselves. That's essentially, that's what a showbag is. Parents probably tell their kids, "You can get one showbag", or "You can have X$ to spend on showbags". So, Easter kind of becomes the candy and chocolate holiday in the absence of Halloween here. Luckily, PJ is still too young to understand the commercial aspect of special events, and she just takes them in for the spectacle they are.
After about eight months, we finally got some information about our citizenship application! I was just starting to think that it would just literally be an endless process, and just like that, we see the faint light at the end of the tunnel. We still have several months to go, presumably, but it's a relief to hear something. We can now, at least mentally, start making some plans and decisions for the coming year without feeling like we are indefinitely stuck in limbo.
Hooray!
My retreat at Billabong has come and gone. I enjoyed the quiet - almost nothing but bird calls for 24 hours. The meals were really healthy and delicious. The yoga was relaxing. There are several cozy seating areas overlooking the water. I'm already looking forward to my next visit in a few months!
To prepare or the final season of GOT, we are rewatching these specifically curated episodes (as recommended to us by Michael's parents). We are only a few episodes in, but so far they are a really great run-through of the main plot points over time. I'm getting psyched for more dragons and white walkers.
I am also getting psyched up (in a more mellow way?) about going to Billabong Retreat soon. I will just be spending one night away, but it will be my first night away since having the little peanut. I'm really looking forward to delicious, organic, vegetarian meals and tasting all the yummy teas they have. Relaxing in the pool, some yoga, and maybe a nature walk will be nice. But most importantly: the sleep. I don't even remember the last night I slept in a room by myself for a whole night. I have no regrets about the fact that we have decided to make a one-bedroom apartment work with a baby; we still see it as temporary until we acquire citizenship and can make plans to move. We didn't want to move to a larger place, and then have to move again a few months later. I also have no regrets that I have breastfed Penelope, despite the fact that breastfed babies just wake up more throughout the night than formula-fed babies. But, oh my goodness, the thought of getting an uninterrupted night of sleep sounds like such a luxury. I'm fairly sure I will wake up throughout the night anyway because I am just so used to it, but hopefully I'll just be able to get back to sleep. Anyway, I consider this very short retreat to be a celebration, of sorts. I'm celebrating that Penelope is now more than big enough that she should be okay without me attending to most of her needs for 24 hours. Michael has been able to go away for two weeks here, one week there, one weekend there, etc., for work and frisbee tournaments over the last many months. This one night is my little getaway where I won't have to worry about anything. No cooking, cleaning, dirty diapers, broken dishwasher, or cats whining for food. Mike and Pen have been just having a blast together lately, so I think it'll be fun for them to have this time to do whatever they want together.
Since Penelope and I are out and about in the neighbourhood quite a lot, there are lots of people that recognise her. It's funny, because multiple people have told me when they see Pen in public with Michael, usually at the train station on the way to daycare, they want to say hi to her but don't know Mike that well and feel weird about coming up to them. I tell them to go up and say hi anyway. Our social butterfly already has [friendly and innocuous] admirers around town.
It's finally starting to feel like autumn. Tonight we "fall back" with daylight savings, aka getting-confused-about-what-time-to-call-family-overseas-time.
