Will's 4th Birthday and Australia Day!

Upon arriving in Australia, we quickly realized that one of the first public holidays was coming up....on January 26th - Australia Day.  That is also Will's 4th Birthday!  That is a pretty neat coincidence that he will celebrate his birthday in Australia every year on Australia Day.  I like that!  Plus that means that Bryan will have a day off of work for the national holiday, which will be great that the 4 of us can celebrate his birthday together with some family fun all day!  We plan to go to the Werribee Open Range Zoo here in Melbourne.  I will update with some pictures and on the blog after Will's birthday!  He is very excited to be "4"!!! 

Here is some information I found online about Australia Day:

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.

Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788 (you can read a comprehensive history of the evolution of Australia Day here).
Though 26 January marks this specific event, today Australia Day celebrations reflect contemporary Australia: our diverse society and landscape, our remarkable achievements and our bright future. It also is an opportunity to reflect on our nation's history, and to consider how we can make Australia an even better place in future.
On Australia Day, over half of the nation’s population of 21 million attend either an organised community event, or get together with family and friends with the intention of celebrating our national day. Many more spend the public holiday relaxing with family and friends.
Yet Australia Day is much more than barbeques and fireworks. It is more than another public holiday. It is more than the pride and excitement of new citizens who call themselves Australian for the first time on 26 January after being conferred citizenship.
 At its core, Australia Day is a day driven by communities, and the celebrations held in each town, suburb or city – unified by the celebration of what’s great about Australia and being Australian – are the foundation of its ongoing success

what we've been up to....

We finally got the house all squared away! We couldn't be happier! It just took a long time waiting (2 weeks to be exact!).  What we found out late last week is that the listing agent really didn't do her job very well.  The landlord ended up calling our agent to send his apologies for what a mess this has all been.  Also he has a child at the same school where the kids will be going!  The wait is behind us now, we have the signed lease, we've paid all of our deposits and 1st month rent - so we are good to go.  The painters have been there this week painting and the NEW neutral carpet (not BLUE!) will be installed on Friday.  We will get to move in on Tuesday!  We have to wait for the rental furniture to arrive and they can deliver on Tuesday.  Our sea shipment is traveling across the ocean and should arrive on February 22nd, then it will have to clear customs. So it will still be awhile before we have all of our own stuff.  But goodness, it will be so nice to be in a home and not in the apartment any longer.

We had a great weekend and enjoyed a picnic at the park with one of Bryan's co-workers and her family.  They were very welcoming and helpful to visit with them about adjusting to life here.  The kids loved getting to play for several hours with other children.  We spent some time at the beach on Sunday in the Brighton area.  We searched for shells and put our feet in the water.  The weather was hot (mid 90's) but the water was still pretty cold, although many people were swimming.  The kids really had fun at the beach and can't wait to go back.  So we are planning a weekend getaway to Phillip Island on Friday.  This time of year everything is really busy and all booked up, so we were lucky to find a place to stay.  There is a "penguin parade" that takes place every evening on the island that is a big attraction.  There are also seals there and koalas, as well as a lovely beach.  It should be a great time and a good break (especially for me!) from the the apartment life.

Monday the kids and I went to the Crown Casino to the "Cinema" to see the Muppets.  I called down to the concierge to find out how long the walk would be and she said, oh just 10 minutes.  Well I guess that is if you are a fast-paced adult.  It took us about 25 minutes with 2 kids in tow, dragging their feet, and a 3 year old that asked if I could carry him?  It was a nice walk, but just took longer than expected.  The Crown Casino is on the river and is a huge building - with a shopping mall, restaurants, food court, hotel, casino, cinema, and probably other things we didn't come across.  It was beautiful on the inside and very interesting to walk through.  The people there were very international. It is obviously a very big tourist spot here in Melbourne.  We enjoyed our time at the movies, topped off with popcorn and slurpees!  And then we made the long walk back again.  Will begged for a taxi, but we just went slower on the way home and tried to keep him interested in what we were passing by so he wouldn't think about being carried.

Tuesday I took the kids to the uniform shop to get all suited up!  They did well and the ladies there were extremely helpful.  Will is excited because he will wear a "sport" uniform everyday, which includes in his terms "running shorts".  He couldn't be happier.  I truly was concerned about his adjustment to a uniform - he doesn't like to tuck shirts in, doesn't like to wear a belt, etc.  This will be an easy transition for him, I think.  When we checked out, I mis-heard the lady say that our total was "$5,047" - I was in shock, I know things are more expensive here, but how could that be?  Then she had me sign the receipt that said $1,047. Boy was I relieved! 
After our shopping trip, the kids were anxious to get to an indoor play place that I had found.  So we quickly grabbed lunch from our first drive-thru and fast food restaurant: good ole McDonald's!  It's safe to say that the happy meals all taste the same!  The kids really enjoyed running, jumping, playing and going crazy at the play place.  It was lots of fun for them! 

We've been cooking a few meals for dinner in our apartment, but it is just so hard to do with such limited supplies.  Our dishes have 4 of each piece, so something is constantly needing to be washed.  We have 2 sharp knives, one small and one large. But we are trying to make it work for now, instead of eating out so many meals.  I really miss our automatic ice maker!  We have these 2 little dinky ice trays in our mini-freezer here and it takes the entire tray to make one drink cold.  And there is no ice maker at the hotel/apartment.  Not sure if this is part of their "going green" theme or what?  I can't wait to go fridge shopping and buy one with an automatic ice maker!  Bryan said, what if there's not a water line at the house? or what if they don't make refrigerators that way here?  SURELY NOT!  I will be the first to report this once we go shopping.

We found out that our house closed with the relocation company.  Kinda sad to see it go....

Next week we will move into our home, get the kids started in school, and shop for a 2nd car - exciting times!  The kids have really enjoyed their extended Christmas vacation and Australian summer holiday.  They love the lazy mornings, which will come to an end next week.  Claire keeps asking "how many more days until school?" and Will asks "are we going to school today?"  I am hoping they both adjust well, love their new school, and have fun on their first days next week! 

Thank you all for your emails from home.  We sure enjoy reading them all and being in touch! 
hugs from Australia,
Chrissy

patience, please!

We have really found ourselves digging deep for extra patience when it has come to securing the lease for our home. We first viewed the home on Monday, January 9th, put in a verbal offer on Tuesday, January 10th.  And today, Friday, January 20th, we have finally come to an agreement!  It has been a long wait, but in the end it will be worth it.  It is a great family home for us - we love the neighborhood, the area, and the floor plan of the home.  Of course this being said, we have come to a verbal agreement and emails have been exchanged back and forth in this agreement. The agent is still writing up the lease. How hard can it be?  Hopefully by tomorrow we will have it all in writing, or by Monday at the latest.  They are replacing every last stitch of the peacock blue carpet, thankfully.  That should be completed next week and we hope to move in around the 27th of January, if all goes as planned.  It will be so nice to get into a home, although we will have to find more patience, as our furniture and other things will not arrive until the end of February/beginning of March.  We did receive confirmation that our container set sail from LA this week and will arrive in the port of Melbourne on February 21st, then it takes about 1 week for everything to clear customs.  So I am hoping by the 1st of March we will have a delivery!  (Great timing because I will be about 37 weeks along at that time - ha!).  Hopefully our little girl will stay put until 40 weeks, following in the footsteps of her older sister and brother.  I am crossing my fingers on this one, as I need the extra time to get the house set up and in order before she arrives. 

I had my first OB appointment on Wednesday with my new doctor here. I was very impressed with him and felt very comfortable during the appointment.  All went well - he was very thorough and went over all of my records I brought with me.  He asked alot of questions of how we handle prenatal care in the US vs. Australia.  He spent close to an hour with me, in consultation and also then examining me.  I am very pleased to have found him and I think he will give me great care in the weeks ahead and with the delivery.  My only concern is the distance of the hospital located downtown from our home in the suburbs (about 30 minutes) and we'll need to really know how to drive and get there. Guess we should start practicing that in the coming weeks, just in case.  We had it pretty easy back home, with the hospital only being about 7-8 minutes from our house, and an easy drive with no traffic. 

The kids and I went to Target yesterday! The highlight of my week....only kidding. But really I couldn't wait to get to Target and see what it was really like for myself. Was it the same as back home? Will they have the same loved brands that I buy regularly? It is a great store all in all, and we enjoyed shopping there. Alot alike and alot different about it.  I am thrilled to have a comfort from home!  First of all it is located inside a mall.  That seems to be a trend here.  The Big W we went to last week was in the mall, as well as the Target, an Aldi grocery store, a liquor store, a meat market and a pharmacy all inside the mall.  I guess they really want to make sure it is one stop shopping!  People wheel around their shopping carts throughout the mall. Now that takes some getting used to seeing.  The kids had a big highlight when we were at the mall, very unexpectedly.  As we entered the mall to find Target, Claire spotted the CHIPMUNKS!  Alvin, Simon and Theodore were in full costume dancing on the stage.  We had just arrived at the end of the performance, but they would be coming back onstage at 1:00.  So we quickly did our shopping at Target and came back to enjoy the show.  Both kids were really excited about this, mainly because we had just seen the movie at the theater in The Woodlands in December.   

Bryan is enjoying a Friday night out at the Australian Open with his boss. I can't wait to hear about it!  The kids and I have had a good week.  They are perfectly content around here, amazingly. That is a huge relief to me.  They think this apartment living is pretty swell ~ they ride the elevators a couple of times a day, have an indoor swimming pool that we frequent, a 7th floor balcony to eat and play on, and an ice cream shop within walking distance!  What more could a kid ask for? :)  It's Bryan and I that are more antsy to move out to the suburbs.  It will be nice to have more space, our own home, and get to know the town of Brighton a little more.  Going to the grocery store will be easier there, as well as using our car, going to the park, and the beach nearby.  It will be a really great day when we get to move in!

One thing I should note, Bryan thinks I paint a pretty "rosey" picture on our blog of our time here so far.  I will agree to disagree because I personally think everything has been realistically portrayed.  He said he may come on as a guest writer from time to time to add some things of his own.  Wouldn't that be a treat? :)  No really, he wanted to be sure you all knew how much smoke was coming out of his ears when it took him 6 attempts to get the cell phone deal worked out.  And he also wants everyone to know how many french fries ("chips" as they call them here), pizza, and ice cream we have all eaten during our time here.  Every restaurant seems to serve things "with chips" and pizza also seems to be a staple on most menus.  When in doubt, I guess that is what we have turned to....true comfort food on our adventure down under!  We have been eating out A TON.  I thought I would never get tired of it, I thought I would enjoy not having to cook for a couple of weeks.... but at about day 10, I had truly had enough.  We have managed to make a few meals in our apartment, but with limited access to a grocery store and limited cooking supplies in our mini-kitchen here, it's truly for the birds.

We are looking forward to the weekend and enjoying 2 days together as a family.  We are going to one of Bryan's co-workers homes for a picnic lunch tomorrow.  They have 2 young girls, ages 5 and 2, so I know the kids will enjoy playing.  We also hope to get to the uniform shop to get the kids' outfits all ready for school.  And we'll probably try to squeeze in some fun, touristy activities as well. 

Next week I am looking forward to doing some fun things with the kids - our last full week together until they begin school.  We really are so very lucky that the timing of our move worked out as it did.  I am so thankful we have had time to get settled and acquainted with Melbourne and Australia before I have to start dropping the kids off at school everyday.  It has been good for them to have this time to enjoy just being kids and learning about this new place we'll be living.  I am enjoying my special time with them, as I know things will change quite a bit when our baby arrives in March.  I love that they are both starting school here at the beginning of the school year.  Sure they will still both be the "new kids", but at least they aren't coming in mid-year, they will have a fresh start with a new class at the beginning of the school year.  Claire will start Grade 2 on Wednesday, February 1st and Will begins Pre-K 4 on Thursday, February 2nd.  It will be a new adventure for all of us with both of them in school. 

Oh, and one more thing, once we get settled in our home, I can't wait to go to Costco here!  And I found out they opened their first Gap store in December.  So great to have a few things I recognize! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!  Off to grab some dinner at a restaurant of course and then to get some ice cream!
Cheers from down under,
Chrissy :)

our first visitor

I am thrilled to say that my wonderful Mother booked her ticket to come and visit us!  She will be arriving in early March and I could not be happier!  It will be SUCH a huge help and comfort to have her here when our sweet baby girl arrives and for the weeks before and after. 

When we were driving back from our kangaroo experience, Claire asked: "How come we are only going to live here for 3 years? Why can't we live here for as long as we want until we want to move again?"  We explained about Bryan's job and the timeframe.  We both thought that was very interesting that she has caught on to that (she clearly does not miss a thing!) and also a positive sign that she is thinking that way, too.  Both Claire and Will seem to be happy and adjusting well, at this point, which makes us happy and more relaxed.  

finally ~ a cell phone!

It's been a long and difficult challenge - but I officially have a cell phone!  Bryan has patiently made about 6 trips to the cell phone store to try and get this all sorted.  Who knew it would be so difficult to be a "foreigner" in Australia and to get a cell phone? We had no idea. They need birth certificates, passports, visas, credit cards, bank statements, marriage license. It is crazy!  Then 2 of the times Bryan went over for an appointment to get the phone activated, their system was down. It has been a long haul, but now I am finally connected to the outside world!  I have to admit, I've been a little lost without my iphone.  Of course I am starting at square one with just 2 contacts listed in my phone ~ but hey, I'll get there!  Bryan and I have laughed several times that it is so vital to get our cell phones set up, yet we only have each other to call, ha!

We are still waiting (trying to be patient!) to see if the rental home works out. 

We've made several trips to the grocery store and feel like we are understanding things around here a little more.  Things are still so new to us - the driving, the lingo, not knowing our way around, people, etc.  It feels really good once we accomplish something ~ i.e. buying a car, getting a cell phone, having groceries and necessities.  It's the little things! ;)

We have done alot of sightseeing around downtown, which has been fun during our days here.  We spent Friday at the Melbourne Aquarium. And Saturday we took an hour excursion east of Melbourne to an animal sanctuary, which is part of the Zoos here in Melbourne.  That was a fabulous experience!  We had such a fun time seeing the animals up-close and having a "magic moment" feeding and petting the kangaroos!  You can see pictures on our site: thepicketts.phanfare.com.  We all truly enjoyed our day!  The kids were exhausted from several hours at the zoo and both fell asleep on the ride home.

Sunday we went to mass at a small church in Brighton.  The mass was all the same as what we are used to - minus the music.  There was no music. I don't know if that is always the case, or if it is a shorter version because of the summer holidays? The church was very small, and mainly older couples, and just a few young families.  Very different than our parish back home.  We did enjoy the mass, especially because it was small and quaint.  AND it helped that it was only 43 minutes long! ;)
We went on the main street in Brighton for lunch, which we realized is such an easy stroll from the house we are hoping to rent (crossing our fingers and toes this works out!).  There are several restaurants, fruit stands, bakeries, flower shops, along the street.  It will be so nice to have that in walking distance.

Bryan started working today (Monday) in his new position.  He was surrounded by positive, smiling, happy people so that will be a real plus for him!  He has a long to-do list at work that has been stacking up over the last few weeks as we've been preparing to move here.  He is ready for the challenge and excited to be back at work.  He'll go every other Tuesday for shift-change for all of the off-shore employees and it's about a 3 hour drive.  Tomorrow is the day he will do that.  Lucky for me I have a cell phone now, since he'll be away from us for the day.  Just hoping I don't go into labor while he is that far away - only kidding! It is way too early for that (knock on wood!). 

Speaking of....I have my first appt. with the Ob-Gyn on Wednesday and I am anxious to meet him and get all of that sorted. 

The kids and I survived our first day just the 3 of us, with Bryan at work....with flying colors!  We had a lazy morning at "home" in the apartment, then headed out for lunch and a boat ride on the Melbourne Riverboat Cruise.  It was an hour long and went up the river.  It was very warm today here, about 90, which the past week it has been a high of about 78.  There is no humidity here, which is a nice change.  Our boat ride was interesting, and we also went by the arena where the Australian Open (tennis) is being played right now.  It is a pretty big deal here! 

We were all pretty worn out after being in the heat (me especially!) so we came back and watched the Lion King in the late afternoon.  We've learned that not all of our DVD's work here.  It is pretty strange - but apparently each country is part of a "zone" for DVD's and the US is in one zone and Australia is in another.  Our newer DVD's seem to work here, but our older ones do not.  so for now we at least have a few movies that work here.

Our air shipment arrived from the US - it is 4 large boxes of our most favorite and loved things (until our sea shipment arrives at the end of February or beginning of March).  We are hoping to have a house this week to deliver our air shipment to - we don't have alot of space in our apartment for all of that stuff.

Everyday has been a new day here in Melbourne.  Lots of changes, lots of new things to discover, and some ups and downs.  We are managing and everytime we accomplish something, we feel better about how things are going.  We are looking forward to having a "home" to go to and to start to feel like our life here is coming together.  We've made alot of progress in the 9 or 10 days we've been here so far, but of course we would love to snap our fingers and have everything set up like back home!

Hope you all are doing well.  We enjoy the emails and the comments.  It feels so great to be in touch!
love, Chrissy

house hunting and school!

We spent Monday with Bernadette, our relocation consultant, looking for a home.  She is a very vibrant, helpful, lovely lady.  She is originally from NY and lived in Friendswood, Tx for a number of years.  She's been in Melbourne with her family for the last 11 years and loves it here.  We looked at 12 homes on Monday.  The kids were troopers in and out of the car and into all of these homes, and they had alot of snacks and candy along the way!  Some of the homes were easy to cross off the list, and that narrowed it down to just a couple at the end of the day.  We looked at house #13 on Tuesday and went back to have a second look at 2 of them on Tuesday as well.  We made an offer on a home that is in a nice neighborhood and would be a great floorplan for us.  It has peacock blue carpet throughout, so we are working a deal with the landlord to try and get that replaced!  But we are hoping it will all work out in the end.  Once we hear if this house is "the one", I'll send some pictures and more of a description.

I took Claire and Will to their new school on Tuesday morning to meet the Lower School Principal.  We had a tour of the school - it is a beautiful campus and the Lower School is in one building.  The Early Learning Centre (ELC) where Will will go, is in the same building as Claire's class, so that works out really nicely.  There are 2 classes of each grade level from age 3 to Grade 4 in the one building.  We are very thrilled that this school had openings for both of them!  Many of the schools here are single sex schools - so the girls go to one campus and the boys to another.  That wouldn't be very easy for me, especially with a new baby on the way.  So we narrowed down the search to try and find a good co-ed school for both children.  This school is in Brighton, which is a bayside suburb of Melbourne, near the beach.  It is a wonderful town and it is also where we looked for homes.

A few funny things that happened along the way on our 2 days of house hunting with Bernadette....
*Claire made friends with Bernadette immediately - she asked her how many brothers and sisters she has, her son's birthdays, etc.
*The kids saw a Subway sign in Brighton and started cheering to eat lunch there.  Of course then Bernadette thought that we must frequent Subway alot in the US.  I told her I think we've eaten there all of 5 times in the kids' lives. :)  I think they enjoyed seeing something familiar to them.
*Claire asked the Principal about her teacher - what is her name? Mrs. Birch - What does she look like? She has straight blonde hair - How old is she? 28....Claire's response: "Oh, so she's younger!"  The principal asked me if we have any concerns or see any difficulties with Claire at school.  I answered no, and Claire said "well I got in trouble once at school and got an infraction - because I was talking."  The principal showed Claire her report card from grade school that was hanging on her bulletin board and it stated that Mrs. Jane was an excellent student, if she would just stop talking!
*When we were filling out the application form to rent a home, Bernadette was including the kids in answering the questions.  Bernadette said, "do you have any pets?"  Claire went into explaining that we had 2 frogs at home, Jack and Joy, but we gave them to a friend because we couldn't bring them to Australia with us.  So then Bernadette asked should we check the box "yes" or "no" for pets.  And Will's answer: "when we move into our new house, we are going to get a chicken."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Bryan and I have both had driving courses (separately) with Peter, our instructor.  Trying to refresh ourselves on driving on the left side of the road and on the passenger side of the car.  Luckily it came back to us pretty quickly from our time in Malaysia.  The driving here is pretty easy - the commute from Brighton into Melbourne for Bryan will be about 25 minutes and will be on a 4 lane road, rather than a major highway. It is still called Highway 3, but it is not anything like I-45 that we have back in Houston.  Much calmer, lower speed limits, etc.  So hopefully that will be a good break for him after he's been commuting downtown the last couple of years.  We have the rental car (we've named her "Mitzy") for now, and Bryan is going to get the registration and insurance lined up today for our Toyota that we bought.  It is a Kluger, which is the same as a Highlander in the US.  We bought it from a family that just moved from Melbourne to Norway - Bryan is taking his position here at work, so that was great to find the car that way and line it up.  We are going to start off with the Toyota, and Bryan will drive the rental car until we figure out what 2nd car we want to purchase.  Bryan does hope to take the train to work some, as public transportation here is widely used and very available.  But we think we will still have a 2nd car for days when his schedule is not as predictable at work. 

We have enjoyed so far being downtown in the heart of Melbourne.  There is a very nice area right here on the river with shops, restaurants, and a large foodcourt.  It is right outside our door, so it has been handy to go over there for meals.  The prices here are definitely higher for eating out, we have discovered that.  So it will be nice once we get into a home and can start preparing our own meals a little more.  We did go to the grocery store (IGA, and there is also a Safeway here) to get a few staples for our apartment - fruit, bread, milk, cereal, snacks.

The kids have enjoyed the pool here with Bryan everyday and we have enjoyed walking around the river area too.  I am taking the kids to the Melbourne Aquarium today (Thursday), where there's a shark exhibit and penguins too.  Bryan will be busy signing us up for car insurance and car registration and getting cell phones set up.  The weather here has been cool - between 65 and 70 for the high.  We have really enjoyed the weather and cooler temperatures, but the locals would like it warmer because this is their summer.

I'm also going to update some pictures on

thepicketts.phanfare.com

Have a great day (or night back home!)
Chrissy :)

Monday, January 9th

A couple of things I wanted to remember to mention....
First of all both kids were absolute TROOPERS during all of our traveling.  They kept up with us so well and were intersted in all of the places we were going and what we were doing next.  They were such great little travelers and made the trip quite enjoyable, especially to see the new and different things through their eyes. 

We are getting ready to go downstairs to meet our relocation consultant, after we finished a nice breakfast in our room, compliments of room service.  Bryan thought I should definitely note this on the blog!  I was just saying to Bryan that I could get used to ordering room service, having someone cook our breakfast and come leave it on our dining room table. Then all we do is enjoy eating it and put the dishes outside the door. That is a true treat in all of this!  As well as the daily maid service.....I will enjoy it while I can, b/c this will all come to an end when we move into our rental home and I am the maid and the cook, and many other hats I'll be wearing!

Cheers!

our journey to Australia

Thursday, January 5, 2012 (Houston time)
Our journey started at Houston international airport with a 7:15 p.m. flight to Los Angeles.  We locked up our empty home in The Woodlands one last time and took our 7 pieces of luggage, 2 car seats and 5 carry-ons to the airport.  My parents drove us there and stayed to say good-bye (or "see you soon" as I'd like to say!).  Our flight was about 3 hours and we landed at LAX and took a very long walk with our 5 carry-ons, and Will sleeping on Bryan's shoulder to the international terminal to catch our Qantas flight, where we had to go through security again!
On board the Qantas flight, we were on the top deck of the plane in Business class.  Our flight took off around 1:00 a.m. Houston time.  The kids watched movies, played the iPad, ate, slept, walked around.  Claire loved having access to tv shows on the flight and having her own remote.  I watched "The Help" - it felt really good to lay down and watch a 2 hour movie with minimal interruptions, after all the traveling we had done.  We all slept for about a 5-6 hour stretch. They kept the cabin dark for about 12 of the 16 hour flight.  But Will and Claire were excited about watching movies, tv, and playing games to sleep again.  We had a couple of meals on board - dinner and breakfast and snacks in between.  It was interesting to watch the flight map on the screen to keep track of where we were flying and what we were flying over (mainly all ocean!).  Although seeing that long line connecting LAX to Melbourne really seemed far away, now that we were on our journey.  Claire also asked several times during the flight "what time is it?"  How should I answer - Houston time? LA time? Melbourne time? What day is it?  We were all so confused.   
Our flight landed safely in Melbourne and we packed up our 5 carry-ons and headed to customs.  We were very lucky that onboard, the flight attendant gave us 4 "express" passes through customs, so we had a special line to go through and didn't have to wait at all.  Baggage claim was another story - it was an absolute zoo.  We arrived on a Saturday morning during the summer holidays, so maybe that was part of the reason there were so many people. Several Asian airline flights landed at the same time as us.  There were 6 baggage carousels for these flights and I kid you not, thousands of people.  It took over 30 minutes for our 7 pieces of luggage + 2 car seats to come out, which we loaded onto 3 buggies.  Then to the fun part, we got in this huge snake line to clear our bags through customs.  This was a difficult time, as we were all exhausted from the long journey and just wanted to arrive and be there.  I had boxes of granola bars in our luggage, and apparently you can't bring anything with seeds or nuts into Australia (as well as a list of other food items that are prohibited and must be quarantined).  So we had to "tick" the box that said we had these food items, but lucky for us we had a very nice immigration officer that just looked at our paper and said to go on through.  There were many other people that had to open every piece of luggage for inspection, and we thought that was going to be us. After packing all of our bags over the course of a couple of days, I couldn't even remember where exactly all the granola bars were?  So we were lucky to escape that.  Onto the taxi "que" to find a mini-bus to take us all to our temporary apartment in the city.  

Saturday, January 7, 2012 (Melbourne time)
We landed in Melbourne at 10:05 a.m. on Saturday, January 7th ~ after leaving Houston at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.  With the time change, the amount of time it took to travel, and our journey through 3 airports, we really weren't sure what day it was.  After getting our bags, clearing customs, and our mini-bus taxi ride to our new apartment, it was about 1:00 p.m. when we arrived.  We have a nice 2 bedroom apartment at Quay West.  It is in downtown Melbourne, right on the river, just 2 buildings over from where Bryan will start work on January 16th.  The area is filled with restaurants, shopping, food courts, gardens, and the river.  It is a great place for us to stay for now until we find a home.  Our apartment has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a living area/kitchen in between. It is actually 2 rooms connected by a front hallway.  At first I felt a little shocked coming in here - all of our possessions were loaded into suitcases and here we were in a 7th floor apartment in a downtown city.  Where were we? and what were we doing?  Once we got a little more settled in, got the suitcases unpacked, computer up and running and internet access, kids toys and books unloaded, it started to feel a little better.  Now I think it will definitely work for us temporarily. :)  Although, there is no wifi at the apartment, which means no ipad for now.  Lucky for us we have our laptop to communicate.  
Upon arrival, we unloaded all of our bags at our apt. and headed over to the food court near the river to grab some lunch.  We had pizza and smoothies and we ate outside next to the river.  The breeze was so nice and the weather was really enjoyable - about 80 degrees.  The kids were then excited to go swimming at our hotel.  Eventhough they really wanted me to come and make a cannonball splash into the pool, I passed this time around, so that I could stay back at the apartment and get our bags unpacked.  They had a fun time at the pool and then we headed out to dinner at a nearby restaurant - the Blue Train Cafe.  The kids ordered pizza (again!) and Will fell asleep in my lap the first 5 minutes we were in this loud, noisy restaurant (about 6:00 p.m. Saturday night).  He slept through our dinner, and Bryan carried him back to our apt., where we changed him into his pajamas and put him in bed - he never woke up!  He slept until about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning!  By about 7:45 p.m. on Saturday night, all four of us were asleep in bed.  We had a great night's sleep and we were ready for a new day in Australia on Sunday morning.

Sunday, January 8, 2012
We spent a couple of hours on Sunday morning just enjoying our apt., playing, unpacking, getting ready, ordering room service for breakfast.  Claire was disappointed because they overcooked all of our overeasy eggs, and the bacon did not taste the same as ours at home.  I am sure this was just the first of many different discoveries we will have here.  I met a lady from Melbourne back in The Woodlands before we left and she told me that when they arrived to their new country (USA) she told the kids "it's not better, it's not worse, it's just different".  I think that is a really good way of putting it.  I am sure I will use this phrase many times as we adjust to our new life here in Oz.  

Speaking of which, more people have called Australia "Oz" and so I had to google it to find out why.  Here are some of the explanations I found:
*In actual fact, with an Australian accent 'Oz' sounds exactly like 'Aus' and 'Ozzie' is exactly how we pronounce 'Aussie'. (The 'ss' is pronounced 'zz' - very confusing for non-Australians!)
*I found three things via searching the web....Oz is another way of spelling "Aus", which is an abbreviation of "Australia", so "Oz" means "Australia".
*"Oz" came about as a nickname for Australia because, in an Australian accent, it sounds sort of like the first syllable of the country's name, or is one way to pronounce the abbreviation "Aus." (The connotation of a wonderful, far away place isn't bad, either.) And "Ozzies" is used as a nickname for the people who live there because it sounds a bit like "Aussies." I don't think there's a direct relationship between the nickname for Australia and the land of Oz, although there have been some stories of Australian soldiers singing "We're Off to See the Wizard" on their way to fight in World War II.
*The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz".

We left our apt. around 10:00 a.m. and headed back to the airport to pick up our "hire car."  We got a Mitsubishi Pajero (SUV) and rented 2 Australian carseats for the kids, until we could get to the store to buy them their own.  The regulations are different with carseats here, so we can't use ours from the US.  We learned that we could get a ticket/fine or our insurance would not cover our claim if we were found to have US carseats installed. Luckily I did some research before I came and knew what brands to look for once we got to the baby store.  Once we got our car, we headed down to the bayside beach area.  It is southeast of Melbourne.  We had a broken GPS, a radio that would only stay on one station, and no rear-air in our car.  The kids were hot and I was bothered. ;)  I guess this was a lesson in appreciating all of the modern conveniences we enjoy back home.  So with a huge paper map in hand, Bryan was driving and I was trying to navigate.  We wanted to look around Brighton, Hampton, and Sandringham ~ three beachside suburbs that we have narrowed down our search of where we hope to live.  These are all about 6-8 miles to Bryan's office, which will be a nice commute for him.  In The Woodlands his office was 39 miles from our home!  We have talked to several people from Melbourne - different connections we have made through Bryan's job and friends of friends, as well as our relocation consultant in Melbourne and they have all recommended this area.  Also, when Bryan was in Melbourne on business in December he drove around a few areas and he thought this area felt more like it would fit us well.  I was amazed how quickly we got from downtown to the SE suburbs.  We drove by the beaches and found a nice park to stop at.  The kids chased seagulls and ran around in the grass - some much needed exercise and freedom for them!  We then walked over to the shops at Sandringham to find a place to eat lunch.  We came across the Boathouse Cafe and found a table inside.  Will ordered strawberry pancakes, which came with ice cream and whipped cream!  His face just lit up!  Claire, Bryan and I got sandwiches and we had a nice little lunch there.  It was great to get out and walk around a little and the weather was beautiful.  We headed back to the park where the kids played a little.  While we were at the park, Will had to go to the bathroom, and luckily there was one there.  It was one stand alone bathroom with a metal door and electronic buttons.  The vacant button was lit up, so we proceeded inside.  Once inside, you press another button to close the door, which makes you feel like you are entering a vault.  The door locks and then the speaker announces "your 10 minutes begins now".  There is also a sign in this bathroom that says when you hear the alarm beeping to get out immediately because your 10 minutes is up.  Then what happens? Do you get locked inside?  I have not seen a bathroom like this before, and trust me, I have seen my share of interesting bathroom facilities, especially in Malaysia and Thailand. 

We headed back to the car to look around the streets of Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham.  We wanted to scope out a few of the rental homes that we hope to see this week with our relocation consultant.  Well, this plan was a bust, because our GPS was broken, and I had this paper map that didn't have alot of the small streets on it.  Nonetheless, we got a feel for the area and then went to run a few errands at a nearby shopping center.  We arrived at the shopping mall and I was immediately overwhelmed.  Target and "Big W" (which reminded us of Wal-Mart) are both in the mall, as well as liquor stores, Aldi, and grocery stores.  I guess it is one-stop shopping, but it is a bit overwhelming, especially on a Sunday when it is packed.  People are walking through the mall with their shopping carts, which by the way, are locked up and you have to insert coins to rent your cart.  Our first stop at the  mall was the Telstra store so I could get a cell phone.  I was looking forward to getting connected again.  Bryan has his blackberry from the US and will have that until he starts work here and gets his Australian one.  So at least we can be reached, but as pathetic as it sounds, I felt a little lost without my iphone the last couple of days.  So we enter the phone store, and I am hoping this goes quickly so we can move on to our other errands.  We find out in the first couple of minutes that this is not going to work out.  They need Australian credit cards, bank statements, many forms of ID - including passports, drivers license, etc.  We had our passports with us, that count for a little, but a TX driver's license wasn't as good as a Victoria driver's license, and a US credit card isn't as good as an Australian one - and we didn't have any bank statements or birth certificates with us.  So we got denied and sent away, very disappointing.  We'll have to see what we can gather up to present to them in the next couple of days.  Apparently you need 100 credit points to sign up for a plan and each document we bring in is worth different points.  Not the end of the world, but certainly a bump in the road.  Off to "BIG W" we go to pick up a few items we needed: Wii, trash bags, handsoap, bottled water, hangers, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap.  It was a successful trip and the kids were very excited to have a Wii to play back in our apartment!  We keep hearing how expensive Australia is in comparison to the US, but today the prices we found on the items we bought were similar to the US - the Wii console was $180 AUD (Australian dollars).  The current exchange rate is:

1.00 USD

=

0.980493 AUD

We took our "trolley" of goods down the elevator and back out to the "car park" to load up and move on to the baby store, to buy our car seats.  At about 3:30, we were all ready to get back home to our apartment.  The kids couldn't wait to get the Wii set up and play the new games they picked out - Mario Cart and Just Dance for Kids.  We spent the evening back at the apartment playing, ordering room service, and heading to bed.  I spent some time on the computer figuring out how to get a blog started.  Thanks to my dear friend, Becca, who encouraged me - I really am going to try and keep up with this!  I also started a phanfare site to store our pictures, thanks to my Uncle Tom's inspiration!  I think that will be easier/better to use than Kodak Gallery which I have done in the past.  Here is the link to our phanfare site:
thepicketts.phanfare.com 

I also spent time researching more of the homes for rent that we hope to look at this week.  We meet Monday morning with Bernadette, our relocation consultant, to start looking at homes.  She has a list of about 10 homes on our itinerary, some of which are townhomes, so we are going to try and switch those out for other homes to look at.  I could hardly sleep because I can't wait to look at these homes and see what we find - do they look as great as they do online? What is the neighborhood like? What is the street like?  Will it feel like home to us once we get settled?  I am also interested to see what the process is like to put in an application to rent.  I hope it all goes smoothly once we find the home we are looking for.  More to come from Melbourne....

lots of love,
Chrissy :)