A-Team Down Under: Happy Christmas

For the A-team, the best day of 2012 was the day this happened:

The kids gladly missed their end-of-year class parties to go to the airport and pick up Pap and Gram. Despite traveling almost 40 hours (door to door,) they said it was worth it just to get hugs from the girls
Those that know my parents know they wouldn't come empty-handed. One whole suitcase was devoted to books:

And though Christmas was still a few days away, Gram gave the girls these two beautiful dresses that she made:

There was no rest for the weary travellers. The very next day, after dropping the girls off at school, we did a three-hour bike tour of the city.

The electric bikes were fabulous, as you could pedal as much or as little as you desired. Although we didn't go in the CBD (central business district) we covered over 20 kilometers, and rode around the Docklands, by the Yarra river, around two footy stadiums, by the Royal Botanical Gardens, over to Fed Square, and more (and not necessarily in that order.) They provided headsets, so we could listen to the tour guide as we rode. For my parents, it was a highlight of their visit, and a great way to learn more about Melbourne.

And the pace didn't let up. The next day, Friday, was the last day of school for the girls. We celebrated with lots of their classmates and mums at the nearby park after school. On Sunday, we drove east into the country to ride Puffing Billy, a century-old steam train. The best part of the ride is that you're allowed to sit on the sides and hang your arms and legs out over the edge.

A popular holiday event in Melbourne is Carols by Candelight, held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, which was modeled after the Hollywood Bowl. The outdoor concert, held on Christmas Eve, sold out long ago, but Andy discovered that for just a few bucks you could attend the rehearsal the night before. So we walked to the end of our street, hopped on the tram, and went into the city to listen to the singers rehearse.

It was such a hot day, it didn't feel very Christmas-sy, but it got a bit more festive as it got darker and the lights came on.

Some of the singers were contestants from the Aussie version of X Factor, which the girls have been watching on TV, and as we left Delta Goodrem (one of the more famous Aussie singers) performed.
Before going home, we walked over to the Melbourne Town Hall, where there is an amazing sound and light show projected onto the building.

The picture doesn't do it justice, you really should check out the video. Stick with it, because the second half is really amazing.

Christmas, well, it just didn't feel like Christmas. It wasn't the weather, since we're used to warm Christmas days. I think it was mainly missing the usual holiday activities we did with family and friends back home. We definitely missed our traditional brunch and volleyball at the beach on Christmas Eve morning. We still went to church on Christmas eve, but it's just not the same. Very few houses have Christmas lights. The streets and malls have a lot less decorations. And it stays daylight until after 9:00 pm. Nevertheless, we had a lot to celebrate and were so happy Pap and Gram were there to share our first Christmas in Oz.

Gram gave me these super-soft, aloe-infused socks...but I didn't get to keep them for long.

The girls wore footy jammies when they were little, those all-in-one outfits that covered up their feet. Now their footy jammies are for Aussie-rules football teams.