We went down to the car to take Jack to his first day of Kindergarten - battery was dead in car. Yeah! We quickly called a cab and were there quickly. Jack thought he was pretty cool going to school in a taxi, whew!, you never know how things will go over. Ella HAD to take her baby that day, we were loaded down with Jack’s bag, her purse, her baby, my bag… Anyway, he was so excited to go and they posed for some lovely pics for me. The last pic shows Jack in class with one of the helpers for the day. He put together a kangaroo and crocodile puzzle on that table. 
Jack is so big!
Australia Day is similar to our Fourth of July. There are many activities to choose from. We decided to visit Bicentennial Park. There were lots of blow up bouncing things for Jack and Ella, they were able to ride a pony, and look at the farm animals. It is hard to get Jack off the bouncy things. Ben waited in a very, very, very long line to have a clown blow up a balloon for Ella, he is such a good Daddy.
Jack and Ella love the play area at the Aquatic Center. Jack will go down all the slides on his own. Ella loves to go down the red slides and will go down the others if I go with her. Since Jack started Kindergarten, Ella takes swim lessons at the aquatic center. She is learning to kick her feet with her head under water.
The Ring Walk is in Sydney Olympic Park - it is an elevated circular walkway that allows you to view the Brickpit from above while looking below at the habitat for the Green and Golden Bell frog.
http://www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au/Visiting/venues_and_parks/brickpit_ring_walk
Sydney has so much to offer children during the school holidays. The malls, park, libraries and other venues all have a list of activities for the children. Jack was able to go to kite school and both Jack and Ella (with Patrick and Maeve) were able to go to a cookie class.
Kite school - Jack learned about kites from all over the world. This was interesting because in most western countries kites are traditionally a diamond, but in most Asian counties they are usually a dragon or animal. Jack was then able to fly a number of kites. The wind was inconsistent on this day, so Jack had to run alot! He then made a kite. They wrapped up the day with cake, which he saved for Ella because it wasn’t chocolate.
Cookie class - The kids were given dough to roll out, they had many shapes to choose from to make lots of cookies, and lots of sprinkles and lollies (candy) to decorate the cookies. While the cookies baked, they decorated bags to put the cookies in to take home.
Patrick and Maeve came over for one last playdate before Jack would go to kindergarten. They had morning tea at Jack and Ella’s table they got for Christmas. They had so much fun playing with the playdoh that Aunt Jennifer had sent for Christmas.
The month of January was spent preparing for Jack to start kindergarten. He has a sports uniform and his regular uniform. He loves his uniforms and liked practicing to get ready for “big school”.
Over the Christmas Holidays we visited the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. We stopped at a beach along the Grand Pacific Drive for the kids to play. We then visited Fitzroy Falls to see the waterfall and walk the nature path. Jack liked looking at the giant termite heap on the path.
This is a park in Sydney Olympic Park that Jack loves to go so he can ride the flying trapeze. There is also a great big slide that he likes. Ella likes the sand pit and sitting on the great big frogs.
