Getting Settled

The boys start school tomorrow at the Boys' College. They have mixed feelings about that. We went and purchased all their uniforms on Friday (about $1000 worth, U.S.). I think they are excited to meet other Australian kids and their new teachers, but they feel like they got cheated out of their summer vacation. I tried to explain to them that they will get more breaks throughout the year. Jonah will start mid 3rd grade and Lucas will start mid 2nd grade. Jonah will actually be in a class that's half 3rd and half 4th graders. By age, he fits in the 4th grade. This will be good in that he will be challenged in some academic areas.
Zoe will start on Tuesday. I will probably go with her the first day and stay to observe. I'm a bit more nervous for her because of all the changes for her. It will be good to start as soon as possible though.
I'm starting to get much more comfortable driving on the LHS of the road and with all the roundabouts. Thank goodness for the GPS! I drove to IKEA by myself today (about a 25 min drive), as well as to the shopping center. The shopping centers are interesting here. I went to a Big W (like a Walmart) and then pushed my cart across to the other side of the mall to the Woolworth's (a grocery store) and then finished my shopping there all in the same cart. There is also other stores, restaurants, a food court, some vendors, and a separate butcher's shop. I can't forget the movie theatres either. I think I've gotten everything I need for the house until our household shipment arrives. Our air shipment should arrive sometime at the end of the coming week. I'm beginning to miss all the household items that I took for granted.
Mike took the kids down to the park by the ocean again today. It was high tide this time and the boys tested out the water with their feet. It was cold! They are itching to jump into our pool at home.
We wanted to do one fun thing this weekend before school started. We took a day trip to the Koala Sanctuary yesterday. Good times were had by all! Jonah and Lucas got to hold a baby koala and get their photos taken. We also got to roam around with kangaroos and get close enough to feed or pet them. The babies were the crowd favorites. My favorite was seeing the Mama koalas with their babies hanging on their backs. They were so cute! The boys also enjoyed seeing a huge lizard on a rock near where we were eating lunch. It was definitely a memorable experience to get so close to the koalas and learning so much about them. We will be going back again.