My feet are sunburned

Yesterday was probably the warmest, most beautiful day we've had yet.  We took the ferry to Manly to register Parker for Kindy.

Parker's new school is a 154 year old 3-story brick building.  Upon entrance it smells a bit musty and old like walking into an old person's house, but the character of the place grows on you and the smell goes away.  The principal met us in the front office and walked us through all the paperwork and then gave us a tour of the school.

The principal, Ms. Black, probably in her mid-40's, had dark hair, big blue eyes, and a warm smile.  Her energy comforted me; Parker could care less.  When you meet Aussie's here they act like they already know you, as if you've been friends before.  The first thing Ms. Black asked us was, "Where in the US are you from?"  Then she proceeded to tell us all about her trip to San Diego where she got on a cruise ship and went all the way through the Panama Canal and then to the Caribbean.  While she was chatting I absorbed the atmosphere around us.  She was the only person there, other than a janitor, and it was 8 days before school started.  And the fact that she was helping us with this process was astounding; where were the school secretaries?  This is a school of 600 students and the principal was so calm I wondered whether she'd been drinking.  At my old school in Corte Madera 8 days before school started you would see the principal sweating, red faced, and dropping f-bombs about the asshole parents she was dodging phone calls from.  Also, ALL the teachers would be running around like mad preparing their classrooms.  At Manly Village, it was the opposite, and it's not as if anything was ready for the first day of school; everything was a mess!  How is it that education in Australia is more advanced than in the US?  What are we doing wrong in the US?!  Maybe we need to drink more?

As we toured the school, stepping around copy machines, desks, and boxes the most note worthy thing were the wall-sized Smartboards in every classroom!  I almost broke down looking at these beautiful pieces of equipment.  A Smartboard is an interactive white board where you can project images from a computer and use your finger like a mouse, and it's also used as a dry erase white board.  They're awesome!  A 154 year old building with better technology than new schools in the US.  The classrooms, however messy and disorganized, were bright and full of everything a classroom should contain.  I was so excited for Parker at this point and realized I hadn't stopped smiling since we'd entered the school and the odd smell left my nose.  Parker on the other hand walked around stoic and quiet with his socks pulled up to his knees.  When absorbing anything new Parker is either quiet, or laughing.  After the tour and all the paperwork I asked him, "Parker, what do you think?!"  He said, "Good."  Oh my little deep feeler.

From the school, amped and excited, we walked across the street to have lunch outside at a little cafe.  The Bieber looking Italian dude with a thick accent asked us where we were from after giggling at my question for more napkins; nappys are diapers in Oz, napkins are called serviettes.  I thought it ironic that he was asking us where we were from when his English was slightly conversational at best.

We moved on from lunch and walked the less than 1km distance between Parker's school and our new house.  I imagined myself walking this same route everyday taking Parker to and fro school - oh wow the beach life.  We stopped outside our new house on 51 Wood Street (yes Dave, I said Wood) and gawked at the front of our new house since we don't have keys yet and can't go in.  Then we took some pictures of the beach from the street in front of our house.  The house is on a corner lot and is literally one block from Little Manly Cove beach.

We proceeded down the little hill and with jaws dropped stared at our neighborhood beach.  It's summer vacation so there were kids everywhere.  Teenagers in groups standing awkwardly together - the boys pushing each other around, the girls sucking in their stomachs and playing with their hair.  Little kids were everywhere playing in the sand and splashing in the barely lapping surf.

Mark dove right in the water and Parker followed.  Reid looked cautiously at the beach with trepidation written on his face.  I'm sure he was thinking, "What the hell is this?"  He creeped closer to the water as I urged him to stick his toes in the sand and let the water roll over his feet.  As his piggies touched the water he ran away yelling, "Mommy!"  I thought, whatever, he has time to get used to it.  Mark, Parker, and I threw the football around as Reid inched closer and closer to the surf.  Thirty minutes later he was lying on his tummy body surfing the tiny waves letting the water carry him up and back.  He even got friendly with some other tikes.  He took their watering can and started helping them build a mount of sand that I'm sure they thought was a magnificent castle.  It was a shame to tear them away from the beach but my translucent skin was starting to sizzle and we needed to catch the ferry back to the city.

It was the kind of day where you take a deep breath and say, wow, that rocked.  However next time, I'll remember to put sunscreen on my feet too - rookie move!