Australia Vacation -- Day 12

Today was a nice day of play. We headed out about 9:30 or so, hopped on the monorail, and made our way to the Powerhouse Museum. This is kind of like an science/activity museum, especially for kids. There were several parts that the girls loved.

The first was Zoe's House, which was a "builders" theme. They had "bricks," the frame of a house, a railroad and carts (see Katelee pushing a cart below), a crane, and other fun activities. The kids wore orange vests and hard hats (at least they were supposed to).

The next stop was lunch and a large playground with lots of climbing and spinning sets. Courtney may have had more fun than the girls spinning on the equipment. We ate a good lunch before heading back in to play a bit more in the Magic Garden -- an interactive, electronic playground. We also saw a space section, transportation section, smell section, electricity section, etc. Lots and lots to see!!!



After the museum, we headed for the Chinese Garden. It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful. This is a photographer's playground. Unfortunately, Courtney's camera's memory stick was left behind in the computer and Mark's batteries died! We were able to snap a couple good ones before they died.

The garden was very nice, but we had to cut it a bit short and head home though. Olivia managed to fall into the tranquil lake of the Chinese Garden by slipping off of some rocks. Honestly, Mark did not push her into the pond in an attempt to get the $6 dollar admission charge waived!!! There is a reason Olivia's middle name is Grace. So, we headed home to change clothes and rest.

The girls went to sleep in the afternoon, and Mark scouted out the nearby cupcake shop. We snagged half a dozen cupcakes, hot chocolate, and coffee to get us through the rest of the afternoon. Since we had bought monorail passes, we wanted to put them to good use. Thus, we ventured into dangerous territory -- taking the girls out at night.

We headed out about 6:00. Katelee really wasn't feeling that great, but we wrapped them all up well. We hopped on the monorail to just cruise around the city at night. We hopped off at Chinatown, ate some dinner, and then went down to the large Ferris Wheel. Olivia begged to ride it (yesterday, today, and tonight). So, we climbed aboard and enjoyed views from the top. Then, we climbed back on the monorail, circled the area a couple times, and headed for home. The girls were in bed about 8:30, and the parents are up WAY past THEIR bedtime.

Time for some sleep so we can enjoy our final day in Sydney! See you tomorrow.