So long… and thanks for all the sand!

Just had to share quickly this video we took of Zoe on the weekend. We were at Clovelly beach and Zoe could not resist destroying all sandcastles we built… mmm must be her German/Japanese heritage to compulsively invade and destroy everything. hahaha
By the way, Nene says at the end pf the video “She is really a Hornberger!” when Zoe squeezes her hands tightly because of her excitement – not sure what she is talking about

Nearly gone… again

Here we are again, packing our suitcases for another round-the-world trip. Can’t believe the previous trip is already over 6 months ago… but actually looking at Zoe it seems like an eternity ago. She has changed  so much in the last months and is becoming now definitely a toddler with all the “trimmings”, meaning she is now so much more interactive, all the time on the move and shows first signs of her personality. She is just such a pleasure. We love now playing with her and she is still laughing at Papa’s silly noises (I should enjoy that as long as I can… hahaha).

Otherwise, life has become incredible busy here in the last few months, with Eneida & I working both full-time and enjoying our time with Zoe, so there are only a few quiet minutes in between. …and to get rid of the final quiet minutes we are travelling now again. Still, we are looking forward to this trip seeing our families and friends again and also doing some work, by attending 2 international conferences, Eneida’s PhD viva and giving a talk to colleagues in Paris. Not too bad I hear you say and I agree, very lucky we are indeed to do this all as a family.

But I am getting you bored with my sentimental blurb, so better stop here. We will keep you updated of our progress in the trip.

Brazilian rhythm

Ok, ok, mamae couldn’t resist attributing Zoe’s great rythm to her Brazilian heritage…    Note how she moves with the song!!!

We all love dancing to any music with Zoe, especially Brazilian songs. Papa can get tired of listening to the same CDs over and over, but even he can’t resist sometimes…

Here’s a recent video with some added comments by Papa

Happy birthday, Feliz aniversario, und Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag Papa!!

So Papa is now 33. Much older than mamae

We’ve had a pretty routine day, Zoe at the kindy and we both at work. But we managed to have a little party at the end of the day, just the three of us. We got Papa a Creole cake, which had a coconut base, mango and passion fruit mousse layers, surrounded by white chocolate and topped with fresh fruit. Not too bad!! Papa had half of it already…

We also had colourful balloons, party hats and electric sparkles – Zoe had so much fun! The hats were especially tasty…

Here some pics to register Papa’s first birthday with Zoe, and mamae, altogether

Canberra

Over the weekend we went to Canberra -  one of our first family trips by car. It takes only 3.5 hours by car to Canberra from Sydney, which by Australian standards means “around the corner”

Zoe didn’t hesitate a second and was busily packing her suitcase. She made sure that all her favourite clothes and toys were packed, which meant that her luggage was the biggest and heaviest of all – she is definitely coming after her mother in this regard (hahaha).  After all the packing, she fell completely exhausted asleep when we set off in the car – also like her mother (hahaha). Zoe really liked the car journey and especially liked climbing through the car and sitting beside Papa when we had some breaks. The car was definite the safest place with the occasional “Beware of snakes” signs at the roadside – so typical Australia.  We were also amazed at other animals at the roadside, including an oversized sheep… don’t ask…

In Canberra it was much colder than in Sydney, because it lies much higher, inland and more south. We could finally use therefore our jackets and scarves, which we hadn’t worn since leaving England. Unbelievable!  Zoe also liked the cold and could show off her new hat. We had enough time in the afternoon to visit the National Gallery of Australia and have a quick look at the Parliament of Australia, which dominates the whole (small-ish) town.

After a good night sleep, we went to a nice market in an old bus depot, where we met Sharpley who was visiting a friend in Canberra. We bought some very nice honey (thinking of you Stefan!) and a delicious chutney (thinking of you Bine!) before heading home after visiting the National Library of Australia.

So there we are, we all had a really great time in Canberra and we will definitely do some more travel in Australia soon. The country is just so huge and there is still so much to discover. But for now, we have to work a bit more before heading off on another around-the-world extravaganza at the beginning of July.

Zoe packing

Oversized sheep at roadside

Exhausted after the packing

“Beware of snakes” warning at roadside

Papa’s co-pilot

Happy Mamae and grumpy Zoe

Australian Parliament

Happy Zoe

“Look what’s over there!”

Posing for the camera

Bus depot market

Re-arranging chairs at home

Little Zoe has been enjoying re-arranging our chairs in the living room…so we need to keep an eye as she’ll keep pushing even if there’s something on the way – rug, shoebox, anything really…

Banana

Zoe doesn’t seem in a hurry to learn to feed by herself. But she’ll make an effort form banana, which is one her favourites! She’s also become very keen on our electronic stuff: mobiles, phone, remote control, video, camera, mouse…

Here’s a sequence of shots I find very cute

ps. She’s trying to reach for the camera!