Hello from rainy, cloudy Sydney!

We left at 1:45 pm on Tuesday Eastern Daylight Time and arrived at 6:15 am on Thursday local Sydney time. It's still so bizarre how you lose an entire day somewhere in that 24 hours of being on an airplane.

We had 3 flights: a short one to the Twin Cities, then a longer one to Los Angeles, then a realllllllly long one (15 hrs) to Sydney. Everything went smoothly. Not much sleep at all--I couldn't get my head to stay in place, so every time I'd fall asleep I'd wake up as soon as my head nodded or fell to the side. I've tried a few contraptions for this situation and so far nothing has worked very well.

A midwife friend picked us up at the airport and drove our rental car to her house. She insisted because, with all of the traffic and fatigue, she thought it would be best to drive us to her house. It took almost 2 hours even though she doesn't live very far (in a suburb north of Sydney).

From when we left our house to when we arrived at hers, it was 29 hours and 45 minutes! Whew!

She revived us with breakfast and herbal tea. After showering and brushing our teeth and putting on a fresh change of clothes, we felt much improved. We then headed out for a lovely walk through some bushland until we got to the sea, at which point our host parted ways with us. We took a long walk up to the point, stopping to find shells and watch the kite surfers.

Our next stop was the grocery store to buy chocolate (I wanted to make a tarte au chocolat). We ended up buying lots more things than planned and had an impromptu picnic with salad mixed, cheese & crackers & dips, and more chocolate.

We kept ourselves awake in the late afternoon by baking and watching a few episodes of Murderbot. Zari fell asleep almost mid-sentence right before dinner. We're both feeling extremely uncoordinated and giggly because we're so tired.

Meanwhile a day earlier yet at the same time, it was the kids' first day of school!

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Sydney bound!

Zari and I are 2 flights into our 3 flights to Sydney! We also accidentally wore matching outfits. (Excuse the squinting--it was super bright.)

I'll be teaching vaginal breech workshops as well as speaking and teaching at the Convergence of Rebellious Midwives.

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Last full day of the reunion (it's a short one, sadly). We have tomorrow morning to pack and clean.

More of the same fun things, plus Capture the Flag, Talent Show, Family Dance Night, and Freeze Family Track & Field.

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Back home (for a day)

We arrived back in our (American) home last night around midnight. Since we had a few hours to spare before catching our flight home, we stopped in downtown Salt Lake City to see the sights. The bathroom building in Temple Square was so fancy that Dio said, "I want to live in this bathroom." You feel like you're in a posh 5-star resort.

We also visited the Gilgal Gardens, which is a garden filled with bizarre rock sculptures. A stonemason started filling his back yard with sculptures and at some point it opened to the public.

Inga was happy because she'd never seen a "big city" before--one with skyscrapers--and this filled her bucket list.

When we pulled in last night, we were greeted by an absolute jungle. It's been the wettest July on record here, which means astounding weeds. (It doesn't help that the person I hired to do the weeding ghosted me...). Honestly it was depressing and stressful, knowing how much weeding was ahead of us. I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it.

The worst are the nettles that keep spreading, followed by Snow On The Mountain in places where I don't want it.

But first order of business this morning: feeding the horde. We had no food and the kids were hungry! Our town just got an Aldi--one of the few things I'm excited about coming back--and we spent well over $300 to restock our kitchen.

Then...the weeding started, plus mowing and car washing. By the end of the day things were looking much better and we have a pile of weeds almost as big as a small car. We also burned all the fallen branches and took an afternoon Smores break. Why not?

I had to run errands after dinner to get ready for my and Zari's departure for Australia tomorrow. So crazy! I got some new clothes at the thrift store and then ran to the big box store for things like travel-sized toothpaste, contact solution, etc.

I also had to do some woodworking to get the wood pieces ready for the simulator. I fired up the table saw, compound miter saw, orbital sander, and angle grinder.

Oh, last night I woke up in the middle of the night absolutely freezing. I was buried under the covers and still couldn't get warm. I finally decided to investigate. I went into the hallway, turned on the lights, and looked at the thermostat. Someone (cough cough...Dio) had turned it down to under 70F! (21 C) I usually keep it at around 78-80 with the fan blowing constantly, which is very comfortable without having to put on a sweater. (I HATE being cold in the summer. It's bad enough in the winter.) No wonder I was so cold!

I was still cold the rest of the night but it got slightly better. I gave Dio a lecture in the morning about not touching the thermostat. He still had his winter comforter on, but everyone else had just their summer covers on, and they were all very cold as well. So yeah, not a lot of sleeping happened after that rude awakening.

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Family reunion fun

Some of the things we (including all of the extended family) did today:

• swam in the pool
• swam in the hot tub
• swam in several of the lakes (mostly the one behind our lodge)
• caught fish
• played card games
• worked on a puzzle
• played guitars
• played a pickleball tournament
• looked at the stars and felt a sense of existential dread and awe (that was me and Zari!)
• rode bikes
• went on walks
• planned a massive game of capture the flag for tomorrow morning
• sat on the porch or deck and did nothing
• read books

Eric caught a huge trout in the lake, using lots of stealth and a net. It was big enough that he was unsure if he could keep it (fish over a certain size are considered trophy fish and you have to pay $80 to keep them). He let it go and it wasn't acting very well. Eventually it swam off. He tried to find it later in the day. Some of the cousins spotted a large dead fish which we think may have been the same fish.

I went swimming in the lake twice--the water is very clean. There's no lake smell at all during or after swimming.

Even at just half full, the moon is super bright and casts clear shadows. It's so nice to be outside at night and not be attacked by insects (or bears!). There are coyotes here; you can hear them howling and yipping at night.

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American West Road Trip

We completed an important part of American culture: the road trip. We drove from Lake Tahoe to the eastern part of Utah in a bit under 10 hours. Starting from my sister's house in the Bay area, we've driven across California, Nevada, and almost all of Utah.

We're staying at a family reunion resort truly in middle of nowhere, in the middle of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (about 2.5 hrs east of Salt Lake City). We were dubious as we kept going further and further away from any settlements. Even the last few miles, I was wondering if this was going to be like a few huts out in the bare desert.

But it's amazing! There are several lakes, a gorgeous landscape, a huge barn with a professional kitchen and gathering hall, a super fancy lodge that houses 25 people, and several cabins for all of the cousins. There's a pool and a hot tub, pickleball court, bikes, canoes, kayaks, paddleboards...all included! We feel super spoiled here.

The first thing Eric did when we arrived? Put on his swimsuit, grabbed his mask and snorkel, and went freediving in the two nearest lakes. He said it's like swimming in an aquarium; there are tons of huge bass and trout.

Because there's so much to do right here, we won't be doing any excursions (which is fine with me--we did plenty in Lake Tahoe). We just get to stay here and play for a few days.

Last I checked, the teenagers were playing pickleball under huge spotlights. We're super tired from our 5 am wakeup so we're heading to bed.

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Busy with family reunions here in Lake Tahoe...lots of swimming (brrrrr!), hiking, cooking, game playing. Today was Sugar Pine Point, a state park with a lovely sandy beach and a big dock perfect for jumping into the water. The cousins and Eric caught a HUGE load of crayfish, which became today's meal. I jumped off the dock until I got so cold that I had to stop to warm up.

We did rocket launching this afternoon with a homemade pneumatic rocket launcher. Each cousin got to make a paper rocket. Some of them flew several hundred feet! Quick recap of our days so far:

Friday: early afternoon arrival, swim at Meek's Bay (interrupted by a hailstorm), hot tub in the evening

Saturday: 5-mile hike on Shirley Canyon Trail to the top of Palisades ski resorts, then take the gondola back down. (Hint: if you hike up, it's free to take gondola down!). Huge hail storm in afternoon and a leaking roof in our cabin. We had buckets and towels all over.

Sunday: The last family members arrived. Morning was relaxed, afternoon at Meek's Bay. Airplane flying competition with balsa wood airplanes.

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The place where my parents will be staying has a hot tub. They haven't arrived yet, but we have the keys and it was amazing to relax there in the evening as it got dark.

We have a big hike tomorrow morning if the weather cooperates.

I'm still feeling like I'm wading through molasses, both physically and mentally. But at least I'm waking up at more reasonable hours each night (2 am...4 am...6 am...).

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Jet lag, cold in California

We made it all the way to San Francisco on Monday (via Philadelphia) with no hiccups. We're staying at my sister's for several days, then heading to Lake Tahoe for a big family reunion. Ivy left this morning for Cousin Camping with my mom and dad and 2 other cousins her same age. This year, they're "camping" in an airbnb north of San Francisco and doing lots of fun day excursions.

We all slept well the first night--waking up a bit but getting back to sleep. Last night I woke up at 2 am thinking it was morning...and was sad to discover that it was definitely not morning! We're staying in a little outbuilding (the "Annex") with lots of windows and zero blinds or curtains, so there's a good deal of ambient light even in the middle of the night.

So what did we do yesterday? Inga and Ivy went with one of the cousins to Great America--just a mile away--and loved it so much they went back after dinner until the park closed. Our kids have never been to an amusement park, except once each to Disneyworld with Eric's parents when they were 8 years old.

We went on several walks around the neighborhood, enjoyed the lovely Bay Area climate (but boy...it's chilly in the evenings and mornings!) We are used to it being hot day and night in Nice. Here it's warm mid-day once the clouds burn off but cool in the shade due to the low humidity.

We got a tour of my sister's husband's work (Waymo, plus one of the Google campuses). We got to take a ride in a self-driving Waymo car, which was super fun.

Today's activities: going to Great America (minus Ivy and those doing Cousin Camp). My favorite rides were the drop tower, Flight Deck rollercoaster and Railblazer rollercoaster. The drop tower is 220 feet high and it's just like it sounds: you go all the way up, then you drop all the way down, braking at the very end.

I was too tired to head back after dinner, but the rest of our kids, plus a few cousins, did.

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Phew! I think we are ready to go! Just a final vacuuming tomorrow, double check passports and keys. With so much cleaning today, we took a break late afternoon to swim. We had big waves and everyone stayed in for a long time.

We are spoiled because this trip only has 2 flights "home" (to my sister in California) instead of our usual 3.

And somehow I also managed to get 19,000 steps in today!

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More of the same: packing and cleaning. Well, it's mostly all cleaning now.

We got the toe kicks cut, sanded, painted and installed. Lots of work and very last-minute...but the kitchen looks finished.

Time for a quick swim late afternoon. I was out near the buoy when I saw lightning, and I decided it would probably be prudent to head back to land. Zari and Eric were far away treasure hunting.

Oh, Eric hauled a huge treasure out yesterday--a chair! It was a heavy metal chair with plastic rope webbing. He thinks it fell off a yacht because it was so far from shore, and none of the nearby restaurants have chairs of the same design.

Yesterday he also found a functional Mi Band (fitness watch), which I was able to factory reset and set up for Zari!

We made peanut butter cookies with the last of our peanut butter and enjoyed dinner with our friends (rotisserie chicken from the local butcher, apple & endive salad, socca, cherry and apricot clafoutis).

Dio was yearning to eat dumplings, so he and Eric took a trip to the Asian food store. That will be for tomorrow, plus anything else left in our cupboards.

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Lots more cleaning and packing...lots of errands to run (including buying and painting toe kicks for the kitchen). We still managed to fit in a late afternoon swim, which felt amazing. Then dinner with friends & ice cream at Fenocchio's for the kids. Another day of cleaning, laundry, and packing tomorrow...

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Whew, Zari has registered for fall and winter classes! (The U of T makes students register for a full year at a time--so weird.) She has to add one of her classes next week when general registration opens, but otherwise she got into the ones she wanted.

Year-long:
Ethics, humans, and nature
Environmental science and pathways to sustainability

Fall:
Science and human values
Creating community: Art, identity, & belonging
Inventing Canada (placeholder for another class called What is Canada?)

Winter:
Quebec & French-Canadian literature (in French)
Toronto: The city where movies are made
Democracy in Crisis: Democratic breakdown and resilience in the 21st century

Lots of cleaning and packing today. For me, lots of Zoom meetings as well. A quick swim right before dinner.

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Cruel and unusual punishment

I have decided that the perfect torture for Zari is to give her a list of super interesting classes and make her pick just a few of them. Yes, she's in the middle of that torture at the moment. Enrollment is tomorrow so the pressure is on.

She's made list after list, talked through the choices about 100 times. Still just as anguished because she can't decide.

Ahhh, reminds me of myself at her age...

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Apparently Dio and his friends stayed up (quietly, whispering in the dark) until 3 am! They stayed for breakfast and lunch and then swam at the beach. After everyone went home in the late afternoon, Dio passed out on the couch.

We had dentist appointments and orthodontist appointments today. We've also started our ritual packing up with deep cleaning soon to be added.

Zari gets to enroll for her classes in 2 days and she has a long list of classes that look interesting. She's pared it down several times but it's still more than 1 page long!

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20,000 steps

I did another urban hike with my friend and Zari, this time to Fort Alban. Taking an evening walk brought my step count up to 20K. Not bad! I also went for a late afternoon swim with everyone but Inga (she was out with friends).

Dio has 2 friends over for a sleepover, and he was at the beach with his friends. We had big waves and the kids were having so much fun getting tumbled around.



Dinner was one of Eric's classics: green beans sauteed with butter and lemon juice, and smoked salmon pasta with capers, tarragon, & creme fraiche. I contributed another plum tart.

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17,000 steps

I'm loving this more temperate weather. I had my usual walk to/from Cimiez, plus an evening walk.

Zari finished her Lord of the Rings marathon today. I watched most of the last movie with her this afternoon. So many battles!

We had a delicious dinner of combined efforts. I made purple risotto (endives, onions, pork sausages, red wine, & parmesan) and plum tart. Our friends made osso bucco and potatoes. Mmmmm.....

I'm doing another urban hike tomorrow morning with my friend and whoever else I can convince into waking up relatively early.

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Wedding in Eze

I got a fun glimpse into a world I'm not usually privy to. I played in a wedding this afternoon at the Chevre d'Or hotel in Eze, a fancy-pants 5-star hotel. It was a destination wedding of Chinese-American and Chinese families, mostly traveling to France from the US.

Pretty spectacular view. The weather was just perfect, too.



I have a shoulder injury from a few months ago that still hasn't healed, and it was killing me. I was in such much pain by the end but just had to keep playing.

Other news:

I went on an urban hike around Mont Boron this morning with my friend. I'm used to doing it with kids and in my mind in was a full half-day hike. But no, we did it in less than 2 hours! Amazing how fast it goes when you don't need to take any breaks.

I had to miss out on beach time today due to the wedding.

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Reunited!

The 3 youngest are back home after 4 days of camping! They got home in time for a late dinner (homemade lasagna, made by our friends, and leftover cherry clafoutis that I made last night).

I was not feeling well by the late afternoon. I was exceptionally tired all day and developed a headache despite taking salt. I chalked it up fasting (my plan was to do another 42 hr fast through tomorrow lunch). But after I finally decided to have dinner and take extra electrolytes, I didn't feel much better. I may be coming down with something.

I get to play in a wedding tomorrow! I haven't done one since last year.

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Pont de la Cerise

When the kids are away, the adults can play...at Pont de la Cerise! It was the most perfect day, the clearest water, the best weather. I had a moment lying on a hot sunny rock, slightly chilled from swimming, staring up at the trees and sky and hearing the turquoise water roaring beside me, and feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment.

 

We were back by mid-afternoon. I got lots of work done, interrupted by some pesto making and dinner eating. Zari started watching Lord of the Rings, which she has read but never seen! We finished the evening with a walk around the port (me and my freshman building-mate).

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