Those Jacarandas...

So I was recently reminded of two things. One, it has been a really long time since I posted a blog. Two, the trees in Australia are stunning.

On that first point. We've been a little busy the past few months, really since the end of October when we headed back to the states for a two week, three city tour (more of that to come in a future blog). Then there was Steve who was really busy with work when we returned home in November and December. And I kept plenty busy as well packing our two bedroom unit for our upcoming move (which when you have two kids can amazingly be filled with a whole lot of stuff!). In between the busyness we tried to make the most of the Christmas festivities all around us. We then took a trip of a lifetime to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and an unplanned one night stop in Malaysia over the Christmas and New Years holidays. Oh and we moved house the weekend we got back from our holiday with the help of many extremely generous friends. That was followed by that whole unpacking house thing. And we were fortunate enough to have yet another amazing long weekend trip to Victoria (a state in Australia for those Americans who have no sense of Australian geography) to see watch some tennis and drive a postcard perfect stretch of road. And finally here we find ourselves in February, which means time to get back into a routine. Cue big sigh here. Time to catch up and start blogging again...

On that second point. The trees. Wow, I love the trees here. And since winter isn't really all that cold we get to enjoy leaves on the trees much of the year, although some of them still loose leaves during winter. But I think it's pretty easy to say that November will likely be one of my favorites months of the year in Sydney because as the weather warms up for the summer, the jacarandas blooom. For nearly a month the city (especially the lower north shore where we live) are covered in purple blooms. It is absolutely gorgeous.

The day we got back from the states in an effort to keep the family awake and avoid jet lag we went jacaranda hunting to one of the most well known streets in Sydney for them. We found we were not the only ones who had the same idea to meander down McDougall Street in nearby Kirribilli for a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was easy to see why.

Fresh air to keep us awake!

Veiny branches of the Jacaranda trees

The whole street was spectacularly lined with the trees forming a beautiful archway. With our matching Elsa princesses we enjoyed the colors and the smell of the trees before finding our way to the playground at adjoining Milson Park for the afternoon.

A few other beautiful palm trees

Elsa twins at Milson Park

While unfortunately the blooms from the Jacaranda trees are now long gone we are still enjoying many different types of trees from what we grew up with in the midwest. And we'll be ready and waiting for the purple blooms to come back next spring!