Day 184 - Making A List & Checking It Twice

Typically by this time of the year I am already so done with my Christmas shopping, and I would avoid any malls or stores like the plague.  I would wish those last minute shoppers luck as I sit at home and wrap presents.  This year though, I have joined the league of the last minute shoppers.  I do think that having been constantly on the move for the last few weeks and having no room in our bags to transport gifts are reasonable excuses.  On top of that, there's not really any good online stores here to order from.  We have been too spoiled by Amazon Prime!  In any case, Santa Clause will help me out, right?! 

Anyhow, there isn't too much to report of the day's events today, mostly because we spent the morning at home where the kids had a blast just playing with Kitty, Ella, and Celt in their playroom.  In the afternoon, I headed to Bondi Junction to meet up with my aunt and tackle my Christmas list.  

The Bondi Junction Shopping Center consists of two buildings that are connected to each other via an enclosed bridge.  There are lots and lots of stores, with all kinds of brands, from American to European to Australian, but I was most excited to see Target! :)  Everything in the Sydney area is quite expensive, but I was able to find some good deals at Target. 

After a few hours, I checked off most of the items on my list and ended up replacing a few.  My aunt Sheema and I did have to make a few trips arounds because sadly Target didn't have everything.  It's not quite like the Target in the states!  My hubby and the kids joined us at Bondi Pizza for dinner.  Don't worry, I had brought along a backpack to stuff most of my shoppings in, and the rest went in a bag that Sheema carried around as if it was hers.  The kids were so hungry and cranky that they were not at all curious about the bag or the backpack. 

As if the kids were not cranky enough, the food we ordered just would not come!  We came up with a million different scenarios of what could have happened to our waiter and the wait staff in general.  Eventually, after what seemed like hours, the pizzas arrive at the table.  Thankfully tipping is not really required here!

In all the craziness, we totally forgot to take any pictures!  Regardless, I had a very productive shopping trip and was so happy that we were able to grab dinner with Sheema.  

On the way home, the bus we were waiting for never showed up!  So we walked home because the kids were now stuffed and perfectly happy.  There was a nice warm breeze in the air and the walk took us about 20 minutes, during which we spotted some giant bats in the sky and giant cockroaches on the ground.  Please don't misunderstand, Bronte is a lovely and very clean area, but cockroaches just seem to be everywhere!  Eek!

Elmer the Elf Update

Elmer surprised Kian and Hannah this morning with little snow globes from the North Pole!  One had a picture of Mickey Mouse inside and the other, Winnie the Pooh.  Hmmm...I wonder what this could mean?  Woohoo!  Only 2 more sleeps till Christmas!