A Turn in Seasons

Presley shocked me this past week as she put on her PJs. "I am going to wear my Cinderella pajamas tonight." I was so shocked that I had to take a picture. She wore the pajamas the next night too and wanted to watch Snow White. Our funny little girl!

We were so excited that the tulips we planted as a family last fall came up this spring. We took some pictures to capture their first year in our yard!

Mom went to Boston this week to speak at the Front End of Innovation Conference. Her presentation went extremely well. On the last day of the conference, she was able to do the Freedom Trail to view the historic sights (like Paul Revere's house) before she caught her flight home.

And Canyon's first school year is nearing an end. This week he had his Kindegarten concert, where he and his schoolmates sang to us in both Spanish and English. And we also said goodbye to the interns that came from abroad to help in his school's classrooms. This is Caro, from Chile, at an end of the year picnic for the interns.

Mid May Update

We've been getting back into the swing of things after our overseas adventures. Which is why I am behind on the Pergande updates. I did have to include an excerpt from the Sydney Bridge climb, a most amazing experience! On my last night in Sydney, I climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge (attached by cords). I walked up at dusk and was able to see the transition from day to night. I was totally scared because of my fear of heights but the adventure was well worth it!


Since we've been back in Minneapolis, we are just getting back into our normal routines like making recipes from Canyon and Presley's magazines, getting ready for summer sports (soccer and baseball have just begun). On Mother's Day, Mom enjoyed a nice relaxing day with the family. We played tennis with Presley's school friend, Shelly the turtle, who visited us for the weekend, planted some flowers, went to church, and watched the season finale of Survivor. You might also notice that Canyon has a new cast on. When we went to see the orthopedic specialist at Children's, they said his arm wasn't healed enough. So he had to get a new cast for two more weeks. This one glows in the dark and is waterproof though, which makes it bearable for Canyon who is anxious to get his arm back!

Sydney, Australia

Our wonderful adventure to Australia continues! We arrived in Sydney (or "Cyndy" as Presley and Canyon refer to it) on Thursday April 10. We stayed at the charming Russell Hotel in the heart of the Rocks district. On our first night, we took a stroll around and stopped in at the Lord Nelson, the oldest hotel in Sydney, where Mom enjoyed a Quayle Ale (named after Dan Quayle).


On Friday, we took a city ferry to the beautiful Manly beach that is lined with Norfolk Island pines. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and getting buried in the sand! In the afternoon, Mom and the kids took a stroll along the amazing Sydney Harbor Bridge, climbing to the top of the Pylon towers! And in the evening, we enjoyed the sunset by the opera house and watched the lights of the Sydney bridge come up. An amazing sight!





On Saturday, we enjoyed another great day along the ocean front. We started the morning with a bus tour that dropped us off at Watson's bay where we enjoyed spectacular views and a nice cliff top stroll by "The Gap".



We spent the afternoon by the famous Bondi and Bronte beaches. We again played in the sand and watched the surfers. We enjoyed an amazing lunch at Nick's Bondi Beach Pavillion and completed the afternoon with a nice walk along a path that winds along the cliffs to Bronte beach. A great and relaxing day!

Blue Mountains, Australia

After 4 days in Melbourne, we flew to Sydney and drove to the beautiful Blue Mountains, a spectacular wilderness area just 90 minutes outside the city. We stayed at the Jemby-Rinjah Eco Lodge, a very cool place with self contained wooden cabins set deep in the bush. The cabins had wood burning fireplaces that heated our cabins and every morning there were wild bird feedings that brought beautiful birds to our hands and heads (literally).





During our visit in the Blue Mountains, we were blessed with several amazing, amazing rainbows. And on one extremely rainy day, we explored Lucas Cave (an amazing maze of stalagmites, stalagtites, and lacelike rock) at the Jenolan Caves Park.



We also visited Katoomba, where we took a ride on the steepest railway in the world and saw the famous Three Sisters rock formations. At Echo Point, Canyon made friends with an aboriginal, from whom he bought and learned to throw a real boomerang!!

Down Under in Melbourne Australia

The Pergandes arrived in Melbourne Australia on Friday, April 4th to visit the Menzies family. Grandma Harriet was also visiting the Menzies at this time. We had an absolute amazing visit! Daddy got to practice his guitar with the experienced Uncle David, while enjoying David's home brewed Australian beers.



On Saturday, we ventured to Phillips Island. The kids enjoyed playing in the surf, where Presley and Hannah got rolled over by some incoming waves. We also visited the Nobbies, where we walked along the causeway and were lucky to see real baby miniature fairy penguins waiting for their parents to bring food back from the ocean.




On Sunday, we ventured to Healesville Sanctuary, where the kids got to get face to face with Austrailan animals like the koala, kangaroo, tasmanian devil, and the very pointy echidina ("Ouch" says Canyon).


And no trip to Australia would be complete without a trip to the doctor. On Monday April 7th, Canyon "fell" off a "surf board" in a local park and broke both his radius and ulnar. Canyon has the ultimate souvenir from Australia!

Maple Syrup Making

Our family headed to Murphy's Landing in Shakopee this weekend for their Maple Syrup making festival. The kids got to tap the trees, fill their buckets with sap, and pour it into the cauldron to burn down. The best part was tasting the finished product. The kids also got to play with old fashioned toys and ride on horse-drawn carriages. It was a beautiful day before our 10 inch snow storm on March 31st!

Grammie & Aunt Kimmy Visit Easter Weekend

Grammie and Aunt Kimmy made it to Minneapolis on Easter Weekend, despite a weekend full of snow.... and more snow! We had a wonderful visit. The kids were excited to show off their skating skills with them at the local community center. We also went to a great Easter party, put on by the Optimist Club at Northwestern Health Sciences University. The kids met Vinnie the Vertebrae, saw Darren the musician, got their faces painted, hugged the Easter Bunny, and most " importantly" for the kids, got to be a part of a great (and fast) egg hunt in the snow. During the weekend, we also had a screening of Auntie Annie's Matchmaker's documentary and also went to Grumpy's Downtown, where we got "grumpy" and enjoyed some new local brews from the Surly company (Bender and Furious). Fun, fun, weekend!