The Hood

A few days we spent time relaxing at my friends' house, walking to the local park, and swimming. One day it got up to 44 degrees so we were in the pool off and on all day. The best part of the trip for Miss M besides playing with her friend was learning how to swim. She made great progress and can now doggie paddle and go under and take breaths on her own going across the pool. I was so proud of her. Our friends have a lovely spacious home and were wonderful hosts. We had such a great time visiting and reconnecting with them.

Melbourne City and Botanical Gardens

Towards the end of our visit my friend and I went into the city for dinner without the kids. We walked around a bit and enjoyed a fabulous Greek dinner. I wanted Greek food as that is the one type of food that is hard to find in Tokyo. The city is quite eclectic with lots of artsy type energy. There is a river that runs through the center of downtown dividing the city between north and south. We took the kids into the city as well to visit a children's garden at the Botanical Gardens. I was able to get away for a few minutes and snap a few photos of some beautiful flowers. I thought it was funny they shorten McDonald's to Macca, hence the photo below.

Berry Picking and Wine

On Sunday we went berry picking and had lunch at a winery in the countryside. My kids have never picked berries straight from the vine. They had a lot of fun filling baskets full of strawberries and blackberries. We feasted on berries for the next few days for dessert.