Sydney, baby!

For some of you who know me well, you'll know I've longed to go to Australia almost my entire life. As I got older, the dream stayed with me, although now there were specific things I wanted to see there, namely the city of Sydney, and as my heart for theatre grew, the Opera House.

Almost 3 years ago, we flew home to Canada from New Zealand. We flew into Sydney. Seeing the harbour from the air, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, was almost too much. So close, and yet we couldn't even leave the airport.

A couple of months ago, Colin's school confirmed a choir/fine arts trip to Sydney this July. And Colin was asked to chaperone. He was pretty excited. I was very disappointed. I didn't want to rain on his parade, but man, this was MY dream!! And he was going to see it before I did. *sigh* I sound so petty.

So we thought, and researched, and tried to see things from every perspective. (And prayed!) And we decided I would go. The boys too. Yesterday, we booked tickets for me and the boys to join Colin. Now, it goes without saying that my "dream holiday" to Australia does not include my husband chaperoning 50 teenagers, nor flying over there by myself with a 5 and 1 year old, nor sightseeing mostly on my own, with said 5 and 1 year olds. BUT, I'll be in SYDNEY!! So these minor details aren't really phasing me at the moment.

The best part? I'll be there for my birthday. My birthday! In Sydney! AND, the choir sings at the Opera House (it's a big international choir thingy) on that day, and the boys and I will probably get tickets to watch. I may not be able to stay long (18 month olds aren't great audience members), but I will enter the Opera House ON my birthday. I almost cannot contain myself. I'm smiling so huge as I write this.

I'm excited to have this adventure, even with just the boys. What a fantastic "field trip" for my young homeschooled son. Another huge bonus is that the students are being billeted and the Sunday we are there is "family day", where their host families take them around, giving the teachers the day off. Colin and the boys and I can spend a whole day in Sydney together. We're secretly hoping one of the other teachers will also be willing to babysit for maybe a couple hours so Colin can take me out for an Australian birthday dinner, just the two of us. A date with my husband! In Sydney!

I joke with Colin that he's owed me this trip. Last year on my birthday, Colin found out he would likely lose his job. And subsequently, our lives exploded. This year's birthday? Well, it should be about 250% better.

Only 3 months and 5 days to go...