Baby Fig Newton: Happy Australia Day

Heading down to Mona Vale Beach
(If you look closely, you can see a huge smile on Dyllan's face!)

What better way to kick off our adventures in Australia than a public holiday mid-week?! Just what we needed.

Yesterday we celebrated Australia Day. I had to actually look up what the day was in celebration of before I posted this... here is what I found:

"Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.

Australia Day is the biggest day of celebration in the country. On Australia Day we come together as a nation celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future."

While shopping at the dollar store for decorations for Dyllan's Bug party- I came across tons of Australian gear- hats, posters, tattoos, banners, flags, pens, cups, plates, candy, you name it, they had it. I was wishing I had access to this store for Dan's Aussie 30th bday party..

Australia day kind of reminded me of our 4th of July. Everyone gets excited for this holiday- its in the summer, weather is nice, BBQ's are hot, waves are calling, and its just a good excuse to pack a picnic and head down to the beach for a good time.

We did just that. We started off with a run down to Mona Vale beach - down the street from our house- people were set up early- BBQ's were smoking as early as 9am (maybe earlier)- picnic table were staked- flags were flying high- and music was blasting. We hurried back to the house- showered, and headed to Manly Beach (our old stomping ground) to meet up with some friends for the afternoon. We made a quick stop by Dan's uncle and aunts new place to say hello- although we had just missed their Australia Day brunch.

The rest of the day was fabulous- relaxing, great seeing old friends, and fun to be back in Manly.