Celbrating Leah's birthday

 We got to surprise our friend Auntie Leah for her 40th birthday. We went out to dinner and some dancing. We then finished up with a nightcap at a fantastic little bar in The Rocks.

Japanese make your own lollies kits

 The girls got some make your own lollies kits from our Japanese store. After breakfast they set about mixing and assembling their various kits. Once complete they shared their sushi shaped, little ice cream and other shapes.

Dinners out

 We have been going to dinner to make the most of our time left here. We had a chance to visit a couple of our favourite places including with friends. It's been really nice.

Lithgow park

 Since we were in the mountains we decided to go see Lithgow, in particular one of the parks so the kids could run around. We had a picnic and then the kids ran off leaving us to talk and hang out. It was a nice way to spend a few hours in the sun with our friends while we still can.

More zigging and zagging

 Having made it to the bottom of the mountain, the train refilled water and swapped sides to prepare for the climb back up. Some of us were lucky enough to get into the locomotive cab and ride along as it swapped sides of the train. The engineers were super friendly and described what they were doing so the kids got to learn about the how the train moves. We had a great time as we admired the scenery. Even waiting for the train to zig, we got to sit on the rocks and relax.

Visiting the Zig Zag Railway

 After all of these years we finally managed to make it to the Zig Zag Railway in the Blue Mountains. It is a volunteer run steam railway which literally zig zags up the side of the mountain. When built in the late 1800s the grade was too steep to make it in one go, so they made the train literally go backward and forward down the mountain. We had a great time as we caught up with the Postles for the ride down the mountain and back up. The kids all sat together and the adults had a bit of quiet time.

Alex's birthday

 We went to Uncle Nick's new house to celebrate the birthday of his son Alex. It was great to see the new place and catch up with quite a few of our friends. The girls enjoyed playing with all of Alex's toys and talking to the other guests. It was good fun and we ended up being the last ones to go after helping to clean up.