1. Day019: Evie is undecided about cats
2. Day020: Street art in Dulwich Hill
3. Day021: Afternoon tea
4. Day022: Afternoon swim
5. Day023: Working hard in Erko
6. Day024: Old school catchup
7. Day025: Banana cupcake and cup of tea
8. Day026: Happy Australia Day
9. Day027: Crafternoon

I wouldn't call myself a foodie exactly but I do love lists. I also like checking things off lists. So when Caitlin linked to a post about Sydney's tastiest lamington and asked for volunteers to test the claim, I put my hand up immediately.

Sydney's best lamington is apparently at Single Origin Roasters in Surry Hills. Who decided this? David Lebovitz, an American food blogger, who calls Paris home. He taste tested a few lamingtons while visiting Sydney on holidays. So I'm not really sure just how qualified he is to make decisions on Sydney's best lamington.

Anyways, I love lamingtons and ridiculous claims and Caitlin and I were overdue a catchup so we made a date for morning tea at Single Origin Roasters. Andrew also loves lamingtons and coffee so he tagged along too.

So is it Sydney's best lamington? Well it was good but it wasn't hugely better than those I've had from bakeries, Vietnamese bread shops or even from a chain like Michel's pattisserie. I guess lamingtons aren't that hard to make. It's just sponge cake covered in chocolate and coconut after all.

While the lamington wasn't mind blowingly awesome it was lovely to catch up with Caitlin and to see how much Poppy and Edward have grown. They are almost one and heading into toddlerhood. It goes so quickly.

Caitlin also blogged her review of the lamingtons at Single Origin Roasters on her blog, Roaming Tales

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

The Copacabana posts continue. I was up there for 2 weeks and so have many cute photos to share.

Evie and Audrey received a paddling pool from Nan and TD for Christmas. We put it out in the backyard a few times while we were up at Copa and the kids loved it.

They actually liked it much better than the beach. The water was warmer than the ocean (we always put a couple of buckets hot water in), it was just the right depth for splashing, and there were no scary waves to knock you over.



More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Last year, we had lots of fun dressing up on New Year's Eve so we decided to make it a tradition. This year, I decided to go with a Pirate theme as I figured I might be able to use some of the props we bought for last year (we had a Copacabana fiesta theme last year). Of course, I then wasn't able to find any of the props that I'd bought last year. Good intentions and all...

The best costume prize this year goes to Elliot. Clare made him an awesome Parrot costume.

The funniest costume prize goes to Adam and Chris. They dressed up in some awesome Pirate costumes that were more 80s glam rock than loot, pillage and plunder.

Here is Evie dressed up as Pirate. She wasn't too sure what to do with her dagger. She ended up trying to eat it.

"Hrm, what is this new thing I've never seen before? I wonder what it tastes like."

We had a BBQ, we played salad bowl (Goldy says "my hat is so much more awesome than this game") and we celebrated the beginning of 2012 with bubbles and sparklers in the backyard. NYE 2011 was officially a good night.




More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Second place at trivia again this month. You know the Badger motto: A good night at trivia is one where you don't leave empty handed. But, it would be nice to come first occasionally.

Here is your chance at this month's questions. You know the rules:

1. Name the two countries in the world that have names starting with "Z".
   
   
2. What film was Roger Moore's last appearance as James Bond?
   
   
3. How many Oscars for Best Director has Steven Spielberg won?
   
   
4. How many American states have names beginning and ending with the same letter?
   
   
5. Which was invented first: the fountain pen or the sewing machine?
   
   
6. The word "snorkel" comes from which language?
   
   
7. Who is credited as the inventor of champagne?
   
   
8. Is ranidaphobia the fear of frogs, fleas or rats?
   
   
9. Jaap is a chocolate bar (similar to a Mars Bar) from which country beginning with "N"?