Boat update.
Jay and I took a half day of vacation to go check out the progress on the boat repairs. Jay took some pictures that I am sure will appear on his Facebook page. It wasn’t very interesting to me (so not a gear head), I just wanted to know when I can get out on the water. Good news: It should be all put back together by Thursday. Bad news: they are only open during the week and Jay has month end. I am really hoping we can figure out how to pick it up before the weekend!!
The Seapen is getting installed this week. We are also talking to a guy to see if we can get the boat’s name put on it. Since we couldn’t bring our dog Bandit with us to Australia, we decided to have him here in spirit by naming the boat El Bandito. I can picture him riding in the front of the boat, ears flapping in the wind, dog-grinning from ear to ear.

Yatala Pies.
Jay and I needed to get lunch somewhere before we went to the boat shop. Every day we drive past the exit for the “Famous Yatala Pies”, so we figured we better give it a go since we had some time. Keep in mind, these are not fruit pies (although they do make fruit pies so we picked up an apple pie to take home). These are meat pies. My prior encounter with meat pies, if you recall, was not a great one. The pie had been sitting out too long and had become lukewarm. Plus I think it was just a frozen appetizer type thing, not homemade, and really was quite disgusting. But I was willing to try one more time at the “best place to get a meat pie”. I ordered a steak, cheese, and bacon pie. Jay got the same thing. In order to complete my Aussie meal, I grabbed a Bundaberg Peachy out of the cooler, as well. I was quite nervous, so I ordered chip (fries) and a pavlova just in case the pie was icky.

So I took a bite and couldn’t really decide if I liked it or not, so I didn’t say anything. I took a few more bites and said, “um, I don’t know” which I then repeated probably 20 times. The crust was really good. I guess I was picturing in my head that the filling would be ground beef (or mince as they say here) or steak pieces with melted cheese and delicious bacon inside. But it was more like they ran the beef through a blender until it was nearly the consistency of puréed baby food, added some gravy and chunks of ham, and sprinkled a few bits of cheese on top.

I choked down half of it before I decided enough was enough, I gave it a fair shot, and switched to chips and pavlova. That goodness I ordered those. :). I suppose I could have ordered a sausage roll, instead… Ewww!
So I won’t be stopping at the Yatala Pie shop anymore, unless our guests really want to experience some authentic Australian food. But on the bright side, at least now I don’t have to wonder whether or not I like meat pies.

Fish.
Lily had her first swim lesson this morning. She took to it like a little fish – kicking, splashing, laughing. She LOVED it!! She didn’t put her head under water today, instead the teacher took a bucket of water and sprinkled it over her head. She thought that next week Lily will be able to go under a bit. I will see how she and I both feel about it – will only do it if I feel comfortable and if Lily seems to like it.

Tripod.
Lily somehow managed to balance herself on 3 limbs the other day. It was pretty impressive – I am not sure I could do it. Ty wanted to try, though.

She pushed herself up on all 4s last night but hasn’t tried to move forward. I predict by the end of the weekend she will be crawling. Time to install the baby gate!

Sanctuary Cove.
This morning we went to Sanctuary Cove. I needed to return some things Jay got me for Christmas (he told the lady at the store my US size, which is 4 sizes different than Australia – I only wish I could squeeze into a size small). Lily and I shopped around while the boys explored the resort hotel and pools. About the time Ty decided to have a meltdown at the restaurant at lunch, was about the time we decided he needed to go home and get a good nap. It got me thinking about school. In a year he will go to prep (kindergarten) and he won’t be able to take a nap during the day. He is going to be a hot mess…I am amazed how many kids his age don’t take naps. How do they make it through a day? Maybe their days don’t start at 5:00 like Ty’s day. Maybe in a few months we will start trying to ween him off of naps.