p.p.p. P!!!
This week’s letter at Ty’s school was the letter P. In true psychic form (that he gets from Nana), his first P word at school was “p.p.p.presents!” Much to his surprise, when he got home he saw many presents waiting for him.

P is for Practice.
What do you get when you cross a sports wagon, Bunnings, and 2 bored blokes? A balance beam!

P.p.p.pole!
Rickey bought Ty an early birthday present – a fishing pole and tacklebox. I was really impressed with Ty’s patience and determination as he practiced for a long time in the yard. I got a bit misty-eyed as I watched Rick patiently teaching Ty how to cast. Grandpa Rick would have been proud.

Passed out.
A picture says a thousand words.

Play day.
The big boys went fishing Monday afternoon. Rick caught a catfish (I think he is still trying to wipe the slime off his hands). Jay “caught” a giant crab, but the crab let go before Jay could reel him in.

Prawns.
Rick had been using frozen prawns as bait. When the boys were working on the boat, Rick dropped a line in the water because one of the poles still had bait on it. He set the pole down on the dock, went inside to grab something, and when he walked outside they heard “plunk!” “Zzzzz!” And that was the end of the pole we found by the tree…

Perfect.
I spent the day with Rick on Tuesday. It was the perfect day to play hookie (yes, I took a vacation day – didn’t just call in crook). We went shopping for a couple souvenirs, bought a replacement fishing pole, and went to Tallebudgera beach. I wanted him to try stand up paddle boarding, but realized they only do that on the weekends there. The beach was basically deserted, except for a few groups of kids that appeared to be in a PE class on the beach. We wandered down the beach, looking for sea shells (Rick’s favorite new activity). As we walked along, we noticed some black stuff in the water. We figured it was either rocks or seaweed. We kept on walking and saw a few more areas of the same thing. We got down to the “end” of the beach (the beaches are endless here – it was more of a rocky outlet) and there were heaps of shells. We collected a ton of them. There was another giant pile of the black stuff in the water, and there were two guys snorkeling in the middle of it. A guy with a net and bucket came down and said they were schools of bait fish. Rick had never snorkeled, so we had brought our gear just in case. We quickly grabbed them and jumped in. The water wasn’t too cold (not exactly warm though), however the wind outside of the water was more than a little chilly. We put our faces under water and swam out just a little way (hands still touched bottom) to the fish. I have never seen so many fish. Ever. There were thousands of them, maybe millions, just swimming around in circles. They were probably 2-4″ long, silver bellies, black backs. So stinking cool. Rick had a hard time avoiding a panic attack when he went under, but he can at least say he has sort of snorkeled. We helped the fisherman put the fish in his bucket. And of course made a few friends who had come down to check it out (because that’s what Rick does everywhere he goes). One guy told us that from June to October the whales migrate up and down the coastline. THOUSANDS of whales. I cannot wait to see that!!

Paradise.
We were both getting pretty hungry, and Rick wanted to try to find some things for one more souvenir (which I will blog about after it has been delivered – fun story), so we went back to Surfers Paradise. We had lunch with a great view. Such a fun day. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time with just my brother. I will never forget these past couple of weeks.

Port (air).
Wednesday morning I took Rick to the airport. I hate saying goodbye to people. Rick, thank you so much for suffering through the horribly long flights and living our crazy life for a couple weeks. We miss you already!

Package.
I purposefully have not blogged about something I have been stressing over for a couple months, but since my lovely husband posted a picture on Facebook, I thought I better explain. I didn’t want to make any readers uncomfortable, especially the dudes, but it appears as though I don’t have any choice. I haven’t really had to worry about this because I have been nursing Lily, but now that I am down to one feed a day, I have started shopping around for some female necessities, if you know what I mean. I had not seen my favorite brand, but was trying to find an alternative. The aisles are stocked full of pads (ew!) and tampons with no applicator, which is basically a cotton ball (quadruple ew!!). When I was at the doctors office dealing with my back issues, I asked the doctor if she knows where I could find tampons with applicators. She had gone to med school in the US so I knew she would know what I was talking about. I didn’t even finish my sentence and she blurted out, “I KNOW!! They don’t have them here!” WHAT?!?!? It was a good thing I was at the doctors office because I nearly had a panic attack. So I can deal with a different kind of conditioner. I can deal with a different kind of toothpaste. I can deal with lots of different food. I can deal with a lot of things. But I CANNOT deal with this.
Before I hyperventilated and started the process to ship the family back to the US, I sent my sister a note. “Dear Jess. Send tampons ASAP. A 2 year supply. Love, Nic”. Or something like that. Jess to the rescue!! She (and the poor guys that work in the packaging area of her work) express mailed a package with tampons and a few other things for Jay, me, and the kids. Sister #2, Em, is going to buy a bunch of them using the dog fund and Jess will send another package later. And I suppose it won’t be long before brother, Rick, starts importing tampons into Australia and makes billions. Australia…the land of opportunity… I am never going to be able to look at another Australian female the same again. EWWWW!!!!!