Rhino.
We got the test results from the doctor and it turns out that Lily just had a plain old rhinovirus…basically a common cold. Not sure if that would have caused the oozing eyes or not, but the doctor wasn’t concerned. Lily went back to daycare on Monday and was happy to be there.

Concerts.
Jay and I are going to a Justin Timberlake concert in a couple weeks. I am super pumped. Not that I am a huge JT fan, but I have heard he puts on a great show. And nothing beats live music. So we are going, but I have heard a rumor that people don’t stand up and dance during concerts here. Ok WHAT?!?!? Seriously. If they expect me to sit still in my seat for an entire concert, I will likely get myself thrown in jail. I am SO hoping that these rumors are from one-off experiences, but since the whole Kanye “stand up” deal just went down in Australia, I think there may be a reason to be worried. This. Chic. Dances. To be continued…

Bachelor.
One big benefit of living in Australia is being able to watch even more of The Bachelor. Australia has its own version, that in many ways is similar to the US version, but in many ways is different. Observation…American girls (as portrayed by the show) are hussies. Australian girls have way less drama and are much more reserved. All of the girls get along for the most part. It’s almost like they are closer to each other than to the Bachelor. When they get kicked off – even down to the top 5 – they just smile. No tears. No drama. I think that if I wasn’t already a die hard Bachelor fan, I would probably get bored pretty easily watching the Australia version. But I’m hooked and committed at this point, so I will see it through to completion.

Maccas.
Slight correction to my last (and likely other) post. I referred to the Aussie nickname for McDonalds as “Maccers”. Turns out I was spelling it wrong all along. Thanks to Brett for correcting me. Shortly after I found out my mistake, I started noticing billboards with the proper spelling. Here’s an example:

ASP.
Ok, so if any of you live in the Quad City area and don’t have Ann Steward photography take your pictures, then you might want to check her out. I know there are a lot of awesome photographers around, but I LOVE Ann’s work. When we were in the US, I made sure to plan our trip to the QC when Ann had time to take pictures of the kids – and spend some time hanging out. She is one of my favorite people – I have literally travelled the world with her – and every time I chat with her I can’t help but smile. I am so lucky to have an awesome friend with an amazing talent. I know my kids are cute, but seriously…she always captures them at their best.

Holiday.
Kirk and Sherry arrive this week on our Thursday!! We are all super excited for them to get here. They will be here for 7 weeks! I know it is a big deal for them to be gone so long, but I am proud of them for agreeing to it. The kids are going to love the extended spoiling. :). We have a fun vacation planned a few weeks in. We are going to explore Sydney for a few days, and then go to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays for a few days of relaxation. We went to the Whitsundays with Miranda but stayed on the mainland. We thought it would be a totally different experience if we went back and stayed on the island. When Oprah was in Australia she stayed on Hamilton Island, so it must be awesome… Granted, we aren’t staying at the same place, but still…

Swim.
Ty had his first L3 swim lesson on Saturday morning. He was a little hesitant – something new – but we talked him into it with promises of going to the skate park afterward. He did awesome. Basically he swam laps for 30 minutes straight. They make the kids swim a few strokes then roll to their back got a few seconds, then switch back. For his first time, I’d say he did pretty good – better than I could! He was starving afterward…and all day. Must have burned some major calories!

Skate.
We had to do a little shopping, then we grabbed a Subway sandwiches and went to the skatepark for a picnic lunch. Ty and Lily played in the park for a while while Ty worked up the courage to take his scooter on the ramps. He watched some big kids then gave it a shot. I don’t think I have a daredevil on my hands, which is nice. He was cautious, but had fun. Wasn’t long before he ditched the scooter and just ran up and down the ramps. With his helmet on. 🙂

Party.
After running a few more errands, we were going to drop off some candy corn that we stumbled across (gag) to the Torrey’s, who we heard were craving them. Turns out they were doing some spring cleaning and had a bunch of clothes for Ty and Lily. So we hopped on the buggy and went to their place. They gave us 3 bags of clothes and some My Little Ponies for Lily. Awesome!! Well, soon we got thirsty and had a beer, and then Lily got hungry. We all agreed it was too late to cook dinner so we thought we better just move the party to the Tavern at the marina. They had some yummy Margs on special, and the kids wanted to play the claw game. $100 later (well not exactly but close) Joseph won a rugby ball and Maddie won a stuffed bear! Woohoo! It was a fun, spontaneous little party. 🙂

Sunday.
The kids actually slept in a bit on Sunday morning, then we woke for the normal brekky and FaceTime calls. Jay dipped his foot in the hot tub and Ty decided he wanted to jump in. But he didn’t want to go get his swim trunks in the house. So he just took off his shorts and jumped in. Oh boy. They were white, so he might as well have just skinny dipped.

We had a dance party while cleaning up the house, sorted through the clothes we got, played with the Mousetrap game, and snuggled with Lily while she took a snooze. We washed a few of the gazillion windows in our house. I must have been feeling a little Susie Homemakerish because I decided to try to make cheesy potatoes from scratch. They don’t have (or I haven’t found) frozen hash browns like we have back home, so I had to improvise. I used real potatoes and made my own cream of chicken mix from scratch. A.maz.ing. Here’s a link to the blog I used. http://www.simplyscratch.com/2014/04/homemade-cheesy-potatoes.html. We threw some smoked pork chops on top – delicious!!

Asleep.
We finally decided to sit down and rest a minute. Somehow me and the kids fell asleep on the couches. The difference is that I woke up after an hour. The kids did not. I took this picture at 6:00 PM. We carried them upstairs to bed at 8:30. Hoping they sleep all night… It was strange being at home, in the evening, with no kids chatter or demands for milk, play, or bunkies. Jay and I watched a show on BBC about traveling the northeast USA, and I read some of my book. And then….Jay and I are leftover pizza on the couch!! We never eat anywhere but the table, all of us together. I felt like such a rebel. Lily woke up for 2 minutes – just in time to bust us eating our pizza on the couch – but apparently she wasn’t too worried (or hungry) because as soon as she put the bink in her mouth, she was out again. They looked so sweet snoozing on the couch, both laying exactly the same way. Sweet babes.

I think that to summarize the weekend I would say it was quite pleasant. Busy, but not rushed. Random and fun. Productive but relaxed. Rejuvenated for the week ahead. G’day mates!