Nanny.

Ranking in at one of the top 10 best decisions of my life…  Auntie Em’s first week as a nanny has been awesome.  She does it all, folks.  She cooks, she cleans, she does laundry, and she keeps Lily entertained all day long.  Lily has shown us a bunch of new tricks that she has learned this week – ballerina twirls with a grand finish, twirling a pencil, saying “blue” and “red”, putting on lotion and Chapstick, and clicking herself into her high chair.  You know, all of the things that every respectable young lady needs to know to survive in this world.  ;). The girls are having so much fun (Lily assures me with a very dramatic head nod whenever I ask her if she had a fun day with Auntie Em).  And dinner is ready when I get home.  And my clothes are clean and put away.  

How will I ever go back to reality?

Here are a few pictures of the girls’ first week together.





Netball.

Despite me going out and buying a netball this week, unfortunately our team got our tails kicked by the Sweaty Bettie’s.  I tried playing a new position – WD – Wing Defense.  It is similar to Wing Attack, only opposite.  I didn’t like it much – still restricted on the court, and you can’t really play defense once your opponent has the ball.  So the goal as a WD is to try to prevent your girl from getting the ball.  Not my fave.  So far Goal Attack has been my favorite position but we have a few other girls that usually play that position.  We lost 36-12.  Ouch. I hate losing.  It was quite painful to be a part of.  I hate losing.  I do, however, wish that we had a netball league in the Quad Cities.  It is a fun game, and it is something that an old lady like me can play.  I couldn’t handle a game of 5-on-5 basketball anymore.



Tree.

The old shade tree at the farm that we always used to park under on a hot summer day has exceeded its useful life and unfortunately is getting cut down today.  It was hollow, dead, and too close to the main power line. I have no idea why I got a little teary-eyed when mom posted this picture.  The farm won’t be the same without it.  Brooke and mom took a few other pictures around the farm that were pretty neat, as well.  There’s no place like home.







Ruppert’s!!

My oldest sister, Sundie, her husband Brad, and their daughter Lucia are here!!  They spent a day in Texas exploring before catching the long flight to Australia.

They’re here!!



And so is the latest delivery of loot!  Despite having imported heaps of ranch dressing into Australia, there were some concerns that this batch would cause some drama.  Thankfully, all was good – no worries!!



Beach.

After stopping by the house to drop off luggage and take a quick shower, we headed to the beach.  We wanted to go have lunch at Snapper Rocks and watch a bit of the surf competition, but we couldn’t find a single parking spot(let alone 2), so we headed up the coast a bit to the Coolangatta Surf Club.  We ate lunch and then dipped our toes in the water…and then a little more than our toes a few times when the big waves rolled in.  Lucia is a little gatherer – she was head down looking for awesome things most of the time.  She has a collection of heart-shaped rocks and was thrilled to find one.





Currumbin.

Keeping with the tradition, we visited Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary so that the Ruppert’s could hold a koala, pet Kangaroos, and feed wild lorikeets.  Even though we have been there several times, there is always something new to see.  They have done a lot of renovations to the park in the past few months and it looks great!  We lucked out and happened to be in the Treehouse area when they fed the Python a rabbit.  They only feed it every 2-3 weeks, so we were lucky to get to see it.  It was fascinating –  but took a lot longer than I thought it would for him to consume it.  Fascinating.  Ty was our tour guide for the day.  He kept us on schedule by saying “Moving on!” after everything.





That white thing in the snake’s jaws is a rabbit.

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Snake.

When we got home, we all eventually ended up in the pool and hot tub.  We were having a carefree good time when the neighbor, Mic, popped his head over the wall and said that he just saw a snake go from his yard into ours.  He didn’t get a good look at it, but it was a tan color…and since there are Eastern Brown Snakes (you know, the world’s 2nd most venemous snake), he wanted to let us know.  If he had seen it soon enough he would have grabbed a shovel and killed it.  I told him he could still grab a shovel and come into our yard to kill it.  And then I got really uncomfortable and we all got out of the pool.  Jay grabbed a ho, and he and Mic went on a snake hunt.  The good news is that nobody got bit by the snake.  The bad news is that they didn’t find it and kill it, so it is lurking around our neighborhood somewhere.  I am on heightened snake alert now.  



CMC Rocks.

While everyone was at Currumbin playing with the Kangaroos, I was busy making plans for the evening.  For those of you that don’t know my brother, Rickey, he is the type of person that knows everyone.  Pretty much my whole life I have introduced myself as “I’m Nicole, Rickey’s sister.”  He sent me a message on Saturday morning to tell me that one of his friends, Sam, is playing in a band that is on tour in Australia and is in Brisbane.  So I sent Sam a note and found out that he was playing at CMC Rocks Music Festival (about an hour from our house) that night.  If there is one thing the Geisler Girls do well, it is country music, so despite Sundie having jet lag, we couldn’t resist the temptation to check it out.  I couldn’t get a babysitter on such short notice, and both Lucia and Brad were exhausted, so Em, Sundie, and I headed out on the town.  I had told Sundie that there was no need for her to bring cowboy boots with her because in a year and a half I have probably worn mine 3 times.  She will now never go anywhere without her boots ever again…  So we didn’t have tickets to the 3-day event, but Sam had arranged for us to get our tickets at the main gate.  The band was playing at 11:00 on the camper’s stage, so we got there pretty late.  They were just closing up the ticket office when we arrived.  A guy was walking out and we said that we needed to pick up our tickets.  “It’s a little late.”  I said that the band we were coming to see doesn’t start until 11:00.  An unfriendly girl in the office asked for our names, so I rattled them off and the guy turned around and said, “Did you say you were Nicole?  Oh yeah, come with me.”  Rock star treatment.  We got our wristbands and were in.  We met Sam and the band, who were setting up for their gig.  We decided to go watch Chris Young on the main stage to stay out of their way.  We met a crazy Australian girl who had never met an American in the flesh and was absolutely amazed by our “r” sounds.  When Chris was finished we went over to Sam’s stage.  He plays for a band called Wylie and the Wild West.  A Google search told us that Wylie is a famous yodeler whose biggest hit was the voice for the Ya-HOO-ooo yahoo commercials.  The band played a bunch of old time country music.  It was awesome.  We had a great time dancing and people watching.  Most of the people had been partying all day at the festival, so you an imagine the kind of shape they were in at 11:00 at night.  Great fun!!  Huge thanks to Sam and the band!!



We’re in!!



We were not thrilled to see this sign…

Wylie and the Wild West band

Chris Young

Sam and the Geisler Girls

Yahoo!



End of a big day!

Boat Ride.

On Sunday we went out for a boat ride to Tipplers on South Stradbroke island.  It was a perfectly beautiful day, very little wind, hardly any boat traffic on the Broadwater, smooth sailing.  We ate lunch and then hiked over to the surf side of the island.  There was only one other couple there, and they wandered off, so we had the beach to ourselves.  Lucia went into gathering mode and found heaps of shells and coral.  Ty and I made a sand castle.  We played on the beach for a while before Jay and I and the kids headed back to check in the boat, as the tide had come in a fair bit.  Ty and I ate ice cream while we waited for the others to come back.  On the way back, I said, “the only thing that could make this day more perfect would be to see a dolphin.”  Sure enough, about a half hour later a dolphin popped out of the water.  Perfect.





“She’s a rental.”

Netball.

Em made her netball debut on Monday night with a different team in a different league.  This league actually plays inside nets.  The ball never goes out of bounds, and you can bounce the ball off of the nets to get it to a teammate.  It was more fast-paced than the Wednesday night league, but the nets kind of drove me crazy.  More boundaries….  Em struggled a bit in the first half because her aggressiveness is not OK in this game. She had a hard time keeping her 3 foot distance.  The umpire explained a few things to her at halftime and she did much better the second half.  She is going to play full time on Monday nights and I will sub if needed.



Random nanny pics from the week.



first real ponytail!

















One day she put on her hat and sunnies, grabbed a nappy (diaper), and Em saw her like this:

Agnes Water.

The Ruppert’s drove up to Agnes Water on Monday.  They had a great day at the southern Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday.  Thankfully none of them got sick!  They snorkeled with sea turtles, explored Lady Musgrave island, and swam in water that Sundie said was the color she has only ever seen in pictures and never thought she would ever see in person.  They had a surf lesson with Grom on Wednesday.  Lucia is a natural surfer.  Sundie and Brad had a bit tougher time getting the hang of it but still had a great time.  They also got a chance to get away from our crazy house for a few days – peace and quiet and sleeping in. 





Goodbye.

After an attempted fun last dinner at the marina turned nightmare with tired kids, we had takeaway pizza for dinner.  Ty and Lucia showed us their sweet dance moves to Walk Like an Egyptian.  Unfortunately Friday morning rolled around way too quick.  We left for the airport at 4:30 AM so that the Ruppert’s could catch their flight to Sydney.  They had a couple days in Sydney to explore before heading back to the US.  I love having people come visit, but I hate saying goodbye. :(. I know how difficult it is for Sundie and Brad to get away – an artist’s work is never done – but am so thankful that they were able to make the trip.  *plug – check out their website for awesome and unique artwork http://vintagesculpture.com/SNEAK_PEAK.html

Highlights:

Moving on.  Plastic chairs.  She’s a rental.  Oh, you’re Nicole – come with me.  Sea turtles.  Seashells.  Dance party.  Private beach.  Dolphin.  Heart rocks.  Ibis.  Whoa baby.  Agh geez.

News telling.

Ty had a homework assignment to prepare a presentation for News Telling at school.  He chose to do a “Make and Explain” report.  We printed pictures of the construction of his treehouse back home in the US.  He helped stick them onto colored paper and then he wrote the step number and description underneath the picture.  I was so impressed with his writing skills!  It was fun to look back at those pictures – he was so little!





AFL.

Australia has 3 different sports called football:  soccer, rugby, and Aussie rules football. We figured it was about time we checked out an Aussie rules football game (AFL).  The Coen’s had bought tickets to a Gold Coast Suns vs Brisbane Lions game, so we decided to go, as well.  Lily got to stay home and play with Miss Steph and Mr. Kyson, so she was excited!  Like every new thing we experience here, it was different…  The field was a HUGE oval.  There were about 10 referees, 17 or 18 players on each team, and they ran.  And ran. And ran.  If the ball goes out of bounds, the ref throws it in using a unique technique that rinds me of a combination of a bride throwing a bouquet of flowers and kids playing “500”.  There are 3 ways to score, so the score is read 1-8-4, and then the total points, like 57.  I sort of think that I had figured out the different points but can’t explain it.  The players can run for a bit (I think 10 meters??) before they either have to dribble (yes, they dribble a football), kick the ball for a teammate to catch, or pass it to a teammate using an underhanded volleyball serve technique.  I wasn’t able to tell what type of tackling was ok, and what was not.  The one thing that I could definitely figure out was that those boys are in serious shape.  They have to be to survive that game.  The game ended in a tie.  And everyone just got up and left.  We were sitting there thinking “um, so that’s it?  It’s over?  Don’t they need a winner?????”  Crazy.

Ty’s first train ride



Easter hat.

Ty has an Easter hat parade soon, so we repurposed one of the 50 Australian Outback Spectactular hats and made it into an Easter hat.  Turned out kind of cute!





Sorry!

On Saturday we went to Harbour Town to try to fine Em so new shoes (no luck) and Liky some new clotges.  She is now in size 3 – where did my baby go?!?!  Em went out on the town Saturday night with a friend she met the night that she and Jay went to the tavern.  We had a quiet night with the kids.  Ty had been wanting to play Sorry, so we got that out.  Jay won, Ty got second, and I lost.  Lily was over it – and eventually even the coloring wasn’t enough to keep her attention.  



It is Sunday morning  here, and we don’t have much planned for the day.  Em and I might go do a little shopping, and we are going to the tavern later to watch bathtub boat races.  Em and I have massages scheduled this evening. 

 We officially have no visitors scheduled to come see us – who wants to be next?!?!  G’day mates!





Crossfit.

Jay and I had to go back to work on Monday, so the gang was on their own.  After watching us drive all weekend, Jason felt like he was ready to give it a go.  Jess and Jason are into Crossfit, and they were ready to work off some of the calories they had been consuming.  They found a gym nearby and survived a pretty tough workout.  





Crabs.

They went to BCF (Boat Camp Fish) to buy a crab pot.  We had success catching a crab and an eel, but unfortunately out pot had a hole in the bottom so they both escaped.  It’s not every day Jason gets to go shopping for a crab pot….  They found one that doesn’t have an extra hole in it and we dropped it in the canal.  We used some old chickens that the grocery store was going to pitch (thanks to our new best friend, Nick the fish guy at the local grocery store).  Didn’t take long for another crab and eel to take the bait.  We got them both into the live well, but the eel found a little gap in the well and escaped. Eelvil Knieval.  REELy sneaky. 

So far we have caught 4 crabs – now we have to be brave enough to cook them.





GBR.

I learned something new about Jason.  He loves fish tanks.  In fact, he loves them so much that he didn’t think that Ty should be living without one.  So he bought one for Ty.  We got the tank set up but have to wait until we get back from our trip to the Reef to get a fish.  Ty calls it the Great BarrierReef.  So cute!

{Nochee and Doodie were hand selected after our vacation and are thriving in their new home}



Buggy.

They drove around on the buggy to familiarize themselves with the area.  And it is fun.  



Currumbin.

On Tuesday they decided to venture out a little further and go to Currumbin.  They had a great day!  You know, just a normal day of petting kangaroos and holding koalas.  Even had time to play at the beach for a bit.





Sick.

We got a call from daycare saying that Lily had a low grade fever, so the gang went and picked her up.  Auntie Em got some good snuggles in.



Lily still had some signs of not feeling great on Wednesday, so Auntie Em had her first real day of work.  The rest of the gang braved the roads on Mt Tambourine.  They had another great day, the highlight being a swim at the bottom of the waterfalls.





Dr.

Emily and I took Lily to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon to get some antibiotics before leaving town on Thursday.  Nothing serious, just some gunk in her sinuses.  We picked up Ty and then rushed to my netball game.  I am officially a player on Mark’s Angels.  I still have a hard time figuring out the steps, and preventing myself from playing actual defense, but I enjoy playing it.  And we won!  I think everyone enjoyed watching it and trying to figure out the rules. 



Treehouse.

Thursday morning we drove (and drove and drove) to Agnes Waters.  We stopped at the hide shop at Aussie World on the way so that Brianna could get a kangaroo hide rug.  Jess also picked up a pair of sheepskin mittens. We arrived at our holiday home just before 5:00.  The Treehouse looked really nice online, but WOW!  It is amazing.  I don’t think I have ever been inside anywhere so nice before.  It has a beautiful view of the ocean, set up on the hill, surrounded by trees.  Pretty much all of the walls are gigantic sliding doors that open (and there are actually screens so we can open them up).  The breeze is great.  The sound of the waves rolling in is therapeutic.  Jay and I get to sleep in the bedroom on the lower level facing the water. Even the shower and toilet have amazing views.  I love this place.  Someday I might have to build something like it.  Ty wants to stay here forever.  So do I.



I







 GBR.

If you recall, I have had enough of boats in the ocean, so I stayed home with the kids on Friday while the rest of the gang went out to the Reef.  They have beautiful weather, fairly calm seas in the forecast, so they should have a great day.  The kids and I went into town for coffee and chocolate milkshakes (not a thickshake, just chocolate milk), then went back to the treehouse to play for the day.  We went to the amazing park in the neighborhood, watched a movie when it got hot, swam in the amazing neighborhood pool, played cricket (well, not really, but I threw a ball to Ty and he hit it with his cricket bat), and cooked dinner.  Well, started to cook dinner but the oven started smoking as soon as I turned it on (yikes!!!) so I put the pork loin on the grill.  The Bach’s and Merrill’s may remember that I do not have a great history of cooking pork loins on the grill.  That day may have gone down as the best day ever for Roscoe and Bandit.  Thankfully the gang returned from their GBR tour and Jason took over the meat grilling responsibilities.  

And….drum roll…their reef tour was WAY better than the one Brooke, Tansie and I went on a few weeks ago. Yay!!!!!  They were on the nicer boat (was getting repaired when we went – nor would it have been able to go out in our deadliest catch seas), and it was one of the nicest weather days they have had in a long time.  Unfortunately even though it was a pretty calm day, it is still a fairly small boat in the open seas, and Jason didn’t take any seasickness medicine.  He was the only one that got sick, but he recovered pretty quickly.  Note to anyone that goes out to sea – take your Meds!!!!!!!!!  They all couldn’t imagine how bad it was on the day I went out, because it was still pretty rough.  Matty, the crew member that was helping us all on our trip, remembered us well.  He said he has never seen anyone so sick (poor Brooke).  

Once they got to Lady Musgrave, they had the best time.  Brianna, who had only snorkeled in our swimming pool, jumped right in and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef like an old pro.  Jess had one wish for her entire trip to Australia – to snorkel with a sea turtle.  Her wish came true!! I am so happy that they had a great experience!  







Guys…let’s surf.

I have been thinking for a while that I need to take surf lessons, but have been wanting to make sure my back is OK before giving it a go.  Jess and Jason really wanted to do it, and there just so happened to be a surf shop in Agnes Water with surf lessons for a whopping $17 – Reef 2 Beach surf school is the best deal in Australia.  Emily was a little nervous but when Grom, our surfer dude, told us we wouldn’t be in the water above our waist, she decided to give it a whirl.  We walked down to the beach and grabbed our boards from a garage.  We got about a 15 minute surfing basics lesson on the beach, listened to Grom say “guys” 1,001 times (and tried not to laugh when we all realized at the exact same time that “guys” was his favorite word)  and then we headed into the water.  There was a surf competition going on that day, so we had to stay in a single file line and go surfing in pairs.  What a rush!  Even when you don’t get up and just ride the wave for a while, it is a cool feeling.  All of us got up on our feet at least once.  Em was happy staying on her knees, but the rest of us kept trying to stand.  My last one was the best – not quite good enough to enter the competition, but a pretty decent ride in.  I asked Jay if I could buy a surfboard.  We don’t have a roof rack so I couldn’t buy one that day, but I am now officially in the market for a board.  Dude.  









Beach.

When the lesson was over, we headed back to the treehouse so we could go down to the private beach that only residents of the neighborhood could use.  Flipping sweet.  There were a few other people there, a couple guys surfing, but we pretty much had it to ourselves.  The treehouse had boogie boards that we all tried to use.  The big boys went way out into the waves.  There was one wave that swallowed up both Jay and Jason and we could see their bodies inside the wave.  It was awesome.  I was super impressed with Ty.  He used to be afraid of the waves, didn’t want to have them get his head wet.  But he was out there on his boogie board, waves coming over top of him (don’t panic,he was only in water that was about his waste deep), and he was having a blast!  We might have forgotten to bring the swim diapers with us.  Never fear.  We had sunscreen and a life jacket.  And a private beach.







We had to drive home on Sunday (and drive and drive and drive).  Nobody wanted to leave.  Best weekend.  

Monday.

Jay and I went to work on Monday (ugh) while everyone else kept up their  fun filled activities.  Jess and Jason had to do some Crossfit competition thingy, so they decided to stay close to home.  They had lunch at Sanctuary Cove, went for a buggy ride, and picked up the kids.  They had a little pool time.  Jess had to stock up on a year supply of Tim-Tams.







Surfer Chics.

Jason had a terrible day on Tuesday.  He was forced to go down to Snapper Rocks to watch the women surfing in the Roxy pro surf competition.  He hated every second.  Lots of ugly unfit girls in bikinis.  Brianna, on the other hand, loved it.  She got to meet some of the surfers and is now following a bunch of them on Instagram.  She may have been spotted flicking her wet hair over her shoulder a time or two.  

Edit



Uncle Jason.

Pretty sure the kids are not looking forward to Uncle Jason leaving.  Ty loved checking the crab pot 15 times a night.  Lily loved everything about Jason.  This is what I walked into on Tuesday night.



Wednesday.

Wednesday sucked.  I had to take Jess, Jason, and Bri to the airport.  Not a good time.  Poor Jason caught whatever germs Lily had and had a sinus infection – not fun to have before a 24 hour plane trip.  He probably should have just changed their flights. But he didn’t.  And so they left.  Something about work and school and responsibilities at home.  Major depression.  They didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want them to go.  Ugh.  As much as it sucked to say goodbye, it was totally worth it to have spent the 2 weeks together.  I wasn’t really on vacation for most of the time they were here, but it felt like it.  So much fun.  So sad they are gone.  Missing them a lot.  :(. 

Life goes on.

So as much as I would like to wallow in my depression, life must go on.  On the bright side – Auntie Em is here to stay!  We have spent the rest of the week getting into the groove of reality.  Em and I went to netball on Wednesday night.  I got to shoot for a quarter – super fun!  I scored 2 or 3 baskets.  So strange to not have defense on me for a 2 foot shot.  Em had the rest of the week off to get herself situated and mentally prepared for work to begin.  She took the car out a few times to get comfortable behind the wheel.  She is doing great!  



Bonny Babes.

Friday was Lily’s last day at Bonny Babes.  Finding a good daycare was a major concern of mine when we accepted the expat assignment.  I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to find a place that I was comfortable leaving my kids at during the work day.  Jay did a fantastic job when he found Bonny Babes.  The staff there have been amazing to both of our children.  They genuinely care for the kids and are excited about coming to work every day.  They are such positive people, great attitudes, wonderful teachers.  While I am super excited to have Auntie Em look after Lily, I was sad to say goodbye to the daycare.

Movie.

Friday night we had pizza and a movie night.  We watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Lily found a comfy spot to fall asleep.



Tavern.

Friday night I wasn’t feeling great and the kids were tuckered, but Em was anxious to get out of the house.  Twist Jay’s arm…he took Em to the tavern.  They made friends pretty quickly.  Em broke the dance floor ice with this young chap, and ended up dancing the night away with a number of blokes.  A good time was had by all.  It has been quite a while since Jay shut down a bar.  



Costco.

On Saturday we drove up to Costco.  One cart and $800 later…  Friends in the US – never complain about high prices.  You have it made.

Spectacular.

We made a last minute decision to get tickets to the Australian Outback Spectacular.  We had a coupon for discounted tickets, and they had a new show on.  I thought Em might get a kick out of it.  She loved it!  I looked over at her and Ty at one point and they were both on the edge of their seats, chin in their hands, taking it all in.  Ty stayed awake the whole time!  The highlight of the night was when Ty got to be a part of the show!  His little akubra is a good luck charm – he always gets to do cool things when he had that on.  He went into the arena, talked into the microphone and said he was from America.  And then he got down in the starting position, and he ran super fast to chase the calves across the finish line. He and his mate one the race!!  He was so excited!

Sunday Funday.

Sunday we took things easy.  We had to run to th shops to get a few things for Em, and Ty wanted to spend his gold coins on a new Lego set.  We came home and Ty put the entire police helicopter set together without any help from Jay or I.  Then everyone jumped in the pool while I wrote the blog.  Lily insisted on wearing a swim cap and goggles.  She is getting so brave about jumping in.  



Work.

Just a quick update about working (not to bore you with details).  One of my favorite things about working in Australia has been having the chance to work with some great people.  My team is small – only 4 – and in the past 2 weeks I have had to say goodbye to half of my team.  Aldo has decided to see what new adventure life has in store for him, and Belinda is taking off 6 months to have and care for her first child.  I will miss both of them and wish them the best of luck.  We have some busy weeks ahead of us, but I am happy with the new team members and am excited to get to know them all better.

Memories.

Even though it has taken me hours to write this blog (so sorry for the delay!), I feel like I rushed through everything. Bottom line – the past 2 weeks were awesome.  I know it was a big deal for Jess, Jason and Bri to make the big trip down under, but I am so glad they didn’t.  Memories to last a lifetime!!  I wanted to write down all of the great quotes but of course now that I am sitting down to write I cannot remember any of them.  I guess the most important thing to remember is the laughs we had.

Guests.

This week my oldest sister, Sundie, her husband Brad, and my niece Lucia are flying in!  We are all excited to to see them and show them the highlights of our little life down under!

G’day mates!