Nanny Cam.

Em loves her job.  I don’t have to assume this – she tells me this every day.  And I love that Em loves her job.  She cooks, she cleans, she does laundry, she chauffeurs, she teaches, she cuddles with sick babies, she keeps the kids happy.   Seriously – all you single men out there have been missing out on Em.  She is going to make a fantastic wife someday!    

           

Brumby.

Since Jay was able to finish installing the windshield wipers last weekend, he was chomping at the bit to get it inspected and (fingers crossed) registered.  He was able to get it in for an inspection on Wednesday.  For the first time, Brumby left our neighborhood and ventured out into the streets.  Jay was pretty nervous, hoping that it ran OK, didn’t overheat, and didn’t break down.  The old ute ran like a champ.  The only thing the inspector said needed to be improved was the way the seats were attached to the floorboard.  Since Jay is lacking a chop saw and some other key tools in his garage here, he booked an appointment to get it fixed up on Friday.  Overall, he was really pleased with the outcome.  And I think he enjoyed spending some time in a dude’s garage. 

I was planning on working from home on Friday to focus on some things, so it worked out that I could follow Jay to the garage first thing Friday morning.  I should have led the way – that thing kicks out some major fumes!  We all went to pick it up at the end of the day.  I have never had a chance to ride in it, as I always had to stay home with the kids.  Since Em came with to pick it up, I got to go on my first ride.  I had a hard time getting the seatbelt to stop squeezing the life out of me, but once I got past my panic moment, I was able to relax and enjoy the ride.  It’s weird – I have no idea why – but everyone turns to look at Brumby as he’s cruising down the road.  🙂 

When we got home, Ty had to go for a ride.   The boys went to the marina to pick out a movie – so fun!

Next step is to actually get it registered – hoping we can do that this week.  *sigh of relief*

Jumpinpin.

On Saturday morning, the kids climbed into our bed at 5:30 and Jay looked at the weather.  We were too late to go to an ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) Day ceremony – have to leave the house at 3:00 AM and try to find a parking spot with 30,000 other spectators.  While it would have been an experience, we decided to go a different route.  It was looking like it was going to be a perfect day for a boat ride.  Ok, twist my arm.  The Coen’s didn’t have any set plans so they joined us.  We decided to go a little farther north and try to find Jumpinpin, which is the channel between North and South Stradbroke Islands.  Um.  Awesome.  We probably should have been going there for the past year and a half.  It was just another 10 minutes or so past Tipplers (one of our go-to destinations).  We beached the boat and had a quick picnic before going exploring. Tide pools, sand dunes, surf side, jellyfish, crabs, and SAND SLEDDING!!  Yes, I said sand sledding.  Give an Aussie a sand dune and a for sale sign, and you get a super fun time.  Even Lily gave it a go.  Sand and ocean as far as the eye can see.  We found a nice little spot to sit and relax while the kids splashed in the tide pools – a perfect depth to let Lily play without have to stress constantly.  We played pickle (like base running in baseball) in the water for a bit – reminded of the fun we used to have playing pickle in the creek back home.  Jack played DJ on the ride back home and picked out some pretty sweet old hits – and sang every word. Katie took some fantastic pictures of the day.  The weather, the water, the exploring, the friends – simply a perfect day.  Just what I needed to relax.

   

    

              

                                                                                             

Fiji.

Sunday morning I told everyone that we were not leaving the house until we had a vacation booked.  I didn’t care which one, as long as we did more than just look at things.  Earlier in the week I saw a flash sale for a trip to Tasmania for dirt cheap, waited until morning to talk to Jay about it, and the seats were sold out before we could book them.  Damn.  Not going to let that happen again.  

Shortly after we found out we were moving to Australia, I realized how close Fiji is, and told Jay that we have to go there.  When I started looking at flights on Sunday morning, I went to the sale section and saw that there was a flight to Fiji on sale for the week that we were planning on going to the outback in June.  Fiji had been penciled in for October, but we decided to take advantage of the sale price and do a swap.  We all were scouring the Internet trying to find a place to stay, and ended up booking the Outrigger, which seems to be a great place to go with kids.  We booked the flight and hotel – the rest will get sorted later.  I AM SO EXCITED!!!  

Sea World.

As soon as we booked the trip, I got out-voted by everyone (kind of wanted to stay home and relax), so we got ready quick and headed down to Sea World for the afternoon.  Em’s jaw dropped when she walked into the Penguin Encounter, and I don’t think she lifted her jaw until we left.  Polar bears, Sharks, stingrays, seals, Dolphins, jetskis, jet packs.  I have seen the dolphin show twice now, and for all of you Sea World haters out there, you’re crazy.  Those Dolphins are happy as can be.  And the dolphin trainers have the best job in the world.  So. Stinking. Awesome.

   

                 

For not having any plans going into the weekend, we ended up having a really fun time.  The kids were SO GOOD, which meant that all of us could just relax and have fun.  This one can go down as another fantastic weekend on the Gold Coast.  Feeling blessed and so fortunate for the opportunities we are living.  G’day mates!

Outings.

Ty got to go on 2 more field trips at vacation care this week.  They went to see the movie Home at a theater, and they went to a trampoline park.  He loves vacation care!

Nanny Cam.

I think Emily loves her job. 

         

Queen.

Thursday was a big day for our little princess.  We traded her cot in for a queen-sized big girl bed!!  She absolutely loves it.  She has slept through the night every nights since its arrival.  She insists on taking naps in it – she never wanted to nap in her cot.  And when she wakes from her nap she wants to stay in bed to read books.   

       

Balloon.

We can usually see 2 hot air balloons off in the distance, over the mountains, in the mornings.  Lily loves to watch them – she gets so excited “BALLOON!!!”  This week a balloon almost went right over the top of our house.  So exciting!!  I snapped this picture when it was on its way toward us. 

Ibis.

There are birds here that are known to be food thiefs – an Australian ibis.  We see these birds everywhere, and we know that if we are eating outside we have to be careful that an Ibis doesn’t steal our food.  We have to do the same with Lily – she is always stealing food.  If anyone leaves a tasty snack within reach, consider it gone inside Lily’s belly.  Here is a picture of an ibis from the Internet, and a picture of our little ibis “helping” dad make his lunch. 

   

Saturday.

Saturday was great.  Just a normal day, nothing extravagant.  Jay and Ty worked in the garage.  Ty cleaned out the dirt in the garage, and then cleaned the dirt that blew into the house.  Jay made progress on the wipers on Brumby – one step closer to getting it safety certified and registered in Queensland.  Em hadn’t heard it run before and was shocked at how loud it is.  Jay took her on a 2 minute ride through the neighborhood to dust off the cobwebs.   

    

We signed Ty and Lily back up for swim lessons at Gullivers.  We will see how we go – we were spoiled by one teacher who he really wanted to impress and unfortunately isn’t teaching lessons on the weekend.  He did pretty good on his first day back.  Lily loved every second of her lesson.  Jay swam with her.  Couldn’t wipe the smiles off her face.  Such a water baby. 

  

 Shop.

Em gets to help a friend of a friend at a horse show in a couple weeks, so she needed to go shopping to pick up an outfit to show in.  We decided to also try to find something for her to wear out on her 30th birthday.  She surprisingly has mentioned that maybe she doesn’t want to go out in her normal boots & jeans…perhaps a fancy dress and high heels.  SHOCKER!!!  We had fun trying on some clothes – I think we found a couple options.  Yes, I said a couple.  Emily Geisler bought multiple dresses. Now we are on the lookout for the perfect pair of heels (yes I said heels).  

The Gem.

We heard on the radio that there was a bulls and Broncs rodeo at a bar a few exits up the road.  Of course we had to go.  It was at the Gem Hotel (hotel as in bar with rooms available if you get too smashed to drive home but not the type of motel that you would book in advance to holiday at).  I knew the people watching would be interesting, but wow.  Some interesting choices of outfits, for sure. Ty set up his bag chair right up front – he didn’t want to sit back by the rest of us – too cool for that.  The rodeo started at 6:30.  First “novice bull rider” out of the chutes ended up being hauled off on a stretcher, setting the tone for the rest of the night.  I don’t know where they found these guys, but if your day job is selling real estate, perhaps you should think twice before climbing on a bull in a Saturday night.  I don’t think more than 2 people covered their rides.  I am not positive, though, because I lost interest in the rodeo after so much time was spent trying to haul people out on stretchers.  Not a good night when more people rode an ambulance that rode a bull.  On a positive note, I got a lot of snuggles with Lily, and because the rodeo wasn’t keeping my attention, I took a little nap as well.   

                   

The best part of the rodeo was the after party.  We turned our chairs around to watch the “dance” which consisted of the rodeo announcer strapping on a guitar and singing some country music.  I don’t know how it happened, but two doo-dahs that were very much happy drunk put on an unplanned comedy show right next to where we were sitting.  They were doing all sorts of dance moves (if you can call it that) and challenging a group of kids to one-up them.  The blokes attempted to do a back flip that was a hilariously massive fail.  The kids got all excited and started to push one of their mates into the circle.  He took of his cowboy boots and landed an awesome back flip.  By this point there was quite a crowd watching and everyone went wild.  One of the blokes had a bit of a belt problem so the whole time his red undies were showing.  At one point Em told some guy next to her that someone should give him a wedgie.  3 seconds later, the guy walked into the circle and gave the bloke the world’s most giant wedgie – and ripped part of his underwear off.  And it was all downhill from there.  Dude’s cheeks were hanging out, he mooned the kids, and we quickly packed up and removed our children from the scene.  Ty was taking it all in, I’m sure, and packing all of those crazy moves into his little memory bank.  Oh boy….

Sunday.

Sunday morning after breakfast Em, Lily and I went to Sanctuary Cove to do some shopping.  The boys stayed home and worked on the truck.  Lily wasn’t a very good shopper – was pretty fussy – so the plan to go to the beach afterward changed.  (At what age can I enjoy a meal at a restaurant with the kids????). I didn’t want to drag her out.  We all went for a big swim at home, then Ty, Em and I went for a bike ride.  Ty got tired of riding his bike, so Em ride ahead to get the buggy to pick us up.  When we got home, the neighbor boys were outside playing, so I chatted with their mom while the boys came over to play a bit.

Em has Polska Kielbasa on the stove, Ty has cookies baking in the oven.  Nice quiet weekend.  Ty has one more day of vacation care before Term 2 starts on Tuesday.  Excited to see what he will learn this term!  Hoping for a low stress week at work.  Em has netball on Monday, me on Wednesday.  Not sure what else we have going on – sure something fun will come up.  G’day mates!

 

Dreamworld.

Big day.  Huge.  Ty went on his first field trip.  To an amusement park.  With friends at After School Care.  Without Jay or I.  

Let that one soak in.  The kid isn’t even 5 yet.  What was I thinking?!?!?!  Apparently I didn’t have anything to worry about as he seems to have had a great day.  It was all he could talk about that night.  And the teachers didn’t report back any negative feedback.  And he survived.  

The next day Ty went to “school” with spiked hair, deodorant, and cologne.  Lord help me…

Nanny cam.

Not many pictures from the nanny cam this week.. I better have a chat with the help…



We went into the weekend with no plans.  I thought I wouldn’t have anything to blog about this week.  I thought wrong…

Chocolate.

I told Em that I would go with her to the marina on Friday night.  We ate pizza at home while Ty and Lily watched Night at the Museum 3, then Em and I hopped on the buggy for a girls night out.  We were both thinking we needed some dessert – preferably chocolate cake.  We checked out the menu at all of the restaurants at the marina – no chocolate cake.  So we decided to have wine for dessert.

We were sitting at the wine bar, having fun, talking about how we should probably open up a chocolate bar in one of the empty shops at the marina, when an older gentleman asked if he could sit on the couch across from us. We chatted with him through a second (maybe third for Em) glass of wine.  We talked about Australia, the outback, the spiders and snakes, Nashville, New York, our chocolate bar idea (he promised he would buy chocolate from there if we opened it), his grandkids, and his life on his boat.  The wine bar was winding down so we walked over to the tavern.   On the way there, we realized we didn’t even know his name – Wayne.  

Tavern.

There was a little band playing at the tavern, so we found a seat on a couch and made ourselves comfortable.  We didn’t know any of the songs that the band was playing, so when they did play something we knew, we jumped up and danced.  Wayne was our dancing buddy for the evening.  :). There were some characters out which made people watching fantastic.  We watched one poor hideously drunk girl get kicked out of the bar.  Em drooled over a married bouncer.  So many different types of people and styles – so fun!  I was getting tired so we went home a bit before 12:30.  

Movie World.

Saturday morning Jay cooked brekky and we lounged around for a while.  Ty thought it would be fun to go to Movie World.  It is 10 minutes from the house, we have season passes, we didn’t have anything in mind for the day, so sure!  The kids were great.  Lily walked her way through most of the park.  She LOVED the carousel – didn’t want to get off!  Ty and Jay drove the little “driving school” cars.  We watched the stunt show and a Rio 4D  movie.  Em decided that Ty probably needs a super hero for an uncle (after seeing Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern).  The parade was a Carnivale theme.  It was awesome!  Apparently Movie World was having a Carnivale party that night – the last of 7.  The kids were tired, but Em and I thought maybe we should go back that night.  Even though Em and I had left Jay home with the kids on Friday night and I felt really guilty, it sounded like a cool experience. Tickets were only $20 since we were pass holders.  Ok, we better go.



Carnivale.

We went home, ate dinner, freshened up a bit.  Jay worked on Brumby a little, Ty slept (exhausted), and played with a sticker book with Lily.  



Em and I headed back to Movie World.  We took a wrong turn, which ended up working out great because as we were about to pay for 2 tickets, some lady gave us a spare free ticket.  $20 later and we were in!  Whoa.  As soon as we walked in the gate, we were in awe.  Jazz bands in the street, showgirls on stilts, people dancing with fire, extinguishing fire with their mouths, breathing fire, millions of bubbles falling from the ceiling, salsa dancers, unicycle riders, girls dancing on silks hanging from the ceiling, food vendors, a bar, amazing caramelized bacon….whoa.  Em and I just had to buy masks for the occasion.  Best purchase ever.  It was so fun to walk around with our masks on.  She and I kept looking at each other and laughing – where the heck were we?!?!  

At 9:00, the parade started.  Whoa. If I thought I was having sensory overload earlier in the evening….  The floats were AMAZING.  More stilts!  More dancers!  More bands!  More bubbles!  More drummers!  More amazing costumes!  More fire breathers!  More showgirls!  More! More! More!  Beads and tinsel! Dancing in the street!  

Seriously. Seriously. Seriously cool.  Seriously.

If someone wasn’t completely and utterly entertained at Movie World Carnivale, they had to have been dead (or nearly dead).  For 3.5 hours, I was transported from Australia to either New Orleans or Rio de Jeneiro (seemed to be a mash up of the two places).  Wherever it was, it was awesome.  





The weekend isn’t over yet – it is only Sunday morning – but I couldn’t wait to share the fun we have had so far!  G’day mates!

I have forgotten to write about a few things.  Catching up…

HVAC.

I cannot believe I haven’t blogged about this – shows just how busy we have been lately!  When Jess and Jason were here, our air conditioner in Australia was broken.  At the same time, our furnace in Iowa broke.  Unfortunately our renters had moved out a few weeks before and nobody noticed that the cold had caused one of the water lines to the dishwasher to freeze and break.  Our fantastic next door neighbor, Mr. Paul, checks on the house every few days and discovered water flowing into the garage from the kitchen.  He kicked into action and got the inmediate things taken care of.  We had a clean up crew come in and rip out the ruined bits of the house – carpet upstairs, carpet padding downstairs, basement ceiling.  Bubba is planning on going to the house soon to start putting it back together again.  Was a sickening feeling to know that was happening at home and we couldn’t do anything about it.  One of the (many) challenges of living abroad. Thank you to everyone back home who is helping get things sorted!

Rubbers.

Last weekend we went to the mall.  While Em, Lily and I were shopping, Jay and Ty went to the bowling alley.  When we met up with them later that afternoon, Ty came running up, all excited, and said “Mom!  I won a bouncy ball and 2 rubbers!!”  I nearly peed my pants from laughter.  Similar to how Australians call flip flops “thongs”, they call erasers “rubbers”.  Poor kid is going to go back to kindergarten in the US and ask his teacher for a rubber…

Special Friend.

I stayed home on the last day of Term 1 so that Em could go with Ty to Grandparents/Special Friend Day at school.  It sounds like they had a great day – Em was really amazed at how talented the students were at the ceremony.  



World Travellers.

Jay met Deanne and Dave for lunch on Thursday.  They bought an airplane ticket that allows them to literally go around the world, stopping in as many places they would like to within a year, as long as they continue going in the same direction and end where they started.  What an amazing adventure!  They were in Brisbane for a few days.  Unfortunately it didn’t work out for the kids and I to meet them – hopefully sometime when we are all back in the US!



Ok, I think that is all I had forgotten to write about.  Caught up now!

Royal Easter Show.

It was a rainy day on Saturday, so we couldn’t go to the Blue Mountains.  We decided to go to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which is sort of like the State Fair.  We took a double-decker train, which worked out pretty slick, to Sydney Olympic Park.  It was the location of the 2000 Summer Olympics.  We wandered through the barns, ate some yummy donuts, watched the “World Woodchopping” competition, saw a crazy American get blown out of a box of dynamite, and tried to stay dry.  Em and I bought some new hats (we kept shouting “JESSICA!!!!” because mine looks like the hat Jessica wore in the Man from Snowy River).  We ate a plate of sourkraut and a gross chili baked potato.  We had a lemonade that didn’t taste like the sheep barn, but was the closest thing to real lemonade that I have had since we moved here.  Lily loved the pigs.  Both kids loved the goats milk.  Em loved being in the barns.  I think she would have been content staying there all weekend.  Some cool observations…  

Trains really are a slick way to travel.  Easy peasy and you’re there!  



The horse grooming is very different than back home.  Google checkerboard horse rump.  Looks awesome!  Subtle but classy.  

They have the living quarters in the barns figured out.  Instead of using space for livestock for livestock owners to camp out for the show, they have these two story “motels”.  Genius.  I would maybe even stay in one for a night.  Well, maybe.  Probably not, but at least it isn’t at cow poop level!



Lily loves pigs.  Big pigs, 3 little pigs, she isn’t picky. 



Em found a new passion in life – Woodchopping groupie.  In particular for the New Zealander world champion wood chopper.  Poor American bloke flew all this way to get his tail kicked by all of the Aussie and New Zealanders…  We were sitting in the front row like a couple Woodchopping groupies.  

  We went to the Woodchop bar to celebrate victory, and Em chickened out about getting her photo taken with the winner.  Would have made a great addition to the blog.  All we got was this picture of the sign of the bar instead.  



The kids were beat, so Jay stayed in with them and ordered room service.  Em and I went down to the Meat & Wine restaurant in the hotel.  A bottle of wine, 2 burnt fingers, a couple yummy meals, and lots of laughter.  We walked down to the Opera House so she could see it lit up at night.  She had to get her picture taken with a water taxi.  

Easter.

Sunday morning we had an Easter egg hunt in our hotel room.  The kids had fun “MORE!!”  Ty was super excited about his boxing kangaroo.  Lily loves the choc-o-lot.. 



So the whole point of coming to Sydney was to go see the Blue Mountains.  However, it seemed as though it was not in the cards for us to go to the mountains.  The tour was not running due to concerns about the weather – overcast days are not good days to go to the mountains.  However, when we woke on Sunday morning, it was clear.  We walked around the Rocks markets and then thought we should try one more time to see if a rental car was available just for the day.  No luck.  Damn.  



Ferry.

So we rode the ferry over to Manly Beach instead.  Let’s talk about the ferry.  It deserves its own little section in this blog.  A ticket was only $2.50, and it was good all day for any of Sydney’s public transportation – buses, trains, ferries.  We got in line to get herded into the waiting area, and then we got herded into the ferry.  With 1,100 other people.  I don’t like feeling like cattle.  Nor do I enjoy public transportation.  But the boat itself was surprisingly nice and clean, and you can’t beat the views…for $2.50!!!!  This time Em used Ty as an excuse to get a picture taken with the ferry workers.





We ate some ice cream and walked around the Harbour a bit.  Wasn’t long before Ty fell asleep in the pram, so we picked up Happy Meals for the kids and went back to the hotel.  Em and I ordered some salads from the hotel restaurant.  Em waited at the bar until the food was ready and struck up a conversation with a guy from Kentucky that raises race horses.  He has a horse in some big auction today.  He gave her the name of a guy near Brisbane that is in the racehorse business.  Might be fun to check it out.

Journal.

I had picked up a photo album from the Rocks markets for Ty to keep a journal.  There just happened to be a photo shop in Manly next to the playground, so I printed off about 50 pictures and got some notecards for Ty to write a description.  That night he was super excited to work on his journal.  I love seeing him write words.  

Slumber party.

Ty and Em had a slumber party.  Wine and chocolates for Auntie, milk and chocolates for Ty.  





Bridge.

On Monday we decided to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge – not the $300 walk, the free one. It really is huge.  And has amazing views.  



Luna.

On the walk over the bridge, Ty was singing “tell me tell me tell me where the freaks are.”  We found them.  We went to Luna Park, which is a mini amusement park on the Harbour.  I suppose it is kind of like Coney Island.  I think the word Luna translates to “crazy scary freaky clowns.”  We were able to walk through without paying admission, and Jay, Lily and Ty went into one playground area.  Em and I sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather and the views.



We walked back to the hotel, grabbed a quick (and oh not so peaceful) lunch, then caught our ride to the airport.  There were some delays – not terrible – but the kids (and adults) were all pretty tired.  Em had the Fitbit on and tracked 8.5 miles for the day.  We finally got on the plane, and the kids instantly fell asleep.  Thank goodness.  We were entertained by a couple happy drunk guys that showed us all of the safety requirements on the plane by mimicking the flight attendants.  Just as quickly as we were up in the air, we started the descent and had a smooth landing.  When we got home, we were amazed to see that the goldfish, Nochee and Doodee, were in a state of hibernation, but they were alive!  Amazing since they hadn’t had food since Thursday.  

Baths, books, bed.  And with that, another Shearer family vacation was in the books.  G’day mates!

4:00 AM.  Good Friday.

As my Papa used to say….  HIT THE DECK!!  Rush rush rush.  Throw stuff in the suitcase.  Rack brain for what we might forget.  Good lord don’t forget the diapers.  Get in the car.  Ty – get buckled.  GO! GO! GO!!

No traffic.  Parking easy.  No line at Jetstar.  No line at security.  (Figures). 2 hours until flight time.  You know that if we would have not left the house so early we would have been running to catch our flight…  2 hours of listening to Lily shout AIRPLANE!!  BYE AIRPLANE!!!  Big shout out to Katie Coen for giving me the idea to buy Smiggles gel pens and a notebook.  Both kids were thoroughly entertained at the table. Ty has drawn several pictures and written a description of each.  



The flight was too easy.  Lily fell asleep shortly after take-off.  Ty watched a movie and fell asleep just before landing.  Before we knew it, we were in Sydney.  A little rain won’t slow us down.  Em saw her first ever real live cruise ship.  And then…an Aboriginal playing a didgeridoo.  She was utterly fascinated, thrilled, entertained, amazed.  Never mind the engineering marvels (Harbour Bridge and Opera House).  She wanted to open up a bag chair, crack open a cold one, and listen to the didgeridoo all day.





Yummy lunch.  cool bottle wall.



 



We walked around the Opera House, she climbed the steps, and then she was drawn back to the Aboriginals.  They had some canvas artwork for sale for dirt cheap – $100 – so Em had to have one.  The artist wrote the story in the back of it – so neat.  Something about 2 people coming together for their anniversary…





I had my eye on one of the paintings, but Jay had given Em the last of his cash.  He went to the ATM to get more money – crap.  Our US debit card expired March 2015.  Sherry has mailed our new cards but since it takes a million years for mail to arrive, we haven’t gotten them yet.  And neither of us thought about it.  And it is now April.  And we are in Sydney with no cash.  And our Westpac account isn’t dispersing our cash either.  Don’t stress – no worries.  Jay worked his magic and like he always does, he fixed it.  He was able to get cash from the Westpac account.  Phew!

We walked around the Rocks (still raining), bought some rain coats and umbrellas, dried off and got our sugar high at the Guylian Chocolate Cafe (amazing).  Poor Lily slept through the chocolate – she will be pissed when she reads this.  Here are some pictures of Ty on chocolate.





Walked by the Australian Stock Exchange.  I miss Treasury….



On our way back to the hotel, the Aboriginals were starting to tear down for the night.  I had to check to see if they still had the print I was eyeing – and they did!  This one is a story about how the bunda (kangaroo) only moves forward – kangaroos cannot move backwards.  Life’s journey moves ahead.  Galmorriii.  I am sure it sounds lame, but I think that painting was made for me.  



Rod Stewart.

So we are waiting for an elevator at our hotel, and noticed that one of the elevators is blocked off.  The door opened and out walks a man that looked familiar, an 8′ tall woman, and a couple security guards.  They exited through a door straight out to a car that was waiting for them.  When we got upstairs Jay said he thought it looked like Rod Stewart.  Yes!  It did.  A quick google search showed that he had a concert in Sydney a couple days ago and will play in Brisbane in a few days.  Rod Stewart is staying at our hotel.  I am sure he will ask us to join him for breakfast or maybe a swim in the pool.  I’m sure.



We ordered a pizza delivery, and I was struggling as I came down from my sugar high (and early morning).  Em, Jay and Ty went for a swim.  Lily and I snuggled up and watched American Idol.  

We are planning on going to the Easter Show (sounds like a fair) tomorrow, as long as the forecast is calling for rain in the Blue Mountains.  Rain, rain, go away!!

More to come later this weekend (hopefully).  G’day mates!

Footy.

 The day that I took the Ruppert’s to the airport I woke up at 3:00, got to work at 6:00 (only to find the office in a bit of a technical nightmare with no badge access or wiFi), planned to leave early and rest a bit but got stuck on a call with a dealer that kept me at work until 6:00, rushed home, changed my clothes, grabbed Em, Ty and Jay, said a quick hello to Miss Steph and Kyson, and ran out the door.  I made it!

We met the Coen’s at the train station to go to the Gold Coast Suns vs Brisbane Lions footy game. It is quite confusing, but Australia has 3 (at least) different kinds of “footy” – rugby, Aussie Rules Football, and soccer.  The game we went to was Aussie Rules Football.  The field was HUGE (and the stadium was nearly empty).  I really tried to figure out the rules, but I honestly can’t say that I was able to work it out.  I am not sure if the players even knew the rules.  No pads.  Lots of running.  Throwing the ball backwards.  Dribbling a football.  Kicking the ball for a teammate to catch.  3 different ways to score (all 3 are tracked).  Referees that wear pink and throw the ball back into play like a bride throwing her bouquet into a crowd of single ladies.  And a game that ended in a tie.  And everyone just stood up and left.  In true Aussie fashion, nobody cared that nobody won.  No worries.  Despite being quite confused the whole game, it was really fun!  It was the first time since Lily was born that Jay and I took Ty out and about alone – special night.





Easter Hat.

We received a letter from Ty’s school about his upcoming Easter hat parade.  I am not too sure what an Easter hat is – I don’t recall having an Easter hat when I was a kid – but I was up for the challenge.  We converted one of our 50 Australian Outback Spectacular hats into a Spectacular Australian Easter Hat.  I might have had more fun than Ty putting it together.

  

Date.

Em had a date Saturday night with one of the blokes she met at the Tavern a couple weeks ago.  I will respect her privacy and not share the details, but don’t worry, she won’t be marrying this guy and staying in Australia forever.  We had a fun family night in while she was out on the town.  We played Sorry – Ty is ruthless.  Lily played dress up (or down by the end of the night) and after exhausting herself completing her Picasso, she fell asleep in dad’s lap.



Cookies!

We were craving some chocolate chip cookies.  No Nestle Tollhouse here, but we used Cadbury chocolates.  They didn’t taste like what I was expecting but were ok.  It was fun to make them!  



Sanctuary Cove.

Em wanted to find some new sandals, so she and I took Lily over to Sanctuary Cove on our bikes.  It was a nice ride – definitely felt it in my legs and bum.  We replaced the calories we burned by eating yummy pizza and ice cream.





Netball.

I got to play a shooting position at netball!  So fun!  Em played Wing Defense for her team and liked that much better.  Oh yeah.  We’re netballers.





Nanny pics.

The rough life of a nanny and a toddler…





License.

It’s official!  Em is a licensed driver in Australia.  Look out!



Conferences.

Whoa.  I am a parent of a student.  I guess that makes me an adult. I know this sounds crazy, but I was nervous (like really nervous) about going to chat with Ty’s teacher for our first ever parent-teacher conference.  We don’t do drop-off or pick-up in his classroom because he has to go to before and after school care (enter guilt for being full time working parents), so we rarely get a chance to talk to his teacher.  He hasn’t received any “best in class” awards, nor have we received any notes in his boomerang book (brilliant concept for any teachers out there) about how he is a “joy to have in class”.  All I know is that he is learning a ton – he can actually read books!!!!! – and he is sometimes a handful for Jay and I.  So the first thing Mrs. Hanrahan says is “Do you have any questions for me?”  Well, yeah, is he behaving himself?  I can hear Steven’s voice ringing in my head “BEHAVE!!”  She was real sweet and cautious with her response.  She said that she has to remind herself that he is only 4 and then she remembers that he is behaving as a normal 4 year old behaves.  He is sometimes rude to the teachers (yikes – better nip that in the bud), and has a hard time staying focused long enough to complete activities.  And he has a hard time sitting still and being quiet on the mat.  But he’s only 4, and he surprises her by what he retains, so she isn’t too concerned.  Wah-wah.  No glowing reviews about how sweet and funny and awesome he is.  But she did go on to say that he is smart.  He is reading really well – going to move up to the next level of difficulty.  His maths skills are good.  Jay was able to walk away focusing on the positives, I hung onto the not-so-greats.  Meh.  In any case, Jay and I took a self to remember our first parent-teacher conference.  Stressful.



Neighbors.

One good thing about the conference is that we met one of the other dads.   We chatted with him a bit, and then found out that his wife volunteers as the class parent and she organized the prep Easter egg hunt at the park.  Great fun – a good chance to meet some of the other parents.  She also organized gathering homemade cards and a gift for Mrs. Hanrahan’s birthday.  Since we don’t get to the classroom, Ty and I dropped it off at their house.  Turns out they live 5 doors down.  Their daughter came over to play for a bit – really nice family.  

Breakdown.

I will start this next bit by saying that I am fine now.  But last weekend I wasnt.  Here’s the deal with me.  Sometimes I think I am going psycho and losing my mind.  I don’t realize that things are bothering me, until Jay says those magic words – “are you Ok babe?  You don’t seem like yourself.”  And before I know myself what is happening, I erupt into a string of nonsense for approximately one hour, intermittent with sobs and nose blowing and panic attacks.  Yes, dear readers, I am going crazy.  I have always been a tad bit on the dramatic side, but this experience occasionally pushes me over the stage.  I won’t bore you with all of the (hundred) things that came out of my mouth that night.  But what I did conclude is that having my 4 sisters all arrive within a month and a half, and having to say goodbye 3 times in the same timeframe, really really really sucked.  I didn’t realize it at the time.  I was all proud of myself for going to the airport and saying goodbye without bawling (or jumping in their suitcases), not realizing that I was just bottling it up and waiting for that wise question from Jay.  I am sure the other travelers would appreciate this reality-diverting technique.  But man, it sucked for Jay and I on Saturday night.  This past month and a half has been bothe the very best and the very worst time I have had in a year and a half. In the past I have been able to cushion the blow of goodbye knowing that someone was coming next and would be here soon.  This time I said goodbye, and I feel like that’s it until we move back home.  In December.  (Better be December).  I can hear the groans from halfway around the world.  “You are living in paradise.” “Just be happy.” “You have had heaps of visitors.”  Doesn’t matter – I can’t stop my crazy mind.  I might need to see a shrink.  Or I just need a good cry (panic attack, Kleenex devouring, wake the neighbors sob-fest) to get over it.  What I am wondering is how many dippers do I have to go through before I have completed my emotional journey and can just relax and enjoy things.  This was the biggest dipper yet, by far.  Maybe I will buy some ruby slippers and click my heels together.

But then I remind myself how lucky we are, how we are living in paradise, how I have two beautiful, healthy, and smart children, how we are traveling to amazing places, making a difference at work, and I have a husband that doesn’t bail when I go crazy.  No worries.

Country club.

The day after my meltdown, I felt like crap.  I looked like 100 bees stung me on my eye lids, but I had to power through the day.  We went shopping and then went to the golf club for a few drinks, putting competition (I didn’t win), live band, cute bartender (Em never got his number), bouncy house, and friendly chats.  We met a few more parents from school – I swear Ty knows people everywhere we go.  It really helped pull me out of my funk.



Week.

This week was challenging.  We had a price increase mid-week which kept me up until midnight, Jay’s month end, Ty and Emily’s Grandparents & Special Friends day, and oh, did I mention we are going to Sydney on Friday?  I am glad the week is over.

So yeah, I am a tad bit on the exhausted side, but the bags are (pretty much) packed, the alarm is set for 4:00 AM, the ride from the airport to the hotel is booked (no rental cars in Sydney in short notice over Easter), and I had to get a blog out.  Looking forward to a nice 4-day weekend and sharing it with you all.  G’day mates!!