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!