PFD.

We are all suffering from PFD (Post Fiji Depression).  We spent Sunday detoxing, doing laundry, running errands.  It was a beautiful day so late that afternoon Jay and I took the kids to the park.  Ty did a couple rounds on his bicycle, Lily played on the equipment.  Then we all played a game of basketball.  Lily is getting pretty good at catching and throwing the ball.  Ty attempted about 300 granny shots (made quite a few).  Super fun!  Em had gone over to Rae and Gary’s to tell them all about the trip, and we stopped by after we were finished at the park.  Even though it was detox Sunday, it is nearly impossible to say no to Rae when she offers a glass of red.  Twist my arm.  One turned into 2, and it was a fun, relaxing evening.  Ty played pool with some of their friends’ young boys.  Lily managed to stay out of too much trouble.  We were all pretty tired, so it was early to bed for all of us.  

About that PFD…Emily is suffering the worst.   

Up for debate, but I think Lily rocks the outfit better than Auntie… 
  

  

 Here is a picture of the crew at 7:00 on Monday night after struggling through the first day back to reality. 3 out of 5 are out cold.  Ty only awake because the TV is on.

 

Photos.

I finally got around to pulling our vacation pictures off of the good camera.  Here are some pictures of the resort and the 4WD tour to the cave.   

                                                                                                       Father’s Day.

Aussies don’t celebrate Fathers Day this weekend (can’t remember when it is), but I am still going to take a moment to talk about Jay.  I have said it before, and I will say it a million more times, he is the perfect father for our children.  He is the favorite parent for both of our kids, for good reason.  He is the fun one, the easy going, the rarely losing his cool one.  He is the one that both kids run to first when we get home from work.  He is the one that the kids call out for.  I can’t tell you how many times Ty has called me “dad”.  I was really hoping to have one of my kids be a mama’s boy/girl, but such is not the case.  It’s ok, he deserves to be the favorite.  I love that they love him so much.  So Jay, happy US Father’s Day!   

 Most of you probably know that my dad passed away when I was 8.  I’m sure he is fishing, camping, hunting, booking bands, and laughing up in heaven this Father’s Day.  Miss you every day, dad.   

 I am blessed to have been able to have an awesome stepdad in my life.  Not many 40 year old bachelors would be willing to marry a widow with 4 kids under the age of 11, and then have another kid (my mom is a pretty good catch so I sort of get it).   Steven has taught me so much over the years, has always put us kids before himself, worked himself to the bone to give us a comfortable childhood, was the loudest fan in the stands at our athletic events (DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE!!!), and was always willing to do the dirty work (FAFSA, 4-H record books, lawsuits, driving lessons, the list goes on and on).  Happy Fathers Day, Steven!!  (Sorry for the non-cropped picture – phone was acting up).  

 

Nanny cam.

Lily has been dying to see her best friend, Saigey-pops, so Em and Renata arranged a play date at the park.  Two peas in a pod.  Lily was looking super cute that day and somehow managed to snag a free milkshake from the cafe.   

     Ty has been going to Vacation Care during the school holidays.  He loves it – they usually have some pretty fun activities planned for the kids.  Thursday’s activity wasn’t really too exciting for Ty, so he stayed home with Em and Lily.  They had a great day – scooter rides, milkshakes, laundry basket rides, and a hair cut.  Ty’s hair was a hot mess, and since he has a hair twirling obsession (which he gets from my side of the family), but doesn’t always use a napkin while eating greasy chicken nuggets, the twirly patch on top of his head was nasty.  So Em took him to the salon to shave it off.  She said that he just sat there and giggled the whole time.  He was excited to look just like Jack Coen.   

             Emily took this picture of a beautiful rainbow that literally ended in our backyard.  Beautiful! 

 Diva.

This week Lily wanted to be in the bathroom with me when I was getting ready for work.  She sat on the counter and did her own little morning routine.  So cute. 

 Brother.

My mom is out in Wyoming right now visiting my brother.  I am loving seeing all of the pictures and videos of them.  Rick’s photographer friend, Diana Volk, went up in the mountains with them one day and took more pictures.  She does such a great job!   

       Bandit.

Jess went to the farm and took a picture of Bandit begging for a hoof.  Miss that pup so much.  Happy to see that he hasn’t lost his love of all things gross and disgusting. 

 Boys.

Jay and Brian decided to have a boys night on Friday.  They rode the train up to the city to go watch the Broncos vs Knights rugby game.  Ty’s description of what he thinks the game was like was priceless – guys in metal suits fighting against wild horses.  Something like that, Ty…  After the game they went to Lefty’s. Brian hadn’t been there before and after about 2 minutes was wondering why he hadn’t gone before.  Such a cool place.  Sounds like they had a really good time.

Party.

Friday afternoon Em and Lily ran into Jo and her kids at the park.  They ended up going over to Jo’s house, then decided they didn’t want the party to end.  Em picked up Ty at school and when I got home from work we hopped in the buggy and went back to their house.  Jo ordered pizza, we drank some wine, and the kids all ran around the house like crazies.  They got dressed up in super hero costumes and put me in handcuffs.  Don’t worry, it didn’t stop me from drinking my wine.  Wait a sec.  None of the so called super heroes helped me get out of the handcuffs.  What’s up with that?  Oh well, it’s a good thing I am Houdini.  They put on a rock concert where they sang us their original song “OH YEAH!!!” about 15 times.  Then the boys started winding down and played the Wii.  Lily fell asleep on my lap.  We were having so much fun, kind of lost track of time.  We ended up leaving at 11:00.  Oops!  So fun!!   

            Swim.

Saturday morning we had swim lessons.  Ty didn’t have anyone else in his class, so he had 1-on-1 attention and even though he was tired, he did great.  Lily was fantastic – she got to ring the bell and move up to the next level – B2!!  Yay Lily!  Since both kids did so well, we went to Macca’s for breakfast and a play.  After that we stopped and bought the Star Wars 1, 2, and 3.  You can guess what Ty will want to do the rest of the weekend…  They watched the first one while I went and got a much-needed pedicure.  

Netball.

Oh yeah.  Our team is in the Grand Final.  The championship game!  I may be old, but I still have skills on the court.  :). It has been so fun playing ball, learning a new sport, meeting a great group of ladies, getting some exercise (and stress relief).  This week is the Grand Final. Super pumped.  The team we are playing is really good.  Everyone on the team is half our age. Let’s kick some 17 year old booty.  Or at a minimum not keel over and die.  To be continued…

Caravan.

Emily went to Gympie for the weekend.  As you know, she doesn’t know a stranger and makes friends everywhere she goes.  She met this Australian guy Ty out in Wyoming about 5 years ago.  He lives quite a ways north of us, but he told her that his wife and daughter were going to a barrel racing competition in Gympie, which is about 2.5 hours from here.  She called the local caravan park (campground) who just happened to have a camper available for $70 for Saturday night.  Without hesitation (or online research) she said, “I’ll take it!”  Oh boy…  It’s a beaut.  Running water and everything.  She will probably want to ship it home with Brumby.  She’s so low maintenance.  We were in 5 star accommodations 2 weeks ago and 0.5 star last night.  Sounds like she had a great time (and she didn’t get murdered).   

       Graziers.

Saturday night we decided to try a new restaurant.  I googled “Kid friendly restaurants on the Gold Coast” and Graziers steakhouse was on a top 10 list.  The online menu looked good and the kids area sounded great – indoor/outdoor.  So we decided to give it a shot.  The kids area was great, but the food was not.  My steak was still bleeding (asked medium well), and it didn’t have much flavor.  They put it back in the grill and gave us free dessert for our trouble, which was really nice. The dessert was pretty good, but I don’t think we will be going back.  Red Rock has amazing steak and is only a buggy ride away.  If only they had a kids area…

Sunday Funday.

Sunday morning we watched Freaky Friday while Jay caught up on sleep from Friday night.  When he woke up we cooked brekky, then did some painting and drawing.  Ty added a few more entries into his Australia journal.  I love seeing what he writes to describe the pictures.  I talked to mom for a bit, and then we decided to go antiquing.  Jay wants to find an old XXXX Beer wooden case to put in the back of Brumby for storage.  I want to find an old surf board as a souvenir.  We drove down to Miami Beach and didn’t have any luck at the first antique store.  We went to Hard Rock Surfers Paradise for lunch, shopped a bit, played on the beach, and then headed to the next store.  No luck at Runaway Bay, so we tried Sanctuary Cove.  The kids played in the park while I ran through the shops.  No luck, nothing, ok I will stop at my favorite clothing store, but a pair of pants and wallah!!!!!  There is the perfect wooden box for Jay!!  And then I found this pillow that, hello, of course had to come home with me.   

   We got home, and the kids were excited to see Auntie Em.  Ty and Jay ran to the store, Em and I cooked pizzas.  When the boys got home, they put in the last Star Wars movie.  Another great weekend in the books.  

If anyone wants a little get away, a vacation of a lifetime, Qantas is having a sale that ends 30 June.  Come on people!  We are running low on our visitor pipeline.  Roo’s Barefoot Cantina and Resort has lots of available dates.  :). Accommodation rates are great- we only accept payment in the form of Dove chocolate, Cheetos, and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.

G’day mates!