Road trip!

Em and I had Lily in one car.  Jay and Staci had Ty in the other.  Noosa or bust!

Em and I almost busted.  Started off great, as we filled up with fuel and then drove through Hungry Jacks (Burger King) to grab a coffee.  As we were waiting for our coffee, a GIANT spider jumped up onto the drive-through window.  Em and I started screaming.  An employee heard us and came over to check it out.  Instead of grabbing a shoe or a shovel, he grabbed a FREAKING PLASTIC CUP to CATCH the spider.  Lily is in the back shouting “pider! Pider!!”  And then the spider scurried off INSIDE Hungry Jacks.  Oh good lord.  I was sweating and light headed.  Another old man employee came over, looked at us girls freaking out, gave us a creepy smile, and then grabbed the spider in a tiny little napkin.  Thank goodness that thing didn’t jump inside my car window.  That was just the start of the fun of the day… 

 Poor Lily is still battling a UTI, apparently the first round of meds didn’t do the trick.  What was intended to be an easy 2.5 hour drive up to the Sunshine Coast turned into the longest day ever.  She cried and cried and said she had to go “wee potty” every 5 minutes.  But when we pulled over to go, she couldn’t do it.  :(. Em and I felt awful, but there wasn’t anything we could do.  I think we stopped 6 times on the way.  Em ended up riding most of the trip in the backseat, holding my phone so that Lily could be temporarily distracted from her pain by episodes of Peppa Pig and Dora.  Lily slept for about the last 15 minutes of the trip.

When we checked in to our apartment, it wasn’t quite ready yet.  The lady at the front desk helped us get a doctor appointment booked at a local clinic.  We had a bit of time to kill, so we ate a Subway sandwich then did a quick walk down Hastings Street (awesome shopping – if only I were skinny).  

We went to the doctor and she agreed that it sounded like Lily has another infection.  She called our doctor on the Gold Coast to get the test results from the first UTI and went ahead and wrote another prescription for us to get her on meds again right away.  Thank god.  

We had to pick up some groceries and there was an Aldi next door.  What does a 2 year old, a 15 minute nap, a UTI, and a grocery store create?  A really really really bad idea.  We got the essentials and then had to make one more stop at the Chemist to get Lily’s prescription.  We finally made it to the apartment, just a few minutes after the other half of the crew arrived.

Zoo.

Meanwhile, in the other car, Ty was an angel. He usually is when he doesn’t have to fight for attention or the iPad.  Jay, when you read this, please hop on over to the Apple Store website and order another iPad.  Please and thank you.  Staci is a big Steve Irwin fan, so she wanted to stop at the Australia Zoo on the way.  They had a great time at the zoo – Staci loved it.  I’m glad they were able to go.   

    
    
    
    
   
Tavern.

It started raining not long after we got settled in the apartment, so we decided to run over to the tavern across the street for dinner.  It had a fantastic kids club area, even had a TV that was linked to a security camera in the kids area, so the adults could relax and keep an eye on kids through the TV screen.  I am going to miss the kids clubs in Australia.  They are awesome.  Em and Jay took the kids up to the hot tub on our rooftop balcony for a night swim.  Then it was time for bed.

4WD.

Ok, twist Jay’s arm.  We will rent another 4WD and go drive on the beach.  If you ever get a chance to do it, DO IT!!  There is something therapeutic and invigorating about driving 80 km/hr down a sandy beach with the ocean waves rolling up right next to the vehicle.  We had to take a ferry across the river, then it was a short drive to a great ocean “road”.  We spent the day cruising around Cooloola Recreation Area (hence the name of the blog).  It was about an hour drive to the end of the beach.  We hiked up a hill to see the Double Island Point lighthouse and take in the amazing view.  I spotted a giant pod of dolphins swimming below.  Beautiful.   

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 Picnic.

We drove over to Rainbow Beach for our picnic lunch on the beach.  *sigh*  Once the few storm clouds rolled out to sea, it was a glorious day.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Nothing better than a ham and cheese sammy with a view like that.  Jay and Staci went for a swim, Em got another sunburn, and I took some pictures of the kids with the good camera.  We snapped a few fun beach jumping pictures – always a good time to see how they turn out.  :).  

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 Turtle.

As we were driving along, Em and Staci shouted out “TURTLE!!”, so jay whipped a u-ey and sure enough, there was a sea turtle on the beach.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to him soon enough.  :(. By the looks of things, he had tried to cross the great ocean road, but didn’t make it to the other side.  So sad.  :(. RIP, buddy.   

   
On the way back, Em and I were glued to the ocean, hoping that we would spot a whale having a play.  No such luck.  Nuts.   

 Surf club.
When we got back to the apartment, Jay took the 4WD back, and I got the kids bathed.  I sent Ty out to the living room to grab something for me, and he came back asking where everyone was.  Auntie Em was in the shower, but Aunt Staci was nowhere to be seen.  Until she walked down the steps with a towel and a cold beverage and a smirk on her face.  :). She had snuck up to the hot tub for a bit of R&R.  Good on her!  We all got cleaned up and walked down the super big hill for dinner.  Kid friendly surf club.  The place was packed.  Ty wasn’t looking too great, so I took him outside for some fresh air as soon as I had finished eating.  We had a nice little time, watching people and looking at pictures of his treehouse back home.  I even was able to steal a smooch.   

 Party.

When we got back to the apartment, we were not thrilled to see that our next door neighbors had checked in and were in full on party mode.  The security guy was knocking on their door, nobody was answering.  We told him he could talk to them across our balcony.  Yeah, didn’t really help much.  I suppose it could have been worse, but I didn’t sleep well at all.  I kept hearing doors slamming all night long.  I’m so old and lame.

Shop.

Saturday morning Jay took the kids to the park so the girls could do some shopping.  I found an awesome gift for Jay for Fathers Day (will have to wait for the next blog), and I found this adorable charm necklace for Lily. I picked up the anklet, as well.  Chica loves her some bling!

    
 Then they went to the beach, and we met up with them right after they had lunch.  The tavern had a craft beer festival, complete with kids activities (bouncy house, face painting).  Jay, Ty and Staci hung out there, and I took Lily back to the apartment for a nap.  I got some good cuddles in, not a bad view.  Em took off after lunch, as her social calendar is over flowing (as usual).  She went to Toowoomba to celebrate her horse friend, Robyn’s, birthday.  As is always the case with that crew, it sounds like they had a fantastic time.   

 Couch.

Apparently the day wore everyone out.  When Ty realized that he wasn’t going to have Auntie Em around that night for their usual slumber party, he said, “I think I will just sleep on the couch.”  And that is what he did.  At 6:00.  Poor kid slept through dinner, a movie (during which Jay fell asleep), and the bachelor party next door.  Didn’t wake up again until morning.   

 Hike.

Sunday morning we checked out early and didn’t know if there was anything else we should do in the area, or just go home.  We stopped and had brekky at a Coffee Club, and struck up a conversation with the chef, who also happened to be a radio host.  He suggested that we do a hike before heading home.  And then he promised to play a song for Staci the mortician from Farragut, Iowa – she requested “I will survive”.  

I’m glad we followed that guy’s advice because the hike was beautiful.  It was a paved trail along the edge of the ocean.  So. Beautiful.  We thought maybe we would see some dolphins or maybe if we were really lucky a whale, but no luck.  Even at Dolphin Point, nothing.  That’s ok, though, as the views were amazing.   

    
    
    
    
    
   
We started the drive home, and of course Lily had to wee potty and she wanted “a sandwich and mayonnaise”, so I pulled into a service station.  As I was getting Lily out of her car seat, Ty unbuckled and nearly fell out of the car, coughing and nearly puking.  Lily was about to wee her pants, so I left Jay to help Ty puke in a grate while I tried to get Lily to a toilet.  Always an adventure…

We made one stop at Aussie World so that Staci could check out the roo and cow hides, and the opal store.  

Jay took Staci for a ride in Brumby, then I had to take a little nap (thanks bachelor party).  When I woke I ran to the grocery store, then made up a yummy fruit salad to have with some leftover pulled pork from Robyn’s hog roast.  Yummy.  Back to work tomorrow – big day as I am kicking off another project.  

G’day mates!

Thursday morning was like Christmas morning, as Qantas Claus delivered another family member (and a suitcase full of goodies) to Australia.  Jay’s sister, Staci, was the last of the siblings to make the big trip.  So glad she decided to come!!  Ty and Lily couldn’t wait for Aunt Staci (or as Lily says, Aunt Taci) to arrive. I had to go to work, but we decided to keep Ty home from school for the day.  Everyone but me got to spend the day at the beach.  I was crabby.  I actually warned people that I was in meetings with that I was a bit crabby, knowing that Jay, his sister, my sister, and my kids were all soaking in the Rays while I was stuck at work.  Bleh.   

    
    
    
    
 The loot.  Oh how I love the loot that comes from the U.S.  The most adorable clothes, funky jewelry, yummy snacks.  To all of you US readers – never take it for granted.  Big thanks to Sherry, Kirk, and Staci for picking out all of the great stuff!   

 Princess.

One of the favorite items that arrived in Aunt Taci’s suitcase were 2 nightgowns for Lily.  But these are not just any nightgowns.  These are the most adorable princess nightgowns.  I tell you what (for maximum effect say that out loud in Mark’s accent), that little girl may be the cutest thing on the planet.  On Friday morning I went to pick out an outfit for Lily.  She freaked out when I pulled a normal dress off of her hanger.  “No!!!  Princess dress!!!”  We have created a monster… 

    
   
Nanny cam.

Lily has been uber spoiled this week, getting to spend heaps of time with not one, but TWO aunties!!  The first part of the week has gone by quick. The girls have shopped at Sanctuary Cove, took a “shortcut” to Surfers (via Snapper Rocks), gone to music class, entertained Jack who is stuck in a cast, and found some time to relax in the hot tub.   

    
    
    
 Currumbin.

Saturday morning we had swim lessons, then we headed down to Currumbin.  No visit is complete without a cuddle with a koala, wrestle with a python, and a selfie with a roo. Check, check, and check.  This was the first time that we have been able to watch the Aboriginal show – very cool.  Yes, Staci held the Python.  No, she isn’t crazy.  It wasn’t a wild snake that she found laying around the yard.  She survived!  It wasn’t a great day for lorikeets, but she did manage to feed one.   

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
Pin.

Sunday morning we packed up the boat (literally takes forever to get everything packed) and went down to the bar to watch a bit of the XCAT speed boat races.  We couldn’t see a lot, and I didn’t like the feeling of getting rocked every which way, so we went up to Jumpin Pin.  Ty wanted to pump some yabbies.  He fell asleep on the ride over, so Jay, Staci, Lily and I walked to the surf side.  Em caught some rays and waited for Ty to wake up.  There was literally nobody else on the beach.  Beautiful day. 

    
    
    
    
    
   
We didn’t pack a lunch, so we went to Tipplers for lunch.  Ty had fun trying to get as close as possible to the wild wallaby that was hopping around.  I got lots of snuggles from both kiddos.   

 

Church.

Staci is a Methodist minister, so the one thing she wanted to do on this trip was to go to a Hillsong church service.  Jay, Ty, Staci and I went to the Sunday night service.  I was not at all prepared for the contemporary style, which was completely opposite of what I grew up with in the Catholic Church.  Black room.  Big stage.  Drums.  Smoke. Lights.  Loud music.  It was entertaining, an interesting message, but not exactly what I consider “church”.  Probably won’t go back, but am glad we went.

Netball.

Staci came to watch Em and I play netball on Monday.  I think she thought it was interesting – kind of fun to watch and compare to basketball.

SSC Factor.

Wednesday night Staci and I took Ty on a date to the year 4-6 school musical called the SSC Factor.  It was a spinoff of the X Factor, and it was awesome!  Best school production I have ever seen.  Every kid participated – 290 students.  There were videos, popular music, lights and smoke, amazing costumes, surprisingly good choreography, and a bit of humor.  Ty had seen it at school that day, but loved watching it again.  Fun times!

Noosa.

Tomorrow morning we are going to have a mini vacation in Noosa.  We have heard so many great things about it, figured we better not leave without a quick visit.  Best part – no flight required!

G’day mates!!

Since it has been ages since I posted a blog and Jay and Em have been begging me for one, I am going to post this one before the weekend is over. Enjoy! 

Nanny cam.  

Despite Lily having a rare type of UTI (Morganella species), she and Auntie Em have had a fun-filled couple of weeks.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
Beautiful.   

I know we are living in paradise, but sometimes I am blown away by how pretty it really is. The sunrises and sunsets are shocking. Not sure what it is, maybe lack of ozone???, but whatever it is is amazing.

    
  Reds.

Ty has been playing rugby after school on Thursdays.  The coach plays for the Reds.  I don’t know who likes it more – Ty, Lily, or Auntie Em.   

    
 Blue Moon.

The blue moon struck our house.  The night of the blue moon (which unfortunately wasn’t actually blue but was ginormous and beautiful), lots of weird things happened.  The kids were CRaZY.  I mean for real.  We decided officially that we want to move back to the US in December, which was a stressful decision.  Lily had about 55 accidents.  And Ty ended up at the urgent care center.  Em was out with the Parker’s, and we were all lounging around watching a movie.  Ty went to lean down on the storage cube next to the couch.  It usually has a lid on it, but every once in a blue moon the lid is not on it.  It was dark and Ty didn’t notice the lid was missing, so he plopped his elbows down on what he thought was the lid, only to go crashing down inside the cube…smashing his lip onto the edge.  And then there was blood.  Quite a bit.  Well crap.  This isn’t good.  We pretty much got the bleeding stopped after what seemed like forever, and it looked nasty.  I googled lip wounds and most sites suggested he might need stitches.  Rae has a doctor friend so after a few text message exchanges, the dr suggested we take him to see the doctor.  As we were making that decision, Lily fell off of her chair at the kitchen table.  I can’t even explain what happened, she just sort of slid off the chair and landed on the floor.  Thankfully there was no blood and she was able to shake it off, but I couldn’t help but think “what the heck is happening?!?!”

Jay took Ty to the doctor and he thought it could use a stitch but the trama and pain probably wasn’t worth it since Ty was likely to rip the stitch out with his fidgeting overnight.  So they came home with some antibiotics and a scar.  Too bad he doesn’t have a good story for it…   

   
Garage sale.

I have been to a lot of garage sales in my life.  But I have never been to a garage sale that has several >$1,000 pieces of artwork for sale.  You know, just hanging out in the garage.  Em had to run back home for some cash.  Not for the art that hangs on the wall, but for the art that sits on top of her head.  She is fascinated by fascinaters, and the garage sale had several to choose from – that even came with the mannequin head for storage.  Deal of the year, folks.   

 36.

I can’t believe I am 36 years old.  I don’t really feel that old – not sure how it is supposed to feel though.  I often don’t act like I am 36.  But, as luck would have it, I turned 36 and survived my birthday.  {enter laughter aunt Melinda}. I really didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but also didn’t want to just sit around the house.  So Em, Jay and I wemt out on the town while the kids had a party with Miss Tia.  

The plan was to take the train to the city and walk a few short blocks to Caxton street.  Unfortunately, when we got to the train station, we were told that there was a track problem, so we would have to ride partway up in the train, then swap to a bus for the last 15-20 minutes.  I hate public transport.  Especially buses.  So does Jay.  So we took the car to Homeworld and called a cab.  A lovely (not) little (extremely) Prius pulls up on the side of the main road next to the parking lot we were in.  So Em and I literally hiked up the ditch in our high heels to get into his nasty cab.  $160 to get to the restaurant.  Kill me.

We didn’t have much of a choice, so we paid the legal their and went to a yummy steakhouse for dinner, Gambaros.  Then we crossed the street and went to our favorite Brisbane bar, Lefty’s (ok so I realize it is pretty much the only one we ever go to but why go somewhere else when I know how awesome Leftys is??).  We arrived a bit early (typical of a person of my age), so we went up to the hidden bar.  Yes, it has a hidden bar that is very different, but equally as awesome, as the main bar.  I mean, check out the decor. It even has an American flag hanging on the wall.  And Jack Daniels.  And Keanu Reeve’s younger, better looking, long lost twin brother as a bartender (who Em was crushing on at her 30th birthday bash).  These freshly juiced Apple drinks mixed with a shot of Jack are AMAZING.  So amazing that it wasn’t long before Em was taking the decor off the walls and putting it on our heads.  And snapping photos of me while obviously looking my best.  I am only posting the pictures to look back in and laugh 36 years from now.  That pirate hat got stolen off my head by some doo-da, so we spent the rest of the night trying to get it back from said doo-da (unsuccessfully).  I guess he thought he needed the hat to pick up chics.  Thankfully Em wasn’t THAT drunk.  We crashed a hens party (bachelorette) that was full of fun girls.  The bride was Canadian, marrying an Aussie bloke.  We all ate about 15 bags of popcorn.  Jay and I got to twirl around the dance floor a bit.  And before we knew it, it was time to head home.  We caught a cab, who told us the ride back down the coast would be $300.  Um.  WTF!!!  So we got out of that cab and into another.  We talked him down to $160.  Crikey…  The driver was super nice and talkative.  He was from India, and recently moved his wife here, but had to leave his 2 year old son with his parents in India.  No idea how they could do that, but it just goes to show how tempting the potential opportunities here are to people.  Em couldn’t believe that the cab driver doesn’t like to eat steak, and wouldn’t let it go until I told her that cows are sacred in India.  Mind. Blown.

So yeah, aside from the cab situation, it was a super fun birthday.  Just what I needed.  Thank you Jay and Emmy for organizing and entertaining a great night!   

    
    
    
    
   
Pirates.

As one might imagine, I needed to sleep more than the 3 hours the kids gave me Saturday night.  Jay and Em took naps and then they went for a little boat ride.  Ty wanted to do some fishing.  The pirate ship from the movie set was at the marina across the river, so they had to go check it out.  This time they could get right up close to it.  So cool!   

    
    
   
Ibis.

The great ibis strikes again.  That plate of peanut butter toast was Ty’s.  Lily waited patiently and quietly pushed her chair closer, closer, closer, until she could snatch that piece of toast from her brother’s plate.  This is a daily occurrence in our home.  No unattended plate of food is safe. 

 Joy.

If this isn’t the sweetest thing ever, I don’t know what is.  Joy baked me cupcakes for my birthday.  THaNK YoU!!!! 

 Netball.

We are right back into the next season of netball.  Gosh, I really love that game!  I am going to have to start a league when we move back home.  We had a late game – 9:20 – and as you can imagine it’s a tough one for everyone to make.  We were down several players so I asked Katie if she wanted to give it a go.  She hadn’t played before but she did great!  Thanks for playing Katie! 

 Birthday.

My actual birthday was on Tuesday.  Emily cooked me her yummy stuffed pasta shells.  Rae joined our crazy family for typical rambunctious dinner and brought a bottle of champagne (which was also yummy and didn’t last long).  Jay and the kids bought me my first pair of Ugg boots which I will definitely be needing in Iowa this winter.  Em gave me a gift card to get a pedicure – looking forward to using that.  Funny, both Jay and Em got me things to make my feet look prettier.  Are they trying to tell me something?  I am probably going to have a foot complex now.   

 Yard.

Our yard was in need of some attention, so Jay and the kids spent a lot of time cleaning it up.  Lily was a trooper and was right by dad’s side most of the day.  I was inside cleaning and organizing closets.  I have started a garage sale corner in the spare room.   

   
Ekka.

The Brisbane Royal Show – aka Ekka, which is sort of short for “exhibition”.  One might say it is sort of like the Iowa State Fair, but that is a stretch.  I shouldn’t even try to compare the two, but it’s impossible for me not to.  It is, well, different.  It is smack dab in the middle of the city, so parking is interesting.  There is a ginormous show arena in the middle of the show grounds.  And everything else is packed around it.  All of the food vendors were in an enclosed building, that was completely jammed full of people and, I’m sure you can imagine how many smells were floating around.  Sensory overload.  

But on a positive note, we ate corn on a cob on a stick, a potato on a stick, a poor attempt at a lemonade, dippin’ dots and a brat.  No funnel cakes, no Beef Quarters roast beef, no Pork tent.  No big yellow slide.  There I go getting negative again.  There was a Stockmen’s, which looked like it could be similar to Stockman’s (but with an E), but we had the kids and didn’t hang out there.  They had some animals in barns that needed some love.  They did have a really great petting zoo – it was huge!  The evening entertainment was a free show that was pretty full on.  Everything from aboriginal dancers to sheep dog show to ute races to monster trucks to fireworks.  It was pretty awesome.  We met up with the Coen’s for the show and the kids were totally entertained.  I was worn out by the end of the day.  

Thankfully we did get to have a little break in the afternoon while Lily slept.  Em had been helping a friend, Robyn, show horses all weekend, so we were able to hang out in the horse barn and rest our legs away from the crowds.  Em has made some pretty great friends here.  I love that they have taken her in and let her play with their horses.  Showing horses makes her happy.  Sleeping in horse barns makes her happy.  She is so weird.   

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
Fast Car Friday.

Jay finally drove the old ute to work on Friday. I apologize to everyone at the office for the major distraction and lost productivity caused by Brumby’s arrival on site.  It is a pretty sweet ride. 

 Doodie.

Doodie is deadie.  I am a bit sad, as he was a great little goldfish.  RIP Doodie. 

 Clean.

Saturday morning after swim lessons we all got a case of spring cleaning fever.  Jay finished pressure washing the patio then washed the car.  Em and the kids scrubbed the floor.  The kids might have had a little too much fun helping out and tried to make a swimming pool in the living room, so I had to follow on a towel.  We had some dance music blaring and I have to admit it was kind of fun dancing around on the towel.  You should try it sometime.   

    
   
Hair.

Check out Ty’s adorable new hair cut! 

 
Date.

Saturday night Em kicked Jay and I out of the house for a date night.  We planned it last minute and had a hard time finding a place that wasn’t fully booked.  We ended up going to the fancy Chinese restaurant in Sanctuary Cove.  It was yummy.  We had quail for appetizers, Peking Duck, and scallop stir fry.  And wine – too much.  De-lish!!!!! 

  G’day mates!