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!