I am not a very political person, nor do I consider myself extremely opinionated on many controversial issues.  But in light of the terrible tragedy in Oregon, I have decided to jump off the fence.  I have a bit of redneck in me, and I completely understand and enjoy the adrenaline rush you get when you shoot a gun, especially when you hit a clay pigeon or a bottle off in the distance.  

For 2 years, I have been living in a country that suffered a similar tragedy ONE time in its history, and instead of waiting around, arguing back and forth, making and taking favors, the Australian politicians united and decided that ONE time was too many.  And there was no way they were going to sit back and watch while another preventable nightmare struck its innocent citizens.  So they started over.  They made EVERYBODY turn in their guns.  Now this wasn’t to say that a sane person with a clear background who enjoys hunting for sport or food was not going to be allowed to own another gun.  It simply made it harder to get one.  I know people here in Australia who have a gun.  They have to keep it locked in a safe where ONLY the authorized individual knows the code.  And they do random checks to make sure that nobody else in the household knows the code.  Would you believe that in 2 years, I have never once felt unsafe?  I didn’t realize this until this week, when I really gave it some thought.  I cannot say the same about how I feel back home in the states.  Now it isn’t as bad as most Australians think it must be like in the U.S.  It isn’t that I never feel safe in the states – it isn’t quite that bad.  But there are definitely places that I wouldn’t go.  Heck, I went to university at a school where there was no way I would walk past the eastern edge of campus for fear of being the victim of a drive by.

Yes, there are still crazy people here.  There are crazy people in every society.  You can’t really fix crazy, but you can stop crazy people from having access to something that can kill people. Yes, they still find a way to let out their craziness and hurt others.  About once a week we hear about a crazy person that macheted someone.  But at least with a machete, you have a fighting chance.  Your enemy isn’t sitting 100 meters away looking through a gun sight.  Think about it.  In the U.S., it is a daily occurrence to hear about a random shooting.  It is so common that you kind of become immune to hearing about it on the evening news.  Is that the kind of world we want to live in?  And raise our children in?

I remember vividly a day when I was taking MBA classes at the University of Northern Iowa.  We were about halfway through an evening Business Strategy course, and one of the guys in the class got a text message letting him know that a suspected gunman was allegedly heading to the UNI campus after an altercation with his girlfriend.  I felt trapped.  I felt so scared.  My ears were tuned in to noises in the hallway, praying that the door handle wouldn’t click and open.  I was sitting in the back of the room, farthest from the door, between an ultimate fighter and an ex-army guy, so I thought if someone came through the door I was probably in the safest place, all things considered.  Not that we wanted to venture out of the room, but we were not allowed to leave the classroom until the suspect was detained.  I was conflicted between wanting to run to my car and get the heck off campus, vs staying where I was – at least there was a door sort of slowing him down.  Scariest night of my life.  Amazingly, the professor remained calm and tried to continue on through the lecture, likely to slow down any panic attacks.  I don’t remember a single word she said that day, couldn’t tell you what the lecture was about.  But I can tell you that I never want to feel that way ever again.  And I certainly don’t want my kids to feel that way.  Ever.  

I should hope that our Anerican politicians could come up with a slightly better wording to amend the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, but perhaps something like this would be an improvement:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms {as long as you aren’t crazy}, shall not be infringed.”

The Aussies have proven that a country can fix the root cause of a huge problem, and live in peace…and still have the freedom to own a gun ONLY if there is a good reason to have one, and a good, clean background check.  They didn’t take away a freedom.  Quite the opposite – as people now have the freedom to enjoy their lives without unnecessary fear.  Well done, mates.  Well done.    

Bachelor.

Wowza!  I knew a lot of people would be interested in Em’s little bachelor story, but I didn’t think that it would nearly break the Internet!  I have taken a beating for not giving any other details, but when I say that I wrote that blog a month ago and told Em that I was just going to copy/paste/publish as soon as she said “go”, I meant it.  You’re lucky she didn’t wait any longer.  So to answer a few common questions from people…

No, poor Tim from Toowoomba has no idea about this blog.  Remember, he isn’t on Facebook, and she has not previously told him about the blog.  Give her another month and she might cave.  Serves him right for not being on Facebook (I hold a bit of a grudge because I can’t do any research on him).

Yes, she is still talking to him.  The nightly phone calls have cut back to a more normal level – about every other night. 

Yes, they have spent more time together since the first date.  She took him to a friend’s birthday party, and she spent a day at his place.  Jay and I were both jealous of her day at Tim’s.  They rode 4-wheelers, dune buggies, and considered going for a plane ride but it got cloudy.  Tim also doesn’t know that Em gets motion sickness, so I hope that if she does go up in the air with him, that he has a puke bag or two…

No, Emily will not be staying in Australia forever, nor any longer than December. Can you imagine the number of people that would hate me back home if I don’t bring little Emmer-Demmer back with me?!?!

Another interesting bit of information that I have learned about Tim the Pilot is that he also does a little dabbling in livestock.  He has a couple horses and a few sheep.  And the fences aren’t great so the sheep get out quite often.  Sound like someone else we know?  Weird…

And another crazy fact…Em knew only one Australian before moving here – a saddle maker named Ty Granger.  Em has been to a few horsey things with Ty and his family.  Last weekend Ty was telling her about some Outback show that he was in years ago (still trying to figure out more details on this – sounds fascinating).  Literally the day after Em heard this story from Ty, she was talking to Tim and he mentioned that he has a Ty Granger saddle.  Em has never talked to him about Ty.  Sure enough, she saw it with her own eyes – one of Ty’s saddles that he got because they WORKED TOGETHER 15 YEARS AGO ON SOME OUTBACK SHOW.  Seriously, people, I can’t make this stuff up.  

There.  You have more scoop on the situation.  And now that the secret is out I can include updates in my normal blogs.  Happy?  🙂

Tennis.

I received an email from the people that run the tennis courts in Hope Island saying that they were running a 3-day tennis camp over the school holidays.  I asked Ty if he wanted to do it and he got really excited, so I signed him up on Friday night.   Em and Lily got him squared away on Monday morning.  When she picked him up at noon, he was smiling from ear to ear and dripping in sweat.  The coach said he was a natural, and that he had done really well.  He earned raffle tickets for good behavior and cashed them in at the end of the day for some candy.  Day 2 he had another great day, and this time when he cashed in his raffle tickets, he chose a mini basketball and orange tape to wrap a tennis racquet handle.  Hmmm, I guess that was a clever way to talk us into buying him a tennis racquet (he has been using a racquet ball racquet).  The third and final day of camp, Em bought him a new racquet and signed him up for lessons twice a week when school starts back up.  He loved it!  He learned a lot, got some good exercise, and had a blast.  Yay!

   
    
    
 

Swag.

What the heck is a swag, you ask?  It is a coffin-like tent for one or 2 people, perfect for camping or sleeping in horse barns.  Em has slept in a friend’s swag when she has helped out at horse shows, and raved about how awesome they were.  Jay and I have been keeping an eye out for one to give to Em as a thank you gift for everything (and more) she does for us.  Jay happened to be out shopping and got an email from the local camping store saying swags were 20% off.  Perfect.  The look on Em’s face when Jay carried it inside was priceless.  She forgot to take it with her to a horse show this weekend, but we couldn’t resist setting it up to check it out. Ty insisted on sleeping in it most of the night.  Nice swag! 

   
47 pages.

I put together a power point listing of everything that I could think of that we need to sell when we move home.  It was a 47 page document (2 or 3 items per page)!  As soon as I sent it out to the staff at work, my email blew up – things flew off the shelves.  We probably only have about 20% of the items remaining to sell.  Feels good to have a big thing ticked off the list – should make packing up easier.

Swim.

This week Ty got to ring the bell and move up the Level 4 at swim lessons!  He was getting pretty bored, so I asked the instructor what Ty needs to do to move up. She told him that if he could show her his best swimming today, he might get to ring the bell.  He did great!  He just needed a little motivation.  Way to go, Ty! 

   
Good choice.

I am not going to go into a lot of details on this topic for the sake of the other kids/parents involved, but this week we had a huge win with Ty.  During the last week of the term, Ty chose to walk away from some mates that were about to make a really bad decision.  He ended up getting several smiley faces and a couple kung-fu pandas that day – heaps of positive reinforcement.  On Friday, Jay got a call from the Queensland Child Protection Agency about the incident, as Ty’s name got brought up in the investigation.  Thank GOD he made the right choice or this blog would have gone a completely opposite direction.  He got a super awesome Lego set for that one.  Way to go Ty!

Date night!

Since Em was off at another horse show, we decided to see if Miss Steph and Mr Kyson would want to spend their Saturday night with the kiddos.  They said yes!  So Jay and I cashed in a gift card that we received for giving a co-worker a bunch of Lily’s baby girl clothes.  They sent us to a restaurant called Seaduction in Surfers Paradise.  OMG.  Best. Meal. Ever.  The gift card was for a degustation experience, which I didn’t know anything about before Saturday night.  FAN-CY!  We didn’t have to think about a thing.  The only decision we had to make was whether or not we wanted the sampler or full size wines to go with the 5 course meal.  Um duh.  Easy decision.  And then plate after plate of amazingness just appeared in front of us.  I ate things that I would never have tried otherwise, and it was all the most delicious thing I have ever eaten.  Except for the fois gras, which does not stand for “fake grass”, nor is it anything like the “balsamic ice cream” description I got from the waiter.  I took one bite.  Nearly gagged.  Never again.  But everything else was simply incredible.  The very best part was the kettle corn that was served with dessert.  OMG.  Our sweet waitress brought out a little dish of extra popcorn to finish off the meal with our coffees.  Incredible.    

Riding in style…

   
Didn’t read the menu before the food arrived…

 
Can you believe how many forks and knives are on the table? 

 And the award for the most idiotic move of the night goes to the lady that had already had 3 glasses of wine.  I was so proud of myself for not stumbling when I walked to the toilets, that I completely misinterpreted the symbol on the bathroom door.  I didn’t even see a second door, and my brain obviously didn’t process that the picture on the bathroom door had a triangle with sort of broad shoulders.  I walked in and thought, hmm, that’s strange, is that a bidet?  And then as I was using the one stall, I realized that holy crap, I’m in the men’s room.  I started laughing hysterically.  Thank GOD there were no men that came in while I was in there.  Humiliated…  Serves me right to have that 3rd glass of wine – guess 2 is my limit. 

   
And this is what happens after 5 glasses.  Random shopping… 

 Surfers.

Since we both drank our way through our dinner, we caught a cab home Saturday night and left Brumby in a secure parking garage at Surfers Paradise.  It gave us an excuse to go back with the kids on Sunday. We did a little shopping (check out Ty’s crocodile Uggs), ate lunch at Hard Rock, walked through Ripleys Believe it or Not (Ty got a kick out of that), and had a quick play on the beach.  The kids and I took a good, much needed, nap when we got home.  A great ending to the weekend. 

    
 Nanny cam.

Em has had lots of fun with the kids during the first week of the school holidays – morning tea at the marina, dress up with Demia, park with Addie, living room tents with the kids, shopping with Lily, games and educational activity books with Ty, play date with Harry and the twins.  Her job doesn’t suck.  I can’t believe Ty only has one more term of Prep left.  

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
G’day mates!

So I have been forbidden by Em to say more about Sunday, August 16, 2015 until given the green light by her. If you are reading this post, then red has turned to yellow has turned to green. Yay!!
This blog is a copy/paste from what I wrote back in August.  🙂
So I failed to mention in my “What the H-Ekka” post an important detail. Emily met a guy. At Stockmen’s. Not Stockman’s, but the Aussie version of the fantastic State Fair watering hole. This was our first text exchange after meeting the fellow.

  

So I couldn’t stalk him. Damn. But I figured he was just a passing bloke, probably would get a similar message the next night of another handsome fellow that captured Em’s eye.  

But the next day I sent her this note, just to see…

  

Well well well. Little Emmer Demmer was playing it cool. Interesting. Knowing her like I do, and reading between the lines, that translates to “oh god, he’s really cute and awesome and I hope he calls”. I knew she liked him.

Next night, Stockmen’s is blessed with Em’s presence again. And this transpired.
  
Looks to me like little Emmer Demmer didn’t really care about the auctioneer at all. She was pissed that Tim the Pilot didn’t call.  

The next day was Sunday, the day that Jay and I were taking the kids to Ekka. She didn’t say much about the situation, as we were too busy being amazed by the randomness of Ekka. And then this happened. The scene was straight out of a movie. There was instrumental music playing over the loudspeakers in the show arena, a happy, slightly romantic tune. And Em’s phone rang. You couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if you tried. 

 
For the next week, I could have taken several pictures like this in different outfits at our house. I haven’t seen anyone talk on the phone this much since high school. Em’s phone would ring, she would look at it, smile, say hello, and then she would disappear into her room for hours. HOURS!! And if I would happen to pop my head into her room, she would get all blushy and tell me to get out.  

I knew right away that this was a good dude. In this day and age, not many guys take the time to call. Yes, a text message or a Facebook post is sweet and stuff, but there is little substance and is too easy to hide behind. But a phone call. You have to be interested in getting to know a person to call them. And again. And again. Good on ya, Tim the Pilot.

After a few of these phone calls, we learned that Tim is more than just a pilot. He is a heavy equipment mechanic that has a plane so he can fly out to remote areas of Australia to fix broken down equipment. And he has a repo business (Brooke will be excited about this as she is fascinated by Dog). Sounds like a guy with his head on straight.  

Keep in mind that while we all now know his last name, he doesn’t like the drama of Facebook so I haven’t been able to do any proper stalking. Crap.
We were thinking about taking the boat out on The following Saturday, so Em invited Tim to come along. He wasn’t sure if he could make it because he needed to work, but didn’t tell her no. As the week went on, the weather forecast wasn’t looking great for the boat. Em sent him a text to let him know that boating wasn’t going to happen. He used text messages effectively by replying with, “Movie?”
I wish I would have had my camera on her face at that moment. Priceless.
He did have to work on Saturday, and since he lives a couple hours away, he planned a day date for Sunday. Here’s how the day went.
Lily woke the house up at 4:00 AM.
Emily’s excitement kicked in and she was wide awake.

She showered, dressed, did her makeup, dressed again, fixed her hair, dressed again, fussed with her hair some more, and still wasn’t feeling cute enough. It is now 8:38 AM. I made her try on one of my shirts that she said “sooooo isn’t me” but made her look like Barbie. 9:05. Tick tick tick tock.  

I don’t know what we did for the next 3 hours, but just kept trying to stay busy. She was so nervous. “This is what I am 30 and still single!! I hate feeling this nervous!!!”

Finally, Tim showed up a little after 12:00. Jay won a little side bet we had going. I thought he would rock up in an SUV, maybe a Land Rover. Jay was convinced it would be a Toyota Hilux flatbed ute with a tradie box on the back. Jay won. Nissan instead of Toyota, but damn good guess. I snuck in this photo when they weren’t looking.

  

He walks up to the door, looks a little nervous, as he should because Emily looked like freaking BARBIE!!! So poor Tim. He didn’t know quite how protective I am of my family. And he didn’t know that since our mother and stepfather are 10,000 miles away, I had to ask the tough questions.  

“Hi Tim, I’m Nicole.” (Good strong handshake)

-“How are you feeling?” (Nice one, Tim, since you happened to be on the phone with Em after Jay and I went out to dinner and I might have had a teensy bit too much to drink.)

“Ha ha. I’m great, thanks. Was just a little happy last night. So, since I have never met you before and couldn’t stalk you because you aren’t on Facebook, I have a few questions.”

*groans from Emily*

“Are you a serial killer?”

-“No. Not yet.”

“Are you married?”

-“No.”

“Any kids?”

-“No.”

“Not that it matters if you do, but I need to know these things. And…are you going to bring her back safe and sound at the end of the day?”

-“Well, that is up to her.”

“Well OK. Now. Just in case she doesn’t come home safe, I need to have some evidence for the authorities. Look at the camera and smile.”

What a good sport.

  

Seriously, doesn’t she look like Barbie?!?!

This is just the beginning, folks. This dude, Tim from Toowoomba, planned a whopper of a first date.   

 I told her that I needed photo updates throughout the day so that I knew he hadn’t dropped her off in a ditch somewhere. This was the only one I got.

  

Em and I are big fans of The Bachelor, so I couldn’t resist this:

  

So yeah, the last part of the adventure was an apple pie from Yatala pies that he bought for Jay, the kids and I (well played, Tim from Toowoomba, well played), followed by the freaking drive-in movie. Complete with red wine, real wine glasses, and chocolates. Who is this guy? And how will he ever top this date?

So as I am writing this, it is Monday, 17 August, 2015. At this point I have no idea what will come of Em and her amazing date with The Bachelor From Paradise. But even if he doesn’t call her again, or take her on anymore amazing dates, I am thankful that she had one day, where one true gentleman showed her what it feels like to be appreciated, and respected, and treated like a princess. This, Emily, is why you are 30 and single. You don’t deserve to be told you are “a part time job” or that you make a guy “feel like he is in high school”. You deserve to be the center of one man’s attention. All day. Every day. Love you, sis!!

After keeping a secret for what seems like an eternity, I can finally let the world know where we are moving to in the U.S. !  Drum roll…………

DES MOINES, IOWA!!!!!!

  
We have been trying for several years to find a way to move to Des Moines so that we could be closer to our families, but it is difficult to find 2 jobs at the same time.  Jay is going to be working in the Cotton division, and he is really excited about the opportunity.  We are still working on finding a job for me – more to come on that in a later blog.  I am not too worried about this, as I am certain things will work out just fine.  

So now the fun begins.  We have to sell our house in the Quad Cities.  We are all a bit sad about this point, as we loved our home, our friends, our life, in the QC.  It should be interesting to try to sell a house from the other side of the world.

And we have to find a place to live in Des Moines from the other side of the world. I love looking at real estate, so I don’t mind the fact that I have to add a few Realtor.com searches to my day, but I don’t think I can actually buy a home until we are back in the U.S., which means we will have a temporary home before getting settled in a final home.  

And of course there are all of the normal move considerations – school, day cares, doctors, cars, etc.  I am surprisingly calm about it all (at this point) and am looking forward to getting started on the transition now that the news is official.

It should be an exciting few months!  

G’day mates!

So yeah.  The kids and I have worms.  No, unfortunately that was not a typo.  WE HAVE FREAKING WORMS IN OUR BELLIES.  This was NOT something that we were warned about before we came.  I have read heaps of books about Australia, watched several episodes of “Australia: The Story of Us”.  I am well aware of all of the dangerous creatures that lurk around every corner and try to kill you here.  But I was not aware of worms.  I have a vague recollection of some kid at daycare having worms, and I remember thinking NASTY!!! But I never in a cazillion years did I think we would get them.  So here’s the backstory…  Lily has been having a few accidents, which I know is fairly normal for a young girl who is potty training.  However, when the second assumed UTI test results came back negative, we wondered what was causing the accidents.  Em was talking to some other mums and they asked Em when the last time Lily was wormed.  Um.  What?  So I worm my dog, and I remember worming the livestock in the farm.  But people?  Apparently it is totally normal to worm entire families here every 6 months.  O.M.G.

Warning: this next section is graphic and not for the faint of heart.  And probably TMI, but I cannot hold back on this one.  While not completely convinced, but willing to see if it helps Lily, we gave the kids their worming tablets – which was basically a couple squares of a chocolate bar with meds.  24 hours later, Ty pooped out worms.  No joke.  Little tiny white threadworms.  I then proceeded to do some research and decided immediately that I was going to take a dose of worming meds that night.  Much to my dismay, 24 hours later, I did the same.  And that evening, Lily did as well.  SO DISGUSTING!!!!   

 Em and Jay jumped on the deworming bandwagon.  Somehow, they managed to evade the slimy little bastards.  How I ended up with them and not Jay and Em is beyond me.  I wash my hands 50 times a day.  I never share drinks or food with the kids.  I never eat anything unless it is on my plate.  Em is around Lily all day long.  Jay ends up sleeping with both kids most nights.  I am totally jealous of their anti-worm situation.  Totes jelly.  Ugh.

For any Aussies that are reading this, humans getting worms is not a common occurrence in the U.S.  

Enough about that…

Aunt Taci.

I am so far behind on my blog.  I haven’t written since Staci was here.  Have I mentioned how much I hate saying goodbye?  This one was only slightly easier because we are moving home in a few months, but it still sucked.  Choked back tears, lots of hugs.  

Legs.

It just so happened that the morning that Staci was flying out was the same morning that our friend Brian’s mom was flying in from the U.S.  They had their 3rd broken leg the night before (crazy long unbelievable story), so I was able to pick up Kate from the airport.  We helped out as much as we could – they were also moving into a different house that weekend (seriously – I couldn’t make this up).  Despite all of their drama, I have been so impressed with their positive attitudes, perseverance, and ability to remain calm.  I can learn a lot from them.  :). 

Scissors.

You know that temptation that you sometimes get when you are holding a pair of scissors and you see something that would be fun to cut?  Well, Ty felt the temptation and couldn’t resist.  Unfortunately the object of his desire was his school uniform shirt.  These are NOT cheap.  And we only have a little more than one term of school to go.  So I was pretty upset about the situation.  Ty spent a lot of time in his room, and he got a big lecture about how mom and dad have to leave him every day to go to work to make money to buy him clothes, food, a place to live, toys, and holidays, and that he completely disrespected us by cutting his shirt.  His punishment was to earn money to pay off his $40 shirt by doing various chores around the house – one gold coin at a time. Until it was paid off, he couldn’t watch TV or play on the iPad, 2 of his favorite things.  It took him 2 weeks, but by golly he got that shirt paid off.  I quite enjoyed those 2 weeks.  I got to sit down and relax while Ty washed dishes.  Awesome. 

 Athletics.

Ty had an athletics carnival (track meet) at school.  This came with much anticipation as he showed some sprinting abilities at the start of the cross country race a few months ago.  We practiced sprints and long jump the week before the big day.  The boys lined up for their race.  The tensions were high.  Ready. Set. GO!!!  Super fast!  Ty won!!  Oh yeah!  He did well in long jump and high jump, as well.  Proud of my little athlete. 

    
    
    
    
 Watching the videos after the race was almost as intense as seeing it live… 

 Swim.

My little fish are cute. 

    
 Fathers Day.

We celebrated Fathers Day by spending the day on the boat.  Both kids fell asleep on the ride to Couran Cove, so the adults got to enjoy a beer and the sunshine for a bit.  We headed into the restaurant just as the storm clouds rolled in, and the storm clouds rolled out as we were finishing up.  Good timing.  Ty made some pretty awesome gifts for Jay.  I bought him an Endless Summer print to remind us our time in Australia.  It was a great day with the world’s best daddy. 

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 Party.

One of Ty’s friends, Charne, turned 6 and had a royal ball party.  Ty put on his suit and looked just like Prince Charming.  Em and I stayed for the party, and I couldn’t get over the amount of cuteness in one place.  Such a fun night. 

   
Sale.

We started going through all of our belongings to identify what things we do not want to (or cannot) ship back to the U.S. We spent most of Saturday taking photos, cleaning things, and putting together a flier.  I have just a few more things to add, but should get it out to coworkers and friends next week.  If anyone is interested in some good deals, let me know.  

Crabby.

By the end of the day, Em was crabby as, so I sent her to the hot tub with a beer to try to cheer her up.  

 Road trip.

The hot tub didn’t quite do the trick, so on Sunday, the boys went north to a car race show, and the girls drove south.  We were hoping to see some whales, but got distracted by a roadside attraction called The Farm.  Of course we had to stop.  It was  such a cool little place, unplanned and unexpected.  There were adorable barns, a restaurant, fresh fruits and veggies, Scottish Highland cattle, heaps of chickens, and a fun playground for the kids.  There were heaps of people there, just relaxing and enjoying the day.  It was lovely.   

    
    
    
 Byron.

We headed into Byron Bay for lunch, shopping, and a play in the worlds most beautiful park.  This is exactly what Em needed – to go for a drive through the country.  When we were leaving Byron, I got on the interstate headed in the wrong direction.  I was worried about where I was going to be able to turn around, and was relieved when I finally found a spot.  It turned out to be the most beautiful scenic overlook.  The lush green countryside, with the deep blue sea beyond, and the clearest blue sky above.  Breathtaking.  Definitely worth the wrong turn. 

 Gymnastics.

Lily had her first gymnastics class.  She rocked it. She had so much fun, copied what the teachers did, showed a lot of strength.  Will definitely be continuing with more of this.   

   
Nanny cam.

Here are some random photos that Em took over the past 2 weeks. 

    
  
That’s all for now!  G’day mates!!

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!

Dead.

A few weeks ago, there was a terrible stench around the shopping center down the road.  There is an empty lot next to it that always has kangaroos grabbing a bite to eat in the mornings and evenings.  After just over a week of having to hold my breath as we drive by, I decided to submit a complaint to the city of Gold Coast.  There wasn’t a great category on their app, so I used the “Illegal Dumping” category.  Here was my submission: 

 They closed my case without providing a real response – just said I need to make that type of complaint in person or over the phone.  Which is weird but whatever.  Now that we are back from vacation, the smell is gone.  However, the mystery has been solved.  There was a letter stuffed in our mailbox from the city that said that every year, the mangrove leaves fall off the trees and decompose, causing a foul smell for a few weeks.  Ha!  It was dead leaves, not the dead body that I was certain was rotting away in the kangaroo field.   Thank goodness I was wrong!!  

 Netball.

My worst fear (slight exaggeration but required for dramatic effect) is to rock up to netball without putting on my shorts under my dress.  Wednesday when I got home from work I quickly changed into my netball dress. I was freezing, so I threw on a pair of trackies underneath.  When I got to netball and went to pull off my pants, I realized, oh F.  I forgot to put on my shorts.  And not to share too much personal information, but I’m not the granny panty sort of girl, nor do I play netball “carefully”.  So there was no way in hell I was going out on that court without something covering my bum.  I rolled up my long pants and got them hiked up high enough to hide under my dress, which got me through the first quarter – barely.  Then, thank god for Kel who thought to look in the team bag and found a skirt with built in shorts.  Seriously.  Why do we have to wear a dress to play an active sport?  *sigh*

Snow.

Both kids still have Melbourne on the brain.  Ty loves his new Spider-Man hat from Joy (thank you!!!!), and Lily has asked to read Curious George Snowy Day about 100 times.   

   
Wee!

Miss Lois Kleint, you are a genius.  I thought that while I took your advice in “Potty Train in Three Days” while training Ty the day after he turned 2, there was a good chance it was a fluke and the stars just aligned perfectly (or he is some sort of genius).  But I couldn’t resist using the same technique with Lily a couple weeks after she turned 2.  Holy cow.  It worked.  The book takes about an hour to read, and it is worth every second.  Here’s the cliff notes.  A couple weeks before go-live, we talked quite a bit about throwing away our nappies, being a big girl, staying clean and dry.  She helped buy some big girl undies, and Em “played potty” with her and her dolls.  Saturday morning Lily walked around the house and put all of her nappies in a garbage bag, and we walked them out to the rubbish bin.   

  

  

  

 She was all in at that point, because she knew the next thing we were going to do was to put on those super awesome undies.  And then the next 2 hours were, well, pretty crazy. Jay tried to gather everything he needed to take Ty out for a special boys day (aka leave the house so Em and I had one less distraction).  I was cussing him (in my mind of course) for not leaving fast enough.  Lily stood in (a few) piles of her wee – every single time was just seconds after I stepped away from her to go potty myself or grab a ponytail holder.  And Emily followed in her wake with a handful of paper towels, Clorox wipes, and dry undies.  Run to the toilet!!  Clean the mess!  Pick out a prize for making a wee in the toilet!!  An unexpected and unplanned (although I would love to take credit for it) surprise was having her big prize for her first wee be little toy birds (Lily calls them “tweet tweets”) that record and repeat what you say. “Lily stays clean and dry!!”  “Lily is a big girl!”  “Clean and dry – SQUAWK!!”  Dump, wash, rinse, repeat.  

And then, like magic, she just seemed to get it.  At 11:00 we put on her 7th pair of undies, and then she kept those dry until bedtime.  She put on a pair of special sleeping now training undies (not Pull ups) for a nap and I woke her after an hour – dry!!  When Jay got home, she was so excited to show Jay.  We were all chilling on the couch that first night, Em and I were wiped out from staring at Lily’s cute little bum all day, and Lily got off the couch and ran to the toilet.  All on her own.  Seriously.  Em and I looked at each other, our jaws on the floor.  Awesome!!  She woke us up at midnight and was just a little wet, enough to have to change the sheets.  And then again at like 3:00.  Moonlight laundry is always fun… 

    
   
Day 2.

The morning was a little bumpy, as there were some distractions (the boys were home) and she had to be reminded of what the expectation was.  But after just a few small dribbles where she caught herself shortly after she started, she was golden.  I let her nap a bit longer – 1.5 hours – and she was dry! The rest of the day was great!  That night she woke us at 2:00, dry.  Woke up the next morning – dry.  She said in a sleepy little voice “clean and dry like tweet tweet.”  So cute!   

   
Day 3.

I sent Jay to work, Ty to school, and Em and I had our first attempt to (du du DUHHHH!!!) leave the safety zone of our house and toilet.  We drove Ty to school, then we went to the park.  We used the park toilet successfully, and used our portable potty seat during our walk around the lake.  We went to a cafe for lunch and used the public toilet.  2 hour nap – dry!  I sent Em to the hair salon for a little pampering to attempt to ward off some homesickness that was creeping in (fair time is one of the hardest times).  When Lily woke, she was sleepy and extra cuddly, but she just squeezed out a little toots in the toilet like she had been doing it all her life.  No big deal.  This was huge, as I remember that being a scary struggle with Ty.  We picked up Ty a little early and walked around the lake again.  If you can’t tell, by this point Em and I just needed to be out of the house!!  We ran home, cooked dinner, and then Em and I went to play in her netball league.  Em played Goal Shooter and she did great!  But we lost.  Wah wah.  That night Lily woke at 3:00 – dry, and then again at 6:00 – dry.  For real.  

Day 4.

Tuesday was Em’s first day alone without nappies.  Ain’t nothing gonna slow them down!  They dropped off Ty and went to the Music play group.  Lily kept dry the whole day!!  She slept for 2.5 hours – dry!  I am so incredibly proud of her.  Both of them.  

Other stuff.

Nothing in this blog is nearly as exciting as hearing about Lily’s wee and toots, but, Jay didn’t want me to let the blog be published without mentioning that he got a new shifter for Brumby.  I don’t really know what was wrong with the one that came with it.  I didn’t particularly love the skull head on the original, nor do I love the plain Jane boring one that came in the new shifter.  I think we need to find either a kangaroo or koala head.  Don’t you think?  

Ant-man.

On the day when I kicked the boys out of the house, they drove Brumby to the office to pick up something and play on the tractors.  Then they went to see Ant-Man, which Ty gave rave reviews about.   

 Nanny Cam.

I got in trouble for not posting a Nanny Cam section in the last blog, but that is because we were on vacation and the nanny took all of the pictures in the last blog.  I could have titled the last blog “Nanny Cam.”  Here are a few from this week.  Music class, Fiji flowers, Emily’s tent mansion (her future home in the U.S.)… 

    
    
    
 
Fair.

So about that depression…  Bri is home with her lambs and projects at the Polk County Fair.  We would all love to be there to help.  Especially Em.  State Fair is going to be the worst….but it helps to know that Bri did awesome!!

 
 
That’s all for now.  G’day mates!!

4 hours in the air — 7 days — 1,700 km in the car — 4 hotel rooms — 1 near broken nose – 0 puke

Victoria, Australia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  After driving around the state for 5 days with a 5 year old and a 2 year old, one would think that we would be sick of the car, but thanks to the amazing scenery, comfy trackies, a fantastic chauffeur, and a couple cat naps, the time flew by.  Here is a recap of our latest adventure. 

 Flight.

The flight to Melbourne went surprisingly well with the 2 munchkins. Ty started off in the window seat, me in the aisle, and Lily in the middle.  Someone in an office with no kids that works for the airlines has made the decision that a 2 year old is safest in her own seat.  That person needs to be fired.  Or at least spend some time on a flight with a 2 year old and see how well they sit there and not try to unclick the super child proof (not) seat belt locks, and not try to stand up 50 times while taxiing.  So yeah, takeoff was a little stressful.  Once we got in the air, Ty decided he wanted to sit in dad’s seat (the aisle), which worked out way better.  Lily moved to the window and I was in the middle – easy access to both.  We hired an iPad for Ty, so he got to watch some different shows.  Lily watched Tangled.  Well, she set of watched it.  She watched it for a few minutes, then she switched to Grover, then pictures, then puzzle app, then Tangled.  Over and over and over again.  As we began our descent into Melbourne, Lily decided she needed to get the wiggles out before falling asleep.  I told (not asked) the flight attendant to bring me an infant seat belt strap.  She questioned how old she was, to which I replied “she turned two on Saturday and will not sit in that seat safely so bring me the strap now please.”  Good lord people.  Once I got the strap on her she snuggled up and fell asleep almost instantly.  Smooth landing.  Woohoo! 

    
 Hibachi.

Jay met us at the airport and after a short drive to the hotel, we met up with Joy and Lee and walked to China town for dinner.  We ate at a yummy hibachi restaurant.  The kids loved it!  Ty did an awesome job at the bowl catching game – better than I did!  He also got to try to catch as many eggs as possible in his mouth from the machine gun-style egg chopping chef.  He belly laughed his way through that little game.  So cute.   Em successfully ate an entire meal without using a fork – only chopsticks.

    
    
    
   
Aquarium.

Jay and I had to go to work on Wednesday (lame) so Em was flying solo with the kids – in a city she has never been to before.  She did mention something to me about how this next blog needs to be entirely about her.  She deserves it.  Seriously.  She walked the kids to the aquarium, ate lunch at a restaurant with them, and got them safely back to the hotel.  By herself.  This is the girl that hates cities, and gets lost going to the Iowa State Fairgrounds (even though she has literally been there 1,000 times). Sorry to the others out there, but she wins the award for Aunt of the Year.  The Sealife Aquarium was awesome (so I hear).  They had a really mean looking shark and fish that Ty said he has never seen before!  “The yellow seahorse is beautiful!” 

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 Markets.

Aunt of the Year.  Especially since we ended up getting stuck at the office and had to work later than planned.  She was in a good mood when we got home, and the kids were happy. She had ordered room service (Ty’s favorite thing about vacation) so they had full bellies.  We quickly changed clothes and walked down to the Queen Vic markets with Joy and Lee.  Holy wow.  The winter markets are apparently not as big as the summer markets, and while there were not many craft stalls, there were oodles of fun food choices.  We started off with some gluhwein (hot spicy wine).  Ty got a sweet new Spider-Man hat.  We danced to the coolest sounding band – the Scrimshaw Four.  Em and I ate amazing potato soup out of a bread bowl.  And then we danced some more. Awesome night.   

    
    
 Zoo.

Thursday Jay and I had to go to work again (lame).  And Aunt of the Year took the kids to the zoo.  She took my two rugrats in a TAXI by herself to the zoo.  And they had the best time.  Jay asked me if I would take them to the aquarium and the zoo by myself.  I quickly responded “hell no.”  Aunt of the Year.  Em has never been to a zoo (other than the Des Moines one that while nice, is not jaw dropping).  Helpful hint to future suitors:  she said that she “just wants to find a man who will take her on a date to the Omaha zoo.”  Ty loved being the man in charge of directions.  He followed the map the whole way through the zoo.  It’s a good thing he was there or Emily  would still be at the entrance trying to figure out which way to go.  She was amazed at how much the gorillas were like humans.  I think that was her favorite part of the whole vacation.  Or maybe her favorite part was having lunch with 2 children and 500 birds that tried to eat the bread off of Ty’s sausage roll that he spent 30 minutes peeling off – which he then dropped on the ground. And then the birds ate the sausage and Lily was screaming in fear of being the birds’ lunch.  Oh wait, that wasn’t her favorite part, that was her least favorite part.  But it makes for a funny story.  Ty loved the orangutans.  So much so that he left his super awesome less than 24 hours old Spider-Man hat by the orangutan display.  *sigh*. By the time they realized it they were too far past the orangutans and would have been pretty difficult to get back to.  Ty was devastated.  Lesson learned.  After wiping off the tears, they finished up at the zoo and went out front to catch a cab back to the hotel.  Um.  No cabs.  Crap.  She texted me for help (and I was counting an endless supply of ladders so I missed her text).  Instead of panicking, she used that little internet device in her pocket and called for a cab.  So proud of her!  Apparently the cab ride home was interesting.  Ty was making machine gun noises the whole way back.  I’m sure the driver couldn’t wait to drop off the crazy kid.  Lily fell out of the cab (no worries – she shook it off).  Aunt of the Year.  Successful outing to the zoo – the only casualty was the Spider-Man hat.  Woohoo!!! 

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 Shop.

Em and the kids got back to the hotel only a short while before we finished up for the day, and neither kid had had a nap, so they were all wiped when they got home.  Jay decided to stay in the room with the kids, so Em and I went out shopping with Lee and Joy.  After seeing the price tags at Tiffany, I was worried that I would leave the best shopping city in Australia with only a tube of nappy cream, but thankfully I had some luck at the Mac makeup store.  And then we found a leather shop that had b.e.a.utiful bags.  And it is the end of the financial year here so shops are trying to clear their inventory before the annual stock takes.  Score for me.  I got a gorgeous new leather backpack purse that is perfect for traveling.  Love. 

   
Max.

The shops were closing and we were all pretty wiped out (I am pretty sure I walked the length of the warehouse 1,000 times that day), so we needed to find a place to eat ASAP.  Lee came to the rescue.  We thought we were walking away from the action, but he kept saying “it’s just up here.”  And then we turned left onto an adorable little alley that was full of cute little restaurants, music, and happy people.  We stopped at one called Max and Lee was immediately swarmed with shouts of recognition, hugs, high fives.  I felt like we were with a celebrity.  Apparently he has been going to this restaurant since they first opened – every time he is in Melbourne.  He has hung out with the owner and staff a few times after hours.  They sat us right away at a table in the sidewalk and brought out an amazing bread and dip platter and a bottle of wine.  We listened to Emily give us her hilarious version of the day’s adventures with the kids.  We were all crying we were laughing so hard.  Emily couldn’t resist the temptation to order the kangaroo dinner.  They cooked it perfectly.  She loved it.  I am pretty sure she would have kicked her plate clean if she had had one more glass of wine in her.  For dessert, the waiter brought us out a complimentary dessert pizza that was topped with ice cream, strawberries, and Nutella.  Oh. My. Yum.  The food and entertainment for the evening was just perfect.  Highly recommend Max. 

 Great Ocean Road.

Let the vacation begin!  As we were waiting for our car at the hotel, we watched a police officer haul a baddy out to the cop car in handcuffs and throw him in the back of the paddy wagon.  It was awesome entertainment to start the day.  We loaded up the car and headed up the Great Ocean Road.  Wow.  Thankfully we had all taken our Travelcalm and nobody puked.  Because if we hadn’t, we certainly would have all been making good use of those Jetstar bags we grabbed on the flight in.  Curve.  Curve. Oh look, another curve.  Roll down the window, look at the ocean.  Curve.  The most beautiful drive, for sure.  Lily cuddled with her baby doll that she named Addie the whole way.  We stopped at a little cafe on the way for lunch, walked around a few shops to stretch out legs and let lunch settle, and then we were off again.  Ty and Lily ate more snacks than one can imagine.  As Ty says, “snacks are the whole point” of a road trip.  Forget the journey or the destination.  Only the snacks matter.  

We drove right in past our hotel in Apollo Bay so that we could go another hour on more curves roads to see the 12 Apostles.  Whoa.  It was worth the puke risk.  And the freezing cold.  Unbelievable.  Truly one of the worlds most beautiful tourist attractions.  I would also like to take a moment to point out that despite the name, there were only ever 9 Apostles.  One collapsed in 2012, leaving 8.  Not 12.  Ever.  Silly Australians. 

    
    
 Apollo Bay.

Back down the curvey road again to make our way back to our hotel in Apollo Bay – Seafarers.  We arrived after dark and climbed a steep hill.  We parked the car and unloaded the car in the dark – but could hear the roar of the ocean in the distance.  The little cabin that we stayed in was adorable.  It had a separate bedroom with 2 twin beds, a king bed off the living area with a slider door, and 2 little love seats that pushed together to make the perfect bed for Ty.  We dropped our things off and headed to the Great Ocean Road Brewery in town for dinner.  For the first time in 2 years, I felt like I was at home.  There were so many happy looking families eating dinner in town, all rugged up in their winter clothes.  I was in my traveling trackies (sweatpants) and nobody even gave me a strange look.  There were a couple dudes that got off of work and showed up in work boots, super short shorts (typical length here), a sweatshirt, and a puffy down winter coat.  Perfect. The kids had a little play area with a TV and comfy couches off in the corner and were totally content to sit in there and play while we waited for our dinner.  I had a bowl of soup and we drank some yummy beer.  I didn’t want to leave, but we had a cute little cabin to hang out in.  The cabin was not exactly well insulated – lots of windows to take full advantage of the amazing views.  We turned on the stove heater as soon as Lily went to bed to take the edge off the chill.  I actually slept in the trackies that I wore all day – with my hood up and my socks on.  Ty snuggled up in his “sofa bed”, Lily slept with daddy in the big bed, and Em and I had a slumber party in the twin bedroom.  When the sun came up the next morning, we were awestruck by the views.  We were up so high, looking down at the ocean.  Awesome.  I could have stayed there forever, but we had more of Victoria to see.  So we packed up the car (again) and headed back down the Great Ocean Road.    

    
    
    
    
   
Eagles Nest.

We didn’t take it all the way down the road because we had to venture inland to head to the mountains.  While we ideally would have loved to go to the Snowy Mountains, they were just a bit too far to make it to this trip – it would have meant another 4 hours in the car (one way on puke roads).  See, it’s kind of close…in the general vicinity…

 Forgive us for referring to them as the Snowy Mountains, but as longtime fans of the best movie of all time, we are going to pretend like we were in the Snowy Mountains.  But wow, the Alpine Mountains are amazing.  We drove and drove and drove.  Curves. Spelling games.  Number games.  Shape games.  Curves.  No puke!!  7 hours later, we pulled into Mount Beauty.  We stayed at The Eagles Nest, which is a very unique holiday home up on a hill overlooking the snow covered mountains, green pastures (filled with kangaroos), and the town of Mount Beauty.  The Eagles Nest was built in the 1970s, and has been kept up really well.  We walked inside and I instantly felt comfortable.  It smelled like grandma and grandpa Geisler’s house.  I half expected to see all of my Geisler cousins there.  The house is for sale if anyone is in the market for a gorgeous Australian mountain retreat.  We started on laundry and got a fire burning to try to warm the place up.  We went into town to get some groceries and dinner.  We ate pizza at an adorable little place called Flour + Water.  They had a bonfire in a bathtub burning out front – a perfect place to wait for our dinner.  They even brought out marshmallows to roast.  The pizza was yummy.  When we got back to the house, the kids ran about 100 laps around the living room while the adults enjoyed the comfy couches by the fireplace. Perfect.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch, Em was next, then Lily, then the boys.  It’s funny – the house has 4 beds, but we only used 1.  Em slept on the couch by the fire, Lily slept on a futon in the living room, and Ty snuggled in between Jay and I.  Emily had a lovely little campout with a perfect view of a sky completely full of stars.   

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

 Joy.

Joy had been exploring Melbourne with us and was particularly fond of Ty’s Spider-Man hat.  She stayed in Melbourne for the weekend and when she heard that Ty lost his hat, she went back to the markets on Saturday morning to buy him a replacement.  Sweetest girl ever.  Thank you!!!!!

Snow!

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful sunrise over the mountains, and kangaroos eating breakfast in our front and back yards.  Em and Jay cooked a yummy brekky for us so that we had lots of energy for the day ahead.  We were jamming out to a completely random radio station that was pumping out some fantastic mountain music.  We stopped in town to hire sleds, winter boots, and buy mittens.  Yes, folks, we really rented cold weather clothing.  For $200.  And chains for the car because it is a $300 fine if you get caught without chains in your car.  We drove up the mountain to Falls Creek ski resort.  As it was only 30 kilometers away, we didn’t bother with taking our Travelcalm.  Big mistake.  Nobody puked, but 3 of us were close.  Ugh.  There were no guard rails.  And the roads were narrow.  And curvey.  But we made it.  As we climbed higher,we saw more and more snow.  And then we arrived at Falls Creek, where some cars had several inches of snow on them.  Yes, there really is snow in Australia.  We realized that we didn’t have enough warm clothes for Lily so we rented (for $40) a snowsuit for her – much better!  We got all bundled up and caught a ride to a sledding hill.  We should have rented ice skates instead of sleds.  It was a really fast hill.  That didn’t have a good spot to slow down.  So the first time Ty went, he ended up going up the steep snow bank at the end and pretty much back flipped.  Thankfully he hopped up and smiled.  He went again, and then one more time.  The third time ended in disaster, as Ty bailed off of his sled to avoid hitting a girl.  He smashed his face onto the ice.  He is sometimes overly dramatic, so I stood there a second waiting for him to settle down.  But he didn’t, and another mom was helping him, so I ran down the hill.  Oh boy.  The mom had given him a Kleenex and it was full of blood.  He quickly filled a second Kleenex, so he and I went up to get him cleaned up and checked out.  Ski patrol probably thought I was crazy, but Ty wanted to see a nurse.  Ian was really nice, he asked Ty to explain what happened, made sure his neck wasn’t injured, and said that his nose likely wasn’t broken – but even if it was there was nothing they could do.  Ty fought the mountain and the mountain won.   

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
So yeah, we were done sledding, but Ty wanted to throw a few more snowballs.  Lily quickly joined in the fun.  Nothing like some good clean cool mountain air to rejuvenate my soul.  We had a late lunch and then headed back down to the house.  This time we took our meds (thank god) and the kids slept the whole way down.  Jay cooked tacos for dinner, I wrote my blog, and we sipped on some wine by the fire.  A lovely last night in the mountains.

Penguins!!

Monday morning we ate a quick brekky, fed the giant birds our scraps out the window, cleaned up the house, and were on the road again.  We made a half stop at McDonalds so the kids could get some nuggets, but didn’t all get out of the car.  We made it all the way to Melbourne before having to make a real stop. Road warriors.  The kids (and Auntie En) climbed on the play place for a bit, and then we buckled back in for the last hour and a half of driving.  I found a new favorite way to pass the time – spinning a minion.  Might be a bit looney at this point in the trip, but it was quite relaxing.  Enter cuckoo sounds.  We arrived at Phillip Island and checked in at The Waves apartments (was just OK, nothing like our other accommodations), and went for a quick walk up the Esplanade.  Then we drove to the Penguin Parade.  We wandered around the visitor center for a little bit before they opened the doors to find our seat for the “show”.  It was a beautiful evening – pink sunset, chill in the air, sitting on bleachers on a blanket.  If I wasn’t staring at the ocean waves rolling in, I would have thought I was at a high school football game.  When the sun went down, we kept a close eye on the water and then all of a sudden, wow!!!!  There were penguins!!!!  They came out of the water in groups – safety in numbers. They all quickly waddled their way to the rocks where they caught their breath, huddled together, gathered their courage, and then “ran” as fast as they could across the beach to their grassy burrows.  We watched maybe 6 or 7 groups come out of the water and then headed up to the boardwalk to see them up close.  I mean really close.  We were literally just a few feet from wild little penguins.  Their scientific name actually translates to “little penguin”.  They are only about a foot tall, and soooo cute!  I want to take one home with me.  The kids of course had to pick out a toy penguin from the gift shop.  Ty named his Jack.  Since Lily’s baby doll was named Addie, we figured we better name Lily’s puppet penguin Charlie.  (I think they miss the Coen’s).  The pictures below of the penguins are courtesy of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade website.    

    
    
   
    
 Rude.

I am going to go off on a little rant, one that I have been keeping to myself for quite a while, but since I nearly snapped at one of nature’s most beautiful shows, I have to mention it.  The world needs all sorts, and I truly believe that there is a need for many different cultures, backgrounds, and ideas.  I love that we are living and visiting places that have a variety of different types of people.  I think it is wonderful that my children know that there are many more types of people in the world than what is typically seen in Midwest USA.  However, I do not have any patience for anyone that disrespects and completely ignores the requests of a place they are visiting.  It is a privilege, certainly not a right, that we are able to get close enough to enjoy the penguin parade.  We are fortunate that the wild Penguins feel somewhat comfortable enough around humans to walk right past hundreds of people to make their way to their homes.  One of the reasons the penguins feel comfortable is because the researchers and scientists and rangers that work with the penguins have identified a few things that humans do that frighten the penguins.  One is to stand up.  One is to make noise.  And another is taking photos.  Of course to a one foot tall creature, a human standing up is a scary sight.  And there is a reason they wait for the sun to go down before crossing the beach – they don’t want the light of day to make them visible to predators.  So your camera lights make them nervous.  I completely understand.  And I respect the 3 simple requests made at the start of the evening.  However, literally hundreds of other visitors completely ignored the requests.  Emily and I became penguin patrol and had to tell idiots several times to sit down and put their cameras away.  Seriously.  Your selfie stick is not going to take a better photo than the free picture you can get online, so put it away.  And you running over to the seat 20 feet closer to the beach isn’t really going to give you a better view, so sit your arse down.  Rant over.

RSL.

We ate a late dinner at the Phillip Island RSL (Returned and Service League) thanks to a suggestion by the lady that checked us in at our apartment.  It is like an American Legion.  The food was great.  The kids were excellent.  They colored and did activity books and were content to sit with us and behave.  It was a very enjoyable dinner.  As we were just about ready to leave, the staff dimmed the lights and announced that every evening at 9:00 they have a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers.  It was a special moment.  Ty had a few questions afterward, and it gave us an opportunity to teach him a little bit about the country’s heroes. 

 Karts.

Tuesday morning we woke up, and got ready to head home.  Jay took the kids to the park while Em and I packed everything in our suitcases.  We had just enough time to squeeze in a 10 minute go kart ride at the most beautiful track on the planet.  Ty loved it!  He got to steer most of the time – Jay was in charge of the pedals.  Lily was a cheerleader.  Em was a photographer.   

        
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 Fly.

Once the race was over, we raced to the airport to catch our flight home.  We made it!! 

 The kids were great on the plane, despite it being a bit bumpy.  We survived!!! Another super awesome and fun vacation is in the books!  

 Dinner.

A big shout out to Rae for feeding Doodie  during the week, and for welcoming us back home with a yummy hot pot of soup. So much appreciated!!

Favorites.

Ty: go karts and throwing snowballs at dad

Emily: dinner at the hibachi restaurant

Jay: watching Ty’s nose explode on the sledding hill – and drinking gluhwein 

Me:  Eagles Nest and dinner at the brewery in Apollo Bay

G’day mates!