Sausage Rolls.
I have been in the land of meat pies and sausage rolls for almost a year. I had attempted to embrace the food culture early on when I tried the meat pie… Unfortunately I found it to be quite disgusting. I have avoided the sausage rolls because they reminded me of pigs in a blanket. I assumed they were just like hot dogs wrapped in a pastry. This week, the jet lag was making me quite hungry in the mornings. Around morning tea time, I was starving, considering going to the vending machine to buy a packet of cheese and crackers, when my boss appeared with homemade sausage, fresh out of the oven, for Matt’s birthday. She put them on the desk next to me. I was smelling them, starving, and eyeing them from a distance. Everyone was eating the bite size pieces up like candy, so I thought, what the heck. I will do it. Oh my gosh. They were delicious. Like SO good. It isn’t sausage in a casing, like I had imagined. It was ground sausage, mixed with all sorts of things. I ate 3 of them. I will be learning how to make these, and I will share the yumminess with friends and family in the US when we go back. Shouldn’t have waited so long to try them. 🙂

Visitors.
I think I may have mentioned that Kirk and Sherry are coming to visit at the end of September. They will be here for 7 weeks, which is AWESOME!!

My cousin Jessi, Mark, Johnny and Alice booked their flights this week to come visit in November. YAY!!!! When I was pregnant with Lily, we were able to go stay at Johnny and Alice’s beautiful condo in the Florida Keys and had one of the best vacations ever. I am so glad we have the opportunity to return the favor.

Show Day.
Friday was a holiday on the Gold Coast (but not at work which is not awesome). It was Gold Coast Show Day, so most of the schools and businesses are closed in an attempt to encourage people to attend the Show. What is “the Show”? I can’t really figure it out… I looked at the calendar of events and it seemed to be all sorts of random things – dancing and singing, carnival, horse race (like a for real horse race), pig races (what the heck?)…. Maybe it is like a fair without the 4-H livestock shows?? I don’t know, so confused. Probably should have gone to check it out.

Someone with knowledge, please chime in and explain to me what the deal is with Show Bags. My understanding is that you pay admission to the Show, which is $45 per family. And then you pay extra money to buy a show bag. I THINK these are bags filled with trinkets and samples (ie junk). These are the types of freebies that we would pick up for free at booths at the Varied Industries building, and that I would never pay extra money to get. If it is what I am thinking, then why are people paying money for businesses advertising trinkets? So confused…

Movie World.
Since daycare was closed and the office was not, and Jay was still doing month end, I had to play Stay at Home Mom for the day. I knew both kids would be a wreck if I didn’t get them out of the house for a bit, so I took a half day of vacation and took them to Movie World. I never would have done it by myself, but Katie Coen had been contemplating doing the same thing. We figured that the 2 of us could manage the 5 kids. We had such a fun day! We spent most of the time in the kids rides area. They rode some of the rides over and over and over again. The bumper cars were a hit. We watched the motorcycle/ute stunt car show, which was awesome. I needed to get home to squeeze in a half day of work, so we left the Coen’s early, and had some ice cream before heading out. Lily got quite crabby when I pulled the milkshake straw out of her mouth. Ty fell asleep before we left the parking lot… Great time!!

State Fair.
Mom posted a bunch of pictures that she had taken at the State Fair. Enjoy!

Sleep Training.
For as long as I can remember, we have been in the habit of letting Lily come into our bed if she wakes in the middle of the night. She isn’t exactly a peaceful sleeper. Quite the opposite. She ends up laying sideways at the head of the bed, her head pushing me off the bed, her feet kicking Jay off the bed. I have loved getting lots of baby snuggles, but I need my sleep back. We decided that it is time that we break the habit. Thursday night I started the fun… Lily woke around 11:00. I normally would have just taken her our of the crib and brought her to our room, so she was not impressed when I have her a hug and a kiss, told her good night, and laid her back down in her crib. She cried, I patted her back, she stood up, I laid her down again. Repeat. When she seemed settled, I tried backing out of her room, one silent step at a time. She could sense it and cried when I made it to the hallway. After about 45 minutes, she fell asleep. She woke again around 3:00, and this time it only took about 10 minutes to get her settled. Friday night she woke once and jay didn’t have any trouble getting her back to sleep. Hopefully the next few nights will be successful in making a new habit – and giving me my sleep back.
Update…Sunday night sucked but Monday she slept all night!!

Swimming.
Saturday morning we got Ty back into swim lessons. It has been a couple months since his last lesson, so I was worried about how much he would have forgotten. Turned out that I had nothing to worry about. He hadn’t forgotten a thing and did great! He woke up Saturday morning excited to go swimming. He said he remembered how to do everything, and he did! It was nice to get back into that Saturday morning routine.

Sizzle.
We needed to go to Bunnings (like a Lowes), so we stopped on our way home from swim lessons. Jay was looking forward to the sausage sizzle… Yes, they sell sausages on weekend mornings. And yes, jay and Ty love them. I thought that since I had had such good luck with the sausage roll, I would give the sizzle a go. Ugh. Jay loves it. I did not. Oh well, I tried. One interesting thing is that sausages are served on a slice of bread, not on a hot dog bun. I prefer a bun – better bread-to-meat ratio. In any case (no pun intended), I won’t be eating the sausage sizzle again…

GFACE.
Monday was Labor Day in the US, and just another typical workday in Australia (bummer). For the past 6 (??) or so years, the Geisler family has gotten together over Labor Day weekend for a family reunion that we refer to as GFACE – Geisler Family Annual Camping Extravaganza. We actually started out the first couple years in tents, but have become more high maintenance over time and have upgraded our lodging to cabins. We are mostly sprinkled throughout the Midwest, so we have met up at a few different places to try to make the travel equitable. This year the GFACErs chose a little town in Illinois that is about a half hour from our house in the states. Even though it was sad for me to not be there in person, I felt like I was there in spirit. I was kept in the loop on the long list of memorable quotes (there are always heaps), tagged in pictures, and even got to say hi to everyone via FaceTime. I was happy to see that everyone survived the weekend without my famous meals spreadsheet. Not sure how, but they did. I am so lucky to have such an awesome family, and that we all make an effort to put our crazy busy lives on hold to spend time together. Dad would be proud.

Hot Dogs.
Since the theme of this blog seems to be all about cased pig, I figured I better end with one more. Australians celebrate Fathers Day in September – this coming Sunday. The daycare hosted a Hot Dog night (no moms allowed) so Jay got to go play with the kids and eat hot dogs. They played and did some craft projects. If I haven’t mentioned it in the past, I am really glad that we found such an awesome daycare. Bonny Babes is fantastic. Always going above and beyond to make memories for the kids.

Cyclones.
We may be 10,000 miles from Ames, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tailgate for the Cyclones. Go State! We made some snacks, dressed up in red and yellow, and cheered on the Cyclones to what ended up being a loss (boo) with the Coen’s. So we may have spent more time eating (hot dogs), chatting, chasing kids, and trying to get Apple TV to work than we did watching the game, but when you know the outcome of the game before it starts, the suspense isn’t really there. :). Game or no game, the kids and the adults all had a great time. So fun!

Maccers.
Ty got to go to his first birthday party this weekend. One of his classmates turned 5 and had a party at McDonalds. He had a great time, and even though his belly was crammed full of nuggets, fries, lollies, shakes, cake, and more lollies in 2 hours, he pretty much managed to control himself (and didn’t puke, which is amazing). He was excited for Emma to open up the pink horse Legos he bought for her. I chatted with the other moms while the kids ate and played games. He looked pretty cute in his crown.

I think that is about all for the past week – been a busy one! G’day mates!

There really is no place like home. I don’t think I have ever appreciated my home, Jay’s home, Iowa, the US as much ever before. Our last few days in Farragut were nice and relaxing, a great way to end our whirlwind Iowa holiday.

Zoo.
We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha with Memaw and Papa. There is a reason it has been voted the #1 zoo in the world. I have been there several times in the past, and every other zoo I have been to falls way short. It is laid out perfectly – plenty to see, fantastic habitats and viewing areas, and you don’t have to walk 30 miles to see it all. Fun for all ages, for sure. They opened a stingray area recently, so we were able to pet some stingrays. A tiger came right up to the window – I’m sure to say hi to Ty. Gorillas got pissy with a small dog that someone had brought into the zoo (not sure why that would be allowed?!?!).

My favorite part of the day, however, was being able to spend a few hours with an old college roommate, Anne, and her 4 year old twin daughters. I haven’t seen her in forever, but as luck would have it, she lives in Omaha and didn’t have any plans on the afternoon that we were going to be at the zoo. Yay!! It was so fun to catch up with her, and watch her girls explore the zoo with Ty.

Parks.
Even though Farragut is a tiny little town, it has two great parks. One is really close to Memaw and Papa’s house, the other is “across town” – which is only like a 10 minute walk. Ty spent a lot of time at them. We had beautiful weather the whole time we were in Iowa. Even the rainy day was nice.

Goodbye.
Memaw and Papa hauled us and our 75 (almost) pieces of luggage to the airport Thursday afternoon. Goodbyes are never easy, but this one wasn’t too bad. It really helps knowing that Memaw and Papa will be visiting us in Australia very soon. I tried to focus on that and somehow managed to choke back tears. Iowa. Who would have thought that the trip to Iowa, of all places, would be my all-time favorite vacation. Just perfect.

Flights.
The flights back to Australia were pretty good, all on time, good tail winds. The kids had a rougher time on this trip than 3 weeks ago. Ty got antsy about 12 hours in, and Lily was whiny most of the way. I think she had some sinus issues. Apparently so did I. With about 3 hours left, my head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. I spent the rest of the flight with a cold cloth on my head, trying to fight off the nausea. Thank you to the Qantas flight attendant who helped get Lily fed. And huge thank you to Jay for stepping up and taking that whole “in sickness and in health” thing to heart (and trying to keep me from feeling like the worst mom/wife on the planet).

Jet lag.
We tried to fight through the day on Saturday (arrived in Brisbane at 5:00 AM), but lost the battle around 6:00 pm. Unfortunately that meant that the kids and I were awake at 2:30 am. We watched the Fox and the Hound, then at 4:00 Ty was hungry (me too). We woke up Jay and had breakfast at 4:30 am. We did a little shopping and went to Burleigh for lunch and to make sure the beach hadn’t disappeared while we were gone. It sure does make it easier to leave home when we have those amazing beaches to come back to.

Mom asked me what jet lag feels like. That’s a tough one. I told her that it is probably similar to how she felt after 5 days of the county fair with 5 children in 4-H. It’s an extreme exhaustion, eyes feel really heavy, look bloodshot, you want nothing more than to crawl into bed but know you can’t for several hours, you wake up and are starving and craving roast & potatoes.

I have been most impressed with how my children have fought the evil jet lag. I’m writing this on Tuesday. Both days back at daycare have been a major success. Both kids jumped right back into their school routines. Ty skipped naps both days, Lily slept her normal 40-60 minutes. Granted, they are both ready for bed fairly early at night, but have been sleeping until around 4:30 am. We wake at 5:00, so their schedule isn’t too bad. Can’t complain!

Brumby.
Jay was able to get some pictures of the new ute in the daylight.

Hands.
Ever wonder how tall you are in horse measurements? Go out to your next draft horse show, find Jenson Shires, and look for the display of the adorable kid standing next to a beautiful Shire. You can stand next to the picture of Ty and find out how many “hands” you are. Emily had an amazing surprise when she arrived at the Nebraska State Fair – she nearly started crying. When she sent me a picture, I nearly did as well. Ty thought it was awesome! Such a cool idea!

Month end.
This week is month end. Jay is doing really well, considering the jet lag. The kids and I are getting along well, certainly neglecting the housework, but that can be done later. Should be an uneventful week as we all get back to normal. Have a great day!

I think the drive from Farragut to the farm felt like it took longer than the whole flight from Australia. I couldn’t wait to get home and see everyone!! We pulled in the driveway and saw the whole fam (minus Em who was helping get the horses ready at the Iowa state Fair) sitting on the deck – perfect. The whole day was great fun. I am pretty sure Ty is going to put Dewey the kitten in his suitcase, or bring a frog home. Lily and Bandit got reacquainted. Felt almost surreal to be there after being gone for so long. Grandma-grandma made the trek over. She is still, and probably always will be, the toughest woman I know. We had a yummy meal – thank you to everyone who brought food!! Our contribution was a package of Tim Tams – they were a hit! Such a good time.

Bonfire.
And Emily showed up!!!! I wasn’t expecting her to be able to make it. When the beautiful full moon appeared in the sky, we all headed out to the pond. A bonfire was lit, several fish were caught, beer was consumed, s’mores were cooked (but Ty didn’t like the “krangle” which was his newly invented word for burnt marshmallow), guitars were played. This is the type of thing I miss most about being away. So glad Mother Nature cooperated and gave us perfect weather.

Lily was in the house with Nana and Papa, and unfortunately when I dropped in for a minute, she had woken up very unhappy. I stayed in and got her calmed down, and got Ty to bed. Around midnight Ty woke me up and said his legs hurt. He had mentioned the other day that his bones hurt – figure it must be growing pains. He was miserable. Antsy, crying, couldn’t relax. We have him some Panadol (Tylenol) and made him drink a lot of water. It took a while but he finally calmed down. Poor munchkin. We ended up taking Lily to the doctor in the morning – mild double eat infection and an upper respiratory infection. Meds and a nebulizer (which she HATED), and she was on the road to recovery.

Fair!
I don’t know if you know this or not, but I LOVE the Iowa State Fair. I don’t know if I have ever missed a year. The food, the friends, the people watching, the everything. It is fantastic. On the way there we sang “our state fair is a great state fair! Don’t miss it! Don’t even be late!” My niece, Brianna, is showing sheep, and my sister, Emily (and pretty much my whole family) were also helping some friends with their draft horses. Ty got to ride in the truck and trailer with nana and papa, and then he spent the entire day helping. He unloaded the trailer, fed the sheep, and helped with the horses. He even got to ride in the wagon with Murari – pretty much the highlight of his day. Well, that, or the time a nice man paid Ty a dollar for sweeping up the sawdust out of the aisle. He wants to buy a special treat today. He ate corn dogs, drank lemonade, and enjoyed an ice cream cone. He didn’t stop until we got in the car around 11:00 PM.

We were excited to be able to spend the day with some other friends and family, as well. The Gee’s, the Conaway’s, and Bubba all came. Jessi and Mark joined the fun. Lily was such a trooper.

I am writing this next section on Monday morning, so the rest of the week might come out as a blurred mess. We had the most awesome time. Where to begin??? Probably more about the fair. Ty is definitely my son. He loves the fair, the barns, the milkshakes, the lemonades, getting dirty and nobody cares (in fact is preferred), walking 12,000 miles and not complaining, taking it all in. Lily was a trooper as well. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy being there. I don’t think she cried once in the 3 days we were there. Well, 3 days with Jay and I, 4 days for Lily, 5 days for Ty.

The highlight of the fair, hands down, was when Ty got to ride in the mare cart in the show arena with Ray-ray. Ty had spent the first 2 days in the horse barn, helping any way he possibly could, carrying tack, sweeping the aisles, non stop. I was a very proud mama, watching my little man step up to the plate and work. Nobody had to twist his arm, or offer him bribes, he just worked. He saw that everyone else was busy, and he didn’t question it, just jumped right in and helped wherever he could. As I was falling into bed at midnight after day 2, my sister, Emily, sent me a text and Said that Ray wanted Ty to ride in the cart with him the next day. He just needed a suit coat and dark jeans. When we woke the next morning, we didn’t tell Ty – I wanted Ray and Bean to be able to tell him. Brooke and I spent the entire hour long drive to Des Moines working the phones, calling every place that might have a little boys suit coat. We lucked out and found one on clearance at Von Maur, so after a quick stop (and a chipotle burrito – couldn’t pass that up), we arrived at the fairgrounds. Ty couldn’t wait to get there – and he didn’t even know what was going to happen. He was walking ahead of us, in his cowboy clothes, strutting along, swinging his arm, hop in his step. Such a confident little man.

Ray and Bean told him the news, and yep, he was excited. The show wasn’t until 5 or so, but as soon as they started getting the horses ready, he wanted to put his show suit on. Jay took him into an empty horse stall and got him ready. When that stall door slid open and he walked out, everyone oohed and ahhhed – even random people walking by that we didn’t know. Man, he looked handsome. And when he put on his Australian hat, Lordy. I couldn’t handle the cuteness.

Show Time!
I don’t think Ty knew exactly what to expect in the arena. That cart went FAST! When they first entered the arena, Ty had a look of terror on his face, but after a couple rounds, he relaxed and I could tell he was having the time of his life. I was taking pictures and videos and a lady came running up to me and asked who was in the cart with Ray. I told her it was my son, Ty Shearer. She ran back to the announcer booth and came on the loudspeaker. “Riding with Raymond is Ty Shearer. He is certainly the cutest driver we have had in the arena today.” Word.

Ray – I know you didn’t have to do that for Ty, so thank you for giving him that memory. I know he will never forget it. Ever. That is permanently ingrained in his 4 year old brain. Thank you for allowing him to help, showing him the ropes, and without realizing it, teaching him that hard work and good behavior pays off. Jay and I can talk to him about that stuff until we are blue in the face, but you showed him a valuable life lesson. Forever grateful for that.

I know there were lots of people in the barn those days, watching over him, teaching him new things, being patient with his gazillion questions. I can’t thank all of you enough. Pretty sure we are going to have to get a draft horse or two when we move back to the states…

Other fair fun.
Pictures say a million words.

Special treatment with the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Bathy Wathy Time!

Got some cuddles in with Court and Jeremy’s sweet babe!

Quad Cities.
We drove to the Quad Cities on Thursday morning and (yay!!!) got to see Ann, Will, Belle, and Elle. I think Ty could spend a week at Will’s house. Those two boys are likely going to cause some trouble someday. I overheard them standing out by the beans, talking about combines. Ann ran us all over the countryside snapping pictures that I am sure are going to turn out awesome. We sat by the pool for about a half hour (not long enough) before we had to head to the hotel. Quick trip, but so glad we got to see the Steward’s.

Bowling.
We got checked in, rushed to change, and headed down to the bowling alley. The next 4 hours are kind of a blur – many of our great friends and their kids stopped by to chat. It was so good to see everyone. So good. Ty and Jana jumped right back into their crazy fun play (after a gigantic hug), so many new babies. Lots of things have changed in a year, but at the same time lots of things have stayed the same. I don’t know if everyone else felt like this, but it seemed almost like we had never left and were just hanging out with friends that we just saw the other day. Mark of true friends. I was so busy that I didn’t even take a single picture (nuts!). Such a good time.

When we got back to the hotel room, Ty finally decided he was hungry – he had been way too busy playing to eat. So we ordered room service before crashing.

Corporate.
Ty and Lily got a special treat by having Miss Lindsay watch them Friday morning at the hotel while Jay and I went to corporate for some meetings. Miss Lindsay has been a blessing for us for 4 years, and I am so glad they got to spend some uninterrupted time together.

As Jay and I were getting our visitor badges, we ran into some old coworkers/friends. That was how the whole day went. Wherever we went, we saw familiar faces and got caught up with lots of people. So nice being back at Corporate. Our meetings went really well. It is so nice to be able to talk to people about our careers/experience/challenges/opportunities in person. Walking into the Treasury department felt like going home. It was hard not to set up camp in my old cubicle and get a deal done. I also got to meet a few new people that I work with at my new job. So glad we made the trip over.

The plan was to rush back to the farm after our meetings, but we decided to stay one more night. I needed to stop and breathe a minute after go-go-going for 2 weeks. And I needed some chill time with friends. We killed an hour or so at the hotel pool. The Bach’s whipped up an amazing meal with like zero notice, and the Blint’s joined us for dinner, drinks, and dessert – which Ty somehow turned into his 5th birthday celebration. No, his birthday is not until may. And yes, of course Rachel had awesome birthday candles. It was a beautiful evening, perfect weather for sitting on the patio, awesome time.

Home.
On our way out of town, we drove through our neighborhood. It was pretty quiet, didn’t get to see as many people as we had hoped, but the house is still standing. It looks just about like how we left it. Big thank you to Mr. Paul and Mike for taking such good care of the place. We did get to stop and see Gary. He was quite surprised to see us. We had a nice chat before hitting the road again.

On the way home, we dropped Ty off with Papa and Aunt Brookie do they could go to the fair one more time. Nana watched Lily, and Jay and I went to Paton to have dinner with Mark and Jessi. Ok, whoa. Paton, IA. Population like 200 or something, and they have an awesome restaurant/bar. Such a nice thing Mr. Bauer is doing for that community – and the communities surrounding it. We had a great time, started to make some plans for their trip down under in November, lots of laughs.

Sunday Funday.
Our last day at the farm was perfect. Jess, Brianna, Emmy, Brooke, mom, Steven, and the 4 of us just hung out. All day. Hair was “done”, cat naps were taken, ham balls were eaten, skotcharoos were made and devoured. Grandma grandma made a surprise visit. Yes, she is 88. Yes, she still drives. My grandma is tougher than your grandma. Chores were done, mule rides, malts were drank, and Ty learned how to drive Papa’s lawn mower. What took my mother 2 years to figure out how to drive, took my son 2 minutes to work out in his brain. So much fun.

Prep!
In all of the excitement of the last week, I can’t believe that I almost forgot to share our exciting news! After 8 months of fortnightly phone calls to my new best friend Mary at St Stephens admission office, Ty has been given a spot at big kid school! He still has to pass an interview (lord knows what they will ask and how Ty will respond), but barring any major disasters, in January Ty will be in the Prep 2015 class at St Stephens College (not really a college like we are used to in the states). This was our top choice, and I am so thankful to have this major unknown figured out. Yay!! We still need to work out before/after/vacation school care, but we have the big problem solved!!

Goodbyes.
So saying goodbye sucked. Ugh. I really dislike it. The choking back the tears, the quickly running off and looking away so that we don’t all see each other’s red eyes and tears, so not fun. But this time felt a little different than a year ago. This time I know what lies ahead of us, it isn’t a huge unknown that we are venturing off to. We have several visitors lined up to come see us down under, and are trying to convince several others to come down as well. And honestly, the first year has flown by. We should be back home sometime between August and December 2015, all subject to change of course, but at least we have a rough idea. Time will go by fast, I am sure.

I am sure that I forgot to include heaps of stories and details about the past week. I think it would be impossible to include every bit of awesomeness that we just experienced. To everyone that adjusted their schedules to make time to see us, drove out of their way, entertained our children…thank you for making our “vacation” home so perfect.

We have a few more days to spend some quality time with Memaw and Papa and the gang in Farragut before catching a plane on Thursday. Looking forward to the week ahead!

Ahhhh….Farragut…. My little oasis, home away from home, comfortable, cozy, lovely little Farragut. The sleepy little town in southwest Iowa has been the perfect place for us to attempt to recover from the forever-long trip and the jet lag. The days are kind of a blur, but I will give you a recap to the best of my foggy memory. What day did we fly in again? Saturday night, right? Yes, we left Australia on Saturday, travelled for more than 24 hours, but arrived on Saturday. Reminds me of that classic riddle about the old cowboy that rode into town on Friday, stayed for 3 days, and left on Friday. Let me know if you can’t figure out the answer. No tricks on the Australia trip, just the good old International Date Line..

Surprise!
So Sunday. What did we do on Sunday? Nothing really. Didn’t go anywhere. Relaxed. For the first time in I don’t know how long, we didn’t have plans, didn’t have anywhere to go, we could just relax. Sherry mentioned that some people wanted to stop by and see us after they got done with church and would be here for a late lunch. Sounded great. As lunch time was nearing, the jet lag took over and I dozed off for a bit on the couch. I was woken by someone touching my arm and a familiar voice saying my name. I thought I was in a dream, but I opened my eyes and saw a teary-eyed baby sister Brooke standing next to me. WHAT?!?! And then I saw my mom coming down the steps, followed by Steven. Sounds of Ty shouting for Nana and Papa! Laughter! Hug a bunches! Puppy dog kisses! Oh my. What an AWESOME surprise. I was not planning on being able to see my family for a week, which was nothing short of torture but logistically the best plan. Leave it to Sherry and mom to work behind our backs and secretly devise a master plan without us having even the faintest idea. Steven, being the trooper that he is, got home from working the night shift and jumped right in the car for the 3 hour trek to Farragut. They only stayed for a few hours, but I cannot say how awesome those hours were. Surrounded by people that I love, and who love our little family so much… I didn’t get too emotional when they were here (likely due to the shock of the situation) but am literally soaking my pillow with silent tears as I am writing this snuggled next to a sleeping Lily. Love them.

Ty has had the best time playing with Jay’s old toys. They were pulled out of the attic and given a proper bath before each being inspected, transformed, and flown around the house. Yes, Jay remembers how to transform all of them. Duh.

After we got the kids to bed, jay and I needed to go to Walmart. Oh Wally World, with your endless supply of cheap and awesome USA products. I stocked up on heaps of toiletries, undies for the boys, shoes for Lily (only $3 each!!), and a small fortunate later, our first shopping outing was a success.

Birthday.
Monday was my 35th birthday. Wowza. That sounds so old. We went to Nebraska City so I could hit up The Fort – a fantastic western store (it’s no Western Edge but I couldn’t wait that long). I tried on half the store and found a few cute things. The boys got tired of waiting for me and went to the shoe store down the road and got Ty a new pair of tennis shoes. Jay was finally able to get my phone working properly with a temporary Verizon number (yay!). We ate lunch at Runza (yummy), picked up some food at Fareway, and the boys grilled out for dinner. I was able to get some work done. Apple bars and ice cream for dessert. Overall, a great day. So thankful to spend it with Jay’s family.

Tuesday.
OMAHA!! Let the shopping begin. Ok, so maybe I can’t really call it shopping when I only go to one store, for like 3 hours (I tend to lose all track of time in that place), but I can no longer say that I am sick of my clothes. Well, at least for 6 months or so. If there are any ladies out there that have not yet shopped at White House Black Market, treat yourself to a Pretty Woman day and go get some retail therapy. I have never been a fashionista – but this place takes the thinking out of getting dressed. And everything looks adorable. I got a ton of stuff, a mixture of work clothes and fun clothes. I might have bought a jumpsuit. A.dor.a.ble. Jay might have had a minor heart attack when the credit card fraud alert came through his email, but after him making a comment about a semester of college, I reminded him about the souvenir sitting in our garage in Australia. No more comments. :). He has to admit, the clothes do look pretty darn cute.

The boys were sent off to a different mall while Sherry, Lily and I bought half of WHBM. They went to Dave and Busters after they got their shopping done to play video games. Pretty sure Ty’s mind was blown. We had a yummy lunch at a little cafe, then had the boys pick us up to go back to Farragut. Got a bit more work done in the evening.

Tavern.
Staci and I wanted to sneak away for a bit, so she and I went up to the Farragut tavern for a bit to catch up. While the topic of conversation was not necessarily a fun one, I am glad that she and I had a chance to spend some uninterrupted time together. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am to have been allowed to join the Shearer family? Despite ups and downs, they somehow manage to stay strong and positive.

KC.
On Wednesday, Jay and I did something we haven’t done for over a year. We went away, by ourselves, for an overnight trip. Kirk and Sherry (and Staci and Riley) – thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love my children dearly, don’t get me wrong, but I was so excited to sneak away. I have not been away from Lily, other than to go to work, and the 2 or 3 times Jay and I have gone on a date. So while a part of me was nervous and anxious and not sure how she would get along, I knew we were leaving the kids with people who love them as much as we do. I tried not to worry about them and just enjoy the time with my husband. We went to Kansas City, shopped at the Plaza, had a delicious dinner with some great friends who I have missed dearly, and stayed at a beautiful hotel. For the first time in a year, I slept with both ears closed. No worries about a crying baby, a scared boy, or anything. Aside from the 4:00 am feeling like I might puke from eating entirely too much delicious food at Houston’s (appetizer, ribs, potato, dessert), I slept great.

Work.
Thursday morning we headed into the office to meet some people that do similar work to what we do in Australia. It was a great day – met some nice people, learned quite a bit, and have some great resources to take back down under. Worth the trip, for sure.

As if I needed anymore calories in my belly, I couldn’t resist the Taco Bell sign, so I had Jay drive through and pick me up a supreme double decker taco. So bad for me, but oh so good. We conveniently also happened to be right next to a Quik Trip, so I picked up a gigantic cup of the worlds best ice to eat on the car ride home. Not flattering photos, but can you tell how excited I was?

When we got home, the kids were good. Ty was sleepy but happy, Lily was, well, no worries. I think Memaw and Papa were a little tired, but everyone seemed to have not been phased by our little mini vacation. Phew!!

I read my book while the boys watched football, Ty crashed early, Lily wasn’t far behind him. I think Lily is pretty comfortable at Memaw’s house. What do you think?

NE City.
On Friday, Jay and Kirk helped get Riley all packed for college. Staci stole Ty away for the day, and Lily fell asleep on my lap (she didn’t sleep worth a darn Thursday night). After Lily woke up, Sherry and I headed into Nebraska City to pick up my ring that was getting repaired and to go to the VF outlet. Another successful outing – the extra suitcases are getting filled at a steady pace. 🙂

Whips.
It was around dinner time when we finished up, so we met the boys in Sidney at Whips Steakhouse. Always delicious. Jay, Kirk and Riley showed up….no Ty or Staci. She apparently wasn’t sick of him yet, so she wanted to take him to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course he said he wasn’t hungry – he knew he could fill up on popcorn. :). They ran into some friends at the theater and I think Ty thought it was pretty cool to sit with the big boys. Ty came home all sorts of excited, HU-HA-HUTting his way around the house (he may have ninja-chopped his ice cream cone across Memaw’s dining room). I didn’t know ahead of time that a day with aunt Staci was in the plan, so glad it worked out! What a special memory Ty will have.

It is Saturday morning, and my family will kill me when they find out I am laying in bed blogging instead of getting ready to hit the road to see them…everyone else is asleep – I guess I am too excited to do that. Everyone will be there – I. Can’t. Wait!!! We are going to have a little party this afternoon/evening (all are invited to stop by!!). Sunday is the first Iowa State Fair day. More fun ahead! Hooray! Hoping to see many of you this week. 🙂

The week was kind of a blur. Jay had month end, so Miranda and I were on our own in the evenings. Every night I packed a little bit, trying to chip away at the thought of packing for 3 weeks. I was planning of shopping (a lot) in the states so I wasn’t too worried about forgetting anything. Ty was excited to finish packing and get to the United States.

Brumby.
The world’s largest souvenir arrived at our doorstep this week. After what seemed like months of negotiations, hours of phone calls with Murray (g’day Jay), and over a week of transport time, Brumby has arrived from Western Australia. Ok, I admit it, it is pretty cool. The interior needs some love, but the outside is pretty sweet. I love the body style, and yes, the paint job is a teensy bit loud. I am not crazy about the Australian army stuff on the rear tailgate, nor some of the stickers in the window, but overall it looks good. When we get back from the states, Jay has to get it inspected before it is street legal in Queensland, so he could only drive it down to the roundabout and back to park it in the garage. It is loud. I mean, like, really loud. So loud the neighbors were popping their heads outside when Jay started it up. Oh boy… Ty loves it. Jay does too. Sweet ride, mate. I will have to get some pictures of the whole thing when we get it out of the garage in the daylight.

Cookies.
Miranda needed something to keep her entertained during the day, so she decided to start a business. She stayed up Wednesday night baking a bunch of chocolate chip cookies. Thursday morning Ty woke her up early and told her, “you can’t make a million dollars in your sleep.” She put the cookies in ziplock baggies and took them up to the front gate. Tradies start lining up and have to wait until 7:00 to come into the neighborhood, so she hit them up for a gold coin per bag ($1 or $2). She only sold one bag and I think her motivation plummeted. She slept through morning tea and was laying out at afternoon tea, so she didn’t sell any more. So much for her million dollars… But we got to eat some yummy cookies. 🙂

Morning Tea.
Friday morning Ty’s school hosted a morning tea and brought in 3 ladies from the public schools to talk about the transition from kindy to prep (like preschool to kindergarten). It was a really helpful discussion. They have us a checklist that lists out all of the things that a child should ideally be able to do before going to big kid school. I think Ty can do most of the things on the list, will be fun activities to try out and see what we need to work on. He is really young as his birthday is near the cut-off, but he is so stinking smart.

The ladies spent a lot of time talking about special needs, and how the most important thing is to know your child’s special needs, and to let the new teachers know in advance. I started wondering about what I would need to tell a teacher, trying to think about what they might need to know – and them I started worrying that I don’t know of anything that might need extra attention. Hold that thought.

I asked the parents if I am the only person that isn’t sure where their kid is going to school in January. Half the parents raised their hands and said they are in the same boat. Some people recently moved to the area and are on wait lists, some are having a hard time finding a public school that their kid can go to (they don’t live in the right catchment area – school district), or the schools in their area are not great. Made me feel a little better that I wasn’t alone.

After the meeting, I talked to Ty’s teacher, Miss Tu. I started to ask her if there were any special needs that Ty has that I might need to pass on to a big kid teacher, and she laughed and said, “no, nothing at all. Ty is so intelligent, and confident. Might just need a gentle reminder to use his gentle hands during active play, but that’s it.” Phew!! Then one of the administrators came over to give me some options for schools in our area, and she told me that Ty will be successful wherever he goes. That 10 minute conversation eased a lot of my concerns/doubts about whether or not Ty was ready to go to school. Now we just need to get him into one. They mentioned that many times people will not get their kids into their school of choice right away, so they go with their backup plan, and then 2 weeks later spots open up at the top choice. They have to hold spots for 2 weeks,typically, and if kids don’t show up, then they offer the spot to the next kids on the list. The worst part of this is that you have to buy uniforms at both schools – even public schools have uniforms. I am hoping we get confirmed at our first or second choice schools before the school year starts.

I worked from home Friday afternoon and finished up the last bit of laundry. Friday evening I got the rest of the bags packed. 4 checked bags (3 empties tucked inside for all of our cheap and wonderful US goodies), 2 carry ons, laptop backpack, stroller, backpack baby carrier, diaper bag, purse, and Miranda’s bags. Jeepers, we don’t travel light. The Coen’s stopped by for a little bit Friday night to bring us a US laptop power cord and to give them the buggy keys to use while we are gone. Then it was early to bed. 4:00 wake up, last minute packing, hurry up and wait for the 6:15 shuttle to arrive.

Miranda.
Now is probably a good time to talk about Miranda. Her trip to Australia wasn’t as exciting as we intended – jay was sick, traveling, and working, the kids weren’t totally healthy, and we were busy getting ready for the trip home, so she didn’t get to do as much cool stuff as we had hoped. But I think she still had a nice time. I think Australia was good for her soul. She arrived with a lot on her mind – it is not always fun to be a 17 year old girl, especially in small town Iowa. But after week 1 – getting a lot off her chest, sunshine, and no drama, I saw her start to smile more. By the end of her stay, smiles came easy, laughter rolled out of her, and the tension was gone from her shoulders. Let’s hope she is able to stay this way for a long time. We had so much fun together, she was a great house guest (she even organized my pantry!), the kids loved having her with us. Such a great time – went by too fast.

Travel.
I won’t bore you with all of the travel details of the seemingly endless trip home, but here are the highlights. Ty got to ride in the front seat of the shuttle bus, which he thought was awesome. Brisbane to Sydney. Quick layover.

Sydney to Dallas. The kids did awesome. Lily slept most of the trip, never once fussed. Ty didn’t puke at all!!!! I actually got to watch a couple movies and read a book. I couldn’t sleep, but Jay and the kids did.
6 hour layover. Thank goodness for the kids play area in Dallas, and for Chilis chips and queso, bottomless Dr. Pepper (with ice!), and a bill that would have cost us over $100 in Australia was only $57!! Dallas to Omaha. Too easy. Memaw, Papa, Staci, and Riley waiting to greet us – wasn’t expecting to get so emotional, but after going strong for about 30 hours I guess the exhaustion got the best of me, and I got a bit teary eyed. So good to be here…

We drove through Freddy’s on the way home and got a cheeseburger (delicious), got to Farragut around 11:00, kids played, Jay got my temporary phone number installed, bathed Lily, took the best shower I have ever had, and tried to get the kids ready for bed. 1:00 AM bedtime stories and both kids didn’t seem like they were going to be able to sleep. Ty stayed in his bed for 2 minutes before going up to Memaw and Papa’s room. Lily fell asleep in our bed. Ty woke at 7, we woke at 8. Not bad…hopefully we can stay awake and get adjusted quickly. So good to be in Farragut. So good. More to come!

Thursday morning did not go as planned – typical Shearer style. Ty seemed to have picked up a bug and had a low grade fever. My mama side of my brain was shouting “don’t go!!” but I felt like we couldn’t postpone our trip. So, we headed to the airport. Along the way Miranda got her first lesson in holding puke bags in the car. Then we got on a plane and flew to Mackay (tickets were only $50 one way!!). We drove 2 hours north of there to Airlie Beach, which is on the mainland near the Whitsunday islands. We found out later we could have flown directly into Hamilton Island and stayed there…good to know for next time. The drive was quite nice, heaps of sugar cane fields everywhere. It is harvest time, so we saw some equipment in the fields, and these little trains hauling carts of sugar cane from the fields to the mill. Not something we get to see every day.

We arrived at Airlie Beach, found our hotel (Waters Edge), and walked down the really steep hill to the esplanade. We had missed lunch so we ate an early dinner at a little sidewalk restaurant. Then we walked around and stopped by a couple shops. We went back to the hotel and I had to lay down – I was fighting a headache. The rest of the gang put on their swimsuits and went to check out the pool, which was a 4 level pool and hot tub. We had some feathered friends watching over us while we were there. So cool.

Crocs.
Friday morning we were able to finalize our plans just in time and catch the Crocodile Safaris tour. I have to admit I wasn’t super excited about this outing. I figured it would be cheesy, just sort of OK. Boy, was I wrong! We followed the shuttle bus out into some dirt roads and into the Australian bush. Along the way we drove through a forest that was FULL of butterflies. Everywhere. All different kinds. Monarchs, yellow ones, blue ones…. We arrived at a covered picnic area and waited for the tour to begin. It started off on the right foot with jokes about the permanent port-a-potty facilities (which were actually quite nice, all things considered). Ty was fascinated by the crocodile skulls.

We did brief introductions where everyone had to say where they were from. Ty piped up when it was our turn. Turns out we are from “New Zealand.” Oh Ty…everyone got a good chuckle when we told them we are actually from Iowa.

And then it was time to get on the boat. I was a tad bit nervous, but nobody else seemed to be fretting. We found our seats and Mic (this wasn’t really his name but it seems fitting for a guy that goes out looking for crocs every day) headed upstream. It didn’t take long to find the first if many crocs. Mic has been doing these tours for 14 years and knows the crocs really well. The commentary throughout the boat ride was very entertaining. Interesting facts about crocs in general, personal stories about each of the crocs we saw in the river, and of course a few croc attack stories (most of which involved drunk idiots). He pulled the boat right up close (sometimes too close for this mama) and the crocs just laid there and watched us. We followed one gigantic croc up the river for a ways. He would come up, then duck under water, and we wouldn’t see him for several minutes until he decided to pop up and say hi. Fascinating.

We came back to shore for lunch and then rode in wagons behind a tractor on a bush tour. I wasn’t looking forward to this part if the tour, but once again, I was captivated by it. We learned so much without it feeling like learning. The guide that did this part of the tour knew so much about the plants, animals, and history of the area, and was an excellent storyteller. We watched one guy literally lick the butt of a tree ant because it tastes like lemon. I could share all of the stories with you, which are fascinating, but then that would ruin it when you all come down and see it for yourself.

After the bush tour, we came back to “camp” for afternoon tea – bully tea and damper, which is a type of bread cooked over a fire and was delicious with sugar cane syrup poured over top. Such a great day. The tour guides were fantastic – didn’t over do anything, just let us experience a day in their lives. Highly recommend it.

Big Fury.
Saturday we were booked into a boat tour of the Whitsunday islands on a boat called Big Fury. I was looking forward to this day because I couldn’t wait to see the beaches that are all over the internet if you google Whitsundays. What I didn’t expect was the over the top amount of awesomeness that was packed into Saturday. We got on the boat, which was open air and fast – guaranteed not to have seasickness (very desirable for both Ty and I). Captain Matt and first mate Braden were taking care of us for the day. Braden had some pretty cheesy jokes but was such a lovable guy it didn’t come across as cheesy. He genuinely seemed excited about doing his job. We got all settled in (it was a bit chilly but not unbearable).

So we are cruising along in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Ty is asleep on my arm, I am gazing out to see just happy as can be, when I saw a huge creature jump out of the water. I shouted “WHALE!!!!!” Holy crap! I saw a whale!! A real live whale!! So Captain Matt pulled back the throttle and got as close as is legally allowed. It was a mama humpback and her baby. Baby was a bit of a show off. He kept coming out of the water, flopping into his back, showing us his belly. He kept wanting to get closer to us, but mama kept circling him to try to keep him away. She was huge. I mean huge. She would show us her back, then it would disappear, and them a couple times she waved at us with her gigantic tail. I got some pretty good video if you want to check out Facebook.

I was amazed at how beautiful the islands were. I guess I was envisioning flat sandy islands, but they were mountains, covered in green, rocky cliffs in areas, and the water was an unbelievable blue/green color. We anchored the boat in a secluded area protected by a couple islands. Lily was asleep, so Jay and Miranda put on their snorkel gear and jumped overboard to check out the coral and fish. Ty got to ride in the dinghy with Braden – he thought that was pretty awesome. There wasn’t enough time for me to snorkel, which was OK because it was pretty cool out.

Then it was hammer down, past the most beautiful beach that is full of crocs, snakes, spiders, and sting rays (so we cruised in past it). Ty was loving it. No sign of seasickness!

We were dropped off at Whitehaven beach for lunch and relaxation for a couple hours. We didn’t realize that the boat had to anchor down out to sea a ways, so I went into panic mode when I realized Captain Matt was leaving and our diaper bag, towels, and sun screen was on board. Braden said that Matt would be bringing the dinghy to shore after lunch, so for the next half hour I was praying that lily wouldn’t poop, she wouldn’t start screaming for a bottle, and the sun wouldn’t destroy her skin. Amazingly, everything was fine. As soon as Matt came ashore, Jay and Ty rode out to the big boat to get our stuff. Another mama in the tour did the same thing – I don’t think it was clear that we had to take all of our things to land. Anyhoo, no worries. Ty asked Captain Matt “how fast will this jet boat go?” (I am sure in his best gravelly race car announcer voice) and Matt said not too fast with dad in the front. So they dumped dad off and Matt took Ty for a spin. Ty thought that was pretty awesome.

Braden has a special talent of taking the best beach pictures ever. He was trying to get some takers but nobody was taking him up on his offer, so we told Ty to do it. Braden laid down on the sand and told Ty to jump. I couldn’t believe the picture! So of course Miranda and I had to do it. And them Ty did it a few more times. And then everyone on the beach did it. So fun!

Aren’t they cute?

I don’t want to ruin a surprise, but I have to tell this story. Miranda wanted to get a picture of her name in the sand. So she asked Father Nature (Ty) to let her borrow a stick (he had found about 20) and after careful discussion about how and when he was going to get said stick back, she went about writing her last name in the sand. She was just writing away when I thought, hmmm, that doesn’t look right. And them she shouted, “oh my gosh! Scroggie doesn’t have 2 o’s!!” Oh lord…yes, she is expected to graduate next year… Too funny.

After a couple glorious hours on the beach, back on the boat we went for our even chillier ride back to the mainland, which got delayed by THREE huge male humpback whales. They came straight to the boat. They were probably 10 feet from the boat. Coolest. Thing. Ever. Seriously – have I mentioned lately how blessed we are to have this experience?

When we got home, we had to wait for our towels to dry so we put them in the dryer and went down to the hot tub. We splashed around there for a bit, then got cleaned up for a late dinner. It took forever but was pretty tasty (no, Miranda did not have the kangaroo/lion dish, nor did she have the kangaroo loin dish, but she did have lots of questions about whether the plate came with both types of animals). Ty was being extra good at dinner even though it was late and he was tired. I think it was because he “got ready” and put on deodorant, hair gel, and handsome clothes. And he practiced his finger-gun-shooter-look-out-ladies move. Lily didn’t last long…

Sunday morning was spent packing (ugh), driving back to Mackay, and flying home. We landed just in time to make a quick stop by Currumbin so Miranda could hug a koala and feed the lorikeets.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Quick week ahead of us before flying back to the states on Saturday. Yay!! This was one of the best vacations. Full of unexpected surprises, great company, and overall awesomeness. We are all pretty worn out though – Lily couldn’t say it any better… G’day mates!

Miranda!
I feel like a lot has happened since I wrote last. Let’s see… Jay ended up sick most of the week – fever, achiness, overall yuck. I don’t think anyone else caught it…hoping it doesn’t spread.

We got the newly reprinted car back from the smash repair shop – just in time for Jay to pick up Miranda from the airport. She sat next to the pink-haired crazy cat lady the whole flight, only slept for 2 hours, but survived! Welcome to Australia!

Whale.
Jay thought she probably needed to see the ocean right away, so he kept on driving down the coast a ways. We had heard that there was a beached whale near Palm Beach, so they thought, why not? They parked at Tallebudgera and started hiking up the beach. They had a pretty long walk to get to where the whale was. I was talking to Jay on the phone, completely jealous that they were about to see a whale up close and wondering why the heck I went to work, when I heard jay yell “nooooo!!! Don’t push it in yet!!” And then I heard them both running, shouting, half laughing, half crying (sort of), as they tried to sprint the last bit to see it up close. Have you ever tried to sprint on sand? Yeah, doesn’t work real great. They sort of saw it get pushed back in. Still a really cool first experience for Miranda!

They came home so Miranda could wash the travel stink off of her, then went for a quick buggy ride. Miranda couldn’t fight back the exhaustion any longer and took a short nap. Jay woke her up so that she could go see the kids at daycare. Ty was especially excited to see her! Although he keeps calling her Aunt Staci… 🙂

Birthdays!
Jay and I decided to take the day off since it was Miranda’s 17th birthday and Lily’s 1st birthday. It was a beautiful day – perfect for a boat ride. We had a yummy brekky then loaded up the boat. We rode out to Couran Cove and got there earlier than normal. It was a Friday, so they didn’t have the train running to the surf beach, so we set off on foot. Ty rode in the stroller and lily rode in her new backpack carrier. It probably took us a good 45 minutes to get there, but it is so worth it. That beach still takes my breath away.

I have been wanting to take some good pictures of the kids on Straddy but never remember to bring the camera. We remembered this time, and also brought Lily’s owl for her 12 month picture. Miranda also did some “senior picture” poses – they all turned out great! So happy we got to spend the day with the beautiful birthday girls on a beautiful island in sunny Australia. Blessed.

1 year!
Can you believe Lily is a year old?!?! I can’t. She is such a doll, sweet little thing. A bit cheeky, but what fun we have with her! She is starting to drink cows milk out of a sippy cup, but it doesn’t seem to be her favorite. She loves all kinds of food, but birthday cake might have been her most favorite food ever. She can take a few steps unassisted – so big!! She makes all sorts of noises, one of her favorites is the growly super fast car sound just like her brother makes. She also loves to blow raspberries on mama. Such a stinker. Love this little munchkin to pieces. Happy first birthday Lily bean!

Shots.
Party’s over. As soon as we got home from boating we had to take Lily to the doctor for her 12 month immunizations. She didn’t love it, but was pretty tough. A few tears and she was good to go – but she did give the nurse a nasty look as we were leaving.

Melbourne.
Saturday Jay had to fly to Melbourne for work (annual stock take – or as Ty says “to count tractors”). We spent Saturday morning finishing up laundry and getting Jay ready to go for the week. We went on a quick buggy ride to the park to let Ty play on the equipment for a bit before lunch, then Jay had to leave. :(. He left Ty in charge.

Ps. Melbourne was freezing. Glad I wasn’t there…

Buggy.
After lunch we wanted to show Miranda got to practice “driving” the buggy on the left side of the road. We went for a long ride – Ty fell asleep – and made it back home safely. Miranda passed the test. She now has earned the right to cruise around the neighborhood while we are at work.

Paddle board.
Miranda doesn’t have much on her must-do list, but one is to try paddle boarding. So on Sunday we drove down the coast. First stop – Rainbow Bay beach to show Miranda Snapper Rocks. Ty and Miranda played in the sand while Lily and I “walked” along the sidewalk. It was almost lunchtime so we headed to Burleigh to get California Tacos for lunch. So delicious… Next up, paddle boarding! We drove a short way to Tallebudgera and got Miranda signed up for an hour board hire. It was a pretty windy day, and the tide was flowing out really fast, but she did really well!

Fun.
Miranda and I kept the kids entertained by baking chocolate chip cookies, painting, and making magnets. Messy but fun!

Package!
Terra sent us a package of goodies from the US. Ty literally ripped into the bag of Cheetos. I was able to snag 3 of them before the entire bag was gone. My favorite part were the Rice Krispie treats…and the note on a napkin. Thank you Terra!

Naps.
I knew this time was coming, but wasn’t looking forward to it. Ty is a napper. Always has been. He is a creature of habit. Every day for as long as I can remember he takes a nap after lunch. In January he will go to big kid school and they don’t have nap time, so they start weening them off about this time of year. I was expecting a monster, but Ty has handled it really well. He did have a day where he couldn’t stay awake and they let him lay down, but the rest of the week was fine. He was tired at night but didn’t necessarily go to bed super early. It is getting harder to wake him in the mornings, though. This was what the first day of no nap looked like.

Thursday.
The bread here has a big label that shows the day that the bread was baked. It is really nice because you know exactly how old it is, and since bread molds faster here, it only lasts a few days. I asked Miranda to go to the store on Monday and bread was on her list. She was having a hard time finding what she was looking for so she asked for help. “Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where the Thursday bread is?”

Zoo.
Jay got home on Friday (yay!!). Miranda wanted to go to Steve Irwin’s zoo, so we headed up north on Saturday morning. It is about an hour and a half drive. That was the first day we changed Lily’s car seat to forward facing. She quite liked it! Both kids slept the whole way there. It was colder than we were expecting, and unfortunately I hadn’t brought a jacket, so first stop was the gift shop. I got a fleece from Terri Irwin’s “Cougar Collection” (oh yeah), and a billion dollars later we left with an Australian cowboy hat for Ty, fluffy pink boots for Lily, a puzzle, sticker book, random bar mat…

And then it was time to pet some animals. Crocs, koalas, & roos. Crikey!

c

Camels.
Miranda and Ty waited patiently in line forever, but it was worth it. They had a blast on the camel ride.

Ty and I watched the tiger show while jay, Miranda and Lily walked the 5 miles to the Africa section of the zoo. Ty loved the tiger, couldn’t believe there were guys petting it, giving it milk and hugs. He was shocked when it climbed a palm tree to get some steak. Pretty cool show.

We watched the croc show at the Crocoseum. Ty loved that as well. Big crocs chasing a guy out of the water, a snake around a lady’s neck, birds everywhere. After the show I had the scare of my life. Ty insisted on going out of the Crocoseum a “new way”. He wouldn’t listen to come back and kept on going. Miranda followed him out and jay and I took lily to the stroller. Apparently Ty was too quick for Miranda because she came to the stroller without Ty. I went into panic mode. I sprinted around the Crocoseum and finally found him. He was scared. I was scared. He learned a good lesson, and I was reminded to never ever let him out of my sight. I felt like the worst mom ever. :(.

Jail.
Sunday morning we went to check out Boggo Road Gaol (that’s really how they spell jail). I wish I could tell you some interesting facts about the jail, but unfortunately I was dealing with a little boy who was not at all interested in listening to the tour guide’s stories. I did catch a story about the fact that there were only 2 toilets for over 100 prisoners, and they only had about 20 minutes once a day to use them. Their alternative was a metal can. Every day they brought their night cans in to be cleaned. They left the cleaning job for the worst prisoners. I can think of a couple people that I would like to have to make clean my can…
The prison was shut down in 2002 after hunger strikes, rooftop riots, dramatic escapes all made the jail become font and center in the media.
Ty did like the part of the tour where he got to go inside the jail cells. I might have had to take him into a jail cell at one point to lecture him about how to behave. But Miranda seemed to really like the tour, so not all was a fail on this one.
I could tell that Jay was going downhill fast, and as soon as the tour was over he went straight to the car. The rest of us got some lunch at the markets, then stopped at a little park to play. I didn’t realize how sick Jay was until we got to the car. I drove home, and as soon as we pulled in the driveway he ran in and got sick. Poor guy was running a fever all day on Sunday. He didn’t get out of bed until his doctor appointment on Monday morning.
Miranda and I took the kids for a buggy ride. We found the kangaroos and Ty hit some golf balls. Not a very exciting afternoon, unfortunately.

Schools.
As I mentioned earlier, Ty has to start big kid school in January. I have been on a wait list for St Stephens College (they start in college and go to university after their senior year) since last January when I realized he had to go to school next year. I have been calling Mary every 2 weeks. She always seems appreciative to hear from me, usually tells me there hasn’t been any movement, keep calling. It has been really stressful for me. Ty is starting to ask questions about where he will go to school next year, and I can’t give him an answer. So on Wednesday Jay and I went for a tour of the school. Mary greeted me with a hug (I think I have called her more than my mom). She made a comment about how she thinks we are going to be able to make something happen, she just needs a little more movement. Fingers crossed.
Two girls from year 11 (juniors) gave us a tour. Wow. I am not sure I can even describe it – it is so different from what I experienced as a kid, and not like anything I could imagine. It was more like a university. Several different buildings. Art building. Music building. Science building. Junior library. Senior library. Everything was equipped with the most recent technology. It was more technologically advanced than our office by a long shot. The kids in the graphic design class are designing the new administration building. Like the whole thing. So impressive. We have heard that it is a great school, but after seeing it in person, I really want to send Ty there.

I tried to get a backup plan if we don’t get into St Stephens, so I put Ty on an even longer waiting list at Coomera Anglican College. We did a tour of that school, even though the lady thinks are chances if getting in are slim to none. That campus was huge, a bit dated, less technologically advanced, but had a really good feel about it. Either school would be great, but my heart is set on st Stephens.
On our way home we drove by our likely backup plan – Upper Coomera State School. They don’t do tours until closer to the end of the year. I am hoping we never have to go…from the road it looks sketch. We have heard that it is actually a pretty good school for the public system in Queensland, but I am not convinced yet… :(. To be continued…

Milk.
I know I just mentioned above that Lily is drinking milk, but we just had to revert back to formula. Lily wasn’t drinking enough fluids, got dehydrated and constipated, so we went back to formula in a bottle for the time being. Can’t stand to see her in any sort of pain.

Hooters.
A new Hooters opened up at Surfers Paradise. While it didn’t taste exactly like wings back home, they were pretty good. Fried pickles was a fail – they used sweet pickles instead of dill. Nuts! Miranda wanted to go check out the wax museum, but Ty said he wasn’t feeling well, and as we drive by it was closed. Another failed plan…

Miranda.
Miranda has been a fantastic house guest, which makes me feel even worse about all of the changes of plans we have had to make due to illness. She has done laundry, kept the house picked up, done dishes, packed lunches, unpacked school bags, made chocolate covered strawberries, the list goes on and on. I am hoping and praying that our trip to the Whitsunday islands tomorrow is enough to make up for the plans gone bad so far… Really looking forward to out holiday.

So that’s about all I can stand to write at the moment. I am sure I forgot heaps, but this should give you the major highlights of the past 2 weeks. My apologies for the delay – it’s been a bit hectic around here!

Raea.
This is an example of how long it takes for mail to arrive. I loved seeing pictures of Raea’s graduation party on Facebook. Today we received the invitation in the mail. 🙂 thankfully they know why we couldn’t attend…

Spoon.
Thursday night we decided to mix things up and let Lily try to feed herself with a spoon. She loves finger food, and has been reaching for the spoon when I feed her. Why not? Oh my goodness – I forgot how messy it is to learn how to eat. By the end of the meal she had chicken rice casserole in every nook and cranny. But she still looked cute!

Steps!!
The teachers at daycare said that Lily had taken 3 steps!! When we got home, we were busy unpacking all of the bags and getting dinner ready. Lily was playing in the pantry. I took her hand and helped her walk out. And then she just let go of my hand and stood there, unassisted. Jay squatted down in front of her and she took a few steps to get to him. So awesome.

Anniversary.
My parents’ anniversary was on July 2. Mom posted some pretty fantastic pictures on Facebook from their wedding day. Mom looked beautiful, Rick and Steven were so handsome, Em looked like a little doll, and Jess and I, well, hmmm. Those dresses… I remember quite a bit about that day 26 years ago. Such a fun time. Steven drives us all crazy sometimes (seriously Steven…) but I am so glad he was up for the challenge of taking us all in. We lucked out with a pretty fantastic stepdad.

Independence Day.
Unfortunately the 4th of July is just another day in Australia, so I had to go to work. One of the Australians came to work in some pretty fabulous American flag shoes. Awesome! The kids and I wore some red, white, and blue clothes to show our American pride. Both of the kids did fun activities at daycare – really fortunate to have found a daycare that seems to really care about the kiddos and embraces their culture and traditions.

Raygun.
Jessi and Mark surprised the kids with a package in the mail – sweet new Raygun t-shirts. Ty had outgrown his “part-time model” shirt, so a bigger size is perfect. Do you suppose he will sport the XL when he is all grown? Shout out and a big thank you to Jessi and Mark!!

Stamp.
Speaking of mail, check out the sweet stamp that came on a piece of mail we received. It isn’t a special letter, just a note from the real estate office. Best. Stamp. Ever.

Mumps.
There is a case of mumps at daycare. Really?!?! What the heck?!? Who gets the mumps? Ty has been vaccinated, but Lily doesn’t get her mumps vaccine until 12 months (which is next week…). Praying she doesn’t get it. 😦

Noodles.
We got a call from daycare Friday afternoon saying Ty got sick. Ugh. Pretty sure it was from his lunch. He insisted on trying Chinese noodles in a box, even though he knew they were spicy. He told Jay, “I will just take a drink of milk after every bite.” His teacher said he ate quite a bit but then told her that his noodles were too spicy. A couple hours later and the poor boy was puking and laying on the floor in Miss steph’s room waiting for us to get there. She took good care of him. He laid in bed a while when we got home and then seemed to recover quickly. All good now! And no more spicy noodles. Ever.

Saturday.
We have been on the go with Riley for every weekend as long as I can remember, which was super fun, but my house was starting to look and feel a bit neglected. Saturday morning for the first time since we moved here we did not have swimming or gymnastics, so we used the time to first snuggle in the big bed a bit later than normal, and then we did a bit of cleaning.

I had a hair appointment, and since it was an absolutely gorgeous day out, Ty put on his new swimsuit and played in the hot tub. However, he started to freak out when his swimsuit got wet (weirdo) so he stripped down to his undies, then decided he didn’t want those on either. Yes, our son was skinny dipping in the hot tub in winter. What a goofball.

The boys also washed the car and started cooking a beef stew (or wolf stew as Ty called it) to put into Lily size portions and freeze. They were busy bees!!

Bull sharks.
Ty informed me in a very long winded story that he was driving his remote control car in the backyard and it went into the flowers and then went right through the fence right into the bull shark water. Ummm. That’s a bummer. And then he has the guts to tell me “so…we are going to need to buy another one.” Um, nope. It’s a hard knock life, buddy. Good life lesson. Cars and bull sharks don’t mix.

Golf.
Ty wanted to play some golf. We live in a neighborhood with an amazing golf course, but pretty sure security would be all over us if we let him use his plastic clubs on the course. So we drove I’ve to Magnolia Gardens, where Riley discovered a bunch of roos hang out. There is a wide open grassy area – perfect for hitting plastic golf balls. Ty had a fan club – the roos were very curious about what he was up to.

Milk.
We are starting to transition Lily from formula to milk, but I can’t remember how this worked with Ty. I am pretty sure he was off the bottle and on sippy cups at a year. I don’t remember taking milk with us everywhere?? A lot of the restaurants here don’t have milk – so what do I do then? Is it ok to give her a bottle with formula in those situations? Or do I put formula in the sippy cup? Fellow parents….help!

Sunday.
So maybe we did have a little bug floating around our house. On Sunday we were all dragging our feet. Ty wanted to build sand castles at the beach, so we slowly got ready and headed down the coast. Unfortunately there was a marathon along the Gold Coast highway, right where we wanted to go, so traffic was a disaster. We made a change of plans and went to a baby store to buy Jay and Lily a backpack baby carrier. We had been using a front pack but she is getting too big. Got a heck of a deal on one. Lily loved it, and so did Jays back.

We decided to go to the mall for lunch to get a burrito. It was apparent that nobody was feeling great, everyone was pretty blah. So we didn’t shop at all, except to buy a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) and headed back home. We all laid in the big bed and watched the first Pirates movie. Jay and Lily fell asleep, so Ty and I went downstairs and played a couple games of Uno. Now he and I are laying on the couch watching Treasure Buddies. I know, really lame weekend, too much TV, but I think we are all fighting off an illness so being lazy is allowed.

Miranda.
Jay’s sister’s daughter, Miranda, is hopping on a plane on Monday and heading over the great ocean to visit us for a few weeks. She will arrive in our Wednesday morning. We are all super excited for her arrival!! Have a great week!

As I sit upstairs and listen to the playful shouting and laughter happening downstairs, I can’t help but be sad about the fact that riley is flying back to the states tomorrow morning. It has been so great having him here. I’m not just saying that to be nice. I really truly mean it. I cannot imagine how I would have gotten through some of the stuff we had to deal with since his arrival without him here. He was more than a helping hand. He was a saving grace.

I will always remember our trip to the Great Barrier Reef, discovering the crab sand balls on 4 Mile Beach, and hearing about how the boys all peed on a mirror. Watching a surf lesson, seeing Riley hug a koala and pet a kangaroo, and drinking a legal beer with him on the boat. Heaps of memories!

All of the fun adventures aside, by far my favorite part of the past month has been watching the bonds form between Riley and my babies. I predict that they will all be best buds forever.

Bloopers.
Security Scroggie.
“I didn’t know there were politics in Australia.”
Brisbane bru-bru-bru-broncos!
Trains.
Baby poop. Heaps of it.
The propane tank is empty.
3 Little Pigs puzzle.
Central vacuum.
Baked beans.
Bait fish. And fish that became bait fish.
Catching Ty’s puke and nearly yacking.
No more kebabs.
Tim Tams for brekky.
XXXX Gold.
Australian Legend.

I hope that he realizes how much it meant to us that he chose to spend half of his summer with his crazy aunt and uncle. Going to miss you, Riley!!