The Vuljanics

Last thoughts on Australia

2011-07-11T15:20:00.000-04:00

We thoroughly enjoyed our four months in Australia. We loved the travel opportunities we had to see so many magnificent places. Sydney, The Great Ocean Road, The Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, Tasmania, and The Whitsunday Islands were all great adventures we enjoyed. Even more we were amazed by God's beautiful creation across the world. We loved our apartment in downtown Sydney, where we could walk to some of our favorite places including Darling Harbour and The Rocks or catch the train to other great places. Caleb enjoyed walking 2 blocks to work at William Buck. We are thankful for the opportunity to explore Australia, meet great Aussies, and for our family to enjoy this all together. We hope that this blog (and book) will help us remember our time in Australia.

Our Balcony

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We spent a lot of time on our balcony. We also had a few visitors...beautiful cockatoos.

Airlie Beach

2011-07-10T22:06:00.001-04:00

After Tasmania we flew to The Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. We flew into Hamilton Island, into the smallest airport we have ever been to. They didn't even have a baggage belt, they just drove to baggage carts right up to us. We then took a bus to the harbour to take ferry to Airlie Beach, back on the mainland. We would have loved to stay at Hamilton Island but Airlie Beach was much cheaper. It was beautiful landing on an island. As the theme of our vacation time, the weather was not to best. We had planned to take a day tour of the Whitsunday Islands but with the hefty price tag and rainy weather we decided to stay around Airlie beach. We hate that we missed out on views like this...

Whitehaven Beach

We did have 5 great days. We decided to splurge on a 2 bedroom apartment which was great because we had a ton of down time there. We got down to the lagoon one decent morning for some swimming and every chance we got we went swimming in the pool at our hotel. Our vacation was different than we expected but it was great having down time before coming home.

A few pictures from our time at Airlie Beach:

The view from our balcony.

The view walking down the road from our apartment to town.

Airlie Beach

The Lagoon.

Wineglass Bay

2011-07-10T21:05:00.000-04:00

The main reason we drove to Freycinet National Park was to see Wine Glass Bay. It is one of the most beautiful views in Tasmania. The day we went it was rainy and cloudy which made the view a little less beautiful but it was still very pretty.

Aaron and his walking stick.

The other side of the hill...Coles Bay.

Freycinet National Park and wild wallabies

2011-07-10T20:06:00.000-04:00

The highlight for Aaron was seeing the wild wallabies in the parking lot when we arrived:

Baby wallaby climbing into the pouch. He was about half the size of the mama.

Feeding the wallaby. Later we read the "Do not feed wildlife sign". Oops.

He was not afraid of us at all...Lydia on the other hand was climbing as high as she could up my arms.

Botanical Gardens

2011-04-02T16:46:00.001-04:00

Spring!!!

Sorell, Tasmania

Convict Trail, Road signs, and sleepy kids

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Port Arthur Penal Colony

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"Our little felons"

Tasmania Countryside

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Tasmania had lots of sheep...but not near as many as New Zealand.

Tasmania

2011-03-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

After visiting the rainy Blue Mountains we flew to Tasmania. We stayed in Hobart the capital. Tasmania is an Australian state that is and island south of Australia's southeastern coast. I just say this because I thought at one point Tasmania was its own country. I never was and still am not very good at geography. It is about the size of West Virginia. A lot of people describe it as a miniature New Zealand. It has similar make up with the ocean and mountains but to a smaller scale. It was beautiful and again we really enjoyed our time there. We are very glad that we added it to our list of places to visit. Hobart is the capitol and half the people in Tasmania live within Hobart and the surrounding areas but it did not have a big city feel to it. Tasmania is a very historical area (even though its not a pretty history). More on that later. Again, we encountered a good bit of rain but that didn't stop us from doing some exploring. Tasmania's early settlers were primarily convicts and military personnel so one day we explored the Convict Trail and Port Arthur, a penal colony. The next day we stayed around Hobart and a small town called Sorell right outside of Hobart. Our last day we drove a couple hours north to Feycinet National Park. It was a beautiful drive and even more beautiful park. Again, the weather did not cooperate 100% but enough for us to get in a hike. Aaron sure did develop a lot of endurance while living in AU and from all our walking. Pictures to come...

more featherdale park

2011-03-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

white peacock...it was beautiful

...and so was this guy who was showing off.

Tasmanian Devil. They are a lot smaller than I thought they would be.

Featherdale Wildlife Park

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Not a good family picture but proof we were all there with the Koala.

Up close and personal with a kangaroo.

Way to upclose and personal with an Emu. Aaron and Lydia were really scared by them this time. They were a little agressive especially considering you could "pet" them. But when Aaron talks about one now...he also says, "Uncle Brian was a little scared of the Emu too" (which he was a little timmed trying to feed it!!!).

The Blue Mountains

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The Three Sisters.

One thing we did was a Scenic Railway Ride. We were able to walk there from our hotel. We first took a cable car ride across which was really cool as it had a glass bottom. Then we did the railway ride. It is an old miner railway that they converted to a tourist ride. But it was really fun. We waited to be able to ride in the front. It was basically the kids first roller coaster. I thought it was really fun, Caleb was a little freaked out. It went down at a 45% angle. Afterwards Aaron repeated Caleb and kept saying "That freaked me out". Needless to say I was rolling laughing as was everyone around us. Don't worry grandmas we were caged in for safety...we did hold on reaaaaalllly tight to the kids. At the bottom we walked around on a nice boardwalk through the rainforest.

Last Day...

2011-03-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

Our last day in Sydney...Sunday started off a little rocky and slow. Trying to get everything packed up, cleaned (well not totally trashed), pick up a rental car, checked out, and out the door was a little slower than planned. We planned to go to church on last time. Like I mentioned before we found a great church...Kirkplace Presbyterian Church and wanted to visit one last time. We missed half the service but got to say goodbye to some amazing families we met and even had lunch and one of their homes afterwards. The Lord really blessed us with finding a church family and friends while we were there. After lunch we headed out on our first leg of our vacation. We had a little under 2 weeks to travel and were looking forward to exploring Australia. Our first trip was just a few hours away to the Blue Mountains. We were hoping to have some relaxing time before getting home so we didn't have to much planned. This ended up being a good thing as it rained A LOT over our last two weeks. While in the Blue Mtns we did some hiking and explore as well as just being lazy. We were just there for 2 days before heading back to Sydney to fly to Tasmania. On our way back to Sydney we stopped by Featherdale Wildlife Park. A cool "zoo" where you get to pet and feed the animals. The kids and I went with my family there and we wanted to go back with Caleb.

Last minute souvenirs

2011-03-24T14:19:00.001-04:00

Better late than never to finish posting about our time in Australia. So, here's our last two weeks...

Our last weekend we spend time around Sydney. It was a beautiful spring weekend and we went to some of our favorite spots and got last minute souvenirs. We won't talk about how they cost us 20% more since we got them at the end of our trip instead of the beginning due to the horrible exchange rate though.

Queen Victoria Building. An upscale mall that we love walking through (but never bought anything in). Its an historical building that they renovated beautifully just blocks away from our apartment.

The Rocks Market. We love this market that is open on the weekends. Oh how I love some things we got here and wish we had gotten some more.

Beautiful last Saturday

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last Friday night in Sydney

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We're home...

2010-11-15T02:59:00.000-05:00

and it's 2:30 AM as I sit here and type this. The kids have each gotten up 2-3 times in the past few hours and now I can't go back to sleep. So, what better to do at 2:30 AM then catch up on our blog. First, I will fill in about our trip home, then back track to our last few weeks in Australia. Overall, our trip home went well. The kids did AMAZING...Delta on the other hand, not so much.

Our fight home was suppose to leave at 12pm on Friday 12th (Sydney time) which would be Thursday evening NC time. We get to the airport with our 7 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, 1 stroller, and 2 kids. As soon as we get there, there is a huge line for Delta (and our flight is there only flight for the day) and it only takes a couple minutes before we start hearing words like "delay" and "10 hr delay". WHAT? According to Delta to pilot for the flight leaving LA was sick so the plane wasn't even here yet. We still don't understand why it would take 10 hrs to find a sub-pilot but it did. Now we know we should have checked the flight, but it didn't cross our minds. So, after waiting in line for 3 hrs to check in we get checked in, get some vouchers for food, and get a hotel to kill time. We were pretty unhappy about the delay but the day got worst when we were trying to fix a double charge from when we left.

To keep a long and frustrating story short, we had to pay about $150 for a ticket for Lydia (even though she didn't have a seat). When we got to the airport to leave, we found out that they had charged us for here ticket and mailed us a ticket for her but we didn't know this or get it. We were told we would pay for her at the airport. At the airport they made us buy here another seat and said we could get a refund when get the the other ticket in the mail. So, we tried to get our refund time and time again online and through Delta customer service and Everyone said you had to do it at a ticket counter. After being frustrated about this for months, we finally try to do it at the ticket counter in Sydney and they would not do it. Our blood (especially Caleb's) was boiling at this point. (To fast forward, we were told it could be resolved in LA but they would only give a partial refund so Caleb didn't do that. We still don't have our money and we really are not happy with Delta).

But, back to our trip home. After a 10 hr delay and spending a few hours in a hotel (in which Aaron napped and Lydia refused to nap) we headed back to the airport. We were still a little later leaving but sometime around 10 PM we started our flight home. We thankfully had buckhead seats, which gave us more room. But we also had a very not nice or happy flight attendant to deal with. Thankfully Lydia fell asleep really quick (I guess because of no nap and a little help from Benadryl!). After getting lectured by the fight attendant on how we shouldn't use to bassinet (even though Lydia is still under the weight limit) we finally get it but Lydia cried EVERY time we tried to put her in it. Thankfully she slept 6-7 hours in our arms. Aaron was took excited about getting to watch movies that he waited a couple hours to sleep, but he slept 5-6 hours. The last half of the flight they were up but it went AMAZINGLY smooth. Honestly, I can not express how thankful I am the kids did so well.

Once we got to LA we did customs/immigration/rechecked bags and got new flights. Our rescheduled flight gave us a 6 hr layover in LA then a 4 hr layover in Detroit before getting home to Greensboro. As we were checking in we saw there was a direct flight from LA to RDU (Raleigh) that left about the time our flight was suppose to leave for Detroit. So, thankfully we found a nice Delta representative (which are few and far between) who switched us. This red eye flight was 4 hours and the kids slept 3 of the 4 hrs (probably do to Benadryl again...don't judge). We were also about to spread out and had 2 rows which helped the kids sleep. Caleb's dad came and picked us up in Raleigh at 6 AM and we got home a couple hours later.

Our 24 hours of traveling got extended to 36 but that is better than the 42 hours we thought we were going to have to deal with.

It was sooo nice to get home. Caleb's mom had candle's burning, food in the crock-pot, food in the fridge and pantry for us which was so nice. My parents earlier in the week had gotten the house ready for us to by freshening/cleaning things and planting some flowers outside. We also had a very generous and thoughtful welcome home gifts and food from some good friends at home. It was so nice to come home to a house ready for us. Thanks again everyone!

We got home Saturday morning and are still trying to recover from 48 hrs of not sleeping (Caleb and I) and 16 hour time change. But we are so glad to be home. We LOVED Sydney and Australia but there is no place like home.

traveling...

2010-11-06T22:08:00.000-04:00

This is probably all you will hear from us until we get back home on November 12. Well, I should say until we get home and settled. We left Sydney on October 31. We have all our stuff packed, half in storage at our apt building in Sydney and the other half we are lugging with us as we travel around Australia before heading home. From Sydney, we went to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days. They are just a couple hours from Sydney. We had a pretty low key, relaxing time, mainly due to some rain. After that we flew down to Tasmania. We spent 3 days there and LOVED Tasmania. It was cold, but such a historical area. The scenery is also very pretty...it seems like mini NZ. Yesterday we flew up to the Whitsunday Islands. We are staying in Airlie beach, on the mainland since its about 1/2 the cost of an actual island stay. we have a beautiful 2 br apt and are LOVING not being in one hotel room!!! It is absolutely beautiful here. Google it if you want...one of the beaches is in the top 10 of the world. We will go there in a couple days. We are enjoying the beautiful warm weather for a few more days before coming home of Friday. We can't wait to see everyone but will miss Australia.

I will post details on our last few weeks after we get home, so its not all done yet!

Happy Birthday Papa!

2010-10-25T00:08:00.000-04:00

We LOVE you Papa and can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Happy Birthday!

Caught in the act...

2010-10-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

Lydia loves to climb, even after repeatedly being instructed not to. I caught her in the act the other day.

guilty and she knows it...

Whining after she was instructed to not do it any more...and stopped from doing it.

Botanical Gardens

2010-10-24T23:52:00.001-04:00

The Rose Garden...I have been waiting months for these to bloom!

"smelling" the roses

pow pow

Noodle Night Markets

2010-10-24T23:45:00.000-04:00

During October Sydney host its International Food Festival. We have had fun doing a few new things during this month. Our favorite was Noodle Night. It was set up in a park that is a few minutes from our apartment. There were 30 or so different Asian restaurants that has stalls selling food. The noodle nights were for 2 weeks (weekdays) and we went 3 times. I tried to talk Caleb into going a fourth time, but he wasn't interested. We enjoyed some yummy Malaysian noodles, Japanese pancakes, variety of Thai dishes and dumplings. We have had a lot of variety of foods while here and I have to admit, I am loving the variety. We even got food from our favorite Thai place, Chat Thai. Soooo, yummy and reasonably priced (which is huge deal here). The third time we went, we met a few families from the church we have been attending. We love the church and have been very welcomed by them. We really enjoyed the evenings out in the city.

They also were having an art festival throughout the city. So one night on our way home, we walked through another part of the park that had photographs hanging in the trees. This is a fun aspect of living in a big city that we will miss.

Happy Birthday Grandmama!!!

2010-10-20T05:41:00.000-04:00

Grandmama,
We love you so much and thank the Lord for you. We had such a fun time with you while you visited us in Australia. We look forward to seeing you in less than a month! We hope that you have a great birthday...and that we can catch you on Skype.

Happy Birthday Grandmama! We all love you so much!

Paddy's Market

2010-10-14T01:36:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before the market that I have come to love and frequent weekly. The more I go the more I realize how good it is. A lot of the things are about half the cost of the grocery store. But the cost does change every week (daily I think). This week red peppers were $8kg and they were $2kg about a month ago. When they were $2kg I got a red pepper for about $.50. And now with the HORRIBLE exchange rate, it cost pretty much the same as US dollars. Side note, when we found out we were coming to Australia an Australian dollar got you about $0.83. Caleb tried to go ahead and exchange some money but had trouble so we didn't worry about it. When we got here the rate was $0.89US to AU$1.00. As I type this the rate is $.991 and the worst it got was $.997. So, instead of being about to take about 10% off the price of items to make us feel better about the prices it is now equal. What also stinks is we have been waiting to get our souvenirs until closer to time to come home and now that is going to cost us at least 10% more. Oh well, it stinks but nothing we can do about it. Back to the market...I really just like going for the fresh food, but they have about everything you could want or need. We finally took Caleb this past weekend. We got a few souvenirs and finally some pictures.

A little workout

2010-10-14T00:54:00.000-04:00

Caleb was trying to do a little workout but had some company.

ignore the mess in the background...it was a tent that got destroyed

Brian also has some company during one of his workouts

no words needed...

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a day at the botanical gardens

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just like Aaron

2010-10-12T18:02:00.000-04:00

Lydia loves doing things like and with Aaron. They are getting better at playing together, but most times when you turn your back you hear Lydia scream bloody murder. We have learned that this is rarely due to Aaron but her getting mad. She typically will be stuck or something is hard or she wants something Aaron has. She also has a tendency to chase after Aaron screaming "miiiiine". As I write this She is climbing in and out of a drawer trying to get a book. She will scream when she has trouble. Anyways, back to the purpose of the post. Both kids love shoes. They wear them when we are just around the house. But Aaron does take them off as soon as we get home as well. Anyways, after dinner and baths they are all ready for bed in PJs and they both have to put on shoes (without socks...their new trend). Here Aaron is reading to Lydia. They were really cute looking at pictures together. Lydia's love for Aaron and all things he loves probably explains why most of her words are related to boy stuff; car, cyl (motorcycle), ain (train), ruck (truck), ball, tdoow (touchdown, we say that when Aaron falls, ball. She also calls and points these things out when she sees them. To give grandmas a little hope that she is a little girl she did say baby and pretended to rock a baby when we sat next to one on the ferry the other day. I guess this is all the result of having an older brother that she adores. But she will love playing on the pretend construction site at the museum that we are going to shortly.

Wildlife World again

2010-10-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

I think that I mentioned before that I got an annual pass into some cool attractions here. The pass includes the aquarium and Wildlife World. They are both really good and we have been to each at least 3 times. The kids and I went the other week then we went again last weekend to show Caleb. It is really nice having the pass too because we get to skip the line waiting to get in!!!

Lydia's favorite part, playing on the air vent!

The butterfly exhibit was open this time. Aaron loved it and even got to hold one!

Daddy and his kids

2010-10-11T01:16:00.000-04:00

The last post on NZ. I love these 3 so much!

Franz Josef Glacier

2010-10-11T01:14:00.001-04:00

Since we couldn't do the helicopter ride around the glaciers we walked up a riverbed to the glacier. It was suppose to be an easy walk and it wasn't too bad, but with my cold it wasn't the easiest. It was about an hour up to the face of the glacier. We were hoping to get to go onto the glacier, but it was roped off. I guess you have to pay to do a guided walk to get on it.

it doesn't get much cuter than that!

Franz Josef

2010-10-11T01:08:00.000-04:00

Lake Matheson

2010-10-11T01:07:00.000-04:00

We went on walk around Lake Matheson which is right outside of Fox Glacier. It is a nice rainforest like walk that is around a lake that is suppose to have a beautiful reflective view of the mountain and glaciers. Well, due to weather (again) we didn't get that view but it was a nice walk. This is pictures in good weather... http://www.lakematheson.com/default.asp?pageid=13&galleryid=3&images=true

Aaron preparing for some pictures

where the beautiful view is suppose to be...it still isn't bad.

This is how we did our walk. Let me say, 20+ pounds on our back gets heavy...glad I didn't have almost 40 lbs on me like Caleb!

Fox Glacier

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A view of Fox Glacier from across town. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that good.

We had a little delay in our trip as we had to stop for some sheep to be round up.

The Beach on our drive

2010-10-11T00:53:00.000-04:00

the country was full of one lane bridges and even a handful of times where the road was"washed out" and you were driving on gravel. I should note that we were on the only road in the area. NZ doesn't have too many roads once you get out of the cities.

We had a few peaks at the ocean and it was beautiful

Waterfalls and Rainbows

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and driving...

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Driving continued...

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Leaving Queenstown

2010-10-09T20:26:00.000-04:00

We had a great time driving from Queenstown to Fox Glacier. We were hoping for a pretty drive, but was really surprised how beautiful it was. We loved it. It took longer than expected because we made many stops to pictures.

The curvy road headed out of town.

Our rental car...and Subaru Forester. To be honest, we really liked it, a lot. It would be in the running if we ever get a new car.

looking down on Queenstown

Maori show

2010-10-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

The show we saw was pretty entertaining. They did a few different traditional dances and songs. The best part is they had people come up to learn some of the dances. First they had some women, then men. Brian too Aaron up to learn the tradition war dance. It is called Haka and the All Blacks, New Zealand's much loved rugby team, performs it before every game. Its a very masculine dance with chest banging, feet stomping, leg slapping, and intimidating faces. Aaron was sooooooooooo cute trying to do the dance. He did pretty good watching the other guys.

Aaron and Brian in the right corner

This is the intimidating face!

more to come...

2010-10-07T23:06:00.000-04:00

I hope you are enjoying to New Zealand pictures. As I sit here and look back at us all bundled up and I am thankful that it is 70 here and the kids and I were able to spend the morning out at the Botanical Gardens. I have about 10 more post on NZ and I am going to try to set them to post over the next couple days so keep coming back for more.

At the top of the skyline

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waiting for the show...what a beautiful view

LUGE!

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the track...it was a lot faster and fun than we all expected

Maybe this is the best family picture


Lydia enjoyed it too, Aaron LOVED it and would have gone over and over and over.

skilift to luge

2010-10-07T22:57:00.000-04:00

Brian and Jen

Mom and Dad

Aaron and I

Caleb and Lydia

Queenstown Skyline

2010-10-07T22:56:00.001-04:00

After our 2000 mile hike we met mom and dad and the kids to ride the skyline up a mountain so everyone could partake in the views. While up there, we did a luge ride. It reminded me of something we did when I spent a summer in Slovakia so I was all for it. Everyone else wasn't as excited, but in the end every loved it, especially Aaron. They also had a Maori show which is New Zealand's Aboriginal People. It was a good entertaining show.

Queenstown Hill Walk part 3

2010-10-07T18:34:00.000-04:00

that would be a cool helicopter ride

Caleb and I. Thanks mom for staying in with the kids so we could explore.

Queenstown Hill Walk part 2

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proof dad did the walk

breathtaking

Queentown hill walk

2010-10-07T18:32:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned before, we did a "walk up a hill" in Queenstown. It was beautiful walk but showed me how out of shape I am. The sad part is dad kicked my butt. He walks (speed walks) every other day on the treadmill at home and it has paid off because he was in the front the whole time.

If you look closely you can see the runway in the middle of this picture. This is the airport in Queenstown that we flew into. It was the most beautiful landing ever. We were right between the mountains and it was actually pretty close.

Walking up the snow...would have been easier if I had on good shoes. My feet were soaking wet by the time we got done.

Queenstown

2010-10-07T05:11:00.000-04:00

Queenstown, as I said earlier, is probably our favorite place we have ever been. Its mainly a tourist town, but has small town character to it. The beautiful lake, Lake Wakatipu, and the snow capped mountains are beautiful backdrops to a cute town. I'll go ahead and say it now, New Zealand should be on EVERYONES list of places to visit. I know its far and kind of expensive but it is well worth it. If we can do the flight with and 1.5 and 3 year olds than you can do it. No joke, save up, skip trips to Myrtle Beach and you will thank me later.

View from our hotel, Coronation Lodge

view in other direction

The mall in Queenstown...they had some good souvenir shops with good prices, especially with the exchange rate and compared to cost of things in Sydney.

Lake Wakatipu

Driving from Te Anau to Queenstown

2010-10-07T04:59:00.000-04:00

Even though Milford Sound was cancelled for weather, it was a beautiful day

Our best (and only non restaurant) picture of everyone. Sorry mom we didn't get more. On a side note, I have been wanting to get my hair straightened really badly, its gotten really big and poofy. This picture shows how much I NEED to do it! If you can see past my hair, its a decent picture.

Mom and Dad. Love you guys! We had a great time with you!

Not a bad background...beats Portrait Innovations any day.

Driving to Te Anau

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We saw tons and tons of sheep farms plus deer farm which we are not real sure why you have a deer farm

Queenstown; first day

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Aaron infront of a giant Kiwi (which is a nickname for New Zealanders too).

Queenstown

A quote we found entertaining in the french restaurant where we ate lunch

Smile Everyone!

New Zealand

2010-10-07T01:54:00.000-04:00

Here we go...New Zealand! After spending 2 days up at the Great Barrier Reef in Port Douglas, my family flew to NZ and we came home (Sydney home, which we call our apartment more than home because home is still home to all of us). We spent Monday night in Sydney then flew to Christchurch, New Zealand Tuesday night. This was flight #3 within 4 days. My first thought is to say the kids did good on the flight, b/c overall they have done really well with all the traveling, but I think this was the bad flight. Neither kid slept and it was time for them to sleep. It was only a 3 hr flight so that was good. We got to Christchurch, in the rain, with no problems until we got to the hotel. Brian and Jen did a great job of finding hotels in NZ. They were all cheap and nice. I had called the hotel earlier in the day to confirm that there would be a crib...we get there...no crib and roll away for Aaron...and its 1 AM NZ time. So, we get moved to a bigger room with a king size bed so we can possible share the bed with the kids. Somehow they can't get into where the cribs are or something like that. So, the kids sleep on piles of blankets on the floor and are out since it is after 2 AM by the time we get to bed. That would be so bad if we didn't have an 8 AM flight to Queenstown. So, 6:30 AM we meet my parents and Brian and Jen for our flight. To move on. We get to Queenstown and enjoy time in the town (cutest town EVER) before catching a bus to Te Anau. At this point I should back up and say that the weather was not the best while we were there....rained most days or snowed. it was the beginning of spring in NZ and they had a late snow storm. With the snow storm our reason for going to Te Anau was spoiled. We drove there to be able to do a tour of Milford Sound the next day. This was the #1 thing on our list to do in NZ. The road (the only road) to Milford Sound was closed the 2 days before we got there but was open the day we got to Te Anau. We found out at 7:45am that the road would be open so we could do the tour. Then at 9 AM we found out the road was getting closed for fear of AVALANCHE! What?!?! So, that is how our #1 plan for NZ got cancelled. Anyways, we now feel as if we HAVE to go back to NZ and Caleb and I are even thinking about going back in our last 2 weeks here. Instead of Milford Sound we got a last minute ride back to Queenstown. We had a beautiful day in Queenstown and thankfully no rain. Some great pictures and stories of this day to come. The next day, Friday, my family flew back to Sydney for their flight home on Saturday. While they were flying home Caleb and I (and the kids) rented a car and drove north up through NZ's West Coast and back across to Christchurch. We drove 5 hours up to Fox Glacier. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive and we stayed that night in Fox Glacier. Saturday we spent time at Fox Glacier and Franz Josef (2 cool glaciers). We were going to do a helicopter ride around the glaciers but this too got canceled due to clouds and rain. Even with not perfect weather, beautiful pictures to come. Saturday night we stayed in a little town called Hokitika. It was small town on our way back to Christchurch. The drive to Christchurch was about 4 hours. It was a pretty drive that we didn't get any pictures of since it was rainy and we took a ton the previous days. Our flight back to Sydney Sunday night was GREAT! We flew Emirates after getting a deal on tickets. We had buckhead seats, sat next to a nice grandpa who worked for Salvation's Army (who was doing relief work in Christchurch due to the earthquake). Side note, Christchurch has cleaned up a ton since the earthquake. We some some damage, but not a ton. We spent a few hrs there before our flight and would like to go back because it seemed like a cool city. Back to the flight...they brought out little bags with toys for the kids before takeoff and the first thing after take off, they brought food for the kids (which Lydia devoured), the flight attendants were very helpful, we had movies and dinner and free drinks (which we had non of on our way there and the tickets cost the same thing). Anyways, we had a great time and LOVED NZ. We really are planning on going back and some point in our lives. There is NZ summarized in words and 20 post of pictures to come.

Aaron's perspective

2010-10-06T00:25:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad got Aaron and great gift and it was a fisher price kids camera. After doing a good bit of research it was hard to choose which one, as non of them have great reviews. But he LOVES it. These are some of the pictures he took the first few days when everyone was in town. He is getting better and better with the camera and loves to pull it out when Caleb is getting a picture. To be honest, the pictures have turned out a lot better than I expected (both his ability and the quality). Now when he takes a picture he is very very focused and works hard to get things done good. I need to get the recent pics up soon.

Great Barrier Reef

2010-10-06T00:07:00.001-04:00

We had a great time out on the Great Barrier Reef. We did a day tour and it was great. The ride out was a little rough, luckily we all took our seasick meds (a few of us started to feel bad but held it together). The boat was about 1/4-1/3 full which was really really nice. The staff on the tour boat were great. They all loved on and watched the kids some. The only down side was it was cloudy the whole day, but that could be a good thing, because it would have been very hot if the sun was out strong. Aaron enjoyed playing on the back of the boat and even got in with us. He LOVED having his own gear (fins/snorkel/goggles). He even put his head under once but wouldn't do it again. But he did go out swimming with us some. Lydia loved the water too and the picture of her and mom shows her unhappy about not being in the water. Luckily she did take a couple of naps cuddled up with Papa which was a lifesaver. She can be a little difficult when she is tired. Anyways, Caleb and I got to do an introductory dive. It was neat. It honestly was harder than I thought. There really is very little that is natural about it. Caleb loved it, I felt like I had to concentrate a little to hard on the scuba diving to really enjoy it. I honestly enjoyed snorkeling more. We did see Nemo, Dory, Gil (from Finding Nemo) and a good number of other cool fish. There were a few huge fish that came right up to the boat as we were all getting in too. We are very very thankful for mom who watched the kids a lot so we could scuba dive and explore. Everyone else watched the kids some too and we are very thankful for that, but mom really watched them a lot. Thanks Mom! Overall, a great day out with our family enjoying another beautiful aspect of God's creation.

PS do you like or dislike the collages? They are easy way to put up a lot of pics, but I can't decide if I like them. I think i do but I want to do if you do.

A taste of NZ

2010-10-05T18:04:00.000-04:00

In Queenstown, Caleb and I, Brian and Jen, and Dad did a walk up Queenstown Hill Walkway. It was a little harder walk than I expected (and the name suggest) which was made worse by the fact that I was getting sick. By the end of the hike I practically lost my voice and sounded like a old man. In the end, it was worth the torture for the beautiful view. We were not up a hill, we were on a mountain and in the snow. Dad, being the good Papa he is, and not a fan of the cold, hurried back down to the hotel where mom had stayed with the kids for naptime. We stayed up top enjoying the cold views and getting some good photos.

Long weekend

2010-10-04T01:22:00.000-04:00

First things first, I promise to get pictures up of our NZ trip soon. We literally have over 1000 pictures of our time at The Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the pictures. I hope that I get started on NZ today or tomorrow. I promise they are coming.

We are enjoying a long weekend this weekend. Caleb is off today due to Australia's labor day. We weren't sure if he was going to get it off but thankfully he has. Its been raining a good bit this weekend so we have had a pretty lazy weekend, but that is just what we needed. All week we have been trying to recover from all of our traveling. We flew 5 times and stayed in 6 different hotels (7 if you count a night at our place in Sydney) over 9 days. We had a blast and more to come on all that, but needless to say, we haven't had the energy to do much of anything. After having a fun and relaxed weekend, I think we are caught up. We have all passed around a cold the past week or two as well. Dad got it first when they are here and it continues to linger. Fortunately (or unfortunately) it has hit Caleb and I the hardest. We have been to bed by 9:30 multiple times this week. Anyways , more pictures and stories to come but first we are going to head out to a Fiesta Festival (full of latin dancing) as soon as the kids get up. One good thing about living in the center of the city is there is always tons to do.

Jungle Surfing

2010-10-04T01:06:00.001-04:00

Here we are jungle surfing in the Daintree Rainforest. Don't you love the getup!!

Caleb was a little nervous as he is afraid of heights. We have one of the best video's of Caleb trying to go upside down (they make you at the last leg). Caleb has a little trouble at first. It was scary and fun at the same time.

Daintree Rainforest

2010-10-03T20:50:00.002-04:00

When we got to Cairns up at the Great Barrier Reef we rented a car drive about an hour to Port Douglas. It is a cute cute town at the Great Barrier Reef. On Saturday, our first day, Brian, Jen, Caleb, and I drove another hour north to Cape Tribulation to do a zip line tour along the canopy of the Daintree Rainforest. The drive up was really beautiful through the rainforest.

The ferry to cross the Daintree River. You would think that it would be easier to just build a bridge, but for $20 round trip per car I think they are making some good money.

The Rainforest coming up to the ocean

Driving in the rainforest over a full creek.

love you grandmama

2010-09-29T01:12:00.000-04:00

Koala!!!

2010-09-29T01:07:00.000-04:00

We also got to pet and feed a koala. Both the koala and kangaroo were really soft. Aaron really enjoyed petting/feeding them. Lydia wasn't as sure. I think Jen would have stolen her (Sally the koala) if she could. This was the coolest place and we hope to go back so Caleb can see them too.

Kangaroos!

2010-09-29T00:51:00.000-04:00

One of the coolest things at the park was getting to pet and feed kangaroos (and wallabies, wallaroos, and emus). Not real sure the difference between kangaroos, wallaroos, and wallabies but I think its a lot to do with size and face shape. Anyways, we all loved getting to get up close with them.

Featherdale park

2010-09-29T00:33:00.001-04:00

Click picture to see larger images

We went to the coolest park ever. Its called Featherdale park and it is about an hour by train and bus outside of the city. While Caleb was working hard providing for our family, the kids and I joined the Greshams (parents and bro/sister-in-law) to the park/zoo. We walked in quick to catch the penguin feeding. It was neat to watch that. We saw all sorts of Australian animal and had a nice picnic lunch where we were joined by a chicken and peacock. Since we rushed in to see the penguin feeding we walked right past the coolest part...in the next post.

Sunset and Sunrise

2010-09-28T21:07:00.001-04:00

We have seen many beautiful rainbows. They are definitely more common here. A couple weeks ago Aaron came to me in the kitchen and said he found a big pretty rainbow. I walked to the sunroom and this was our view. Breathtaking.

It was neat to watch it disappear as it was getting darker.

The next morning Lydia got us up bright and early and this was the view. It doesn't help Caleb's fear of heights when we are above the clouds.

The other side of the road

2010-09-28T20:14:00.001-04:00

One thing we didn't expect on our drive down the great ocean road was the beautiful country side. A lot of the road is along the cliffs of the ocean but on the other side of the road was beautiful countryside. Caleb wants to buy and farm down there with beautiful rolling hills overlooking the ocean. We also drove through a thick forest that was neat in its own way.

That's all on The Great Ocean Road. I hope you enjoy the pictures but they do not do it justice.

Coming up...feeding and petting Australian animals, great barrier reef, and New Zealand...

The Twelve Apostles...but there are only 8

2010-09-28T20:05:00.001-04:00

One of the most famous stops on The Great Ocean Road is the Twelve Apostles. There are 8 limestone rock stacks and its neat to see how they are each carved differently by the ocean. There were 9 until one collapsed in 2005. There was never 12 so I don't understand why it is called the twelve apostles. Wikipedia doesn't even have an answer for that. I guess more research needs to happen, but at this point I'm just playing blog catch up.

Do they appreciate it?

2010-09-28T19:56:00.001-04:00

I am doing a little back tracking here. I realized I have a few more post to do on The Great Ocean Road. Aaron and Lydia have seen some of the most amazing scenery over the past few months and I wish they knew how great it is. I hope that even at such young ages they are learning to worship our creator through His beautiful creation.

Long time no post

2010-09-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

The past few weeks have been very busy. First we had the Sisterhen's here!!! We had a blast with them. A few days later my parents and Brian and Jen (brother and sister-in-law) came for almost two weeks. While they were here we did a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand. Within 9 days we did 5 flights, stayed in 6 hotels and spent lots of time in cars, trains, buses, and some ferries. Needless to say I have a ton to update and at least 1000 pictures to go through. I will start updating tomorrow. Caleb and I have a black tie dinner to go to tonight with some of his coworkers so I need to get the apartment cleaned up and ready. Hope your ready for some beautiful pictures because New Zealand is AMAZING!

Bedtime

2010-09-09T00:03:00.000-04:00

Lydia wanted to get into bed with Aaron Saturday night. They cuddled for a couple minutes...

then Lydia got up, but gave a sweet kiss...

then Aaron hugged (aka tackled) Lydia...

all in 45 seconds. Love them!

Quick pit stop

2010-09-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

We made a quick pitstop is a small town called Peterborough...I really don't think you can use the word town it was so small, we couldn't even find gas in it. But we could make a restroom stop. While on our little break it looked like a storm was coming and again we were amazed by the power of the ocean.

We also found a patch of wild calla lillies. I've never seen wild calla lillies before but they were beautiful.

and this little peanut was pretty tired at this point. So sweet!

The Grotto

2010-09-08T09:02:00.000-04:00

London Bridge

2010-09-08T08:58:00.000-04:00

Australian's can be funny too...

Read the sign...pretty interesting.

Sunday turned out to be a pretty day, with a few rain showers. It was warm when you were in the sun, but the wind was blowing like crazy which made it feel a lot cooler when it blew. We made a lot of stops on Sunday so at some of them we took turns getting out of the van to see the sights and someone would stay in with the kids some. They don't really appreciate the beauty of it all and at some points were just to tired to get out.

The Arch

2010-09-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

The ocean on Sunday was very rough. It was magnificant to watch the power of it and the waves crash into the rocks.

Port Campbell

2010-09-08T07:16:00.000-04:00

We stayed in a little hidden gem Saturday night. It was a cute town called Port Campbell. I was a little nervous booking it, but it worked perfect. We had a nice two bedroom apartment to share with the Sisterhen's and it didn't break the bank either. We had one of the best meals we've had in Australia at a little restaurant called Room Six. The food was reasonably priced and they gave more than enough. That is rare here in Australia.

The little town, one main street and no stop lights.

The town from above.

Whats better than one rainbow?

2010-09-08T07:07:00.000-04:00

Two!! About 10 minutes down the road we saw another. This was the most beautiful rainbow I ever saw. The colors were so bright and you could see the complete ROYGBIV. On both ends you could see a little bit of a second one!

The pictures are pretty,but they barely do the view justice.

after rain...

2010-09-08T07:02:00.000-04:00

We saw a beautiful rainbow that ended right into the ocean. Then after Caleb took a couple pictures and we looked back at them, we noticed it was a double rainbow but only Derek could see it, the rest of us couldn't see the second one.

Check out that good looking van!

more road trip pictures

2010-09-08T06:56:00.001-04:00

Entering the Great Ocean Road. If you want a little more info about the Great Ocean Road, check out wikipedia.

The weather was not the best, rained on and off, which resulted in some problems in the road. This was Saturday afternoon but that night they had bad storms with really strong winds so Sunday we drove around multiple downed trees and a lot of debris. The Northern part of Victoria (the state we were in) had bad flooding this weekend. There was one benefit to the rain...got to wait till next post.

Our lovely ride...a good Eurovan! It worked perfect.

our first stop...

2010-09-08T06:45:00.000-04:00

As we first saw the ocean it was breathtaking. Then we came to a small parking lot and had to make a quick stop. It was too pretty to not stop.

The lovely Sisterhens!

Road trip = road signs

2010-09-08T06:38:00.001-04:00

These were our favorite road signs we saw on our trip.

The bottom says: "Only a little bit over? You bloody idiot." Australians are a little bit blunt.

Just in case you forget.

but we didn't see any crossing.

Koalas in the wild

2010-09-08T03:33:00.000-04:00

While driving down the Great Ocean Road we took a side trip to see one of the lighthouses. We were told when we stopped to eat lunch to be on the lookout for Koalas on that drive. We looked for miles, then all of a sudden we saw a lot. We probably saw around 15 or so hanging out up in the trees. We didn't make it up to the lighthouse but the detour was well worth it to see the Koalas. When we let Aaron out of the car to see them, he was so excited.

This one was dangling right above the road eating. So cool!!!

Seal show

2010-09-08T03:14:00.000-04:00

The zoo also had a cool seal show. It might not be Sea World, but I was impressed.

Walking with Kangaroos and Wallabies

2010-09-08T03:13:00.000-04:00

Kangaroo eating a carrot


I think its hilarious how kangaroos rest aka pose


"Hello little wallaby, wanna play?"

"Hello sleeping kangaroo, wanna play?"

Other animals

2010-09-08T02:54:00.000-04:00

Not to take away from these amazing animals, but they were not as cool to see as the bird show, Australian animals (post to come), and seal show (more to come as well) so they will get dumped into one post. Sorry really cute baby elephant.

Aaron loves to stop and take a picture with his pretend camera. Here he is taking a picture of a Tasmanian Devil, (which didn't look like I thought they did). Its amazing how much you relearn trying to answer all the questions of a curious 3 year old.

Bird Show

2010-09-08T02:49:00.000-04:00

At the zoo we saw a cool bird shows. I was very impressed watching how well the birds were trained (until the last bird). The last one, a vulture, had been out of the rotation for a little while. It took them a good while to bribe him back to "his house". But other than that, it was amazing. Especially the owl that flew right over everyone's head. A little too close for my comfort, but impressive.

Getting ready for the show with Derek and Elisa...Aaron refused to sit beside me.

This hawk was catching food thrown up in the air with his feet and eating it while flying

"Hello Mr. Owl"

The vulture that didn't want to leave the party. Surprisingly, he was really pretty.

Giraffes at the zoo

2010-09-07T20:26:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed trying to pick out pictures from our weekend (500 is a lot) so I realized I never finished zoo pictures. We had a great time there with the Sisterhen's. The zoo has a beautiful view of the city. I think the Giraffes have the best view of them all.

Hello there!

Check out that view!

Road trip...

2010-09-06T19:28:00.000-04:00

First thing Saturday morning we started our weekend trip to the Great Ocean Road. We flew from Sydney to Melbourne, which went well until we went to get our stroller (which had to be checked as baggage) and it did not make it on our flight. It was going to arrive in 45 minutes so we were given vouchers for lunch in the airport. $8 vouchers per person=not enough money to eat in an airport (especially in Australia). After lunch and getting the stroller, we finally headed to get our van (picture of our cool Euro van later). A 10 minute process took 45 or so. So, we headed out of the airport about 3 hrs later than we were planning. Therefore, we did not go to Melbourne like we planned, just started our trip to the Amazingly Beautiful Great Ocean Road. Here we are at the start of our trip with Caleb driving on the wrong side of the road. I have to brag on Caleb for a moment. He did great driving. We spent more than 5 hrs driving each day and everything about how your driving is opposite than what is normal and natural. The road was really curvy for a good bit but he did great. I was real nervous as we got started, but he calmed my nerves real quick. Thanks for driving Caleb.

FYI we took over 500 pictures in 2 days, so there are a ton to go through but I will eventually get them all up (well as much as anyone would want to see).

Our family on The Great Ocean Road

2010-09-06T01:54:00.001-04:00

This weekend we went with our good friends Derek and Elisa Sisterhen down the Great Ocean Road. To say it was beautiful does not do it justice. Enjoy the sneak peak of our family on our 2 day road trip.

failed picture attmept

2010-09-02T02:09:00.000-04:00

When we were in the Gardens the other week, Caleb attempted and failed to get a picture of me and the kids. I don't know why it is so hard to get 3 people to look at the camera. Could have been a beautiful background. Anybody have suggestions of getting pictures with young kids. They are welcome. Also, if you want to see the pictures larger, just click on it.

Bats in the Botanical Gardens

2010-09-02T02:03:00.000-04:00

In the beautiful Botanical Gardens you can also find some not so beautiful bats. They call them flying rats here (i think thats the right name). Anyways, hanging upside down in the top of a lot of trees you can find them. Caleb thinks its neat, I do not like them. When we were leaving the other weekend, it was getting close to dusk and they were starting to move around and spread their wings.

These pictures honestly give me goose bumps. This post is to document them for Caleb.

Taronga Zoo

2010-09-02T00:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Derek and Elisa. We are loving the company. I'm really not sure who loves having them here the most. I feel a little bad for them, Aaron and Lydia always want to be right where they are. We all love them so much and are having fun exploring together. Here are a few pics of the kids at the zoo. More zoo post to come.

Check out the Emu right beside Lydia.

It's pretty much impossible to get a good picture of both of them.

birds in the park

2010-08-30T01:38:00.001-04:00

Australian Museum

2010-08-24T01:38:00.000-04:00

Saturday we had a busy day. We started the day by going to the Australian Museum. It is one of the best, if not the best, museum that we have ever been to. Caleb loves museums, so we often visit them. We honestly think it was better than all the ones in DC. Aaron probably still prefers the Air and Space Museum by the airport in DC, but he had fun Saturday too. Anyways, the thing that was so impressive was it was packed full of stuff. It has a section on the Aboriginal People, skeletons, Great Barrier Reef, Australian animals, Dinosaurs, and birds. There was a whole floor that we didn't even have time visit. They also have a cool kids area. We were not able to come close to reading/seeing everything, but that was probably due to having 2 little kids to keep and eye on.

Tulips in Botanical Gardens

2010-08-24T01:32:00.000-04:00

Lydia's day in the park

2010-08-23T08:04:00.000-04:00

Climbing on and tickling Aaron while he is trying to "rest in the grass".

Trying to keep up with Aaron while he and daddy played soccer.

Playing with sticks like Aaron does.

Picking up sticks...like Aaron.

There is a common theme here...the girl loves doing things with Aaron. They have become best buds here. The other day Aaron said he didn't want to go to his class at church because Lydia wasn't in his class. He asked if she could be in his class. At one of the churches we went to, they were in the same class and he liked that. I'm so glad they love each other so much. Don't worry, there still is the sibling rivalry. Anytime I'm holding Aaron, Lydia screams. She gets pushed out the way like another big brother I know use to do. Hopefully one day they will always get along. I just hope Lydia continues to look up to Aaron like I do my brother but hopefully is a little nicer to him than I was. I also hope it doesn't take her moving out to college to appreciate him like a stubborn little sister I know (me!). Talking about Aaron and Lydia does make me think about my relationship with my brother, Brian. I am really thankful for him. He is a great big brother, even though he sometimes makes up stories about me (I know I never came at you with a knife Brian). Can't wait till Brian and Jen (his amazing trip planning wife) and Mom and Dad come to visit in 3 weeks!!!

Aaron's day at the park

2010-08-23T07:52:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went back to the Botanical Gardens and had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. These pictures describe what Aaron wanted to do at the park...

"Laying in the grass." He has been talking about wanting to do this all week.

Chasing birds

Running with daddy...

then a "touchdown" as we call it. With Aaron its a 50/50 chance he is going to scream and cry when he falls. This time, all fun and games.

Look who is 18 months

2010-08-19T06:55:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that Lydia is already 18 months. 1.5 years old. She is growing up so much and doesn't think she is still a baby. She is definitely still a peanut, but sure is growing up. Normally in these updates, I give stats...but I don't know them. At the church we went to on Sunday there was a little scale. I think I might put her on it to see how much she weighs. She has grown while we have been here. Some pants have already had to be retired because they are too short. So, a little about Lydia at 18 months. She loves doing anything her brother does. She really wants to play with him all the time. She climbs all over him all the time trying to get close. If he is ever upset especially if he is crying because he is hurt, she HAS to give him a kiss. She gets mad if he doesn't let her. She loves giving things too him too, especially his cup. Again she gets mad if he doesn't let her. She will let you know when she is mad though. This has never really been a problem for her, to communicate she is not happy. Her language is starting to develop more. Aaron talked a lot more than she is at 18 months (not to compare). She is in the stage where she tries to repeat a lot that you stay. Words that she says (in some form) are: down, mama, dad, Aaron, ba (paci), shoe, sock (she loves putting on shoes and socks and bring them to us to put on all the time), nite nite, milk, ball, hey, bye. Its good for me to write these down, because it seems like she doesn't say anything. But its good to know she does say a little. She does so good riding around in the stroller. At home we don't use one much, but here is another story. She does great riding all around town, but if Aaron is down running around you know who is ready to get down. So far she prefers Aaron's toys, but she is starting to show interest in baby dolls. She also, says baby and says "heyyyy baby" to any baby she sees. She loves the swimming pools, baths, daddy coming home, reading (she grabs books and climbs into your lap to read them). That's all I can think of for now. She really is a complete joy and we love having her sooooo much. She was without a doubt much harder than Aaron as a baby but has gotten to be a lot of fun and much easier lately. She is our strong-willed child with out a doubt.

Pretending to take my picture as I was taking hers. She also says cheeeeese.

Playing with sticks...just like Aaron.

This is a great picture of one of her many faces, especially her "I'm not happy here" faces.

Playing with Aaron.

Which also reminds me, Aaron LOVES her so much too. Yesterday he wanted me to join him in singing a song. It goes like this..."I love you, I love you, I love you my Lydi. It was precious. He also tells us quite often: "isn't she so cute", "we love her don't we", "hey pretty lady".

We are so thankful for the two amazing blessings the Lord has given us and pray that they will grow up to be two amazing people that love him.

Powerhouse Museum

2010-08-18T01:43:00.001-04:00

This morning the kids and I went to the Powerhouse Museum. Its a neat museum, but the best parts for us are the play areas for the kids.

Making the train go.

This was everyone's favorite part of the museum. Its called Zoe's House and the kids work on building a house. They loved it. There are foam concrete pieces to be stacked into the yellow frame in the back(given I didn't see a single child do that). The kids favorite part was loading the buckets and pushing in on the track. Lydia loved trying to help Aaron. As he told Caleb during lunch, "he had a hard job working".

Two hard workers

I was playing with the camera and trying not to use the flash since it was so bright, but I ended up with not good pictures. I will learn, Caleb is definitely better with the camera than me. But hopefully you can see the fun they are having.

Pigtails

2010-08-18T01:36:00.000-04:00

Lydia's hair is finally long enough for some pigtails. Well, its still to short in the front, but it works. Her hair is 100% business in the front, party in the back!!! Yes, she has a mullet. I almost cute the mullet at the beginning of the summer, then I noticed curls!!!! MY DAUGHTER HAS CURLY HAIR!!! I will never cut curls off. So, her hair is short and straight in the front, and long and curly in the back. When we wash her hair it goes down below her shoulders, but curls up to cuteness when dry. Anyways, I am so glad I finally can pull her hair up. There is no need since its so short up front, but look at that cuteness!!! I can't believe it, but she left it up all morning too!!

AllRecipes.com

2010-08-18T01:30:00.000-04:00

I have a couple of friends that have raved about allrecipes, and now its my turn. It is an AMAZING website. Take a look. www.allrecipes.com I used it at home, and normally stuff came out well. Mainly because I only choose things that have 4 or 5 stars. Well, here cooking has been a little harder, mainly because it took a while to figure out the grocery store, which I have now accomplished, and stuff cost more. And some of our staples are barely eaten here. For example, Aaron loves Granola, don't have it here. Its all Muesli. Which I like, he doesn't. I tried making some granola the other day and it wasn't too bad. Another things is applesauce. As you know, at home there is more applesauce choices than you ever will need. I couldn't find any applesauce at the store. I got a man to help me and there was 1 I say 1 small can of applesauce in a HUGE supermarket. And it was like $4 for a small can. WHAT? We eat applesauce a ton. We even love applesauce and cinnamon in our pancakes. You should try it, its yummy. The kids have had to learn to eat oatmeal without applesauce. I am going to get some apples from the market and make some soon. Anyways, that was a huge tangent. Back to allrecipes. We got some pancake mix, again expensive and not near as good as Aunt Jemima's, but we were less than impressed. So, I tried making some from scratch. Here's the recipe...delicious. Fluffy Pancakes. If you know Caleb and I at all, we LOVE chocolate chip cookies. We honestly love the break and bakes the best. Once they came out with the "natural" ones, we probably put on 5 lbs. Not that they are "natural" or better for you, but they taste better. Anyways, I have never made cookies from scratch that came close to comparing. Well, I finally did and we are in trouble. Here is the AMAZING recipe. Take them out a minute or two before they are ready and they are heavenly. The last one I will share is brownies!!! They are soooo good too. I have made many dinners using All recipes and love how you can list ingredients and then recipes will show up. I honestly use it almost everyday. So, cooking has gotten much easier and if I can say so myself, I have cooked a few good meals. Which I know I'm not the worlds best cook so I am always very happy to find recipes that we all like. Hopefully one day I will feel confident enough to cook without a recipe.