Up For Air

We've been home for a week and haven't been able to catch up with things. We've been suffering from major jetlag. I don't remember it being so rough, but then I was seven years younger last time we went.


I thought I would add some of my favorite scenes from Oz. This is a picture of Mum and Dad's pawpaw tree. That's their neighbor's house in the background.


I love this picture of Grandpa going down to the chicken coop with the grandkids. They loved feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs. Dad built the steps himself. They looked forward to going every morning and afternoon.

Jacob, Mimi and Nina with Grandpa and the chickens.




Nina, Jacob and Mimi gathering eggs.








Here's JoJo with his son, Jacob.

This is an Aussie dryer. It was an experience Ali did not enjoy. It's really not that bad, unless you have tiny little baby clothes that take forever to hang and take down. Ali didn't like the crunchiness of her jeans. I don't mind a clothesline, but I'm sure my neighbors would protest.

Test your vision! Spot the wallaby! The darn thing wouldn't let us get very close to take it's picture. But we saw him a few times. He's just to the right of the shed, if you didn't spot him.

Our trip was wonderful and the best part was spending time with family. Needless to say, we could have stayed at least another week.

So this is where we stayed for most of our trip, at Mum and Dad's in Samford. It's just outside of Brisbane, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Underwater World at Mooloolaba

We had a great opportunity to stay at our friends beach side vacation condo in Caloundra, which is up the coast. We shopped at the quaint little shops, ate fish and chips, enjoyed the view out the window, enjoyed some time with Adam & Fiona's family and froze our butts off!





We had to include a picture of the Happy Valley on the other side of the world, to compare to our little Happy Valley. This one looks a little more fun, eh?


Wednesday we went to a wonderful
place called Underwater World. It had amazing creatures from the ocean. I think they're amazing but I hate those freaky little monsters and they scare me to bits - and for this reason I stay far away from the deep blue ocean.

This was the entrance to the parking. It was pretty cool. We saw lots of fish, frogs, toads, sharks, stingrays, eels, crustaceans - sounds like a feast to me!

We saw fish like this:






I can't remember what kind of fish it is but he sure was purdee - in a freaky kind of way.











We also saw sea dragons, which are especially freaky. They look almost like a weird floating plant but with a seahorse kind of head.


They look like this weird little creature that is very rare. Can you see his funky little nose on the right bottom? Ew!



Here's another weird looking one.





Evil I'm telling you! Spooky, scary creatures! This is almost as bad as looking at bugs. These sea dragons reminded us of fairies in a way, the way they floated and moved with grace. I could almost think they were pretty - as long as they're behind glass.







Then there was the whole tunnel experience with the moving walkway with about 12 inches of acrylic between us and sharks, and stingrays, and sawfish, and groupers, and other scary beasts from the deep.
They were pretty interesting. Mimi was scared to death to see a shark and had to hold my hand the whole time. She must have grown an affinity towards them during our tunnel ride because she now has a stuffed animal who happens to be a shark. That's what life is about, overcoming fears. I'm still staying out of the ocean.




Here's a few views from the tunnel. Those stingrays have ugly faces.


This would be my offspring standing in the jaws of a shark. So dramatic, I don't know where they get it from.

Which reminds me, we went out for a bite to eat after our busy day. We had chicken.

I said I wouldn't do it and I did!

I was forced to. I didn't want to do it. I had no choice. But it was either stay home or go shopping.....hmmmm....let me think - go shopping! But the only way I could get there is drive. I didn't want to drive at all because driving is a very subconscious thing, you don't have to think about it. You just drive. You can even multi-task while driving. I was afraid I would find myself on the wrong side of the road, getting honked at and getting the forks from some disgruntled Aussie.

I sat on the right side of the car, with the steering wheel on the right side, the indicator at my right hand instead of left. Every time I went to signal I turned the windshield wipers on. Then I had to remember to drive on the left side of the road. Ali was the navigator with directions in her hands. The only time I drove on the wrong side of the road was when I pulled out of the driveway. Then Ali kept telling me I was driving too close to the line on the left side of the road. But we made it! The light at the end of the tunnel. Shopping, glorious shopping.

Have I complained about the prices here? A bottled water costs $2-3. Also soft drinks are about $3.00 and there's no free refills!!! Food is very expensive and eating out - shocking. We went into a McDonald's the other day and they had a McCafe. This is a little counter in McD's that has some decadent desserts on display behind the glass counter and a fancy coffee maker there. And for about $5, you could buy one of these desserts, which serves one. And gas, about $7+ per gallon.

Well, it's about 11:00 pm here and I need to go to bed. Tomorrow I will have more time to post photos, since we can't find the cord tonight. I'm sure it's somewhere amidst the dirty laundry, clean clothes, souvenirs, toiletries, etc. By the way, my hairspray made it safely and so did all the passengers. My do is still do-able and I'm still pretty hot. Love those affirmations that you hope will become a reality!

Here comes trouble!

Here's my 17 year old baby boy, Seth, carrying his two cousins, Wilson (left) and Jacob (right). He just carried them around for awhile and they loved every minute of it. Aren't they all chick magnets? The little dudes are almost four years old and cute to the core. They're like two little cyclones running around!

Sleeping Beauties

Mimi discovered eye shades on the airplane and gave her Qantas eye shades to her cousin Nina. The kids were so exhausted after our family get together they fell right into bed when we got home. It was so funny to find them wearing eye shades, Fiona took their pictures. Too bad they can't stay eight forever. I love how their shades are coordinated with their pajamas. Mimi with her pink and Nina with the black. Brady's eyes are still opened. Someone has to watch for bed bugs.
Sweet dreams little princesses.....
and Brady Bear.