Day Two: Rain, Rain…Go Away…

Last night, we all crawled into bed at 8 pm. How we made it that long is no small miracle. Actually sleeping in a horizontal position was WONDERFUL! Dave had a 12 mile run, so he headed out into the overcast morning. The rest of us were lounging in our jammies, contemplating breakfast, as we noticed the sky getting darker and darker. The trees off the patio began to blow violently. Soon the wind was whistling and the clouds opened up- dumping sheets of rain. Shortly afterward, a very wet, very cold athlete showed up at the door with water rolling off of his hat and out of his shoes. So much for training today!

We went to breakfast, which is included at resort- a huge spread of choices, including Aussie (and British inspired) faves such as muesli (thinking I’m not spelling that right), crumpets, baked tomatoes, meats and cheeses, and a huge beautiful comb of honey on a rack for your toast. We totally forgot to trick the girls into trying Vegemite- tomorrow for sure. I try to get a pix of their faces!

Afterward, we were lounging in the lobby, looking out over the golf course and watching the wind blow. I saw something hop in the distance…”Is that a…kangaroo?” It was! He hopped across the green to the delight of us foreigners. The staff was totally like, yeah, we see a lot of them. We didn’t expect to see them in the part of the country though. In to the Blue Kangaroo we “hopped” to get a closer look. Our stealthy tracker instincts rewarded us with an even closer view. Hope the video comes over well! We were all quite pleased with our discovery. It’s one thing to see one in the zoo, but quite another to feel like you’ve discovered your very own! (Especially, as we chuckled to ourselves, in his very own “natural” habitat- a golf course)

Well, with it raining on and off, the horseback riding was off for the day, so what else were we to do, but go wine tasting? The tasting rooms here are called cellar doors and each vineyard has beautiful buildings and grounds. The three main featured wines here are the whites: Semillon and Verdelho and, of course, the red: Shiraz. Hannah and Tatum were able to create their own adventures at each stop. At one, they posed in the vines for pictures, at the next, chased a number of geese out to a pond. One winery offered shortbread to cleanse the palette and chocolate cake to highlight their dessert wines. But by lunch time, they were done with wine tasting. We headed into the local town, called Cessnock for snacks and lunch.

The grocery was quite different. When you get your cart, you have to deposit a two dollar coin to get it, which will be returned when you bring it back. Bet there would be a lot less cart meets door dings if we did that in the states! It’s always fun to see how different the foods are. The eggs are kept in a big stack at room temperature. Yikes! When you check out- there aren’t plastic bags. Everyone brings them, like the ones you buy at home (and often forget to bring the next time). “First time in Australia?” the checker asks us. Like we didn’t have tourist written all over us when we were snapping pictures on the dairy aisle!

We walked around town, taking in the storefronts which have the feel of Main Street Mesa…without the revitalization part. This must be where the locals shop for random things like musical picture frames, boardshop clothing, real estate, patchouli incense and cream puffs? Still managed to hit an ATM for Aussie cash and find a nice lunch. We hit a mall/ market with a Target- totally different from home and a pharmacy where Michael was able to find an electric shaver after frying his from home. There was a stand in the middle of the mall selling meat pies. (We make Aussie meat pies at home and they’re a family favorite!) They really eat them here- beautiful golden pie crusts with all these wonderful fillings. Our favorite yesterday was the chicken, leek and mushroom. Can’t even imagine the amount of trans fats in those yummies!

At the wineries, they kept saying how the Verdelho went wonderfully with curries, so the seed was planted. When we ran across the Thai place, it was a given. We topped our day off with a take away feast! In Australia, we don’t do “to-go” we do “take away”. We passed on the Verdelho, though. A morning of wine tasting doesn’t leave you woozy- because you just taste and toss your little sample, but the overall effect leaves you feeling a bit pickled. Like your taste buds and tummy are on overload. Our Thai feast was just the cure. Due to the proximity of this country to so many Asian cultures, there are some seriously good Asian foods to be had here!

Day One: Hannah’s view

It’s Sunday at about 5 p.m. and we’re in the truck driving to Sky Harbor. I can see the huge airplanes towering over me. We checked in our bags, went thru security and found our gate. Now all there was to do is wait, wait, wait. Oh, and did I mention wait? I sit there watching the planes outside. I notice that it takes a lot of work to send even one plane from Phoenix to Los Angeles in a short one hour flight.

Day One: We’re going to the land “down under”

Sunday thru Tuesday. It’s been a total blur, but we have arrived. The flight over was long, but not too painful. As we were flying from Phx to L.A., we looked at our Quantas boarding passes and realized that we were scattered all over the plane in different seats. They had Hannah sitting alone, rows from us. We assured her that surely she would know her seat mates after 14 hours and 45 minutes together! She was not amused.

In LAX, Poppa got our seating issues all fixed and Hannah could finally relax. We settled in for the long flight. The key to jetlag is to re-adjust your body in flight, meaning you fight sleep as long as possible, eat dinner and then settle in for 6-8 hours of restless sleep in an upright position. And most assuredly, the 6’-5” guy in front of you will lay his seat down on your lap from the moment the seatbelts sign dings, till the moment you land.

Hannah and Tatum were troopers; there was not a complaint at all. Tatum relished having her cousin Michael all to herself, playing endless games of “rock, paper, scissors,… crane, ladybug, leaf”. You get pretty creative after the first 25 rounds, apparently.

We arrived Sydney, after watching the sun rise over the clouds, on a beautiful, clear morning. Off the left wing, we had a tour guide view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. The Sydney Opera House is a stunning piece of architecture from a distance and up close. Can’t wait to show the girls!

As we were going through customs, we ran into our Canadian friends- the Teicherobs, who were headed to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. We will meet up with them in Sydney for the main part of our trip. They have two daughters who are slightly older than the girls, so they will have friends to hang out with too. We said goodbye and headed to get a rental car. “Where are we going?,” asked Tate. She didn’t buy into my “42 Wallaby Way” answer.

So the problem with our blue “touring” mini van (the Blue Kangaroo), we’ve christened her)…it seems someone put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Brave Daddy is our chauffeur and resident good sport as we howl with laughter every time he goes to use his turn signal and instead turns on the wipers. We have the cleanest windshield in Australia! They drive on the wrong side of the road too. It is funny how that messes with your mind when you’ve driven on the other side of the road for 20+ years! Poor Dave tends to drift into his neighbors lane on the left side, but those kind Aussies just give you a little honk or hand gesture to let you know you’re about to shave the side of their Toyota.

We drove to Newcastle and had a wonderful lunch overlooking the Harbor. Newcastle is a beach town with beautiful vistas of the ocean. We noshed on the most amazing Salt and Pepper Calamari and chips. Tate peeled all the yummy deep fried stuff off to get to the prize- the squid. What’s up with a kid who loves octopus and squid over deep fried yum?!

We are spending the next couple of days in Hunter Valley, which is about 2 hours north of Sydney. It is in the Blue Mountain area and is also wine country. The list of local vineyards is huge. It’s Australia’s Sonoma. But we’re here to relax and unwind for the first few days. Hopefully, we will get to take Tate horseback riding- which is all she has on her to do list! Our place here is incredible. Really- it’s a 3 bedroom two story town home surrounded by trees and hills with 3 decks. I’m not sure how we made out so well, but our jet lagged, weary traveler bodies accept it with joy! I think we’ll sleep well tonight!

We're off!

We're heading out the door in about 30 minutes for our Australian vacation!  Today is Sunday, but we won't arrive until Tuesday because we're crossing over the date line.  Fortunately, we'll pick that day up on the way back.  Although losing a Monday isn't all that bad, is it?

We'll write more once we're on our adventure!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Here we sit...in the family room. All of us. I love this, since i'm sure the days of the kids wanting to hang out with us are probably numbered! Hannah, Tate and Jack are on a laptop searching for costumes. Tate has her Alice costume on already. Jack is begging for us to pull out his pirate costume, with sword in hand. Hannah can't decide, but continues to suggest ideas for Carter, like Tootsie Roll or a puffy Peep. I'm sure Carter would never forgive us! I don't think the tootsie costume is even designed to walk in. A baby straight jacket. Hmmm....

Jack is tired and grumpy after a belated birthday celebration at the mall with Grandma. Tate got to join in on the special day...but it seems that the celebrating has caught up with her too. "But we never get to make cookies anymore!" she cries at me when I tell Hannah she can help make them. At least it's my plan in a few minutes, unless the whining continues. Then I may go hide somewhere and just eat 2 cups of chocolate chips on my own!

The boys are both wearing ASU garb, as the big Georgia game is tonight. Dave is finally setting up a Facebook account. Hannah just finished another book. Carter quietly slips around in the shadows, searching for a computer to crash or a plug to chew on. I was making dinner the other night and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stroll past the counter...with an empty wine bottle from the recyle bin. Where he was going, I don't know.

A few days back, i'm blow drying my hair. Behind me, in the mirror, I notice him shuffling past. He's sporting swim goggles, slightly askew and is clutching my meat mallet in his other chubby hand. He's headed to my shower. I can't even phathom what is going on in his little mind.

Well, it's time to make cookies and Jack is doing gravity experiments with books off the back of the sofa, so I best close for now. Carter just found a new kitchen utinsel to play with. Hannah just let out an ouch! in the kitchen and I hear yet another "hey mom!". Just another lazy Saturday afternoon!

Back to school!

Ok, it seems i'm a month behind on entries! Today is the first day of September?! We've been busy getting in the swing of a new year at school. The girls started up two weeks ago and Jack starts preschool tomorrow.

Hannah is in 5th grade and is in a combo 5th/6th grade class. She has her first male teacher, which was intimidating for about a day! He's a wonderful, dynamic teacher and they seem to do a lot of fun things. He's big on literature and writing, so they are being challenged there, as well as having the chance to learn some big 6th grade algebra in the process. Not so sure what her opinion of that is, but she's getting it!

Tate has the same teacher as last year-from her 2nd/3rd combo class last year. Her teacher enjoyed them so much, that she asked for her 2nd graders back for 3rd. She's an incredible teacher too- so loving toward the children, yet challenges them.

Tomorrow, Jack starts his preschool...we shall see how that goes. He's not super interested in the whole concept. He says school is bad. Wish us luck!

Catching up...

Ok, it has been forever since our last post! It has been a blur since getting back. The motorhome trip was a blast. The kids are already planning next summer, so I guess they weren't too marred by the whole experience.

We've spent the last month doing gymnastics camp, VBS and celebrating 3 birthdays in one week. Carter turned one, Dave turned 40 and Mommy turned 25...right? No one in their right mind would plan 3 family birthdays in 6 days.

Carter enjoyed the sugar rush of his first cupcake. Though apprehensive at first, he figured it out pretty quickly. He got some awesome toys and gifts. His current obsession is the mickey mouse "airplane" that he can ride on or toddle about on. Yikes...don't know if we need another pilot in the family!

We celebrated Dave's big day with a dinner party at our home. It was a white out theme, so everyone wore white. It was elegant in some ways...and in others...we looked like a painter's convention. Poor Chris had broken his glasses and couldn't tell a soul apart without them.

It was Asian inspired fare for dinner- starting with an amazing choice of finger appetizers as well as sashimi and seared ahi. Dinner was prime cut grilled flat iron steak and Oriental Glazed Chilean Sea Bass, Pearl Couscous, Grilled Veggies and Asian Cabbage Salad. We finished with pineapple gelato sweetend with agave nectar (instead of sugar, for Dave) and garnished with toasted coconut and a slice of spiced rum soaked pineapple (Cindy's invention).

The hit was the coconut-lemongrass sake. I was torn over what red wine to serve, since it is Dave's favorite. We were amused in the end to see that we really hang out with a "beer" crowd. We had not a bottle left at the end of the night. We're cool with our beer crowd. More red for us.

And I was taken out by the crowd for an amazing sushi night, after a wonderful lunch alone with Mom. Life is good!

We're heading for Cali this evening and I have yet to pack. Here are some random pix to update before we go. Highlights of this past busy month!