The Great Barrier Reef - Frankland Island

We took a boat to the amazing Great Barrier Reef.

We stopped in a bit of paradise called Frankland Island.

We played in the sand...

We conquered the island...

We snorkeled...

We took the boat home...Amazing!

Cairns

We went to Cairns this most recent holiday. We were lucky enough to have J's parents join us so we were quite the crowd on this vacation. You should have seen all our luggage - not to mention the rental car we had to book to fit us all! We stayed in the Coral Tower Apartments which worked great for us. Nothing over the top but it was great to have two apartments for our gang to spread out. We were on the Esplanade about 2k North of the main lagoon. Close enough to take advantage of everything there was on offer.

We spent one day just playing in the Lagoon. Because swimming in the sea in Cairns is not great, they have created the most amazing lagoon in the center of town. It has zero depth entry just like the beach so it was wonderful for the little kids. They loved the fountains especially. For the older two, they were able to explore the deeper waters and had loads of fun as well.

Sadly, we had a lot of rain on our trip. But, since there was no lightning the kids just kept right on swimming. The best part of the lagoon for us on this day was the covered area right by the fountains. The adults could stay dry and out of the downpour while the kiddos kept having fun!

Sydney!

Another fun couple of days as tourists in Sydney. Day one we walked across the famous Harbour Bridge and strolled through the Rocks. Then we enjoyed the views of the Opera House from Circular Quay and took lots of pictures. We finished the day with a ferry ride back to our car.



Our next day as tourists we took the ferry into town and then enjoyed our tour of Sydney on the open top, double decker bus. This was a great way to go around town and see lots of stuff. The kids liked the bus and I liked seeing the whole city. All in all, a great way to spend the day as tourists with Nana and Gipa.

View of the city

On the ferry

Fun times with Nana and Gipa!

Let the fun begin!

Our first visitors have arrived and Hotel Monaco is open for business! We started the holiday with a trip to the fabulous Taronga Zoo today. Stay tuned for more on the fabulous adventures of Nana and Gipa!

Bye bye baby!

It is official. My baby is not really a baby anymore. Last night I listed her high chair on ebay on it seems to be the start of the end of an era! She just wants to sit at the table like the rest of us and be a big girl. So sad to say goodbye to the baby days but we are on to bigger and better things.

A long day... a good day

Today was a long day. In every moving cycle, there will come a point when you come off the high of the new place and seem to be in the valley. Today was my valley. There was nothing extraordinary about it really. Woke up in a mood and yelled at my kids for no reason and then felt like the worst mom in the world and begged their forgiveness. Drove absentmindedly and passed a speed camera - not sure if I was speeding or not. Let's hope not. Put a little scratch in my car due to pure stupidity. Finally, I had a good cry. Yes, a long day where I could have said a million things about being far away from family and good friends in America. I could have complained about the driving conditions and the fact that there are no drive thru coffee shops. But in the end, my valley turned out to be a peak. I realized I had someone to cry to. While I may have hit that moving low, it was also a moving high. I have made some amazing new friends here - good enough friends that I could cry with them. Now that is something to celebrate! I was reminded again that you are only rewarded with true friendship when you allow yourself to be vulnerable and let go. So, thank you to my amazing group of Aussie women for letting me have a good cry today Now, I can get back to enjoying this amazing piece of God's creation for as long as I am here.

Things I love...

Tonight I have several things to love...

I love that we live somewhere where we can walk to a great Italian restaurant for dinner. I love that we can bring our own bottle of wine and drink it there. I love that when we finished we could walk to another Italian place for more dessert (because we really wanted ricotta cheesecake). I love that when my high heels where hurting my feet, I took them off and walked barefoot - we are in Australia after all. Finally, I love my husband. Life is good.