Wild Animal Park and Koalas

February 17, 2009

Since the weather was kinda rainy, we decided to get over to Sydney's Wild Animal Adventure. Here we were able to see most of the wildlife found somewhere in Australia. Ty and Rach really enjoyed the whole museum. There was a room with butterflies flying in the open. They kept landing on us, so if you can tell, Rach has one on her arm and hat and Ty has one on his shoulder. You can see them up closer on the picture used as the background.

Near the end of the exhibit, they had a photo opportunity with the Koalas. We were able to pose with them and even pet them with the backs of our hands. They sure are sleepy little guys. Ty has his class "Traveling Raccoon" that his teacher asked him to include in some of the pictures, so you will see a lot of him. This definitely was the highlight of the day.

After the Wild Animal Park, we decided to split up so we could cover more of what was in the plan. Tyler really wanted to see the Star Wars Exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum, and Gary wanted to see the Maritime Museum, so I went with Ty and Rach went with Gary.
Ty was so excited to be able to try the Hovercraft. It was hard to control. They had other activities showing what kinds of things were getting closer to being possible and what things wouldn't really happen for a long, long time. It was quite interesting. We made a car out of Legos and magnets, sent it thru some more powerful magnets arching over a track, and sent our car down, pressing buttons to activate the bigger magnets to see if it would make it to the end. We were proud of ourselves for figuring it out.

When we were done with our museums, we met for ice cream at the Lindt Cafe' featuring hot fudge made from Lindt Chocolate! I will never be satisfied with Leatherby's again.

Bondi Beach

February 16, 2009
We had a sunny day, so we headed down to Bondi Beach. Oh the sun! Gary got in and did some body surfing while Ty jumped the waves. Rachael stayed close to shore and jumped waves while I took pictures. It was a fun day for us since we have been longing for the sun. Everyone got sunburned, but it was worth it!

Royal Botanic Gardens and Government House

February 15, 2009
Since we arrived on Sunday, and too late for church, we just took a walk around the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens near there. There was a lot of variety in the vegetation, and many different kinds of birds that we don't have at home. There was an area where there were a ton of bats hanging from the trees. They sure are a noisy bunch. Also, we saw a spider as big as the palm of my hand. Creepy!

After we walked around the park, we happened upon a free tour of a Government House. This is where the current Governor would live up until 1996. The view from the large back porch was beautiful. Although we were extremely sleepy from jet lag, we learned a lot about their government and the way things work here in Australia. I learned that the Queen of England is still Head of State for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and some of the Caribbean Islands. I love to talk to locals here to learn more about them. Maybe I should have known all of this, but I didn't...until now.

The worst thing about this whole experience is that my hair loses the curl the minute I walk out the door. The ocean air along with the cloudy weather kills the curl. Oh well, I guess I'll have to tolerate it until I return to our wonderful dry air in Utah.

The Airbus

February 13 and 15We flew to Australia on the Qantas Airbus. It was an experience. The plane has 2 levels, and we were put in the infant holder's row where there is plenty of leg room and little basinets on the wall in front of us. They totally treated us like 1st class, handing out food and drinks on a regular basis. The Cadbury hot chocolate was to die for. It was the smoothest plane ride I've ever experienced.

Since I wanted a picture with the captain for Ty's class (holding his class Raccoon mascot), they let us get one in the cockpit! It was massive! Afterward, we got a picture with our whole flight crew that flew our plane. I will fly Qantas again!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

January 8, 2009
Look at this photogenic little guy. What a cute little grandson. Good job Desiree and Nate. Happy Birthday to Jordan!

Shaun's Graduation and Trip to South Carolina

February 6th, 2009

Lisa, Isabel and I went to see Shaun graduate from Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It was an awesome sight to see smoke bombs go off across the field, and then the soldiers running up thru the trees and thru the smoke in formation. I'll have to admit I got choked up. This hasn't been an easy 3 months for him or for Lisa, but he made it and with a great attitude. Now he's doing his AIT in Arizona for 17 weeks. After that, they'll be able to live as a family in Monterey, California while he attends the Language Training School. Can you believe they're going to take my little Isa away from us!?

This is Shaun's Platoon. He was the Platoon Guide for the last month or so. He is on the back row, in the middle.

It was so fun to meet up with Shaun after the festivities, and to spend a couple of days with him - even though he still had to report back by 8:00pm. We were willing to take what we could get.

After our time with Shaun had ended, Lisa and I headed down to Charleston to visit Boone Hall Plantation. It is the oldest working plantation. We learned a lot from the tours thru the grounds and the house.

These were the cabins where their slaves lived 16 to a cabin. They were small and crowded. On the plantation, they also made bricks, and each slave was expected to produce 1,000 bricks per day.This was the driveway leading to the house. It was so pretty lined with oak trees that had moss hanging from them.

The whole trip was so much fun, and I loved having some time with Lisa and Isabel. We ate chocolate dipped strawberries every night, and challenged each other to word games on Facebook. Fun times!

People kept stopping us to look at Isabel and telling us how cute and good she was. I have to agree!

Tyler's Ski Trip

January 17, 2009

Ty and Gary went for a day of skiing at Brighton. Actually, Ty did really well, considering he doesn't go very often. While they skiied, Rachael and I went to see "Hotel for Dogs" and had a great time!