Drawing to a close

It's been a busy last week here but not a lot to say. We've been hurried with last minute trips around the state to say hello to lots of people that we thought we had a lot of time to catch up with! I must remember to start booking nights out earlier next trip! We've been especially sad to have missed catching up with many of our ex-Denbigh High colleagues who have moved on from DHS - you know, it would have been a lot easier if y'all had stayed in the same building!! Ryan's grandmother has not been well which has been worrying and obviously, time consuming as she lives in Suffolk which is quite a distance from where we have been staying with Ryan's sister's family. However, we WILL be back sometime and hope to catch up with those we missed as a first priority.


Not too many photos to share - just one of Ryan and Cassie in Washington DC. We went up for a quick visit last weekend, to catch up with friends and see some of the museums. Bob and Kirsten were fabulous hosts as always and it was a delight to meet their son for the first time. We ate a ton of food and had a lot of fun, hanging out. On the Sunday, the Fatzes sensibly stayed home and Ryan and I braved a sunny, but below freezing day to go and see some sights. Ryan was especially keen to visit the National Archives and see the original documents of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the proclamation that freed the slaves and many other relics of American history and government. I was thrilled that there were no lines and the buildings were well heated :) I took the pic (left) on the mall in the walk between the Archives and the Museum of American History where we went afterwards - it was so so so cold but once again, Cassie refused her gloves so we were unable to do too much walking to see the monuments. We had brave plans to visit the new WWII memorial which was in construction last time we visited, but the Arctic wind blasting up the Mall from the Potomac River changed our minds!!


Thankfully, there's been a change in the weather over the last few days - mid to high 50s F (about 13-15 Celsius) and we have perceived it as so warm, we've spent a fair few hours outside! We took Cassie and her cousins to Colonial Williamsburg for more photos on Friday - Jared and Cate were very patient as they not only have a paparazzo mother who is an awesome and avid photographer but now they have a photo mad aunt to deal with too! I took most of those photos in RAW format though so I am dying to get home and start playing with them in my processing software!


Today, we will be seeing a few of the cousins and Cassie will get one last crazy playtime with the older kids as we leave for New York tomorrow. Sadly, it's raining here and the forecast is for more in NYC but we figure we'll spend tomorrow at the Met which is always great anyhow. I found a great deal on a 4 star hotel on Times Square so that will soften the blow of departure hopefully! We arrive home on Thursday morning and have our first day of meetings for the new school year on Friday so all of this will seem like another world! We've had such a blast and again leave wishing it was cheaper and closer so we could do this trip more often. Cassie has had such fun, as have we. Love to all here and there - bye for now!

Sightseeing in Hampton Roads

After living here for two years way back when, it's nice to visit places that are familiar and sentimental, and also to discover new haunts. For the last few days, we've been doing just that:

College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg - where Ryan got his Masters in Education.

Colonial Williamsburg

and today we spent the day in Norfolk, which is a nearby city, reminiscing at Waterside about the club there where we spent many a youthful night... It was my first visit to Norfolk in daylight that didn't involve the mall there. Very exciting and quite enlightening - who knew it was quite this pretty!
We also went to a very cool museum called "Nauticus" which is a combination of Naval History, shipping history and aquarium. Being near freezing out and in the beginning of school term, the museum was absolutely empty so we just let Cassie run wild and she had a blast. She especially loved the touch tanks - see left, patting a Horseshoe Crab with Aunt Robin. This did lead to an interesting moment at the baby sharks tank where she almost launched herself in! No patting baby sharks, Cassie!! A very fun day in all, and of course, Ryan was very happy to be able to play all the flight simulators that the Navy use. Tomorrow is Friday again, and we are planning a "quiet" day - running some errands, eating Mexican food for lunch, perhaps visiting the Indian Reservations nearby and then dinner with relatives to celebrate the birthday of one of the young cousins. This weekend, we're heading up to Washington D.C. too. We're going to visit and stay with a friend who taught at Denbigh High with us, and meet her 18 month old son, Jamie. Lots of sweet photos to follow, I'm sure! Ryan also is keen to visit the National Archives and the Smithsonian which should be awesome. We're just hoping that the snow holds off so we don't free to pieces on the Washington Mall!! Can't wait though - should be a good few days.

...and a happy New Year!

Another busy few days with lots of family time to enjoy. We spent Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for all those non-Aussies) exploring the Christmas Town event at Busch Gardens, an amusement park near Williamsburg. They apparently had 1 million lights up - it was all very very pretty. Very very cold too but worth it! I was very sad that, being pregnant, I wasn't able to do any of the big rollercoasters :( but Cassie had a turn on her first amusement park ride - and loved it. She was a bit hesitant at first but as soon as it started, she was giggling and waving like a girl twice her age! There was no line so she had a second turn and chucked a HUGE tantrum while waiting for the ride to start again :) She also continued this when her second ride was over - despite her hands being almost frozen, I had to pry both of them off the handles and drag her off! Ah, my little thrill seeker. She also got to meet Elmo and gave him a huge kiss, going all the way into his throat like a little lion tamer! I think the actor inside may have been a little surprise. We ended the night by dragging all of Cassie's older cousins into the Sesame St Christmas show but it was all worth it as Cassie was SO excited to see all of her faves live on stage.

The other big excitement this week was celebrating the beginning of the "tens" decade - happy 2010! Robin had organised a beach cottage for us all to celebrate together, in Nag's Head, North Carolina, which is about a 3 hour drive from where we are staying. It was a lovely place and Cassie treated us very well, not falling down any of the three staircases and sleeping like an angel in a portacot in yet another strange environment. It was really really cold down there but we had a great time anyhow. We took the kids down to the beach on New Years Day - Cassie and I lasted about 10 minutes - to search for sea glass. It was really pretty down there, despite it being a bit grey out. See below for a couple of pics that Robin took - (funnily enough, Ryan looked at me like I was crazy to go wandering down to the beach on an almost freezing day, just to take pictures, and hence, went out to lunch with Jack instead....)

We're "home" again now in West Point, and hoping to see more of Ryan's dad this week as he's had a really nasty flu over the holidays. I've also got plans to do a LITTLE more shopping - for one thing, I have to buy another suitcase to take all this stuff home....

Merry Christmas!

We've had a LONG and wonderful day with all of us being thoroughly spoiled. Wishing everyone many days like this!


My gorgeous Cassie and my gorgeous niece, Cate in their Christmas dresses. Absolute cherubs!

Snow!

That's pretty much it for news of our activities for the last few days. West Point, where Ryan's sister's family lives, got a proper load for the kids to play in. Snowmen, snowladies, sledding and lots of snowballs ensued. Pictures below...


We have also had a few successful meetings with Santa over the last few days of frantic shopping. Cassie loves him - so I thought I'd share this non-professional shot :) though I have a GORGEOUS prof one to share at some stage when I hit a scanner...

One thing I keep exclaiming about is the number of Santas here who have real beards!! There seem to be an absolute abundance of them! I love it though - so much better than a synthetic one :) I'll never be able to look at a David Jones' Santa in the same way!

So I've just wrapped the last of the presents and should probably head off to bed. Lots of family to visit with tomorrow and the next day. Plus Cassie still needs to be convinced about unwrapping - she doesn't quite get the concept yet but I am hoping her cousins will lead the way on this too! Happy Christmas all - stay safe!

Another US update

A fun week so far again.

We've not done a huge amount, just visiting with family and a few minor shops. On Tuesday, we toured the historic little town of Smithfield which was cool, including visiting the oldest church in the US, built in the early 1600s. We also went out for some spectacular BBQ last night - at a CUTE little family place called "Frank and Bubba's". (For those not in the know, BBQ here is slow cooked pork, "pulled" (shredded when it's tender enough to fall apart anyhow) and mixed with sauce and vinegar. It is far far far too good. Cassie wouldn't try it but is a big fan of hush puppies :)

Today, Ryan, Robin, Cassie and I hit the outlet mall - $300 or so later and I am half-sated. (That was pretty much in three stores...there's still 40 or 50 to go!) We then had some awesome Mexican food (Australia, learn learn learn!) and then came back to Robin's to pick up her kids, before heading to the local school to see the junior grades of the Elementary school in their Christmas concert. See left- our niece Cate, who is just cute as a bug. As we headed out, it began to snow and it's been falling steadily ever since. I just hopped outside to take the first shot below about ten minutes ago. It's so gorgeous and still out there - and I think we'll be sleeping over at Robin and Jack's for another night at least! Not wanting to drive on icy, snowy roads in a hurry!!! Cassie wasn't sure what to think of the snow at first and even her cousin Jared couldn't convince her to walk on it, but kind Momma Lynn just picked her up and dumped her in it and she soon got over that. She loved it after that and threw an absolute fit when I brought her inside because she wouldn't keep her hand covered and kept digging in it! She's hopefully going to sleep well tonight - can't wait to take some more photos tomorrow!

More than a year since my last post....

...but all the saving has been worth it!

A quick roundup of this week so far:

Well, the first two days of this week, we were in Australia!! That seems crazy to believe now. Despite my good intentions, it was still a manic rush on the last night and I was finishing up some vital sewing at 1am - two items I haven't actually used yet :)

We were at the airport bright and early the next day and ran Cassie ragged. She particularly liked running the crappy airport stroller around into other passengers - yes, we are those parents occasionally - but was happy enough to sit and look out the window for the entire flight to Sydney as a result. We did a race across Sydney airport (why are the Qantas connections so ridiculously close always??) and then we were on the "big flight" - 14 hours with a 21 month old. Well, despite everything I'd anticipated, it was actually not bad at all. Hurrah for Qantas - the steward kindly upgraded one of the passengers next to us to premium economy and so we had a spare seat which was great, plus their inflight kids entertainment included two episodes of "In the Night Garden" which Cassie was happy to watch about six times through without sound. I am sure the rest of the passengers LOVED the constant cries of "UP D" and "ACK ACK ACK" but at least she wasn't screaming. She didn't really sleep on that leg but blissfully, she slept for about four hours after running herself COMPLETELY ragged in LAX so we all got a nap in. Arrival in New York was simple enough but joy of joys, we discovered Qantas had left our pram in Sydney. It's not great to carry a 13kg toddler around the city that never sleeps after 4 hours of sleep in 30 hours...just sayin'.

Our New York stay was pretty brief. Admired the skyline and found awesome NY pizza which was good. It's not American pizza unless you have to blot it with a serviette :) The next morning we were headed to another airport for the hour ish flight to VA. Ryan's dad, his wife, Ryan's sister and her kids and it was SO great to see them. Cassie took to her two big cousins immediately, letting Jared push her around in the stroller and giggling her head off. So sweet.

On Friday, we tried to sleep in (I'm not doing so well in the jetlag department - why I am typing this at 5am!) and then had a lazy morning before meeting Ryan's sister, Robin for more cousin time and chat. Saturday was fun as we celebrated Ryan's dad's birthday with all the kids and also Nancy's daughter and grand-kids. With six kids barrelling around the house, we didn't stop laughing all day. And today was Sunday so Ryan decided to indulge in some much-missed Sunday football with his brother in law, while they watched all of the kids - in theory. Not sure how much "watching" was going on, but Cassie did learn to burp on cue. How lovely. Ryan's sister and I escaped the kids to drive up to a mall near Richmond and do some much needed, last minute Christmas shopping. Is it last minute yet? I hope not, because otherwise I'm in deep trouble. I checked out the most adorable kids' clothes today but I've been quite restrained so far...so far....

So that's it til now. Happy 6am everyone - hope your holidays are going well and all is happy as it should be. A few pics to end the post - Ryan and Cassie all rugged up for the cold and Cassie with her cousin, Cate!

Travelling with Cassie - Melbourne 2008

Well, a few weeks ago, I was inspired by Lisa, a friend from Mothers Group and also by the fact that we hadn't been away since July 2007, to arrange a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Melbourne. The lovely Sarah offered us a place to stay and once I had gotten over my initial freak-out at the thought of everything I had to pack, Ryan and I decided to brave it and do our first Holiday as Parents.

The packing, and the thinking about packing which was actually more arduous, was finally over by Thursday at 4pm and we headed off to pick up Cassie from childcare so we could hit the road. We'd had a slight change of plans that day as Sarah had come down with a fairly unpleasant illness so we were now staying with Catherine instead in a last minute switch.

Taking an hour or so to get through peak-hour traffic (yeah it was Adelaide, we have peak hour, dammit, especially on Glen Osmond Road!), we hit the freeway, with Cassie asleep in the backseat. All was pretty peaceful til Bordertown so that's where we stayed for the first night away. Cassie did really well in her portacot and we all woke refreshed the next day at 7am, ready for breakfast at the Bordertown Bakery (so good - definitely worth a stop every trip!) and a walking tour of historic buildings in town. The highlight was ex-PM Bob Hawke's childhood home which is now a Centrelink office (see photo below) and the old Takeaway (now closed) which is Bordertown's oldest building.

Driving across the country with a baby is pretty alright, for the most part. IF THE BABY IS RESTED. The rest of Friday was fairly uneventful until we stopped in Bacchus Marsh, just outside Melbourne, for a wander around Aldi (had to get those nappies that everyone keeps raving about!!) and then Cassie decided she was done. Upon strapping her in, she threw a fit and we screamed our way into Melbourne.

Saturday dawned with a early wakeup from Cassie for the household. Thankfully, Catherine has an excellent coffee machine. We went round to visit poor ol' Sarah who was much better but still probably a bit germy :) so she couldn't have a cuddle and then went on to Pam's, who was hosting a BBQ so we could catch up with people en masse. It was great to see Bram and Elizabeth's gorgeous girl, Amelia after all this time, and also to meet Harriet Scott who was born a week previously! It was also absolutely wonderful to see a lot of our Melbourne friends who we miss seeing regularly. Sadly, I didn't take the camera inside :)

After the BBQ would down, we headed to Julia and Rob's - who also have had a daughter since we saw them last!! It seems like a bit of a trend among our friends ;) We had a delicious dinner, thanks to Julia, and Cassie also got a ton of hand-me-downs from their girls (which kept her entertained for most of the trip home, so thanks guys!!)

On Sunday, we had the only social event that I organised in advance - a meet up with the girls from AYW. Breaking the trend, Michie had given birth to a BOY recently and Julia is working on a boy too! It was great to meet Michie after years of chatting on line and to see Julia and Ronan again. Ryan suffered through our talk with remarkable patience, helped by the pancakes, bacon and eggs on offer. Ryan and I spent an hour or so wandering around Chadstone after saying goodbye to the girls - we only meant to have a QUICK look around but the place is a rabbit warren with NOT ENOUGH LIFTS, We're still a bit scarred from the experience and won't be heading back to the "Fashion Capital" in a hurry.

We decided to make the most of our weekend pass on the CityLink and crossed the city again to Williamstown to visit our old haunts and have some gelati in the sun. We pulled out the picnic blanket and played on the grass for a bit with Cassie which she loved. I think it was the only time for the whole trip where we actually had perfect weather. Sadly, my favourite store down that way doesn't open on Sundays so I had to make do with just looking wistfully in the window :)

When we got back to Catherine's, it was time to head off again to dinner on Sydney Road with our host and our would-be host :) Yummmy Thai food!

On Monday morning, we had our first sign of things to come - Cassie is teething and had a restless night, followed by an even more restless morning. We ended up having to cancel our morning plans and were terribly late to meet the gracious Sarah Willy for a late lunch on Brunswick Street. Sadly, I didn't take the camera AGAIN! On our way out of the city, I caught up with another AYW friend, Meagan, and met her gorgeous children as well. Finally leaving Melbourne at about 6.30pm, we drove to Geelong and had a great meal out at a lovely pub near the water.

The next morning dawned pretty cold and blowy so we drove the Esplanade but that was about all we could see of Geelong's main tourist attraction. It looked very pretty despite the weather so we hope to go back sometime in the future. We did wander around the shopping precints which was fun - we found a great candy store that not only sold Dutch liquorice and American chocolate but also sold Jolly Ranchers!! We jumped in the car and drove to Warrnabool where we still didn't spot any whales off the coast :( but did have a nice lunch despite a very grumpy baby. Getting back in the car, Cassie alternated between sleeping and whinging but did pretty well until we checked into our hotel in Mt Gambier where she threw a fit and basically condemned us to a dinner of cookies and drinks from the vending machine so she could sleep.

Today was the last day of our trip and we set off fairly early from Mt Gambier because it was raining again, driving pretty much non-stop to Padthaway. We stopped for a drink there and found a bit of sun and a fun playground where Cassie had her first slide and a swing. The rest of the trip passed quickly and now we're home with a tired little girl who is very glad to be in her cot again. We're not too sorry that the trip is over either, and are glad that there are four more days before term 4 starts so we can recover from our holiday!

The North Lands!

We've been back almost a week from our trip up north to S.E. Queensland so I thought I should get around to this. Ryan (as will come as a surprise to none who know him well) is having an afternoon nanna nap so I have free access to the computer and a little bit of enthusiasm to get it done! It's been a long first-four-days-of-second-semester though so I am not promising to be coherent.

We set off obscenely early on the 11th of July, arriving in Brisbane at around 10am. Of course, after staying up far too late the night before and packing once again at about midnight, all we wanted to do was nap! We checked into our hotel and proceeded to do just that, getting up around 3pm, watching some cable (we miss cable :) ) and then went out to explore a little before meeting some friends for dinner. It was great to meet these girls that I had met online, planning our wedding more than three years ago. Ryan was happy to know that they weren't very committed axe murderers, posing as newly-marrieds. We ended up walking across to the South Bank with my friend, Anita and her husband, Arthur, then walking down the river and through the QUT city campus before heading back for a good night's rest. The next day, we wandered around Brisbane, taking in the sights. We went down to the mall and did some window shopping before visiting the Art Gallery and the Museum. Later, we met up with Anita and Arthur again who cooked us a lovely dinner at their house and then took us to see the new Harry Potter film.

On the Friday, we checked out of the hotel and trundled down to pick up our rental car. We drove down to Surfer's Paradise for breakfast and a glorious walk in the sunshine, down the beach and through the shopping area. We then drove down to Burleigh Heads, stopping at a Wildlife Park where we especially admired the biggest crocodile I've ever seen!


We then went for a walk through a mangrove area and a bamboo plantation - beautiful. The bamboo is bright yellow for some reason in this area of Queensland which makes for lovely photos.
Later, that day, we drove up to Oxenford where we stayed for the night, before driving to Mt. Tambourine and Lamington National Park.

The area is amazingly beautiful. It's thick forests have lovely walks and the mountain views are stunning. There are lots of little gourmet cafes to stop in at too!

We did a great walk in the afternoon to a natural rock formation called Natural Arch. You can actually walk into the cave, behind the arch and stand almost underneath the waterfall. There were some crazies swimming in the pool but the temperature's supposedly pretty arctic so we gave that a miss!









After that, we drove up to Toowomba, a surprisingly busy country town where we stayed the night and saw what a kickin' place it is to spend a Saturday night. However, being old, we were tucked up in bed by 10pm with our books! :)

The next day, Sunday, was our big driving day - about 5 hours. We drove most of the day away, with some unsuccessful attempts to reach a few National Parks along the way. Who would have thought that major roads to National Parks that were marked on all the tourist maps would have been unpaved, dirt roads?! Not this little rental-car-driving black duck! All in all, it was a little frustrating, but arriving back on the coast in Hervey Bay was wonderful. We got there in the late afternoon and had a lovely walk around the marina area.

We considered going on a cruise to Fraser Island but decided to save that for a trip when someone who is excited by dolphins is with us (hint hint, Robin!). Instead, we drove to Noosa Heads which was absolutely gorgeous. It's a cute little resort town with a stunning beach

and a little national park with a short, but lovely rainforest walk. The walk overlooks the coastline and it was all just gorgeous!


We then drove further down the coast and back up into the mountains to an area called the Hinterlands. We stayed at a gorgeous B&B for two nights, spending the day wandering in the local towns of Maleny and Montville, eating yummy food and doing the occasional walk up hills to admire the view. All too soon, it was time to head south again, back to Brisbane, stopping on the way to admire the Glass House Mountains. No climbing this time - we just admired from a distance!
(Yes, we also drove past the Irwin family's Australia Zoo, but no, we couldn't bring ourselves to pay the exorbitant entry fee!)

Arriving back in Brisbane, we hastily checked back in to the hotel and then set off for a final dinner with our now good friends, Anita and Arthur :) also meeting up with Tanya who I taught with in London and her new husband, Steven. After a yummy Greek meal, we ended up chatting away at a pub on the South Bank, before heading off.

Our final day was spent wandering again in Brisbane. We took the City Cat to New Farm, wandered around the shops there, found the Powerhouse and its collection of amusing signs and then pottered around at South Bank again. Soon it was time to head off home again to our very cute furbaby, who was exhausted after staying with my parents and their far-too-energetic border collie! And I'm going to add one more picture, just 'cause Jessie's so cute when she's plum-tuckered. :)

For anyone who reads this occasionally....

I've got a new project. :) Cause I don't procrastinate enough.

See: www.linkyloulists.blogspot.com for details.

Mount Gambier

I know it's not very exotic for South Aussies but we just are back from a GREAT weekend in Mount Gambier. It's the second biggest town in our state (Adelaide is the largest) with a population of about 24,000. It's part of the Limestone Coast and so there are lots of geological features to keep Ryan happy. I was just glad to get away from my marking :)

First off, we went to visit the Umpherstone Sinkhole. From the tourism website:

"Once a cave formed through dissolution of the limestone, this sinkhole was created when the top of the chamber fell to the floor of the cave, creating the perfect environment for its "sunken garden"."



This is us, funnily enough in front of the sinkhole. It was really bright out and I didn't check whether this photo worked. As you can see, it didn't. However, it's the only photo from the weekend with us in it, so I figured I'd post it anyhow.



The sinkhole is remarkably cool, even from the point of view of the geological ignorant (ie. me). There is a full time gardener who volunteers to keep it all pretty, and it certainly was!



Can you tell I liked the sinkhole garden? :) I think I was just impressed that it was so green. It rains a lot in Mt. Gambier. After viewing the Umpherstone sinkhole, we went into Mt. Gambier proper to see that it had closed for the entire long weekend - yay provincial towns! So we went and looked at another sinkhole and then wandered around the Blue Lake for a bit.



Once again, from the Mt. Gambier tourism website:

"The Blue Lake was formed when the volcano erupted through the limestone allowing the underground water to fill the crater, creating the lake that we see today. Each year in November the lake starts its colour change from winter sombre blue to brilliant turquoise blue, before returning to its winter hue in March."

So yeah, it was a bit grey. Ryan wanted me to take this photo so you can all see the different layers in the rock. :) You can see the blue colours around the bank though.

After walking around the Lake for a bit, we went on a bush walk. It was great though a little more strenuous than the "Easy, gradual slope" that the sign advertised. We spent a lot of time admiring the view as there was an old man in one of those electric buggies in front of us and we were sure he was going to get bogged and need our assistance at some stages!



As you can see, the recent rainfall made the whole area pretty vibrant! We ended our full day in Mt. Gambier with dinner and a movie, then wandered back to the sinkhole which is floodlit at night. So here's the last photo of it, I swear :)



So that's the "travel journal" updated - we had a really lovely time. Totally recommend the area for a quick getaway!

Adelaide to Melbourne - April 2007

Well, we went on a short trip the other week, just to visit friends in Melbourne. We normally fly over but since it was school holidays and we had time, we decided to save money and drive over instead. This was a pretty shocking trip. Officially, Australia is the driest continent (having the least precipitation - at least Antarctica has snow!), and has one of the most variable rainfall climates in the world. Our current drought is the worst on record and recently, the government has announced that water restrictions on farmers will be further increased so that they will be unable to irrigate from the river at all. This is especially a problem in South Australia and Victoria, the two states we drove through, as they have had only the smallest percentage of rainfall expected over the last two years.

Anyhow, I took these photos on the drive - I just couldn't believe how dry it is out there. Remember, these were taken at the very end of April, when we usually have had heavy autumn rains!





This one has a little greenery in it - thank goodness for the hard-living gum trees. This really shows how important it is for Australia to encourage the re-growth of our natural flora - cause when things get bad, they can survive on very little water.



And just to include some pics of us, here's one of me, having a stretch-break on the 8 hour drive:



And here's one of Ryan, relaxing at an outdoor cafe in Williamstown to end on a high note:



We're going to Brisbane in July - will post again then!