We Made It!!

Greetings from The U.S. of A!! 1 mother, 1 grandmother, 2 children, 4 flights, 6 bags, and many, many, many hours of travel time...and we have finally made it back to Mississippi. It was certainly not an easy journey, but Julia and Liam (and Nana!) were real troopers the whole way. The kiddos even managed to get almost a full nights sleep on the long haul from Auckland to Los Angeles (albeit both of them were pretty much in my lap so I didn't get sleep, but I did get to catch up on some of the many movies I've missed recently).

When we finally got to Houston and were waiting on the plane for the final leg of the trip, the time difference had really hit. It was nearly 10pm there but about 6am (Julia's normal wake-up time) in Australia. We were sitting at the very front of the airplane, and as people boarded, Julia loudly and happily greeted everyone with "Morning!" That didn't bode well for my plans to get her to sleep as soon as we got home!

Both children were so happy to make it to my parents house. G-da (my dad) met us at the airport, and Julia was thrilled to see him! He had a whole array of toys waiting for her at home, including a new doll, and she was settled in in no time at all. We did finally manage to get to sleep at 3 a.m. last night, and Julia is still sleeping (it's almost noon!) Thank goodness I have a big bed in my old room here though! All routines went out the window last night in my jet-lagged zombie state, so Julia AND Liam and the new doll and the old doll and one of my dolls from childhood and Julia's "ningy" (bunny) all slept with me last night!

Pictures from Mississippi coming soon...

Back in Mississippi

Nana, Julia, Liam & I are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to begin the long trek back to Mississippi (via Auckland, L.A., Dallas, many long waits in airports and over 24 hours flying time). That's over 36 hours total travel time with a 2 year old and an infant...anyone want to trade places with me? But it will all be worth it to see friends and family, and I can't wait to be back in the States for a holiday. We'll be there from Aug 14th to Sept 8th, so send me an e-mail or give us a call if you'll be around!

Daddy, we'll miss you!! Thanks for working hard to support us while we're away ;-)

Z is for...

Zip-a-dee-do-da, zip-a-dee-ay, my oh my what a wonderful day!! Today was my last exam, so I have officially completed my 1st semester at Bond Law School, and I managed to survive it all with a toddler, an infant, and very little sleep! Gotta say, I'm glad it's over (for now at least), but despite the hard work, I have enjoyed being back in school and now just have to cross my fingers that the grades are good. Thank you to my mom for being such an incredible help this semester!! I definitely couldn't have done it without you here!

Y is for...

Year in review...now Julia's 2!

On August 9th, Julia had her 2nd birthday! My baby is no longer a baby! We're having a whole month of little celebrations since we're heading back to the States for a few weeks, so more pictures from those, her party at school and her actual birthday coming soon....

Julia on the day she was born


Julia on her 1st birthday

X is for...

Xtreme go-karting. A couple of weeks ago, Matt had his 30th birthday. We spent many months trying to decide how to celebrate this major milestone, toyed with the idea of a fancy dinner or cocktail party in the city or some other such grown-up function but as is fitting for a 30-year-old who still loves Saturday morning cartoons, we decided to have Speed Racer themed party at Kingston Park Raceways. We had an absolute blast! (so fun in fact, I completely forgot to stop and take many pictures). 14 of us actually raced the go-karts (the rest of the people cheered us on and looked after the littlies), and the competition was fierce. Kingston Raceways has a great set up for parties; they have it all organized with a practice runs and multiple heats, and they give you printouts with all the break down of your lap times and averages (by the end of the day everyone sounded like true race car drivers, talking strategy on particular turns for future races). We followed the races with a barbecue and cupcakes (which Julia had helped me make that morning). Julia was so exhausted from playing all day that she fell asleep mid-snack on the way home.

The actual day of Matt's birthday, we had a great family outing with Nana to the Children's Museum in Brisbane. We'd been before but Julia was too little to appreciate it, so this time was really fun since she really got interested in all the exhibits. I think Matt's favorite part was the dinosaur garden, but Julia was particularly cute going through the "Animal Size & Me" exhibit that had the animals lined up by size from tiny little bugs that she looked at through a magnifying glass all the way to huge polar bears. When she got to the polar bear, she stared up at it with huge eyes, waved and said "Hello" in a way that conveyed how impressed she was with its size. We walked over to the children's part of the library next and then had afternoon tea at a nearby cafe which had a fantastic grassy hill right next door that Julia and Daddy had fun rolling down. Then that night Nana was nice enough to babysit (and do all the ironing!!) while we went to dinner and a movie (thanks Nana!)

What a great weekend! Happy birthday, Matt! We love you!

W is for...

Wellington Point (aka Gran & Pop's house)...


As I've been a slacker at blogging, I overlooked posting a bunch of pictures from a nice day we had a few weeks ago at Matt's parents house. We had a nice lunch with Gran & Pop (who somehow ducked out of all the photos), Uncle Josh, Uncle Shane, and Bindi (Shane's girlfriend).

Liam loved the attention (as usual) and kicking around on a new floor (he's so ready to be able to run around with Julia and play). Julia was very shy at first but soon warmed up and was hamming it up for her nice big audience, dancing around the house for everyone.

Julia & Daddy also spent time at Wellington Point while Liam & I were in Vanuatu. They played out side till well after dark (a great treat) and played at the park and little beach at the point. Julia particularly enjoyed playing with Daddy and Pop's remote control planes (Christmas presents last year).

The video is of her controlling the helicopter (and then of it chasing her when she can't figure out how to turn it off)--pretty funny!

V is for...

Vanuatu

Nana, Liam , and I took a much-needed relaxation holiday to the beautiful pacific island of Vanuatu. (Julia stayed home with Matt for some father-daughter bonding time). We stayed at the Iririki Resort, which was on its own island a 2-minute ferry ride from the main town of Port Vila (which is an easy 3-hour direct flight from Brisbane). Fabulous resort with nice restaurants, a sandy beach, pools, and luxurious rooms with a jacuzzi each balcony!

(The picture in the bottom right corner is random, I know, but Liam was fascinated by that pillow)

We'd get up each morning , stroll Liam around the island, eat a delicious tropical breakfast, and then lounge around looking out at the clear blue water, reading & studying (law books are a lot more appealing when you can sit on a couch in the Pacific Islands and read them!). Nana went kayaking while Liam and I played on the beach (he's got the beach bum lifestyle all figured out!). I got to have a massage at the spa while Nana & Liam had an afternoon together. Basically, we got to relax...toddler-free!! The colors were all amazing, and all the people were so friendly. The markets on the mainland were full of bright shirts and colorful masks, and the women all wore dresses from brightly colored fabrics all in the same pattern. At the markets, the women sat around in sewing circles with their sewing machines or needle and thread, working on items to sell at their stalls. A big park stretched from the markets to the docks where we caught the boat to Iririki, and all the local families were picnicking and lounging around in the park, a lot of them drinking coconut milk threw a straw stuck straight into a fresh coconut.
The waters were so clear that you could see down to the coral below (bright orange and blue)--and that was just what you could see looking down from a boat! We rented a little fishing boat one day and went sightseeing around the edges of some of the other small islands that form part of Vanuatu. Definitely an adventure when we got to the open waters and our beautiful blue sky suddenly turned grey and a storm hit; our tiny outboard motor didn't give me a lot of faith that we could get back to shore with any speed should the need arise. Images of Lost definitely flashed through my head (some of the smaller islands had that look of being recently abandoned by the Dharma Initiative), but we didn't shipwreck, the skies cleared and we got to see more of the islands.Liam loved being an only child for a few days. He just eats up all the attention, and the locals loved him! All the locals who worked at the resort would stop and talk to him, and he'd flash them his big grin and laugh and flirt. We thought it was hilarious though that they'd just pick him up out of the stroller (or straight out of my arms) and play with him--even the men!
It was great for Liam to get some one-on-one time (and a break from being hugged and patted--a.k.a. smothered and hit-- by his big sister). He has mastered rolling all over the place and spent a lot of time on the floor of the hotel room working on his scooting and crawling (he's almost there!). He's fascinated by faces (see the photos of him trying to eat our cheeks and noses), and he makes some great faces of his own!