OUR TRIP TO THE GOLD COAST!

We did so much and took so many picture that you are going to get our trip in small doses - a little light reading. Enjoy!! We had a great time!!

Monday late afternoon we headed to the airport and our flight to the Gold Coast. It was nice to fly at night and have the day to do final things and pack - but it made for really restless kids. My friend Lisha offered to drive us to the train station (thanks again Lisha) so around 4:30 we were off!

Not much happened on our travels until we got to our transfer on the train. We had three suitcases plus the stroller. Madi was being a big helper and had one of medium suitcases and was pulling it along behind Kev trying to keep up. The bad part was that due to the time of our flight we got to Central Train Station at peak hour and there were so many people there. As we got to our transfer and went to get on we were the last to go through the doors. Over the intercom came the familiar words, "Stand clear, doors closing!" All I could hear behind me was a little scream from Madi she was still on the platform and upon hearing the words thought she was going to get left behind. We of course hadn't forgotten her and Kev was on his way to help her just as she screamed. After pulling her on the train she was relieved. We finally made it to the airport after a short car ride and two trains.

When we finally got to the Gold Coast airport we were all tired. It was late as we walked down the stairs and onto the tarmac. We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel and after the kids explored the room we all went to bed. The hotel room was nice. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms with lots of space. It had a kitchen and a washing machine and dryer as well. However, with all the space the beds were terribly hard - like sleeping on concrete - and they did not have enough blankets to keep us warm. The days were fine, but the nights were cold and we had to bundle up just to stay warm as we slept (there was no heater) - of course the kids didn't seem to feel a thing and slept fine. The couches were wicker and not as comfy as we would have liked - but it had a heated pool and a great view. We woke up in the morning with this view out the balcony! I spent a lot of time watching the surfers and the waves roll in - I love the ocean!

I took these pictures a few days later because we also woke up to a downpour. Kev headed out to get our rental a few blocks away and we decided to go to the shopping mall at Broadbeach to get groceries and go to see a movie, "Kung-fu Panda". The shopping center was huge and we walked around a bit until our movie started. We found this fun kids play place with a little track for the kids to drive little cars on. They loved it. Notice in the picture Cooper is even driving the Aussie made Holden ute.

We then lined up for our movie and loved it - it was very well done I thought. After the movies we got on the escalator to head back down to the shops and had our first accident of the holiday and not a good one either. Cooper always seems to be fidgeting and can't hold still and on the escalator - or alligator as he always calls it - it is no exception. He was holding my hand and Madi was in front of us with Kev coming up the rear with the stroller on the escalator (I know you aren't supposed to do that). Cooper had proceeded to jump onto his step and I was telling him that this is a bad idea because he can fall all the way down when he began to scream that he had lost his shoe. Sure enough I looked down and there was his croc wedged into the escalator when the steps smoothed out - the escalator was stopped too. I reached down to try and pull it out and it didn't budge. Kev then said make sure his toe is okay. In that split second of me reaching down I hadn't even looked at Cooper yet. To my defense whenever Cooper gets the smallest scratch he screams like he is dying so I never know if he is really hurt or not. So I looked over and there was blood all over his toe. I scooped him up and rushed over by the wall out of the way to examine it closer. He is one lucky fella - a bit of the toenail came off and the skin with it and there was some blood, but his toe was intact. Kev pulled his croc out and it wasn't so lucky (the croc was eaten by the alligator) - Cooper was then in need of new shoes (good thing we were already at the shops) and some band-aids and ointment. These pictures were taken later that night back at the hotel - we should have thought to get the camera out when it was all bloody - now that would have been a sight. It looked much better even that night.

(The old and the new)

We got back to the hotel just as the sun was setting and put the groceries away and headed to the beach for a little play. I of course should have realized that the kids would come back drenched - but I thought they would just put their feet in the waves. It was so lovely to spend some time at the beach. We then went back to the hotel and swam in the indoor heated pool for a bit, Rylee loved it as much as the big kids and even went under the water all the way. After a good swim we headed back to our room for a late dinner. Then off to bed to rest up for a day at Dream World....