NOT THE WAY TO START OUT A TRIP.

We got to the airport in plenty of time. However, we had paid for long term parking and didn't realize how far away that was. That was okay, we got to the gate in plenty of time as well - or so we thought. We spent at least 45 minutes waiting at the counter for the lady to figure out her new computer system. By the time we got checked in we had 15 minutes until our plane was supposed to leave. We still had to go through security and fill out those darn cards - ugh!!! Let's just say by the time we got through the security screening our plane was supposed to be flying away. We started running through the airport - yep all five of us, kids complaining the whole way. Soon we heard our names over the loud speaker - Hutchinson family of four (Rylee didn't have her own ticket) please come to gate I can't remember the number. Running, running, almost there. Yep we held everyone up - but at least we got on the flight. However, just as we were sitting down the pilot came on to tell everyone that due to a few families coming late they would have to load the luggage and finish the paper work before we could take off - thanks alot sir! There were a few sighs behind us - sorry people didn't mean to mess up your whole vacation. We did take off at least 45 minutes late and I felt terrible - I hate it when people are late and everyone is waiting around for them and this time it was me. Not the best way to start off a vacation.

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME!!!

Kev asked me at dinner last night if I had updated the blog yet and I told him I hadn't had time. He was shocked. Usually that is one of the first things that I do. Sorry I have been busy. Plus I entered a designer contest for digital scrapbooking and have been working on that. I will try and update our trip over the next couple of days as I manage to organize all the photos.

I can't believe how blessed I am to live in Australia and get to see the world around me. I have to admit that I am not much of a traveler. I really am a home body. I like my schedule and my system and I don't really like them messed up. However, Kevin is rubbing off on me. I enjoy a good trip now and then. Our trip to New Zealand was awesome!!! I told Kev there are two types of people who go on vacation. Those who like to stay in one place and relax and those who like to travel all around and fit in as much as possible. We are the later. We did so much and spent a lot of time driving around in the car to different cities in just seven days, and we wished that we had at least another week to see everything.

We saw a lot of these

and a lot of views like this (reminds me so much of home!)

To give you an idea we flew into Christchurch (that is a funny story in and of itself - let's just say our trip didn't start out as planned) - on the east coast about half way down the south island. That night we drove 6 1/2 hours to Queenstown - we pulled in just before midnight. We spent a few days there and then drove back to Christchurch. We did stop along the way at some beautiful lakes. Unfortunately for us the weather wasn't good those two days and it rained a lot. (We never saw Mt. Cook because it was covered in clouds.) We then did little short two hour drives to Hanmer Springs (just north of Christchurch) and over to Kaikoura on the east coast. Then back to Christchurch and onto an airplane. It was crazy. However, thanks to my amazing organizational skills we managed to do so much.

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. I haven't had much to blog about - unless rain clouds and gloomy weather count. We went from really hot summer days to rainy cool days in less than 24 hours and have stayed there for a week. I actually don't mind the cooler temperatures and listening to the rain on my roof, but the sight of the sun would be nice as well every once in a while (it did come out for a few hours yesterday!).

We really haven't done much in the past few weeks except plan our trip to New Zealand. You would not believe how many hotels, homes, motels, etc I have looked up. Well, it is all done. The route is planned, the car is rented, and all the hotels are booked. I am so excited. My camera is ready and I am hoping to get some great landscape pictures (something I am not very good at so I will be practicing a lot). We will stop and see a few Lord of the Rings sites, go to a hot springs pool, watch a Maori show, and may even go snorkling with seals!!! We were going to go swimming with dophins, but ran into a hitch. You have to be at least five to get on the boat - so Kev would have to stay behind with Rylee. Then you have to be at least eight to get into the water. So the kids would have to stay on the boat while I got in the water - I am not so sure that will work out so swell. That dream will have to wait a bit longer!

Kevin did surprise me for Valentines Day. He called me from work a few days before and asked me on a date! How cool is that? I love it when he actually calls me and asks me on a proper date. We had the best dinner at a new place we found (I'm not sure if it is new, but we have never noticed it before). It was a bagel shop in Macquarie Center right by the movie theater!!! I love bagel sandwiches and bagels are hard to find and really expensive here. I was so excited. I had the most amazing bagel sandwich and yummy curly fries - all that was missing was a rootbeer and my American meal was complete!!! I told Kev that we need to go back there at least once a month to get my fix!

After dinner we went to see a movie. We finally made it to see Australia!! Seriously a good movie! Great love story, great action, and the best thing was all the scenery. Australia really is a beautiful place!!! Plus Hugh Jackman - not bad to look at! If you haven't seen it yet go - you will learn a bit about Australia in the process!

Next time I post I will have pictures from our trip!!!!

The elusive hat has been found thanks to a wonderful kindy teacher. Where was it you might be wondering...behind the piano. How did it get there? Who knows. Cooper didn't even know where the piano was.

OOPS!!!

The tooth fairy was supposed to come last night for Madi's 4th lost tooth. She never showed up. Madi thinks that it is because she was sleeping on the floor in our room and the tooth fairy didn't know where she was. I told her that maybe the tooth fairy was too busy and thought that Madi could just wait one more day. The tooth fairy better come tonight or we will have some huge alligator tears.

Madi has also made us a deal now that she has lost her two front teeth she really needs to stop sucking her thumb. Luckily it is only a night thing now, but I really don't want her to have ugly teeth that have to be fixed and money spent. So she has two weeks to do it on her own. If she doesn't then we get her favorite purple blanket - which we are convinced is the cause of the thumb sucking. We will see how it goes.

ONE WEEK

This kid has been to school one week and has already lost a water bottle and a hat. Luckily the water bottle was found, but still not hat. Madi has her old one still so he has been wearing that. No hat means you have to sit in the shade and can't play - that would be trauma. Obviously he isn't the most responsible of my two kids going to school.

I was watching him yesterday while we were waiting for Madi (they let the kindy kids out a half hour early for the first few weeks of school) and was surprised by what I witnessed. The kid is already the ring leader for several boys. He was so confident. So sure of himself. So in charge of the games they were playing. I was amazed. I have rarely seen this side of him before. He has grown up so much. It is amazing to think of the shy creature that he was before we came to Australia. He changed once we got here. I know it is probably just his age and not the move, but since it happened when we moved I have to wonder.

He has also decided that I no longer need to walk him down to school - yep after one week he knows it all and can do it all by himself. So today I gave him a chance - with help from Madi of course. She was in charge of making sure he got to his class okay. I hope it all went well. How did he grow up so fast? Apparently his independent streak is going to continue for a long time to come.

Our BIG little girl

For the past week it has just been Rylee and I during the day. It has been rather nice to take one child shopping to run errands. Since she goes down for a nap a few hours after we drop off the kids it is a quiet house for me to get some projects done!!! She has also recently realized that there is enjoyment in the TV. She loves to watch Wall-E and even says his name just like he does - it is a crack up! Of course her TV watching is only about 10 minutes long, but that's okay.She really has grown up a lot in the past few months - and I just realized that I forgot to write about it. During the first part of January we decided to put up her toddler bed and give her an option of whether to sleep there or not. Since that first night there has been no turning back for this little girl - she loves to sleep in her big girl bed! We have since taken the crib completely down and loaned it to a friend who needed one. She has also gone to nursery all by herself with no tears for the past month. I didn't want to blog about that in case she decided to digress - but she is doing so well. She is such a trooper and her nursery leaders say she has really come out of her shell in the past few weeks - chatting up a storm and doing silly things that she laughs at(that's our Rylee!). She cracks me up when I buckle her in her seat. For the last week anytime anyone buckles her up she claps her hands and says "you did it!" She gets so excited that we can buckle her up - simple joys! I love this little one so much and am glad that she is my company during the day!

CAMPING....FINALLY!!

We love to camp so on Halloween when our friends the Graces told us that they wanted to go camping we readily agreed. However, with schedules nothing got planned until last weekend. Hard the first week of school, but we managed. We stuck the coordinates into Sue (our heaven sent GPS) and headed out after picking up the kids from school a bit early. It was supposed to be 90 minutes south of Sydney - I guess that all depends on where you start counting from, because it took us three hours. Had I known that might have done it on a longer weekend - but live and learn. Soon there was a road closure due to a big accident on the highway. Since we have no idea where we are going and have no idea exactly where our destination is, we decided to pull off the highway into a little town and ask. Come to find out we are almost there - we did know at least this much because Sue tells you how much time left to your destination. I got a call from Regina and they are on their way. She called the RPA and finds out that the road will be closed for another two hours and the detour is at least a three hour drive through switchbacks and narrow roads. We decide to stay put in Kiama and wait it out. Not a bad place to get stuck really. We walked along the beach front and played on a playground. We then started walking towards the lighthouse but decided it was too far for the kids to go and the road had opened. We found out later we should have kept going to the lighthouse because there is a big blowhole there that is amazing. Oh well!

Finally we made it to our destination, Gerroa, and started putting up our tent and uploading the car. Look at the concentration on Coop's face. He was such a bit helper and loved to hammer in the stakes. We brought a little Utah dirt with us as well - hopefully no bugs that will pollute Australia - it got through customs.We were right by the riverbed, but due to the tide the river was a ways out. This was good for Madi she spent two days searching and catching crabs. Within a half an hour of being there this is what Rylee looked like, gotta love camping with little ones!!!

That night we had a really late supper - the BBQs were not really quick heaters. Then we got in our PJs and took our chairs out to the open space by our tents and took in the sky. It was amazing. I haven't seen stars like that in such a long time. Not only were there millions of stars, but they look different in the southern hemisphere. They are in different locations. We finally saw the southern cross and countless shooting stars. We stayed up late talking and finally went to bed around 12:30.

We were woken up at 6am to the screeching of the cockatoos - I swear there was a bird right in the trees above us and was so tempted to get out and throw rocks at it. I didn't have the energy to do that so I just tried to ignore it.

We decided after breakfast to head to the nearby beach - seven mile beach. The wind was so bad I thought our trip would maybe last 10 minutes. Rylee was screaming because of the wind and the tiny bits of sand pelting her constantly. We never actually made it to the beach but to a tributary in front of it. Through exploring a bit I found a sheltered spot which turned out to be the best place to play anyway. The water was really shallow for Rylee and there was a deeper part for the kids to play in. It was perfect. We spent a few hours there playing around, having mud fights, and enjoying the weather. I took a walk out to seven mile beach to see it and thought I was in a sand storm the entire way (didn't see much either). We then headed back to the camping area and played in the pool. After lunch in a nearby cafe we packed up the car, played a bit of cricket (French cricket this time - there are so many backyard games), stopped by the camp playground to see the big inflatable bubble you could jump on, and headed home.

Here is Cooper playing cricket - we are going to buy a little set to bring home so we can play backyard cricket. It is pretty fun and Cooper loved it!

It was a fun weekend, but a tiring one as well. It made me realize how much I miss family camps and camping with friends on the weekend back home. When you drive 45 minutes to your favorite camping spot and enjoy the sounds of nature all around you. Making smores and banana boats and listening to the crackle of the fire. Oh how I enjoy a good camping trip. Anyone wanna go when we get home you let us know!!!