My First Real Ride...

I want to thank Donald Walker for taking me on my first real 'Ride'! OK, I admit that I don't have the coolest motorbike in the world, with it being a 150cc scooter and all, but it was still a lot of fun.

He came over to pick something up from our house on Saturday and we didn't have anything planned so we decided to take a ride that we had been talking about for a while. He was great to put up with me and my scooter following behind him as we went out to Wiseman's Ferry. It is a very pretty place and a very beautiful drive. It took us about an hour to ride from our house and go the approximately 50k.

The drive was really nice as it was just along a windy counry road. It was kind of funny because (with my 'P' plate) I can only 90kph and the speedlimit was 80 or 90kph along the road. On the way there I have to say that had it full throttle most of the time and was barely making 90, but at least I kind of kept up (I am sure Donald was being nice and didn't leave me behind).

At Wisemans ferry we stopped and had a bite to eat (Thanks Donald) and just had a good time talking. On the way home I looked down and my gas guage was on 'E' so we had to stop and fill up just before making it home (Going full throttle like that meant that I could actually watch the needle fall). I possibly could have made it but it is better to safe than sorry, right!

Thanks for the fun Donald!

MADISEN

Madi let me take some pictures of her tonight. She picked out some of my jewlery and accessories to dress up a bit. What do you think? I am amazed at how grown up she looks.

NO POOL! NO PROBLEM!

What do you do on a really hot summer's day (apparently the hottest days in the past two years)? Well when you don't have a pool you have to improvise....

The nice thing about hot weather - the clothes dry on the line in about 10 minutes...okay maybe it's that you get to eat lots of popsicle. Either way I am so glad this house has a ducted air conditioning system. We would be dying without it!

NYE 2008

I can't believe that I haven't blogged about our New Years Eve yet...you know sometimes life getting in the way of blogging. Some friends of ours, the James', talked us into going to see the fireworks over the harbor. Since they do family fireworks at 9:00 we decided to go check them out and then head home. Of course we didn't venture into the city with all of our kids, just on the other side at a park in Greenwich. We actually ended up having a pretty good view of the backside of the bridge and an even better view of one of the barges where they were being shot from on the harbor. The kids had a good time sitting around eating KFC and ice cream with their friends and we definitely enjoyed the company.

Kev took charge of the camera to try and take some pictures of the fireworks - he got this really good shot (but that is about it, fireworks are hard to capture after all - maybe next year). Rylee hated the fireworks and spent the entire time with her head laying on my shoulder hiding her face. Madi however wasn't bothered by the sound at all - maybe we have turned a corner in her fright of loud noises.

After the family fireworks we all packed up and walked back to our cars then we headed home and put the kids to bed. We were all exhausted from our trip to Port Stephens. Kevin and I did catch the midnight fireworks on TV - although Kev kept falling asleep. We are totally going to try and get a babysitter and head into the city next year to see the fireworks just to say we have done it.

FAVORITES AND MOMENTS TO REMEMBER!

We took about 1200 pictures on our four day trip up north. Here are some of my favorites - besides the ones already posted...

This one only because Kev forgot to bring a hat and since the sun really bothers his eyes and can cause him to get migraines he had to borrow mine. Love it!!

Moments to remember:

1. Seeing the sun set over the ocean

2. Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest - the quaint little towns we visited and stayed at

3. Looking for koalas in all the trees (That we never saw)

4. Listening to High School Musical 3 over and over again in the car and Madi doing actions from the back seat

5. Catching hermit crabs

6. All being crammed into one hotel room

7. The dolphins - amazing animals!

8. Being told I needed to go a bit faster at Toboggan Hill

9. Madi being in control when her and Kevin went down - she loved to go fast!

10. Cooper giving me a mouse for my computer - because it doesn't need batteries and was Cougar blue

11. The gas station that resembled Uluru

12. The endless sand at Stockton Beach and seeing the camels you could pay to ride

13. Taking so many pictures and realizing how much I love my new camera!

14. Relaxing and listening to the sounds of the ocean

15. The amount of sand we brought home with us - I think we could start our own beach in our backyard

16. Getting bitten in the botanical gardens by some unknown bug (it still hurts)

17. Seeing the 5 foot long Goanna

18. Madz trying to pee in the woods and peeing all over her shorts

19. Cooper's small bladder and having to pee everywhere we went

20. Kev trying to figure out what was digging these holes and finally finding the sand crab but accidentally chopped it in half in the process

21. Rylee not wanting to get in the ocean until we were just about to leave every time we went to the beach

22. Swimming and snorkeling in the hotel pool

23. Kevin breaking his wedding ring in three pieces while rock climbing - yep that's ring #3, good thing this one only cost him $10.

24. Kevin and Madi snorkeling in the ocean and not finding anything interesting to look at except a really big seashell.

25. Cooper getting up each morning before everyone else and trying so hard to hold still and be quiet.

26. Getting eaten by mossies - they don't seem to like me much in the States, but here I seem to be their favorite meal.

27. Cooper's colorful dog he painted - orange head and blue body with white spots

28. Rylee wandering around on the beach and playing in the sand all by herself

29. The huge thunderstorm

30. Kev wearing a cougar hat for three days!

PORT STEPHENS

As I said in the previous post. We headed out of town for a few days to Port Stephens. We actually stayed in a city called Tea Gardens. Which is in the Myall Great Lakes area. It was a quaint little town full of charm and seaside life. Sunday found us in our hotel room and ready for an adventure. We decided to head over to Jimmy's beach to walk on the white sand. I told the kids to get their swimming suits on just in case. It was a good thing...the water is like a magnet. Madi and I did walk down the beach for over an hour to find the place where it said the dolphins enter the bay - we never made it...there was alot of beach to cover. Then due to poor planning on my part we had to find some dinner. We found a local fish and chips shop and had to explain to Cooper that sometimes you have to spend money on Sunday - especially when your mom doesn't bring enough food. For a girl who doesn't really like fish I have to say it is growing on me. We then walked down the water front and took pictures and enjoyed a nice evening.

The next day was my birthday - you can read all about that in the previous post.

On Tuesday we decided to drive to the north side of Port Stephens and check out Nelson's Bay. Along the way we stopped at Toboggan Hill Park. It had a toboggan run - much like the Alpine Slide in Park City. There were also other things for the kids to do. We played a round of mini golf, Madi and Kev climbed the rock wall, we played splash down where you get to shoot water balloons at each other and get soaked, to end the day the kids painted plaster. It was fun and hot.

We then drove on to Nelsons Bay to check it out. I have to say that I wasn't impressed. It was so touristy. I was glad we had stayed on the north shore in our quaint little town. We walked around the shops for a bit and got an ice cream before heading onto our next destination - Stockton Beach (the largest moving coastal sand mass in the southern hemisphere). Seriously a lot of sand!

After driving back to our hotel we quickly changed into our swimmers and headed back to Jimmy's beach. We played in the sand, ate dinner on the beach, Kev and Madi did a little snorkeling, played with hermit crabs, and saw the most amazing sunset. It was such a great ending to a fun family day.On the way home we stopped at the Hunter Region Botanical Gardens. What a cool place. It was started, and is run now, all by volunteers. They have activities for kids and lots of beautiful native plants. We even saw a goanna. The only sad part was that I got bitten by something. I think it was a bull ant. Really I am not sure. All I know is that it hurt so bad. It stung and sent pains down my foot. We went back to the visitors center and they sprayed something on it which helped a ton. Life is always an adventure right?!

ANOTHER SUMMER BIRTHDAY!

I had another memorable summer birthday - I guess when you are used to a winter one you have to make it the best ever since summer birthdays will come to an end eventually. This year Kev took a few days off and we decided to head north out of the city. Originally we thought we would just drive a few hours and then stop somewhere and find a place to stay. Then we thought of the time of year and decided we better pick a final destination and book a hotel room. We picked Port Stephens and found a place to stay in a little town called Tea Gardens. It was so cute and quaint and I fell in love with the place! We decided to drive up on Sunday after Church because we were already 20 minutes closer to our destination. We stayed for three whole days!! More on that in another post. This one is all about my day!!

So on my birthday we went dolphin watching. There was a 99% chance to see a dolphin - because it is estimated that at least 150 dolphins live in the bay. We got on the boat and headed out for our three hour cruise - Kev had the song from Gilligan's Island running through my head and said that he was a bit nervous since it was a three hour tour...LOL!! We saw so many dolphins. They are really hard to get pictures of since they just ride the waves - no jumping that I saw. It was so worth it! The kids and Kev had fun riding in the boom net off the back of the boat - Madi was making me laugh when she was making dolphin noises so they would come closer. It sprinkled on us a bit but the sun also peaked out from behind the clouds and the ocean was beautiful. I was in heaven!

After our trip to see the dolphins we got some lunch at a yummy sandwich shop and headed back to the hotel. Kev took the older kids to the outdoor pool and I read a book while Rylee took a nap. Soon a thunderstorm rolled in. The kids and Kev got back just in time for the heavens to open and the rains to come in sheets. We sat inside and the kids watched a movie while listening to the thunder outside. I love thunderstorms. We then decided to go to the store and buy some fixins for a BBQ for dinner - plus a birthday cake. We came back and used the BBQ facilities at the hotel for a yummy dinner. We decided to save our cake for later and headed to Bennet's beach for a walk.

Should have have known to have the kids put on their swimmers - they ended up soaked. The beach was so lovely. The sand felt funny under our feet due to the rain pounding it for a few hours. The storm had also washed up tons of seashells - not the broken ones either. There was a bit of a haze over the horizon and we saw an amazing sunset over the hills. I am always amazed at the beauties that God has put on this earth for us to enjoy. The world around us is truly amazing!

CHRISTMAS '08

New Christmas jammies!

Christmas has come and gone for yet another year. This was one for the memory books. We had our second green Christmas and although it is hard to be away from family at this time of year we are soaking in the sun and the atmosphere as much as possible. Madi was the first to wake up in the morning and waited patiently in her room as she was told. We finally woke up Rylee and although she wasn't sure what was happening at first she seemed to really take in all the excitement. First everyone ran to their stocking and piles of gifts to see what Santa had given them. At our house Santa and I have a deal. He brings three gifts to each of us to help us remember Christ and the three gifts he was given by the wise men so long ago. Each of these gifts represents something: gold - something you want, muir - something you need, and frankincense - something educational.

Madi's Santa pressies:

gold - beados

muir - school supplies (lunch box, colored pencils, and a pencil case)

frankincense - another set of fairy books

Cooper's Santa pressies:

gold - two remote control cars

muir - school supplies (lunch box, crayons, pencils, and a pencil case)

frankincense - one story book and a book of mazes for the kid who loves mazes!

Rylee's Santa pressies:

gold - a play kitchen

muir - a cover up for the beach

frankincense - two picture books

Not only that but there stockings are stuffed with little goodies as well. These are my favorite pictures from the morning. Santa always leaves an orange and an apple in the toe of the stocking - you would have thought they struck gold when they all got to that point.

Then we got to the wrapped presents under the tree. Madi got to play Santa's elf this year and wear the new hat I bought just for the occasion (a new tradition I think!). She handed out all the presents and we all watched what was opened. Rylee got a little overkill and towards the end didn't want to open any more just wanted to play with what she got. All in all it was a wonderful morning.

We then got ready and headed to the beach. We were a bit nervous as the morning was full of clouds, but decided to go for it anyway. By the time we got to the beach it was fabulous!!! We went with some good friends of ours, the James family. They are from Canada so it is a green Christmas for them as well. Jackie's mom, sister, and step-father were in town so we all decided the beach would be a fun place to spend our afternoon. It was the perfect afternoon. When we got into the car I told Kev that it was really hard to remember that it was actually Christmas. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures to prove that we actually went to the beach. I didn't want to bring my good camera for fear of getting sand in it and ruining it forever, so I grabbed the point and shoot. However, when I pulled it out at the beach the batteries were dead. I took a few pictures with Jackie's camera so hopefully I will get those soon and can post some.

After spending a long time at the beach we all met up at our house for a really late Christmas dinner. We had the traditional dinner this year complete with ham and baked potatoes. It was so delicious. We had great company all day which made up for not being around family and truly you can't beat going to the beach on Christmas day. Memories to last a lifetime!!!

Today is boxing day - so as Kev says we are practicing up on our boxing moves! We spent the morning talking with family on the web cam and were shown the signs of a white Christmas - a couple feet of snow. It sure makes for a nice Christmas, but a cold and icy one as well. We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas as well! Remember if you want to go to the beach on Christmas you can always come and visit next year!!!